What are the responsibilities and job description for the School Psychologist - Special Services position at Putnam City Schools?
TITLE : School Psychologist
QUALIFICATIONS : As set by state certification authorities
REPORTS TO : Special Services Director & Assistant Director
JOB GOAL : To help students through appropriate academic and behavioral intervention consultation / recommendations. To assess students through a variety of formats, identifying and determining eligibility for special education services. To provide teacher supports with a problem-solving approach through teacher training, intervention, dialogue and IEP meetings
PERFORMANCE RESPONSIBILITIES :
1. Help identify systemic patterns of student need and work with district personnel to identify appropriate, evidence-based intervention strategies
2. Guide the implementation of State, district , and team policy and procedures, i.e. referral, monitoring, data collection, evaluations, etc.
3. Help identify team training needs and assist with obtaining this training.
4. Meaningfully participates in building level community learning environn1ents to assist with the process of identifying at risk students and the skill deficits.
5. Evaluates the instructional envirorunent inorder to help identify appropriate intervention strategies, to identify barriers to interventions, and to collect data on student behavior and / or responses to intervention.
6. Works with students and their families in crisis to resolve interpersonal, family, adjustment, and learning problems through psychological counseling and / or consultation.
7. Develops school / district-wide programs which promote academic success, diversity and tolerance, psychological well-being, and safe learning environments.
8. Provide the oversight and the implementation of progress monitoring and to ensure the integration of all data into the team decision-making process.
9. Provides comprehensive evaluations, i.e., cognitive, achievement, social / emotional, adaptive behaviors, etc. required tbr eligibility dctcnnination and / or on an as needed basis.
10. Provides guidance during the eligibility detennination phase of the referral process.
11. Participates, as needed, in the construction of the student IEP with meaningful goals and objectives which represent the students academic and / or behavioral needs.
12. Assists the IEP team in the decision..making process to determine when a Functional Behavior Assessment (FBA) and a Behavior intervention Plan (BIP) is warranted.
13. Conducts and FBA through on-going data collection and helps to construct a BIP
based on the historical student records and the on-going data collection.
14. Monitors the fidelity of academic and behavioral interventions through on-going data collection.
15. Provides consultation to the general / special education teacher(s), administrator(s),
and parent(s) through intervention meetings and inclusive modalities.
16. Counsels with colleagues, students, and / or parents on a regular basis.
17. Strives to maintain and improve professional competence.
18. Attends staff meetings and serves on staff committees as required.
If hired in the capacity of a certified School Psychometrist working towards certification as a certified school psychologist, the school psychometrist responsibilities are to measure the intellectual, social, and emotional development of individuals through the administration and interpretation of psychological tests. These activities are carried out under the direction or supervision of a school psychologist. The school psychometrist shall only complete evaluations that fall within the scope of their certification.
TERMS OF EMPLOYMENT : Established by the Putnam City Board of Education
EVALUATION : Job perfonnance will be evaluated annually for tenured and semi annually for non-tenured school psychologist / psychometrics' in accordance with provisions of the Board's policy on evaluation of professional personnel.
