School Psychologist - Round Lake, United States - Round Lake Area Schools

Description

This class is accountable for assessing students in order to determine eligibility for special education services or continuing need for special education services.

This class also ensures that proper procedures, methods and timelines are followed in accordance with federal laws, Illinois statutes, and other guidelines.

• Knowledge of assessment tools for intelligence and achievement testing, and behavioral assessment scales, as well as objective personality tests, and other psychometric tools;
• Knowledge of child development, and related needs and characteristics of children of disabilities;
• Knowledge of community support resources and family service agencies;
• Knowledge of current research and evidence-based practices in school psychology;
• Knowledge of current theories and methodologies of effective family instructional intervention and behavior modification;
• Knowledge of interventions for students with academic and behavioral concerns;
• Knowledge of psychological and educational assessment practices and techniques;
• Knowledge of standardized test administration and interpretation procedures;
• Knowledge of state and federal laws, rules and regulations regarding education and other related services, especially regarding special education and eligibility criteria;
• Knowledge of statistics and quantitative analysis;
• Knowledge of various disabled populations such as Emotional/Behavioral Disorder (E/BD), Developmental Cognitive Disabilities (DCD), Deaf/Hard of Hearing (D/HH), Specific Learning Disabilities (SLD), Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) and Other Health Disabilities (OHD);
• Oral and written communication skills;
• Skill in conducting effective individual and group counseling;
• Skill in identifying different disabled populations;
• Skill in mediation;
• Skill in obtaining, clarifying, and exchanging information;
• Skill in oral communication skills for presenting to parents and team members;
• Skill in psychological assessment, psychological interpretation and counseling, in order to determine the individual needs of students with disabilities;
• Skill in report writing, usually following protocols and templates;
• Skill in test administration procedures, interpretation and presentation of test results;
• Skill in using MS-Word, Excel, and summary test report software applications;
• Interpersonal skills;
• Ability to communicate effective instructional strategies and interventions, based on synthesis of academic, cognitive, and/or behavioral assessment data;
• Ability to establish and maintain effective working relationships with a variety of people in a multi-cultural, diverse socio-economic setting;
• Ability to maintain confidentiality;
• Ability to participate as part of a team;
• Ability to write with clarity;
• Analytic ability;
• Ability to work with individuals from diverse backgrounds.
• Spanish speaking preferred.

The following identifies the primary and essential functions of the position and is not intended to be an exhaustive listing of all duties.

• Assists in the development of forms and procedures to guide the Individual Education Plan Team process;
• Assists in the ongoing assessment of students and use assessment data to develop appropriate services for students;
• Assists in the review of information and/or complete evaluations of students as needed in the identification of children who are disabled as defined under Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973, and assists in the development of interventions and/or accommodations as needed;
• Assists with the crisis management of situations within the school setting to promote the safety and mental health of students and staff;
• Collaborates with community agencies/organizations in order to connect students with community resources;
• Complete individual evaluations of students who are candidates for early admission to kindergarten and communicates results and recommendations to parents and the appropriate school staff/administration;
• Conducts educational assessments, such as intelligence and academic achievement testing, functional behavioral assessments, social-emotional behavior ratings, adaptive behavior scales, behavioral observations, and functional skills assessments;
• Conducts functional behavioral assessments (FBA) and assists with the development of positive behavior intervention plans (BIP);
• Consult and collaborate with parents, teachers and outside agencies in providing services for students;
• Consults with parents, teachers and administrators regarding truancy, student expulsion and student retentions;
• Consults with staff in development and management of special education programs;
• Consults with teachers, parents and/or administrators regarding students who are transitioning from elementary to middle school and middle school to high school;
• Consults with the education team to develop appropriate recommendations and programs for students;
• Determines intellectual, academic, social and behavioral functioning as it pertains to the school environment;
• Documents student contact, including medical assistance (MA) billings;
• Ensures that the procedures are followed and that program designations are approved by the administrative designee;
• Links assessment information to school-wide, classroom, or individual interventions;
• Participates in counseling regular and special education students to promote positive cognitive, emotional and behavioral changes;
• Participates in planning and decision-making as a member of Individual Education Plan teams and other decision-making teams;
• Plans and implements intervention strategies to facilitate positive academic and behavioral changes within the individual or group;
• Plans and develops education evaluation referrals with the Individual Education Plan managers, so that evaluations are comprehensive and include all the elements specified by the State of Illinois;
• Coordinates assessment summary report writing with the Individual Education Plan managers;
• Provides psychological services to special education students as directed by the student's IEP;
• Provides behavioral support and crisis intervention, as needed;
• Provides one-to-one and group counseling to students, provides crisis services to students, and attends a variety of meetings including regular staff meetings and mental health committee meetings;
• Provides problem-solving consultation at Individual Education Plan meetings, as well as assistance in similar meetings or situations.
• Provides social and life skills lessons, both group and individual, as needed;
• Reminds staff of when reevaluations, such as Individual Education Plan assessments, are due;
• Responsible for arriving at multiple worksites which usually means driving between various work sites;
• Reviews and communicates the Federal and State regulations regarding services for children with Special Education needs;
• Reviews educational records of students as needed to determine patterns of behavioral and academic functioning, school attendance, prior interventions, etc., and communicate the results of the examination of records to the appropriate school personnel;
• Reviews the results of individual student performance at the District's kindergarten screening and communicates the results to the child's parents and District Administration;
• Reviews files, and interviews staff and parents as components of the assessment process;
• Serve as a member of the building student assistance team, participating in team consultation and problem solving regarding students' academic and behavioral functioning within the school setting;
• Serves as case manager and coordinator for Individual Education Plan Team evaluations as assigned;
• Works as part of an educational team, and consults with other school personnel, children and parents in providing services to students;
• May represent the District as the administrative designee at staff meetings;
• Performs other related duties as assigned.