Please note this page and the individual site pages are being continuously updated for the 2023 match. Check back frequently and contact Dr. Harris (skharri@ilstu.edu) with any questions.
Applicants are free to apply to as many of the internship opportunities described below as they would like. Each internship experience has a separate match code which can be ranked independently of one another in the match; however applicants need submit only one on-line application.
Click on “More about this internship” links to learn more about the experiences of interns in each of these sites, view the “virtual tour,” and review benefits offered to interns.
“I am involved in weekly team meetings for each classroom, consultation opportunities on a daily basis, and training in crisis intervention. I also have the opportunity to be involved and gain experience with family therapy sessions.”
District 113 – Deerfield High School (Deerfield)
**UPDATE: 10/12/23** We regret to announce that District 113 will not be recruiting for interns for the 2024-2025 year. Township High School District 113 is located in the north suburban area of Chicago. It is comprised of two high schools in Highland Park and Deerfield. District 113 strives to create caring learning communities that recognize relationships as the foundation of learning. All interns engage in a diverse array of experiences; the internship plan is individualized to address areas of interest and opportunities for personal development. The internship experience will occur at Deerfield High School. Stipend $27,000. More about this internship
District 15 (Palatine)
Community Consolidated School District 15 serves over 12,000 students in grades Pre-K through 8th in seven northwest suburban communities: Palatine, Rolling Meadows, Hoffman Estates, Inverness, South Barrington, Arlington Heights, and Schaumburg. The district is located about 35 miles northwest of Chicago, IL. The student population is diverse with over 75 languages or dialects spoken. All buildings have a well developed MTSS for academic, social, emotional, and behavioral needs. A focus of the internship involves working with diverse populations to provide culturally responsive practices for students and families. Opportunities include facilitation of evidence-based instructional and mental health practices, systems-level consultation, and leadership with MTSS and PBIS. The typical week includes 3 days at Winston Campus Elementary and Jr. High school, and 2 days providing district-level coaching for mental health supports and program evaluation. Finally, the internship can include one day at a high school setting for at least 20 days within District 211 in the Palatine area. Stipend $23,000. More about this internship
Division of Disability Resources & Educational Services (DRES) at the University of Illinois and the University of Illinois Laboratory High School (Champaign/Urbana)
DRES provides support services for almost 3000 undergraduate and graduate students with a wide range of disabilities attending the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. Interns’ responsibilities include conducting diagnostic interviews, individual psychotherapy, group therapy, and neuropsychological assessments for diverse clientele with learning disabilities, autism spectrum disorder, psychological disorders, ADHD, acquired brain injury, physical disabilities, and chronic medical conditions. Interns also have opportunities to gain supervision skills and participate in research and training. During the school year, interns spend three days per week at the University of Illinois Laboratory High School, often referred to as Uni High, which is located immediately adjacent to the University of Illinois campus. A school with approximately 300 students, Uni High selectively enrolls academically talented students. Uni High offers a unique opportunity for interns to learn and specialize in activities related to gifted and talented programming. Interns will have the opportunity to develop expertise in the delivery of psychological services within schools including prevention, consultation, assessment, and intervention activities to address student academic, behavioral, social, emotional, or mental health needs. Stipend: $20,000. More about this internship
Southern Illinois University Edwardsville/Metro East Public Schools (Edwardsville)**Updated for 2024-2025!
Each year, SIUE and a local school district partner on the doctoral internship experience. Our current partners are the Edwardsville Community Unit School District #7 and the Triad Community Unit School District #2. The psychology intern spends approximately 3 days per week in that year’s partnering school district and the remainder of their time at Southern Illinois University Edwardsville (SIUE). During the summer months, the intern typically spends three days per week at SIUE and two days per week in district. Scheduling is fluctuated as needed to accommodate ISPIC training activities, conference attendance, and other needs. Interns must pass a background check and maintain their own malpractice and health insurance. Stipend: $23,000
Evergreen Coaching and Counseling Services, Inc. and the Vermilion Association for Special Education (Champaign/Urbana/Danville)
Evergreen Coaching and Counseling Services, Inc., is a dynamic private practice that serves a variety of clients in Champaign-Urbana, but also surrounding counties. The clinical opportunities available through Evergreen are broad and diverse. A large portion of the clinical work done by staff at Evergreen are State-contracted evaluations, though Evergreen also fields referrals from the University of Illinois, local school districts, hospital systems, and community members for the evaluation and treatment of children and adults. In addition to evaluation services, staff at Evergreen carry caseloads of clients seeking mental health counseling and academic coaching. Vermilion Association for Special Education (VASE) is a Special Education Cooperative serving 10 rural community districts in Vermilion County surrounding the city of Danville, IL. VASE also houses a therapeutic day school program designed to serve students who are struggling with a variety of special education disabilities and, whose needs cannot be adequately met in their home school districts. VASE provides a unique opportunity for interns to learn and specialize in activities related to rural school psychology with students with diverse needs and social-economic statuses. Danville is approximately thirty (30) miles east of Champaign, IL. Interns spend 2 days a week at Evergreen and 3 days a week in a school setting through VASE during the school year. During the summer the intern typically works 32 hours at Evergreen with 8 hours available for dissertation work and training. The full stipend is $20,000. Interns maintain their own malpractice coverage. More about this internship.
