Convincing Your Supervisor That You Should Attend the NASP Convention

The NASP 2009 Annual Convention, the world’s largest and most important gathering of school psychologists, offers you professional excellence at its best. Just in case this isn’t that obvious to your supervisor, here are:

Ten Points to Convince Your Supervisor

The NASP Convention is a great opportunity to:

1. Expand your ability to serve as a resource for your school or district.

2. Learn new approaches to improving outcomes for students and aligning your services with NCLB objectives.

3. Stay abreast of the latest research and evidence-based practices in the field.

4. Find out about current developments in federal legislation and policies, such as changes in IDEA and LD identification, and how these affect practice.

5. Acquire new strategies to address a specific problem in your school or district.

6. Build relationships with other professionals who can be a resource for information and problem-solving ideas throughout the school year.

7. Train with leading experts on current issues such as culturally competent assessment, reading interventions, response to intervention, problem solving, violence prevention, and creation of positive school environments.

8. Bring back useful information to share with colleagues in your school or district.

9. Share ideas and contribute to discussions regarding the role and future of school psychology, such as shortages, funding, training, and emphasis on prevention and problem-solving services.

10. Rejuvenate, reenergize, and refocus on your commitment to help students do their best.

Keep Contributing at Work While You Are Away (and After You Return)

Remind your supervisor that prior planning and good technology will allow you to continue supporting your school(s) while you are benefiting from #1-10 above. You just need to:

• Check your messages frequently.
• Check and respond to e-mail using the free on-site computers in the Cyber Café and NASP Village.
• Get someone at your workplace to handle emergencies while you are gone and offer to reciprocate at another time. Leave a phone number where you can be reached.
• Volunteer to recruit trained professionals for vacant positions.
• Target a specific district problem or need and get information to address the issue.
• Offer to conduct in-service trainings based on what you learned at the Convention.
• Plan to distribute to staff and parents at least one topical handout or fact sheet that you picked up at the Convention, downloaded from the NASP website, or created on the basis of what you learned.