Ruth Crowell M.A.
Ruth Crowell,
is a Certified School Psychologist-Specialist and a Licensed Psychological Examiner. She earned her Masters Degree in Psychology from the California School of Professional Psychology in 1975. Since returning to Maine in 1976 she has worked providing psychological services in public, private and residential school settings. Ruth furthered her training by completing a year long course in school neuropsychology in 2006-7 and earning diplomat status from the American Board of School Neuropsychology (ABSNP). This training has provided Ruth with the knowledge and skills to conduct comprehensive evaluations targeting the specific psychological processes that research has linked with a student's area of academic difficulty. Such a targeted assessment clearly identifies the link between the student's cognitive strengths and weaknesses and their academic performance leading to accurate special education identification and effective intervention strategies.
In her work as chair of the Government & Public Relations Committee for the Maine Association of School Psychology (MASP) and as Maine representative to the National Association of School Psychologists (NASP), Ruth has worked closely with the Maine Department of Education (DOE) and the Maine Legislative Committee on Educational & Cultural Affairs to improve Maine's special education regulations. She developed written Clinical Guidance on the Implementation of Maine's criteria for identifying students with a Specific Learning Disability (SLD) and has presented trainings on SLD identification to special education directors, school psychologists and school districts.
In her role as a specialist level school psychologist in the public schools, Ruth has worked with individual students conducting psychoeductional, neurodevelopment & Functional Behavioral Assessments (FBAs). Ruth has facilitated positive relationships between schools & families. She has consulted with teachers, IEP Teams and Student Assistance Teams (SAT) or Response to Intervention (RTI) teams in developing academic and behavioral interventions, data collection & analysis and progress monitoring. She has provided consultation to specialized programs for students with emotional and behavioral difficulties as well as students on the autism spectrum.
On a school and district level, Ruth has provided leadership in developing Response To Intervention (RTI) and School Wide Positive Behavioral Intervention Systems (PBIS). She has trained staff in coaching students with executive function deficits, developing & implementing structured behavior plans, identifying students with a Specific Learning Disability and understanding brain-learning-behavior connections. Ruth uses a systems approach to identifying problems and developing solutions including family, classroom, school-wide and community systems. She utilizes a collaborative, team based, problem solving model that emphasizes data-based positive supports and interventions.