School Psychologist Intern Project - FY09
Note: Districts with approved interns need to apply for temporary certification. In order to receive the EPA amount, districts must also enter each intern under the Core Data Ancillary position code: 887200 |
Questions |
| 1. Who is eligible for reimbursement? |
| 2. What is a school psychologist intern? |
| 3. What will the School Psychology Intern Project do for my agency? |
| 4. What funding is available? |
| 5. What supervision does the public agency have to provide? |
| 6. What if an agency does not have a school psychologist employed to provide supervision? |
| 7. Where can I find more information about what school psychologists can do? |
| 8. How do I find a school psychologist intern? |
9. So my agency is interested in participating, what do I do next?
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Questions and Answers |
1. Who is eligible for reimbursement? |
| 2. What is a school psychologist intern? A student, who has completed all coursework for Missouri certification as a school psychologist, but needs a supervised internship experience of 1200 hours (or 9 months full time employment). |
| 3. What will the School Psychology Intern Project do for my agency? A major outcome of this project is to provide an incentive to public agencies to utilize the skills of school psychologists in service provision to children with disabilities and those suspected as having disabilities. |
| 4. What funding is available? Districts using school psychologist interns report they pay these interns with a total of approximately $15,000-$17,000 for their internship, although some districts pay more. DESE will help fund these interns up to $7,500 per position with Part B funding. The Local Education Agency (LEA) will be responsible for the remaining portion of the cost of the each internship. The intern’s work must be with students with disabilities or with students suspected of a disability to generate full funding. All dollar amounts reflect a full-time, school-term employee. Prorated funds would be paid for less than a full-time employee. Funding will be provided for up to 25 full-time interns. |
| 5. What supervision does the public agency have to provide? Districts will have to arrange for at least two hours of supervision per week by a certificated school psychologist. This may be individual or group supervision. The agency does not need to have a school psychologist employed, but must arrange for appropriate supervision of the intern. This may include providing release time for the intern to leave for supervision, or paying for a school psychologist to provide some on-site supervision. The specific requirements will depend on the requirements of the university training program that the student is from (this will vary slightly if the student is from an out-of-state training program, but almost all programs follow these basic standards). The agency will have to complete a contract with the sending university outlining the requirements and expectations of the internship. The supervisor will have to complete evaluations on the intern (similar to student teaching) so some on-site supervision must occur. Individual supervision is required, but group supervision is optional in areas where there are a number of interns that could meet together on a regular basis. |
| 6. What if an agency does not have a school psychologist employed to provide supervision? The Missouri Association of School Psychologist (MASP) has agreed to try to find certified school psychologists to provide supervision. Districts that need this support can contact Kim Moore via e-mail at kmoore@columbia.k12.mo.us or phone (573) 214-3280. |
| 7. Where can I find more information about what school psychologists can do? The Missouri Association of School Psychologists' website is www.maspweb.org and the National School Psychology website is www.nasponline.org. |
| 8. How do I find a school psychologist intern? Currently, the University of Missouri-Columbia and the University of Missouri-St. Louis have School Psychology Training Programs. Districts report recruiting interns from training programs in neighboring states. MASP has also agreed to assist with the recruitment of interns for Missouri school districts. Special Education Administrators can post job notices for interns on the web site and also view prospective job seekers. MASP's employment web site is: www.maspweb.org/jobs.html |
9. So my agency is interested in participating, what do I do next? |
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| 10. An approval message will then be sent to the district. |