CLASS OF ’08 UPDATES!
RIT School Psychology students are required to fulfill three practica experiences over two years. The Class of ’08 is currently at their second practicum site (school). Practica experiences allow for students to get hands-on experience with the roles, responsibilities, and functions of school personnel and the operation of interdisciplinary teams through both observation and participation. Throughout these practica experiences, students also have the opportunity to familiarize themselves with available school and community resources. The practica requires students to be at their designated school for six hours per week, and are supervised by a certified and experienced school psychologist.
Valerie Beaman:
My practicum is at Brooks Hill Elementary School. My Thesis Advisor is Dr. Pandolfi. My Thesis topic will focus on social comparison theory and how it accounts for academic self-concept in gifted children.
Lindsey Calabrese:
My current practicum site is at Paul Road Elementary School in the Gates Chili school district. Under the advisement of Dr. Pandolfi, I am studying the use of the Self Directed Search as an intervention technique to facilitate career decision making for adolescents in special education.
Loni Coleman:
I am currently at Fairport's Minerva DeLand school and my supervisor is Dave Thomas. I will be doing my winter practicum at Franklin in the city. Dr. Graney is my thesis advisor and I plan on using the Reading First data from the Rochester City Schools to look at the relationship between the amount teachers read out loud to their students and the students' Oral Reading Fluency achievement.
Kim Davis:
This quarter my practicum placement is at Plank Road North Elementary School in the Webster Central School District. I am working with Dr. Graney on my thesis. In general, my thesis is going to look at how students’ scores on the DRA and DIBELS predict ELA scores. I am really enjoying the RIT School Psychology program so far.
Jennifer Leone:
I am currently placed at Oliver Middle School in the Brockport School District. My thesis advisor is Dr. Scott Merydith, and I am looking at the assessment of Bipolar Disorder in children and adolescents. Oftentimes, it is difficult to distinguish between Bipolar Disorder and ADHD in youth because of several overlapping symptoms (e.g. hyperactivity and impulsivity). So the purpose of my study is to determine if there is a rating scale that successfully discriminates between Bipolar Disorder and ADHD in children and adolescents. I will be taking a closer look at the Mood and Behavior Rating Scale for Youth (MBRSY) and the CBCL, and how these two instruments go about distinguishing bipolar from ADHD in youths.
Cathy Lesio:
I am currently placed at Williamson High School with Sue Mintz. My thesis advisor is Jennifer Lukomski. My thesis topic surrounds the School Psychologist's role in providing Mental Health services to students, and whether current practice follows recent legislation.
Emily Lewandowski:
I am currently at JP Middle School in Fairport. I am in Suzanne Graney's research group, and my thesis looks into the implementation of reading interventions, and specifically what teachers are doing to make them work.
Casey Lewis:
My current practicum site is in the Rochester City School District at School #50. My thesis advisor is Dr. Graney and my study examines current teachers' attitudes and perceptions of English phonology and teaching reading as related to student outcomes.
Becca Mowell:
I am currently at the Rochester School for the Deaf for my second practicum site. My thesis advisor is Dr. Lukomski, and I will be focusing on the relationship between deafness and attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder rating scales.
Laura Nemcek:
My current practicum placement is at the School of the Arts (SOTA), which is a unique middle and high school within the Rochester City School District. To attend SOTA, students are required to audition in an area of the arts, and be accepted into one of six major programs. SOTA students pursue their arts majors in addition to traditional academics. For my research thesis, I am under the advisement of Dr. Scott Merydith. For my thesis, I will be looking at the assessment of bipolar disorder in children and adolescents. Bipolar disorder within this young population has received a great deal of attention as of late, and has been accompanied by a number screening and diagnostic issues. It appears that straightforward, brief, and psychometrically sound parent report questionnaires for bipolar disorder in children are lacking. Therefore, my thesis will be a validity study that addresses the factor structure of a newly developed parent questionnaire for assessing bipolar disorder in children and adolescents.
Alex Popa:
I am currently placed at Oakfield-Alabama Central for my second practicum site. My thesis advisor is Dr. Merydith and my topic is on emotional face recognition and how it is related to executive functioning ability.
Sandra Schwartz:
Currently I am doing my practicum at Lois E. Bird and could not be happier! Rebecca Etlinger, my supervisor, is wonderful. We do a lot of counseling- both individual and group, a lot of teacher consultation, and schoolwide PBIS. She is extremely knowledgeable and shares a lot of great advice with me about the field of school psychology! My thesis advisor is Jennifer Lukomski. My topic involves the journal writing literature, positive psychology and gratitude. I am examining the idea of adolescents writing about gratitude as a way to have them think about the goodness in their lives. My hypothesis is that when adolescents write about people or experiences they are grateful about, they will show decreased amounts of stress and an increase in positive mood.
Annmarie Schimmel:
I am currently placed at Parkland/Brookside Elementary School in Greece and have had the opportunity to work at both sites. I am extremely interested in working with the kindergarten through second grade population and have found this to be a great learning experience. I am also in Dr. Meredith's research group and am working on my thesis in the area of career assessment. I am planning on creating a survey to be sent to School Psychologists around the nation in order to assess how much career and other planning they do as a part of the transitional planning process from school to work or postsecondary education. As a group we are also currently administering Career Assessments to RIT freshmen as part of their Exploring Majors Class.
Chris Singer:
My current practicum placement is at Midlakes Intermediate school in the Phelps-Clifton Spring School District. I am working with Dr. Suzanne Graney on my thesis which is researching the predictive validity of the Child Observation Record (COR) as a tool for assessing early literacy in preschool children.
Cara Stromberg:
My current practicum site is Geneseo Central School District. It is a rural, K-12 placement. My supervisor is very interested in Curriculum Based Measurement (CBM) and Response to Intervention (RTI), so it is a good placement that is trying to keep up with the changing times. My thesis advisor is Dr. Merydith, and my thesis topic has to do with career aspirations and how parent expectations about future career choice may influence typically developing children and children with Learning Disabilities differently.
Evan Townsend:
Currently I am placed in Caledonia-Mumford CSD, part of my responsibilities are re-evaluations, group counseling and training special education teachers in progress monitoring and benchmarking using Curriculum Based Measurement. I will be attending Greece Central School District, Parkland-Brookside Campus next quarter. Dr. Pandolfi is my thesis advisor, my topic is "The application of Social Stories as a Behavior Management Technique for HFA and Asperger's Syndrome."
Erin Wright:
My current practicum site is West Irondequoit Elementary (I travel to like 5 different schools, but they are all West Irondequoit elementary schools)...confusing, I know! My thesis examines the relationship between participating in divorce support groups in elementary/middle school and the later adjustment of college age students whose parents were divorced.
Adrienne Zonneville:
My current practicum placement is at the Happiness House in Geneva. I am a member of Dr. Graney's thesis group. For my thesis, I am going to be looking at the relationship between Oral Reading Fluency (ORF) and the Developmental Reading Assessment (DRA) and High Stakes Tests, specifically the English Language Arts (ELA) exam in fourth grade. From examining ORF and DRA data, I am hoping to identify benchmark levels that can be used to predict passing grades on the fourth grade ELA.
