The mission of ISPIC is to train interns who promote the highest quality educational and mental health services for children and families. ISPIC is based on the practitioner-scientist model of training. Our goal is to educate psychologists who integrate their knowledge of scientific principles with their applied clinical skills to improve the lives of children and families. This integrated approach to science and practice promotes the development of complimentary skills fostering a career-long process of psychological investigation and intervention.
The capstone experience is intended to refine the knowledge and skills gained through training for functioning as a professional psychologist including learning the role of a psychologist in an applied setting, understanding the function of educational and human service organizations, and developing an understanding of data-based problem solving methods that are equally effective for practice-related issues as well as research. Through the financial support of the four Illinois universities, the active supervision by qualified professionals, exposure to research and practice in a variety of settings with diverse clientele, interns display competence in the eleven professional standards for credentialing school psychologists proposed by the National Association of School Psychologists. These standards are consistent with the school psychology specialty definition of the American Psychological Association.