Dr. Joan Simon
The University of Central Arkansas has begun a partnership with a central Arkansas middle school.
UCA’s Department of Psychology and Counseling is collaborating with North Little Rock Middle School’s sixth-grade campus to allow second- and third-year school psychology students to assist with school psychology services at the school. The partnership’s two-fold goal includes: providing a prevention/intervention-focused training experience to the UCA students and improving academic, social-emotional and behavioral outcomes for the North Little Rock students.
UCA students will work in the middle school one day each week to help with evaluations, short-term counseling, prevention programs and other efforts. Through the partnership, graduate students at both the doctoral and specialist levels earn experience that counts toward their program’s required practicum hours.
Dr. Heather Martens
UCA students will also work with the school to systematically plan ways to collect ongoing data from its students and to design targeted intervention in order to address the middle school’s needs.
The partnership is planned to last three years, with a new cohort of UCA students working in the middle school each year. Dr. Joan Simon, professor of psychology, and Dr. Heather Martens, assistant professor of psychology, are working with Erika Connelly, North Little Rock school psychology specialist, to provide supervision to the UCA students.
For more information, contact Simon at jsimon@uca.edu or (501) 450-5411, or Martens at martensh@uca.edu or (501) 450-5407.