In honor of National School Psychology Week (Nov. 8-12), NLU's National College of Education (NCE) recognizes and celebrates school psychologists and our school psychology faculty members' contributions within the field.
School psychologists provide academic, social, behavioral, and emotional support and interventions for students to ensure they succeed in school and life. In collaboration with families, teachers, administrators, and school staff, school psychologists create safe, healthy, and supportive learning environments and facilitate strong connections between the classroom, school, home, and the community.
Since 2014, NCE's rigorous school psychology program has prepared more than 110 highly skilled school psychologists who serve in schools and districts locally, regionally, and nationally. Our expert faculty prepare graduates who are sought after in the field for their expertise in research-based academic and school-based mental health intervention, behavioral assessment and intervention, and their ability to monitor student outcomes in response to these interventions. Upon graduation, 100% of NLU school psychology graduates get jobs within the field, most before graduation, and many with multiple job offers.
Before moving into higher education, NCE school psychology faculty served as practitioners in K-12 schools. From their experience as school psychologists, they know and understand the school environment, how school systems operate, and the challenges educators face in supporting struggling students. Now, the impact of our school psychology faculty members extends beyond the students they prepare within the program. In addition to teaching at the graduate level, they work with schools and districts to support their design and implementation of Multi-Tiered Systems of Support (MTSS) and interventions. The consultation work benefits not only PK-12 students but also NLU students. Their active participation in schools brings life to the topics NLU graduate students study in coursework and provides them with the advantage of learning from professors who model best practices in their work with schools.
Madi Phillips, associate professor, is the most senior member of NCE's school psychology faculty. "My main partnership is with the Illinois MTSS network," says Phillips. "I want to help teachers build MTSS into their schools."
Pamela Radford, assistant professor, joined NLU in 2019. She sees her coaching service in schools and districts as a part of high-quality professional learning: "We are collecting data to demonstrate the impact of coaching strategies….then, we'll showcase how we're changing educators' skills and looking at how this impacts students."
Jennifer Engelland-Schultz, assistant professor, came to NLU in 2020 after several years of service in therapeutic settings designed to serve adolescents in rural and suburban communities. Her school-based mental health services expertise provides NCE students with outstanding preparation to meet students' growing mental health needs in light of the pandemic. She has shared her expertise in NCE webinars and presented at the UNConference 2021 Uprooting School Psychology.
Kathy Pluymert, director, Advanced Professional Programs, joined NLU’s National College of Education in 2017. While primarily an administrative leader within the College, she teaches school-based mental health courses within the school psychology program and supervises school psychology interns in suburban Chicago, Alaska, and Iowa school districts. Pluymert's professional identity is firmly rooted in school psychology. After many years of service as a school psychologist, she moved to district-level leadership roles, first implementing MTSS services and later as a principal and assistant superintendent for school improvement. For the past 25 years, Pluymert has held leadership positions in state and national professional organizations, most recently serving 15 years on the Executive Board of the National Association of School Psychologists. The primary focus of her professional leadership work was advocacy and consultation for children's mental health services and school psychology licensure across the country.
NCE school psychology faculty are active in national and state-level professional associations. Radford will present at the upcoming Learning Forward conference and Phillips at the National Association of School Psychologists in early 2022 with Engelland-Schultz. On Friday, November 12, Engelland-Schultz will share her insights on families supporting student learning on Fox 32 Good Day Chicago at 9:00 am CT.
To read more about NCE’s school psychology program and faculty members, click here.
