Description of Educational Philosophy and Training Model, Goals, and Objectives
Administration
Program Characteristics
Seminars and Conferences
Internship Supervision

Description of Educational Philosophy, Competencies, Training Model, and Goals and Objectives

Description of Educational Philosophy

The educational philosophy of TIC, is that the implementation of scientifically established procedures and strategies, in the professional field of psychology, within the educational environment will be the guiding principles, in the training experience provided to all interns.

Training Model

The program Training Model is referred to as a Data-Based Problem Solving Model, and is a variant of the more general scientist-practitioner model.  This model conceptualizes practice and research as fundamentally similar in that both require the same problem-solving steps of problem identification, solution plan development, plan implementation, and solution evaluation.  The primary goal of the training is to prepare students for the practice of professional psychology in educational settings.  Upon completion of the program, interns are expected to be able to function as competent, ethical psychologists able to work in a variety of educational settings with diverse populations.

Competencies

The competencies the interns will be trained in, and will demonstrate the acquisition of, during the internship experience are:

1. Competency in the areas of assessment/evaluation.
2. Competency in providing consultative services to others.
3. Competency in implementing a range of interventions.
4. Competency in conducting research and program evaluation.
5. Competency in the understanding and behaving ethically and legally.
6. Competency in demonstrating professional and interpersonal conduct.
7. Competency in appropriately supervising others.
8. Competency in promoting their own professional development.
9. Competency in the developing diversity awareness.

Goals

The goals of the TIC training program are:

1. Demonstrate the successful completion of the comprehensive psychological evaluation, the writing of the report, and the related communications of the evaluation to relevant parties, such as in multidisciplinary team meetings.
2. Provide successful culturally appropriate consultation to relevant others for the betterment of a child, or the learning environment.
3. Successfully plan and implement scientific, research-based intervention strategies for a child, a teacher, or the educational environment.
4. Successfully establish, and implement an evaluation of a program or project that utilizes established scientific procedures.
5. Demonstrate an understanding of ethical behavior in the practice of psychology, and incorporate that behavior into daily professional behavior. Includes demonstration for, understanding of, and conformation to the ethical and legal regulations.
6. Demonstrate professional and interpersonal conduct with children, parents, and professional staff, that are reflective of the intellectual, emotional, and educational functioning levels of the different target audiences, and are respectful of the cultural diversity of those individuals through appropriate documentation.
7. Successfully supervise others in their professional or interpersonal development, and effectively receive supervision in a manner that produces measurable changes.
8. Engage in professional development activities benefiting self and others.
9. Demonstrate an awareness of diversity issues, and the appropriate behavior expected with that awareness within a culturally diverse environment, that has been evaluated to be effective through direct observation or empirically verifiable results. Display appropriate awareness of multicultural issues through the accomplishment of predetermined activities.

Objectives

The Consortium objectives are arranged by specific competency areas.  The objectives are developed to meet the competencies and goals of the training experience.

Competency: Assessment/Evaluation

1. Objective: Screening.  Assist in screening students who possibly needs more comprehensive assessment, using annual and continuous screening methods.
2. Objective: Standardized Assessment.  Utilize objective instruments as necessary for a comprehensive psycho educational evaluation.
3. Objective: Informal Assessment.  Utilize other non-standardized techniques to gather information about current and past functioning.  May include interviews, observations, and record review.
4. Objective: Communicating Results.  Effectively communicate results in verbal and written formats.

 

Competency: Consultation

1. Objective: Academic Consultation.  Provide individual psycho educational consultation on individuals/groups to teachers, parents, school staff, and others to facilitate the growth and development of students.
2. Objective: Behavioral Consultation.  Provide consultation to teachers, schools, and others to facilitate positive behaviors and/or manage problematic behaviors.  May include strategies for classroom management.
3. Objective: Community Agencies.  Serve as a liaison between the school system, and outside agencies, to enhance services to students.
4. Objective: Classroom Organization.  Participate as a consultant to teachers on classroom organizational structure, including physical setting, cooperative goal structuring, use of peers, tutoring, accommodating, motivating students, and use of aides/volunteers.

Competency: Intervention

1. Objective: Academic Interventions.  Provide academic intervention strategies for children with and without disabilities
2. Objective: Behavioral Interventions.  Provide behavioral interventions, including social skills for children with and without disabilities.

Competency: Research and Program Evaluation

1. Objective: Keep Data.  Demonstrate time management skills using data on activities and a goal accomplishment measure whenever possible.
2. Objective: Monitor/Evaluate.  Monitor and evaluate an intervention outcome using data on individual, group, and school programs.
3. Objective: Research.  Participate in research that may include program evaluation, data collection, or intervention techniques, and submit for publication or presentation. May include dissertation defense.

Competency: Ethical and Legal Issues

1. Objective: Ethical Behavior.  Provide services consistent with ethical practices, local procedures, and best practices.
2. Objective: Legal Issues.  Provide services consistent with state regulations and federal laws.

Competency: Professional/Interpersonal Conduct

1. Objective: School Staff.  Interact appropriately with school staff, including respecting the culture, rules, and procedures of each building.
2. Objective: Parents.  Modify communication style to meet the parents level of emotional/intellectual functioning, including emphasizing students strengths and addressing misconceptions during meetings and interactions with parents.
3. Objective: Problem Solving.  Using effective communication/conflict resolution strategies and collaborative problem solving within the school/clinical setting.

