Child Study Team Positions
Child study team members include a school psychologist, a learning disabilities teacher-consultant, a school social worker, and a speech therapist, if necessary. All child study team members are employees of the district board of education, have an identifiable, apportioned time commitment to the school district, and are available to provide all needed services during the hours students are in attendance.
The school psychologist has expertise in determining a child’s level of cognitive and conceptual development. In addition the psychologist is concerned with the emotional status of the student, and how both internal and external factors may affect behavior and performance in school. The school psychologist works with both general education and special education teachers to maximize a student’s potential.
The learning consultant (LDTC) is trained to determine the learning styles of students, to determine specific achievement levels in a variety of content areas, and to recommend specific teaching methods and strategies that may benefit a student. This professional is generally called upon to model specific strategies and methods that may benefit students.
The expertise of the social worker lies in assessing the student relative to the family, the school, and the community. This professional generally gathers information concerning the student’s health, family, and school history as it pertains to the student’s current school functioning. The social worker is also the professional responsible for coordinating community resources on behalf of students and their families.
Speech therapists are members of the child study team who assess speech/language development. They work with students with expressive and receptive language disorders and articulation, voice, and fluency disorders in pull out and in class settings. Speech therapists work with students who are classified as eligible for speech/language services or students who are classified as eligible for special education services.