Goals and Philosophy

---

School psychology is an applied psychological discipline designed to enhance the psychological and educational welfare of children, adults, and families through prevention, problem diagnosis and intervention, and research and evaluation. The philosophy of this progam is to provide students with the foundations and methods common to all professional psychologists as well as the advanced skills that distinguish school psychology from other disciplines.

The School Psychology Program seeks to develop professional psychologists to work in schools, community agencies, and higher education settings and prepare students to be flexible enough to play a variety of roles and be able to assume positions of leadership in the development of necesssary psychological services to learners. The program also seeks to develop students who are able to supervise, coordinate, and direct the activities of others, and have a broad and eclectic knowledge of psychological and educational theory and research. Our students look to the science of psycholgy to provide answers to practical, educational problems and promote the health and growth of children and families.

top

Program Assumptions

1. Science and practice are integrated across both core and specialty training. All professional skill courses are taught from a strong theoretical and research orientation combined with relevant clinical field experiences.
2. Training must emphasize not only individual factors but also the multiiple systems and environmental influences that affect learning and adjustment. This program places a great emphasis on the contexts and social worlds in which children and families function. This emphasis on the ecological system and social-organizational factors remains a hallmark of the program.
3. Training must emphasize the prevention of psychoeducational problems and the promotion of competence and coping.
4. Due to the complexity of problems facing today's youth and families, school psychology training must emphasize service coordination and integration across agencies and systems that serve families. The Program's training model strongly emphasizes integrated training in course work, field experiences, assistantship placements, and coordination of training with diverse community agencies.
5. School psychology practice is grounded firmly in empirically tested practice. Research and evaluation, both basic and applied, is a central component of student training. Faculty and student evaluation rests heavily on research competence as much as in the other departmental programs (Clinical-Community and Experimental). The faculty's aim is to serve as scientist-practitioner role models for students.
6. Training occurs best in a nurturing environment in which students feel accepted, committed, involved, and well mentored. Beyond the low faculty-student ratio there are many program processes which seek to make students feel good about themselves, become empowered, and experience a "family atmosphere" in the program. The atmosphere is supportive; once admitted every effort is made to ensure that students finish in a timely manner.
7. School psychology training must stress diversity and multicultural considerations. Situated in an urban area, in a state with a 30% African-American population and a nearby large military base with a diverse service member and spouse population, the program is in an excellent position to provide training in service delivery to diverse populations.
8. School psychology training must be organized, systematic, and sequential. This program's model stresses the development of basic psychological skills, orientation to the culture and organization of the school, and professional identity in early training, followed by opportunities to practice skills, and subsequently to acquire and practice more advanced skills.

top