Community Consolidated School District 15 is the third largest elementary district in Illinois, serving over 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 fifteen elementary schools, four junior high schools, and one preschool early childhood center and alternative public day school. Nine of the district’s schools have been individually recognized by the U.S. Department of Education as No Child Left Behind—Blue Ribbon Schools of Excellence. 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, 43% are White, 35% Hispanic, 16% Asian, and 3% Black. Approximately 42% are economically disadvantaged, 22% are limited English proficient, and 12% of the students receive special education services. Approximately 80 percent of special education students within the district spend all or part of their days in regular education classes. Additional programs and services include early intervention and transition services, transitional kindergarten, inclusion services, and programs for students with significant social, emotional, academic, and / or behavioral needs.
There are strong Multi-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 Illinois and Midwest PBIS Network. The highest recognition status that recognizes schools who show strong implementation of all three tiers, have been awarded to 7 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 Campus Elementary and Jr. High school and 2 days providing coaching and consultation across the district for mental health systems, English Learner supports, and MTSS services. 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 Winston Campus. 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 cubicle will be located on the 2nd floor with the Department of Instruction and Student Services. 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 Psychologist Coordinator and Assistant Director for Research and Systems. 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 PBIS and RtI 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, RtI for English Language Learners, 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 will receive 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 over 50% of psychologists who are bilingual, 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 approximately 540 elementary students and Winston Campus Jr. High (WCJH) has 750 Jr. High students in seventh and eighth grade. Winston earned the 2011 Illinois Spotlight school for academic performance in closing the achievement gap in high poverty schools. Both WCE and WCJH students are diverse: 50% of WCE students and 71% of WCJH students are of racial and ethnic backgrounds other than Caucasian. Approximately 44% of students at WCE and 68% of the students at WCJH are economically disadvantaged, and in the elementary building 29% of students receive English as a Second Language services. At the Jr. High 18% of students receive ESL services.
Winston Campus implements all tiers of PBIS and RtI, 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. At WCE and WCJH 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 Signs of Suicide. A significant focus of school psychology supports at WCJH is for long-term English Language Learners 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. The intern will also work closely with Liz Ashmen, a certified school psychologist who serves as a special education administrator for WCJH.
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 Functional Analysis of Behavior and Behavior Intervention Planning. As an external tier 3 PBIS 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 programing, as well as English Language 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 provides 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.
Please note, applicants will be required to complete a background check, in accordance with ISBE guidelines. Please see the following link for more information: https://www.isbe.net/Documents/guidance_chr.pdf
SUPERVISORS
Laura Swanlund, PhD, NCSP, is a licensed clinical and school psychologist currently serving as the Assistant Director of Research and Systems and the Coordinator of Psychological Services 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. 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 recipient of the Loyola University Distinguished Alumni Award for professional achievement and service to society. She is employed as a part-time faculty member at Loyola University of Chicago 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 in CCSD 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 is currently completing the ISPA Supervisor Credential program.
