District description
Community Consolidated School District 15 is the third largest elementary district in Illinois, serving around 12,000 students in grades Pre-K through 8th. District 15 serves all or part of 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 in the homes of students.
District 15 is committed to producing world-class learners by building a connected learning community. Schools, teachers, administrators, and support staff work together to ensure that all students enrolled in district schools receive the highest quality of educational opportunities that will not only enable them to meet or exceed state standards, but also will position them for success in future educational and career endeavors.
The district has fourteen elementary schools, five middle schools, and one preschool early childhood center and alternative public day school. Over 20% of District 15 students’ home language is other than English, and the majority of that percentage speaks Spanish in the home. The five most frequently spoken languages (after English) in descending order are Spanish, Polish, Korean, Japanese and Mandarin. Of the students, 38% are White, 34% Hispanic, 18% Asian, and 4% Black. Approximately 41% are economically disadvantaged, 30% are limited English proficient, and 13% of the students receive special education services. Additional programs and services include early intervention and transition services, community schools, transitional kindergarten, inclusion services, and programs for students with significant social, emotional, academic, and / or behavioral needs.
There are strong Muti-Tiered Systems of Support (MTSS) in District 15. Positive Behavior Intervention Supports (PBIS) is implemented throughout the district, including at the early childhood and alternative public day school. All buildings received recognition for their efforts of mental health and behavioral prevention and intervention services by the Midwest PBIS Network. The highest recognition status that recognizes schools who show strong implementation of all three tiers, have been awarded to all of the district schools. District 15 has been invited to present as an Exemplar to numerous state and national conferences on topics ranging from bully prevention, district-level PBIS growth and sustainability, FBA/BIP, Wraparound Services, and culturally responsive practices.
Internship Description
School psychologists in District 15 adhere closely to all aspects of the National Association of School Psychologist standards and follow the Multi-Tiered Systems of Support (MTSS) service delivery. The intern will provide a range of professional services including consultation, assessment, data-based decision making, and prevention and intervention practices for academic, social, and emotional programming. A focus of the internship involves working with diverse populations to provide culturally responsive practices for students and families. School psychologists help to facilitate evidence-based instructional and mental health practices at all tiers.
The typical week includes 3 days at Winston Middle School and 2 days providing coaching and consultation across the district for mental health systems, English Learner supports, and MTSS services. Interns sometimes will have the 3 days at other middle schools or elementary schools depending on the interns interests. In addition, the 2 days of district work can be building-based where the intern works with one building on systems development and implementation. Overall, this depends on the interns goals and interests. One day a week can be at the high school setting for a minimum of 20 days at one of the high schools within District 211.
The intern will share an office with his/her supervisor within the building they are assigned for 3 days. This will include a desk, file cabinets, and shared phone. The intern will have their own cubicle at the district office, the Educational Service Center (ESC). At ESC the intern will have a desk, telephone, shelving, and file cabinets. The intern will be provided with a laptop computer that includes internet access across the district and their own personal login. The intern will work at the ESC for the district coaching responsibilities and during summer months.
The direct supervisor will be Laura Swanlund, PhD, LCP, NCSP. Dr. Swanlund will provide weekly supervision and work with the intern on all district-level duties, including district consultation. Dr. Swanlund holds a district-level administration position as the Director of Comprehensive Mental Health Services. She is within the district year round. The summer months are at district office full-time and may include assisting with special education and / or at-risk summer school programs, consulting with district-level administration on improving and sustaining MTSS related practices, assisting with federal grants for mental health or MTSS services, and program evaluation including data management and analysis. The summer primarily focuses on systems development and evaluation related to PBIS, Bully Prevention, MTSS for MultilingualLearners, and other needs within the Multi-Tiered Systems of Support. The program evaluation procedures adhere closely to principals of strong action research including reliable and valid methodology, data sources, and analysis.
The intern often receives school-based supervision from a certified Bilingual School Psychologist, and they will have many opportunities for consultation and collaboration with other psychologists across the district. The department has multiple certified bilingual psychologists, and many are experienced supervisors with training on the Development, Ecological, Problem Solving model of school psychology supervision.
The internship involves innovative practices within the field of school Psychology with involvement in a wide array of evidence-based practices and programs. The highlights of the internship include many opportunities for leadership in all levels of MTSS and district-level coaching for behavioral and mental health services. At a minimum the intern will receive experience with facilitating tier 3 problem solving, wraparound, and complex behavior intervention plans. They may choose, however, to work with their building leadership to improve and sustain universal and tier 2 practices for students.
Within District 15 school psychologists do not rely on traditional standardized assessment for decision making, instead psychologists triangulate data in order to determine educational needs and services. They are trained on using the Review, Interview, Observation, and Test (RIOT) data to inform practices in relation to Curriculum, Instruction, Environment, and Leaner (ICEL). Psychologists are just as much involved with the planning and monitoring of general education and special education service delivery as they are with diagnostic practices. They assist with general education decision-making, and therefore work closely with staff and families in order to have assessment strategies that determine strengths, needs, and educational supports necessary to meet those needs. The intern will collaborate with staff for progress monitoring, including use of CBM and formative assessment information. Given the high level of involvement with MTSS, the intern can expect to learn a great deal about culturally responsive universal and targeted curriculum and instruction. School psychologists are essential individuals to assist teams with following best practices through culturally competent services. This high level of consultation values the scientist-practitioner model in order to support comprehensive services for students and families.