Competency: Supervision

1. Objective: Provide Supervision.  Provide feedback and supervision to practicum students, including conducting mutual evaluation procedures.
2. Objective: Educational Activity.  Supervise the development and implementation of educational activities such as in-services and meetings.
3. Objective: Consortium Related Activity.  Supervise an activity related to the procedures and operations of the Consortium.
4. Objective: Receiving Supervision.  Address and identify relevant issues for supervision and openly accept feedback.

Competency: Professional Development

1. Objective: Didactics. Attend scheduled didactic presentations on various issues pertaining to school psychology.
2. Objective: Professional Presentations/Workshops/Training's.  Attend educational events to enhance skills as a school psychologist.
3. Objective: Education. Develop and conduct a presentation aimed at educating parents, teachers, or other professionals.
4. Objective: Current Topics.  Keep up with issues in school psychology/further professional skills set by reading journal articles, reading books, viewing documentaries, and engaging in other appropriate activities.

Competency: Diversity Awareness

1. Objective: Cultural Awareness. Recognize the importance of multicultural sensitivity/responsiveness to knowledge, and/or understanding about ethnically and racially different individuals.
2. Objective: Bias.  Develop an awareness of one's own cultural background, including potential sources of bias.

Interns are actively involved in developing and evaluating their own internships. With the help of site supervisors, interns negotiate a site-specific plan that lists the kind and nature of the experiences they need to receive in order to meet specified objectives. The plan is negotiated when interns commence their internship. This includes the basic objectives of the Consortium, specific objectives of the site, and objectives of the intern based on personal interests. The accomplishment of these objectives is evaluated twice each semester by the intern, on-site personnel, and the Governing Board of the Consortium. Work samples and a log of activities are maintained in a portfolio as part of the evaluation of interns. Interns are also asked to evaluate their internship experience twice each semester.

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Administration

A Governing Board, consisting of one member from each of the core and funded sites; the supervisory, licensed psychologist for each site; and two members from The University of Tennessee, directs the Consortium. This group will elect a chairperson each year. The Governing Board reviews applicants, establishes training goals and objectives, monitors student progress, establishes procedures, secures funding and materials for the execution of a pre-doctoral training center. Although the evaluation of intern progress is the responsibility of the individual site, the Governing Board is responsible for the overall progress of interns across sites. The University of Tennessee School of Educational Psychology and Counseling department serves as the central administrative unit for the Consortium. The Consortium designates the training director, the chief psychologist, and the training personnel for each site.

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Program Characteristics

1. Interns are given exposure to individuals from minority cultures and racial/ethnic groups. Diversity training (guest speakers, group discussion on relevant topics, etc.) is provided throughout the internship year and attendance is required.
2. Intern interaction and discussion are an integral part of the training program. Two hours per week is allotted for peer interaction.
3. Supervision from a licensed psychologist (averaging a minimum of 4 hours per week) is a combination of individual (2 hours) and group sessions (2 hours).  Additional supervision is provided by relevant specialists.
4. Intern training objectives are negotiated based upon Consortium objectives, site objectives, and individual intern interests.
5. Doctoral research time is permitted and a maximum of 144 hours of official training time may be allotted to this activity.
6. Approximately 2 hours per week are allotted in didactic activities with meeting space provided.
7. Interns and their responsible program directors meet regularly to monitor and assess the intern's progress.
8. The internship is for a full time experience over 12 months for a total of 2,000 hours.

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Seminars and Conferences

All interns are required to participate in the internship group supervision, covering a variety of topics such as, Tennessee special education regulations, legal/ethical issues, crisis intervention, selected topics in psychopathology, and professional issues. Interns also participate in weekly case presentations concerning assessment/intervention activities. These meetings provide a forum for interns from all of the internship sites to share their successes with one another, collectively focus on solutions for situations that need improvement, and to share in the wide range of internship experiences the Consortium encompasses. This seminar meets weekly for two hours at The University of Tennessee or one of the internship sites.

All interns are required to participate in appropriate workshops, presentations, and staff conferences provided by their particular internship site.

All interns are required to participate in regular 2-hour didactic programs on issues of cultural and individual diversity.

Interns are encouraged to participate in training activities available in the community at large.

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Internship Supervision

All interns in the Consortium are given two hours per week of individual, face-to-face supervision from a doctoral level licensed psychologist at their particular site(s). The supervision time per site is determined at the beginning of the internship, and whenever changes are made in assignments. Supervision time per site is allotted according to the percentage of time spent per week by the intern in a particular site. An additional two hours per week of group supervision is provided by a licensed psychologist to the interns of the Consortium.  Other specialists provide supervision in areas of interest to the intern.

It is possible for the intern to receive up to 3 hours a semester of graduate internship credit through the University of Tennessee. The Consortium conducts two hours per week of group supervision, in such a manner that it meets the University’s requirements for graduate credit. If an intern is interested in receiving graduate credit for this time, she or he needs to make arrangements directly with the University. Requesting graduate credit for the group supervision is not required of the intern. This is simply an additional benefit if it is of value for the intern.

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