Internship in School Psychology
2010-2012
Selected Fridays 9:00-12:50
01-4287

Suzanne Bamonto (Graney), Ph.D.
Office: Bldg. 1, Room 4287
Phone: 475-2765
Cell: 797-7938
sbggsp@rit.edu

Course Description:

The 1200 hour internship is the culminating experience in the school psychology program.  It provides an intensive, supervised training experience in which interns put the knowledge, skills and attitudes learned during their training program into practice while continuing to develop and expand upon those abilities.  The internship year is a broad-based, individualized experience that provides an opportunity to work with a variety of children, parents, teachers, support staff and administrators.  Interns are exposed to a variety of educational meetings, programs, workshops, resources, and conferences through their internship sites.  Monthly class seminars supplement the supervised training experience.

Possible Resources:

Thomas, A., & Grimes, J. (2008). Best practices in school psychology V.  Washington, D.C.: NASP.

NASP Position Statements and Fact Sheets (as assigned)

Additional readings as assigned drawn from current issues of the Communique and the School Psychology Review.  Interns need to join NASP if not already members.

Content and Methods:

The intern participates in a supervised school psychology internship five days per week for three consecutive quarters.  The intern follows the local school district calendar for the 10-month period.  RIT holidays and breaks do not apply during the internship unless they happen to coincide with the district holiday schedule.  With supervision and direction from the internship site supervisor, the intern participates actively in the various tasks and daily activities of the psychologist in the schools.  In addition, on-campus seminars and on-line discussions will provide a gathering time to discuss and supplement each student’s field experience.  Students are encouraged to use this group time to share ideas, raise questions, and state concerns.  Interns are expected to attend all classes regardless of whether they fall on district holidays.  Please plan vacation activities around both class and district schedules.

Specific Requirements:

1.  Core Internship Plan (CIP)

During September, interns will consult with field placement supervisors and discuss the Core Internship Plan (CIP) and develop any additional activities for internship. This plan should include the following information:

1. A cover page that includes your supervisor’s name, address and contact information, as well as your own; and a signature page that you, your supervisor, and the internship coordinator will sign.

2. A schedule of the intern’s employment hours and exact building assignments, and the school district calendar including vacation days, inservice meetings, etc.

3. A general overview of your role and responsibilities.  Ideally, you should strive to gain some experience at each level of your school system from preschool (if available) to high school.  Please try to build that varied experience into your internship plan.  It may be best to rotate to other settings in your district in the spring, after you have established yourself in your primary setting.

A copy of this plan is due to the instructor at the beginning of the October meeting.

2.  Daily Logs

Each intern will maintain a log which reflects the intern’s daily schedule of appointments and activities.  Clearly list the times and activities (assessment, consultation, counseling, meetings, etc.).  The log is intended to summarize, in brief, the intern’s day-to-day activities.  At the end of each month, have your supervisor initial your summary log.  Logs of the previous month will be collected at each class meeting.  It is suggested that the intern keep logs in loose leaf notebooks that can be supplemented from month to month.  The log will be reviewed by supervisors for evaluation and planning purposes, by the intern as a self-evaluation and planning tool, and by the school for accountability purposes. The log form is provided in the Internship Handbook.

1. Cumulative Summary 

Each intern will document professional activities, including assessment, counseling, and intervention on an ongoing basis. A form for documenting activities will be provided. This updated form is to be turned in monthly to the RIT Internship Coordinator.

1. Semi-weekly Reflective Summaries

You will write three reflections per month. These reflections will be posted on myCourses. See the myCourses outline for due dates. Each month, you will submit one drop box reflection that only you and the instructor can access; one discussion with your peers; and several days before each class you will be required to post a question that will be discussed in class.

You may want to reflect on an experience with a particular case, and describe alternative approaches you might have taken.  You may describe a research idea that comes out of your internship, discuss an ethical or legal dilemma you have encountered, or present a concern you have for a best practice in your district.  You may also use your journal to reflect on your own progress toward your internship training goals.  The entries will be submitted electronically every other Friday and may serve as a basis for future seminar discussions.  When appropriate, you may share these with your classmates on your class list.  Please also make a hard copy of each journal entry and include it in your internship notebook.

