East Central

School Psychologist
*Includes $5,000 signing bonus*

Position Location: Rush City Public Schools (Early Childhood – Grade 12)

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

This is a full -time position at the High School to start the 2021-2022 school year. The Special Education Teacher is responsible for creating a program and learning environment that provides specialized instruction for students with unique needs, such that the students benefit from the general education curriculum to the greatest extent possible. Special Education Teachers provide instruction to assigned students implementing IEPs, and prepare academic materials for students following approved curriculum. Special education case management includes preparation of IEPs, reports, assessment, and leading IEP team meetings. Experience with PBIS will be given preference. Applications will be processed as they are received.