Teacher/Administrative Center
3215 Cuming Street
Omaha, NE 68131-2024
Psychological Services Department
Phone: 402-557-2740
FAX: 402-557-2774
Training Director:
Collette Nero, Ph.D.
E-mail: collette.nero@ops.org
Type of Facility:
Omaha Public Schools is the largest school district in the state of Nebraska which is comprised of 47,000 students, 61 elementary schools, 11 middle schools, 7 high schools and 7 alternative programs. It is an Urban/Suburban public school district with approximately 30 school psychologists, and 2 psychology interns. Psychological services may be provided to families and children who are in the Omaha Public Schools attendance area. Services are provided to school age students attending public, private, or home schools. The racial/ethnic composition of the Omaha Public School District includes: 41.0% Caucasian, 31.8% African American, 23.9% Hispanic, 1.6% Native American, and 1.8% Asian American. The school population has been increasing about 1% annually over the past 10 years with the largest increase being students from Central and South America. Omaha also has an increasing refugee population including individuals from the Sudan, Somalia, and Myanmar.
Internship Training Model:
Interns within the Nebraska Internship Consortium who are matched with the Omaha Public Schools will receive training that adheres to a consultation-based scientist-practitioner model of school psychology service delivery, including collaboration and problem-solving activities that incorporate developmental, cognitive-behavioral, and/or ecological theoretical perspectives. Interns are expected to utilize data-driven decision making and support the implementation of empirically based intervention strategies. Interns typically spend 40% of their time in assessment activities, 50% of their time engaged in consultation problem solving activities, and 10% of their time in professional development and other administrative duties. Faculty considers attendance at conferences to be an important part of professional development as well as a means of establishing important contact for future employment. Thus, all interns are encouraged to attend educational workshops and professional conferences throughout the year.
Additional resources available to the intern include office space, an individual laptop computer with network capabilities, as well as access to our media technology center which includes online search engines & inter-library loan services. Intern pay is approximately $33,000 for a 200-day contract, which is equal to three-fourths of a beginning school psychologist's salary. Pre-doctoral interns also work approximately 200 hours during the summer with additional pay for these hours.
Program Rotations:
Interns within the Nebraska Internship Consortium who are matched with the Omaha Public Schools have the opportunity to receive training in rotations within or across 2 different programs. Interns are assigned 2-3 schools for the entire school year (typically 2 elementary schools and one grade of a middle school). In addition, interns have the opportunity to work with the early childhood programs (Home-based and Center-based Special Education Programs, Title 1 Pre-K, and Head Start).
Professional Development Training:
Interns receive professional development through weekly group supervision, staff meetings, district-wide training, and state/local/regional workshops including but not limited to the following areas:
Threat Assessment
Post-Crisis Response
Due Process
Access to Community Resources
Cultural Competency
Alternative Programs and Special Populations
Assessment and Consultation with Second Language Learners
Attention Deficit Disorder
Autism Spectrum Disorders
Behavioral Disorders
Fetal Alcohol and Drug Exposure in utero
Depression
Research Training:
Interns within the Omaha Public Schools have the opportunity to collaborate in research activities. Interns are encouraged to present research findings from their dissertations at local, state and/or national conferences.
Post Internship Employment (selected sample):
The Omaha Public Schools has trained interns with widely varying backgrounds, experiences and professional aspirations. Following their internship experience interns have been employed in a variety of settings. For the last 11 interns, 55% are in an academic setting, 44% are in a public school setting and 1% is in a medical setting.
Faculty:
Collette L. Nero, Ph.D.
Texas A&M University, 2001
Jennifer N. Wiehe, Ph.D.
University of Texas, 1999
