School Psychology Program at San Diego State University

The School Psychology Program at SDSU is an integrated four-year (three-plus-internship) full-time graduate-professional program which culminates in the M.S. degree and school psychology credential. It is one of four programs offered by the Department of Counseling and School Psychology which has as its mission the preparation of culturally competent practitioners.

The mission of the School Psychology Program is to prepare school psychologists who integrate educational, psychological, and social and cultural foundations with relevant disciplines to create and engender a vision of educational equity in the public schools. These school psychologists design, organize and deliver services to meet the needs of the diverse children, youth, families, and communities served by these schools. Their professional effectiveness is enhanced by strong personal, interpersonal, and leadership qualities. They are committed to their ownlife-long learning and to influencing the professions which serve children, especially culturally and linguistically diverse children, in the schools.

The goals of the Program are to prepare school psychologists with:

The School Psychology Program, in design and content, is influenced by these ecosystems principles: (1) there are problem situations, not problem children; (2) these situations are a result of dysfunctional transactions and reciprocal determinism among, for example, children, teachers, and parents; (3) culture is brought to the forefront as a base for hypothesis generation regarding the nature of the situation; and (4) assessment-intervention is unified in response to person/situation characteristics. Individuals as well as groups of individuals are viewed as open and modifiable systems.

Within this context, the school psychologist is viewed as a systems change agent in culturally diverse schools. Seven knowledge base elements inform our program of professional preparation:

I. Professional School Psychology. History and issues facing the profession, models for organizing broad service delivery, legal and ethical mandates, professional and personal development toward leadership.

II. Research and Program Evaluation. Basic research skills for consumers of the literature toward application in practice, research and program evaluation skills to guide practice.

III. Social and Cultural Foundations. Cultural, multicultural, and cross-cultural understanding, ecosystems and social psychology.

IV. Educational Foundations. School as a system and culture; multicultural education; bilingual and special education, and other categorical programs and resources; effective schools, programs, and instruction.

V. Psychological Foundations. Development; learning and cognition; biological bases; individual differences and human exceptionalities.

VI. Assessment-for-Interventions. Assessment of individual to school-wide situations; ecological, authentic, dynamic, developmental, and behavioral assessment; psychoeducational evaluation.

VII. Interventions. Direct interventions, e.g., individual and group counseling, mediated learning strategies, behavioral interventions; indirect interventions, e.g., consultation, collaboration, advocacy, and program development.

This degree-and-credential program culminates in the M.S. in Counseling with a specialization in School Psychology and the California Credential in School Psychology. The sequence of study integrates theory, research, and practice in four identified "phases" which may be completed on a full-time or part-time basis across four to six years.

The School Psychology Program has been designed to provide an integrated sequence of theory, research, and practice in our seven knowledge bases through a variety of learning experiences. Campus-based classes are often augmented by applied assignments implemented in supervised field settings. Site-based classes are held in collaborating public schools and incorporate didactic instruction, modeling, and applications in one unified experience, taught and supervised by SDSU faculty. Supervised field experiences are graded in both scope and intensity, from one day per week during the first year through the culminating full-time academic-year internship which is funded by collaborating school districts. Each of the field experiences is accompanied by a professional development seminar.

The SDSU faculty use innovative instructional methods including cooperative learning, collaborative projects, modeling and role playing, and on-line learning, in addition to the more traditional readings, discussions, and lectures. The Program itself is a collaborative teaching-learning experience for both faculty and students.