LaGrange Area Department of Special Education (LaGrange)
LADSE is a special education joint agreement in the west suburbs of Chicago. It includes 13 elementary and 2 high school districts that serve a general education population of approximately 40,000 students and a population of approximately 5,000 students with disabilities. The population tends to be diverse in languages, SES, and student ability. LADSE brings a vision and primary value of inclusive education to the consortium. The LADSE intern engages in curriculum-based assessment, as well as functional, play-based, and norm-referenced assessment. Academic and behavioral assessment is conducted within an ecological framework using a data-based decision making model. The internship position exists within the Early Childhood Education (ECE) program settings and among the cooperative districts. Internship opportunities include engaging in school psychological services in a variety of self-contained multi-district programs (serving students with autism, emotional/behavioral disabilities, phonological disorders, deaf and hard of hearing, and multiple disabilities) in addition to K-Grade 12 school psychology services in a range of school environments. These opportunities involve participating in a variety of coaching and consultation activities in addition to the primary placement within ECE. The stipend is $20,000 and includes full benefits (individual coverage). More about this internship.
Livingston County Special Services Unit (Flanagan)
Livingston County Special Services Unit (LCSSU) is a cooperative located approximately 40 minutes from Bloomington/Normal. The cooperative is known for its progressive practices and its history of training school psychology doctoral and specialist level interns. Several member districts are working to perfect their MTSS systems for academic and social-emotional supports. Interns are encouraged to individualize their internship plans relative to their training needs and interests. There are a number of professional opportunities available that can lead to a well-rounded internship experience. Interns have the opportunity to serve students across all levels of academic and social-emotional need. Individualized training experiences typically include counseling, transdisciplinary play-based assessments, serving our specialized school programs for children with autism spectrum, communication, or social-emotional/ behavioral disorders, and assisting with all stages of our universal social-emotional- behavioral screenings. Interns are provided laptops, iPads, clerical support, and assessment and intervention materials. Interns must provide their own transportation, but receive mileage reimbursement for travel associated with the internship. Stipend: $30,000 with reimbursement for student insurance costs. More about this internship.
Maine District 207: Maine East High School & Maine West (NEW)
Maine Township High School District serves over 6,500 culturally diverse students in Des Plaines and Park Ridge as well as parts of other neighboring communities. Maine Township High Schools are acknowledged to be among the nation’s best. There are two different internship opportunities available in Maine Township-Maine East and Ralph J. Frost Academy. Stipend: $20,000. More about these internships
Maine East High School is widely acknowledged to be one of the most culturally rich, ethnically and socioeconomically diverse high schools in the country. Having over fifty different languages and nationalities and a range of socioeconomically classes well represented, interns have the opportunity to have many unique and challenging experiences. The faculty and staff embrace diversity and are committed to facing the challenges of this unique population. You will find Maine East to be a very stimulating educational environment that offers interns a variety of school and clinical psychology opportunities with a depth of supervision. Interns leave Maine East confident in their therapy, assessment, and consultation skills due to the range, depth, and complexity of their experiences at Maine East.
Maine West High School is a high school located 30 minutes from Chicago. It serves the Des Plaines, IL community. Maine West serves about 2,000 students. The student demographics make up a diverse ethnic population with a range of socioeconomic backgrounds. 14% of the students are identified as multilingual learners and families have indicated a variety of languages spoken in the home. District 207 understands that “getting it right for every student” is a complex endeavor that requires support and attention that goes well beyond academics. School is a student’s home away from home … and just like at home, the adults need to continue their learning journeys (Adult Learning) to meet the changing needs of the family. District 207 strives to meet every student where they are (Multi-Tiered Systems of Support) to help them reach their fullest potential.