The school psychology intern at District 15 will get exposure to all of the typical aspects of school psychology, but will also receive great experience with leadership, prevention practices, and collaboration through both special education and general education programming. Given the size and diversity of this elementary district, the internship opportunities are vast.
Winston Campus
Winston Campus Elementary (WCE) is home to a new dual language only site as part of the Winston Campus. Winston Campus Middle School (WCJMS) has 750 students in sixth through eighth grade. Winston is a recognized school through the AMLE and earned the 2011 Illinois Spotlight school for academic performance in closing the achievement gap in high poverty schools. Students at Winston Campus are diverse: over 70% of students are of racial and ethnic backgrounds other than caucasian. Approximately 70% of the students at re economically disadvantaged with over 40% receiving multilingual services.
Winston Campus implements all tiers of MTSS, and the intern provides consultation and leadership with the PBIS and RtI procedures. This includes participation in clinician/interventionist meetings, academic team meetings, data digs, tier 2 behavioral and academic supports, individual problem-solving, and wraparound supports. School psychologists lead problem-solving, and facilitate wraparound and behavior intervention plans. The intern will provide direct mental health service delivery through tier 2 social / academic instructional groups and tier 3 individual and group counseling. Additional mental health services are provided periodically through universal prevention initiatives such as Mental Health Awareness. A significant focus of school psychology supports is for long-term MultilingualLearners and students of poverty. Assessment often involves use of mastery data and formative assessments to assist teachers with providing culturally appropriate curriculum and instructional supports within general and special education environments. The supervisor at Winston Campus is Rena Jimenez, who is a licensed bilingual school psychologist.
District-level
The internship will have an average of 2 days a week dedicated to district-level coaching and consultation for PBIS mental health prevention and intervention. The intern will be assisting all buildings, including early childhood and the alternative day school, with Wraparound and Complex Behavior Intervention Planning, trauma informed supports, and Wraparound. As an coach the intern will work with school-based teams to develop and facilitate individualized plans for students and families. This district-level coaching will include program evaluation and consultation in regard to comprehensive mental health and bully prevention and intervention programming, as well as Multilingual Learner assessment and intervention. A significant focus of this mental health service delivery is on culturally competent practices that includes partnerships with families and community agencies.
District-level responsibilities provide the intern with unique opportunities depending upon their interests and/or research. The large size of the district allows for a diversity of programs and services within general and special education. For example, the intern can choose to assist with early childhood and the alternative day school at Connors Learning Academy. CLA can include working with early childhood screening and/or the at-risk or special education classrooms, and the programs for students with significant social, emotional, and/or functional needs. Other opportunities may include engaging in research, working with the low-incidence special education population, assisting with the Autism classrooms across the district, or other areas of interest. Dr. Swanlund is the board president for the United Palatine Coalition and works frequently with community partnerships. The intern is welcome to join with the activities and support district community schools. At the district level the intern works with a team and is provided with support from two other district administrators who hold licenses in school psychology. This includes the Trauma Informed Coordinator and Psychologist Coordinator.
Primary Supervisors
Laura Swanlund, PhD, NCSP, is a licensed clinical and school psychologist currently serving as the Director of Comprehensive Mental Health for Palatine District 15. She received her Doctorate in School Psychology at Loyola University Chicago, has a Masters in Educational Leadership, and holds the Director of Special Education endorsement. Dr. Swanlund worked as a school psychologist with District 15 before her current position. She provides frequent professional development about Multi-Tiered Systems of Support (MTSS) for behavioral, emotional, academic, and ESL services in and outside of District 15, which includes invited state and national Exemplar presentations for PBIS implementation and MTSS systems for multilingual learners. Dr. Swanlund has received the Illinois Those Who Excel award for Excellence in the administrator category and Recognition in the team category. She is a two time recipient of the Loyola University Distinguished Alumni Award for professional achievement and service to society, and received the District 15 above and beyond award 3 times. She has led grant writing for projects such as community schools, school-based mental health, and for community partnerships through the United Palatine Coalition. She has successfully received over 5 million in grants to support district and community services. She is employed as a part-time faculty member at Loyola University of Chicago, National Louis, and the Chicago School where she teaches masters and doctoral level courses ranging from research methodology, action research, exceptional children, and evidence-based practices. Finally, Dr. Swanlund holds the ISPA Supervisor Credential is a trainer for the credential in IL.
Rena Jimenez, Ed.S, NCSP, is a bilingual school psychologist at Palatine District 15. She received her Educational Specialist degree in School Psychology with bilingual special education approval at Loyola University Chicago. Mrs. Jimenez previously worked at a therapeutic day school for two years in Des Plaines and also served as a district-wide bilingual school psychologist in Community Unit School District 200 for two years before coming to Palatine District 15. As a bilingual school psychologist in District 15, Mrs. Jimenez is involved in Multi-Tiered Systems of Support (MTSS) for both emotional and academic services. She serves as Tier 3 PBIS coach and is a member of both Tier 1 and Tier 2 PBIS teams and the School Improvement Plan team. This year, Mrs. Jimenez contributed to a mini skills presentation at NASP regarding a multidisciplinary framework for approaching problem solving for English Learners and completed the ISPA Supervisor Credential program.
