School Social Worker

Position Purpose 
School psychologists provide direct and/or indirect support and interventions to students, consult with teachers, families, and other school-employed mental health professionals (i.e., school counselors, school social workers) to improve support strategies, work with school administrators to improve school-wide practices and policies, and collaborate with community providers to coordinate needed services. Through their work, school psychologists help SCRED member districts and buildings successfully implement a multi-tiered system of supports (MTSS) framework in order to: improve academic achievement, promote positive behavior and mental health, support diverse learners, create safe, positive school climates, strengthen family-school partnerships, improve school-wide assessment and accountability, and monitor individual student progress in academics and behavior.

Essential Duties

• MTSS Implementation
  • Promote and assist in effective and efficient school-wide implementation of an MTSS framework for both academics and social emotional learning, in partnership with building administrators and teams
  • Facilitate the problem solving team (PST) in each building, ensuring that each PST is:
    • using standard data for decision making
    • defining problems in observable and measurable terms
    • collecting sufficient information for intervention planning
    • developing detailed intervention plans
    • evaluating integrity of implementation
    • supporting classroom teachers or interventionists in data collection activities
    • graphing intervention effectiveness
  • Participate in various data team meetings within each building
  • Provide consultation to parents and/or teachers regarding social emotional learning and/or academic difficulties, utilizing the SCRED 5-step problem-solving model: Problem Identification, Problem Analysis, Plan Development, Plan Implementation, and Plan Evaluation
  • Assist in conducting needs assessments to support various resource allocation and/or programming decisions
• Special Education Leadership
  • Facilitate Student Support Team (SST) meetings
  • Attend special education department meetings
  • Serve as a liaison between SCRED and its member districts, in promotion of a positive, collaborative culture
  • Provide consultation on special education due process to staff and parents
  • Assist in the improvement of special education services (e.g., program evaluation, evaluation/service process, resource allocation, transitions), under the direction of SCRED Administration and the principal
  • Facilitate the child find process by assisting in responding to referrals for initial special education evaluations for students suspected of having disabilities
  • Assist in coordinating the reevaluation process for students receiving special education and related services
  • Administer and interpret intellectual ability tests, social behavior assessments, and adaptive assessments as part of comprehensive evaluations for current and potential special education students when necessary
  • Assist in the planning process for the provision of Extended School Year (ESY) services in building(s)/district of assignment
  • Assist with facilitating transition planning, including attending IEP meetings (as needed) for children moving from ECSE programs to kindergarten, elementary to secondary, or between buildings and programs
  • Support special education staff in reviewing progress monitoring data on IEP goals and designing appropriate interventions
  • Assist with state compliance review activities, including the implementation of any resulting corrective action plans
  • Serve as an active member of the SCRED Implementation Team (I-Team)
  • Plan and implement professional learning opportunities at SCRED and building(s)/district of assignment
• Academic Assessment and Services
  • Support building-wide academic screening processes
  • Complete diagnostic assessments in reading, math and written expression, as deemed appropriate by the Problem Solving Team or Student Support Team
  • Develop, implement and monitor the fidelity of academic interventions, as requested
  • Assist in ensuring compliance with child find requirements related to the implementation of Scientific Research-Based Interventions
• Social Emotional Learning (SEL) Assessment and Services
  • Provide direct SEL services to individuals, small groups, classrooms or school-wide, as requested
  • Provide direct counseling services to individuals or groups, as requested
  • Complete mental health screenings and assist students,  families, and school staff in determining appropriate mental health supports, both internally and through outside agencies
  • Complete function-based behavior assessments (FBAs), when deemed appropriate by the Problem Solving Team or Student Support Team
  • Assist in the development of Behavior Support Plans (BSPs), in collaboration with special education staff to write Behavior Support Plans, and track BSPs data with integrity checks
  • Gather and organize data to assist teams in making manifestation determination, when needed
  • Provide behavior consultation services to general education and special education staff
• Crisis Response Services
  • Facilitate crisis response procedures and participate in the school’s crisis team at the discretion of the building principal
  • Provide consultation in crisis prevention and response
  • Complete student risk assessments when necessary
  • Assist in completing student threat assessment activities when necessary
  • Provide an immediate response to students, families, and school staff in crisis situations and determine when a referral to an outside agency is needed
• Other Duties
  • Perform other duties as assigned