More about this internship
Township High School District 211 High School and Academy (Palatine)
District 211 High School Track: The D211 High School Track internship is focused on providing an intern therapeutic, consultative, and assessment experience in a fast-paced, large, innovative high school setting with diverse population needs. This experience honors the intricacy of translating clinical experience into the educational setting and is balanced with a leadership role in assessing students whose medical, functional, emotional, or behavioral needs extend beyond the expansive programming offered in the district. The intern can expect an overall well-rounded internship experience with opportunities engaging within the continuum of special education services at a large public high school setting as well as district-level case study responsibilities. Upon completion, high school track interns will have gained significant experience and broadened their knowledge of both therapy and assessment. It is anticipated that the intern will feel confident in conducting challenging case study evaluations, reporting results, and writing a comprehensive psychological report that will ultimately benefit the student and all those involved. The intern will also be involved crisis intervention including threat assessment, suicide assessment, and mandated reporting. Interns will also have experience maintaining a diverse caseload of special education and regulation education students for individual counseling as well as co-facilitating a therapeutic group on a weekly basis. Lastly, interns will gain significant experience functioning in a leadership role for IEP teams and with collaborating on multidisciplinary teams focused on building wide and district wide prevention and intervention efforts. We recognize that every intern will have had varying experiences and prior training, therefore, flexibility is built-in to this internship experience to intentionally provide new learning experiences for the student. Stipend: $28,000 plus full benefits. More about this internship.
District 211 Academy Track: The D211 Academy Track is focused on providing an intern experience in a smaller, cohesive educational setting with intensive therapeutic support tailored to meet the individual needs of the special education population it serves. The intern can expect an overall well-rounded internship experience with opportunities both at the therapeutic school as well as district-level case study responsibilities. Interns will gain valuable experience with specialized testing with unique low incidence student populations. At the end of internship, the intern will feel confident in conducting challenging case study evaluations, reporting results, and writing a comprehensive psychological report that will ultimately benefit the student and all those involved. At the therapeutic school, interns will also be involved with student crises which may require threat assessment, suicide assessment, and team response to maximize student safety. Interns will also have experience maintaining a small caseload of students for individual counseling as well as co-facilitating a therapeutic group on a daily basis. We recognize that every intern will have had varying experiences and prior training, therefore, flexibility is built-in to this internship experience to purposely provide new learning experiences for the student. Stipend: $28,000 plus full benefits. More about this internship.
SIU School of Medicine & Springfield Public Schools (Springfield)
The Springfield District 186/SIU School of Medicine site provides a unique blend of training experiences in schools and in an academic outpatient medical setting. Interns spend half their time in the Springfield public schools and half their time at SIU in the new St. John’s Women and Children’s Clinic. Because school activities are limited over the summer, the intern will spend 3 days/week in the schools and 2 days/week at SIU during the school year. During the summer, the intern will spend 5 days/week at SIU. Interns will need to maintain their own malpractice insurance and health insurance. Springfield District 186 takes pride in offering a variety of programs and internship experiences involved in meeting the needs of a diverse, urban student body, as well as a large private/parochial student population in the community for which special education diagnostics and services are provided by the district. The district is committed to progressive, research-based practices designed to improve achievement for all students. Interns become involved in diagnostic, consultation, prevention, direct service and crisis intervention roles while working in coordination with their school psychology supervisor. Throughout the year, activities are designed to promote increasing independence of the intern as deemed appropriate by both the supervisor and the intern. SIU School of Medicine encompasses a complete sequence of programs beginning with undergraduate medical education and progresses through residency training, fellowships and continuing education for practicing physicians. Psychology interns provide developmental screenings for at-risk infants and toddlers (ages 6-months to 3-years) in the Developmental Continuity Clinic. They also provide evaluation, therapy, and consultation services through the outpatient Psychology Clinic, with patients typically ranging in age from 24 months up to 18 years. Common referral concerns include Autism Spectrum Disorder, ADHD, learning disabilities, anxiety/depression, and behavioral problems. Interns gradually become involved in teaching medical students and residents through their clinical activities, and there are many opportunities for multidisciplinary consultation and collaboration with medical providers. Stipend $23,000. More about this internship
Southeastern Illinois System of Care; Egyptian/WOVSED.
Egyptian Public & Mental Health Department (EHD) and Wabash Ohio Valley Special Education District (WOVSED) co-lead one of the Southeastern Illinois System of Care sites. The Southeastern Illinois System of Care is made up of organizations that collaborate and partner together to meet the needs of children, adolescents, and families that have a variety of needs. Training within this site will provide contact to and coordination with many other service organizations within the network in order to serve children and families. Interns will spend time within both school and clinical settings that engage in a collaborative, multi-tiered system of service provision.
Egyptian Public & Mental Health Department (EHD) is a community-based behavioral health agency located in southern Illinois that serves clients of all ages with a variety of needs related to mental health and substance use. With over 160 staff members, 40 staff working within the Child & Adolescent Division, and 70 years serving the community, EHD currently serves as the lead agency for the Project Connect and Integrated Care for Kids (InCK) and Adults (InCA) systems of care for mental health for the southeastern region.
Wabash Ohio Valley Special Education District (WOVSED) is a special education joint agreement between 21 school districts located across southeastern Illinois. WOVSED provides special education services and resources to the students, parents, teachers, and administrators within the area. Stipend: $23,000 with 15 holidays as well as vacation, sick, and personal time. More about this internship.