School Psychologist - Districtwide

POSITION:           School Psychologist

REPORTS TO:       Exceptional Children’s Director

SALARY GRADE:   School Psychologists Salary Schedule as Determined by NCDPI

NATURE OF WORK: School psychologists help students succeed academically, socially, and emotionally. They collaborate with educators, administrators, families, and other mental health professionals to create safe, healthy, and supportive learning environments for all students and strengthen connections between home and school.

ILLUSTRATIVE EXAMPLES OF WORK: Additional duties may be assigned.

Identification, Evaluation, and Planning 

Professional Legal, Ethical, and Professional Practice 

• Practice in ways that meet all appropriate ethical, professional, and legal standards. 
• Understand and apply federal, state, and local policies and regulations in the delivery of school psychological services. 

• Maintain confidentiality of student records and information. 
• Use technology in ways that are consistent with ethical and responsible professional practice. 

Student Diversity in Development and Learning

• Recognize issues of diversity that affect routine interactions with other people and organizations. 

• Modify or adapt routine practice to effectively meet these diverse needs. 
• Demonstrate sensitivity and skills needed to work with families, students, and staff from diverse cultures and backgrounds. 

Information Technology 

• Establish and maintain expertise in using technology such as data management, report writing, web pages, literature reviews, and data analysis. 
• Use spreadsheets or other software programs to organize and graphically display data and monitor progress when appropriate for use at the system, building, and individual student level. 

Research and Program Evaluation 

• Evaluate and synthesize a cumulative body of research findings as a foundation for effective service delivery. 
• Collect, analyze, and interpret program evaluation data in applied settings. 
• Evaluate the effectiveness of school-based intervention plans. 
• School Systems Organizational Change, Policy Development, and School Climate 
• Understand the organization of schools and systems change to provide leadership in developing and implementing early intervention and prevention programs. 
• Demonstrate knowledge and leadership when assisting in the development of school policy that impacts student learning and safety. 
• Demonstrate knowledge of school and classroom climates and use such knowledge

Home/School/Community Collaboration 

• Use empirically supported strategies to design, implement, and evaluate effective policies. 

• Employ practices that promote home, school, and community partnerships and enhance learning and mental health goals for students. 
• Identify diverse cultural issues, situations, and other factors that influence family, school, and community interactions and address such issues when developing and providing services. 

Enhancement of Student Wellness, Social Skills, and Life Competencies 

• Demonstrate knowledge regarding the social, affective, and adaptive domains of child development. 

• Identify and apply sound principles of behavior change within these domains to assist in designing and implementing prevention and intervention programs.

Enhancement of Student Cognitive and Academic Skills 

• Help schools develop challenging, but achievable, cognitive and academic goals for all students. 

• Collaborate with others to develop appropriate cognitive and academic goals for students with different abilities, disabilities, strengths, needs, and develop interventions to achieve these goals. 
• Implement appropriate and alternative ways to monitor and assess the effectiveness of interventions and individual student progress toward goals. 
• Assess students’ cognitive abilities using a variety of instruments and techniques that are appropriate for the individual student. 

Systems-Based Service Delivery

• Provide leadership in developing a safe, caring, and inviting school with a sense of community where contributions of all persons are valued, where there are high expectations.

Data-Based Decision Making and Accountability

• Demonstrate expertise in collecting, managing, and interpreting various types of individual and group data. 

• Apply sound principles of data-based decision making to all aspects of practice (e.g., designing interventions, monitoring student progress, consulting with school administrators, and disseminating intervention research findings within the school setting). 

Consultation and Collaboration

• Demonstrate strong interpersonal skills and the ability to work, communicate, and 

collaborate effectively with teachers, other school staff, and families as part of a team 

within the school setting. 

• Ensure that students and families know about community services and programs and 

assist them in accessing these, as appropriate.

Prevention, Early Intervention, and Crisis Management

• Participate in planning and implementing prevention programs to address the social and 

affective needs of students (e.g., programs to address bullying, school violence, and 

school safety). 

• Have knowledge of universal screening, as well as early reading and math literacy. 
• Participate in designing prevention and intervention methods to address programs that 

influence student learning.

Group and Individual Counseling Techniques 

• Provide direct services to individuals or groups of students (e.g., counseling, crisis 

interventions, mentoring, and individual safety plans, when appropriate). 

• Consult and confer with teachers, staff, and families about strategies to facilitate the 

social and affective adjustment of students.

Promoting Safe and Effective Learning Environments 

• Participate in planning and/or implementation of school or system-level crisis response. 
• Identify resources and coordinate services with other professionals and/or agencies to 

address students’ behavioral, affective, or social needs.

PHYSICAL DEMANDS: While performing the duties of this job, the employee is regularly required to sit and talk or hear. The employee frequently is required to walk and use fingers, tools, or controls. The employee is occasionally required to stand and reach with hands and arms. Specific visual abilities required by this job include close vision, color vision, depth perception, and ability to adjust focus. Occasionally the employee will lift up to 50 lbs. such as to lift files, paper, school supplies, books, etc.

COMMUNICATION SKILLS: Requires the ability to speak and/or signal people to convey or exchange information.  Includes receiving instructions, assignments or directions from superiors. 

REASONING ABILITY: Requires the ability to apply principles of logical or scientific thinking to define problems, collect data, establish facts, and draw valid conclusions; to interpret an extensive variety of technical instructions in mathematical or diagrammatic form; and to deal with several abstract and concrete variables. 

LANGUAGE ABILITY: Requires the ability to read a variety of correspondence, reports, forms, articles, proposals, manuals, legislation, graphs, charts, etc. Requires the ability to prepare correspondence, reports, forms, charts, graphs, statistical analysis, etc., using prescribed formats and conforming to all rules of punctuation, grammar, diction and style. Requires the ability to speak to people with poise, voice control and confidence. Requires the ability to record and deliver information, to explain procedures, to follow oral and written instructions. Applicant must be able to communicate effectively and efficiently through a variety of technical and professional languages including psychometric, statistical and educational research terminology. 

WORK ENVIRONMENT: The work environment characteristics are representative of those an employee may encounter, and include a noise level that is usually moderate to loud. The employee continuously interacts with the public and staff.  Reasonable accommodations may be made to enable individuals with disabilities to perform the essential functions.

This specification has been designated to represent the general nature and level of work found in positions in this class. As such, it is not intended to contain all of the duties and qualifications required of an employee in a single position (job). Consequently, it is not to be perceived as a position (job) description or as identification of essential functions as required by ADA. 

EDUCATION AND EXPERIENCE: Have successfully completed and graduated from an accredited school psychology professional program and have completed all fieldwork requirements. 

SPECIAL REQUIREMENTS: Current license by the North Carolina Department of Public Education. 

EVALUATION: Performance in this position will be evaluated regularly by the supervisor in accordance with Board Policy.