Your journal can be written on topics of your choice. On some weeks, particular topics may be assigned. During the early weeks of the fall quarter, please be sure to include in your discussion your initial impressions of your setting. Describe your physical environment, and the cast of characters you will work with this year. Describe the formal power structure of your school system and your building or buildings. Make a preliminary description (guess) of the informal power structure. Also, list or discuss your early impressions of the positive factors in your setting that will enable you to meet your training goals this year. Try to identify any anticipated impediments to your progress and suggest how you might deal with them.

Please also make a hard copy of each drop box reflection and include it in your internship notebook.

1. Site Visits 

In the fall or winter, the internship instructor will meet with the intern and the site supervisor.  Site visits for long-distance internships may be conducted via telephone.  Additional site visits may be requested by the intern, the on-site supervisor or the instructor as needed.

1. Case Study Presentations

Please bring interesting or troubling cases to our monthly on-campus seminars.  Allowing each of you an informal place to discuss difficult cases is the most important function of the seminar.  In addition, choose two intervention cases to present to your classmates formally.  These presentations will be ongoing throughout the year.  Interns need to sign up in advance to present a case at one of our monthly meetings. Plan to deliver each presentation within a 15-minute time period.

Case Study 1: Academic Intervention
Choose one intervention case directed at increasing a child’s academic skills.  This could be an intervention that you have implemented yourself, or one that a teacher or other staff member has implemented in response to a collaborative problem-solving process.  You should have been involved in the design and/or implementation of the intervention.  In your presentation explain the reason for referral, the intervention plan, strategies used and the student progress toward goals.  At the time of this case presentation, please bring a description of one or more activities that you have used or observed that seemed to be effective.  Briefly review the activity with your classmates.  Make copies to distribute to your classmates.

Case Study 2: Behavioral/Social-Emotional Intervention
Choose one intervention case directed at increasing a child’s behavior and/or social-emotional functioning (e.g., individual or group counseling, FBA, social skills group, etc.).  In your presentation explain the reason for referral, your intervention plan, strategies used and the student(s) progress toward goals.  At the time of this case presentation, please bring a description of one or more activities that you have used or observed that seemed to be effective.  Briefly review the activity with your classmates.  Make copies to distribute to your classmates.

1. Portfolio Case Study 

This case study will describe an actual case that you have completed using systematic and structured problem-solving procedures. The case study will be evaluated according to the Case Study Rubric. You may use one of the cases you chose to present in class (as per #6 above) as long as it meets the requirements for the Portfolio Case Study. Your academic advisor will supervise and evaluate the development of your Portfolio Case Study. Be sure to contact your advisor during the Fall quarter to begin the process of developing your case study report.

1. Inservice Delivery Project

Develop and present an inservice training in your school district.  Your presentation may be made to general or special education teachers or paraprofessionals, parents, or other school staff (e.g., janitors, cafeteria workers, bus drivers).  Consult with your site supervisor to help you determine what topics are of interest, what information is needed and what is workable in your district.  Your 15-20 minute presentation in our seminar class will highlight the inservice in enough detail that classmates could replicate it in another district.  Your presentation should include an overview of what you prepared and delivered, your reasons for choosing this topic, all materials and handouts you prepared, and an evaluation of your inservice.

7.  Praxis School Psychology Exam

Interns need to sit for the Praxis School Psychology subject exam before the end of the internship year.  Information on registering for and taking this exam is posted in the Content section of myCourses Internship I.  This exam is required by NASP for your National School Psychology Certification (NCSP).  Provide a copy of your score report as evidence that you have taken the exam.

Class and Assignment Schedule:

Evaluation:

Evaluation is an ongoing process involving your self-evaluation and feedback from your on-site supervisor(s) and the internship instructor.  The intern should seek regular discussion of activities and progress.  Final evaluation of the intern is based on this ongoing feedback process.  Supervision notes and the evaluation report completed quarterly by the on-site supervisor assessing your progress toward the IPP goals will be reviewed.  You need to meet face-to-face with your site supervisor to review and sign this evaluation before it is submitted.  The intern’s logs and journal entries, special projects, and appropriate samples of written work and psychological reports will be considered.  No passing grades for the internship will be issued before all required projects are evaluated as satisfactory.  Grades will be lowered one letter grade for each week any written work is delayed past the due date on this syllabus.

Grades will be weighted approximately as follows:

Major projects and assignments (CIP, Case Studies, Inservice)                     20%
Logs, journal articles, and class participation                                                 20%