The Sheppard Pratt School - Hunt Valley is a year round special education program that provides educational services to students ages five to 21 with complex intellectual and behavioral disabilities, including autism spectrum disorder and other related disorders.

General Summary:

Assists School Behavior Specialist and program staff in a variety of ways in support of behavior programming and implementation throughout assigned program. Assists in the organization and monitoring of data collection, completes behavior documents, assists in training of staff, communicates with team in a variety of settings, and provides coverage as needed. Works independently within the guidelines and direction of the School Behavior Specialist or the School Administrator depending on the program. Attend meetings, provides supervision and coverage in the absence of School Behavior Specialist, depending on program.

 

Principal Responsibilities and Duties: 

1. Customer Relations

Demonstrates student focus and strives to exceed student/family expectations for customer service.

2. Staff Training

Trains and orients new staff to various components of the behavioral program, including but not limited to: data collection, crisis intervention, and documentation requirements. Supports School Behavioral Specialist or School Administrator by performing ongoing training of staff in various behavior areas, such as implementing behavior plans and general classroom management techniques. Observes and monitors behavioral plan implementation in the school settings and reports and documents observations for School Behavioral Specialist. Demonstrates, models, and coaches staff in the appropriate behavior interventions and strategies in the school setting.

3. Behavioral Program Support

Assists School Behavioral Specialist in completing IEP documentation, such as goals, FBA, BIP progress notes, and data summaries. Provides back up coverage for School Behavioral Specialist, Resource Specialist, and/or other classroom positions, as needed. Assists in writing behavior plans. Prepares behavioral plan summary (“cheat sheets”) and summary charts for staff reference. Prepares behavior support materials, completes data charts, and provides other assistance to program as needed. Provides crisis intervention verbally and physically when necessary. Practices positive behavior intervention and support. Serves as role model for students and staff by encouraging and reinforcing appropriate behavior and discouraging destructive behavior through the use of behavior interventions.

4. Team Communication & Collaboration

Collaborates with treatment teams on a regular basis, and provides ongoing feedback and open communication to treatment teams and individual staff members. Gathers pertinent information from treatment team to assess the success of behavior plans. Collaborates with School Behavioral Specialist or School Administrator to revise behavior plans as needed. Conducts searches to maintain the most updated research material in the area of autism and/or behavior. Provides these resources to School Behavioral Specialist and staff. Attends and participates in meetings, as assigned.

5. Documentation & Data Monitoring

Provides instruction, monitors, and assists staff in the data entry of behavior data. Completes summaries of behavior data, including graphs, as needed. Enters division-wide behavior data into system as needed. Performs various clerical tasks to assist the School Behavioral Specialist or School Administrator, as needed.

6. Student Supervision/Activities

Assists in providing supervision to students remaining after school. Provides support to other areas to increase the quality of the program (i.e., sports programs, field trips, special activities, etc.).

 

Knowledge, Skills, and Abilities Required:

Work requires knowledge of crisis intervention techniques, psychological principles, behavior modification principles, psychiatric terminology and diagnoses, as well as highly developed communication skills, both oral and written - acquired through one of the education and experience combinations: A bachelor’s degree in Education, Psychology or related field of study and 6 to 12 months’ experience either working with children with special needs or with behavior analysis or through An associate’s degree and 2 years of experience working with children with special needs A high school degree and 4 to 5 years of experience working with children with special needs. Depending on assignment, may be required to possess valid driver's license at time of appointment and meet Sheppard Pratt requirements to operate a school vehicle. Work requires substantial interpersonal skills sufficient to train, orient, and provide support to staff regarding students’ behavior plans, and to interact with students on a regular basis to model behavior plans, assist staff, and support program (51- 80% of the time). Work requires analytical and organizational abilities sufficient to train and assist staff in collecting, documenting, and data entry of behavioral data and in preparing meaningful summary data in charts and graphs. Work requires frequent exposure (21-50% of the time) to mental strain while working with assigned developmentally delayed or emotionally disturbed students.