Delivering on the Promise

The San Diego State University School Psychology Program has been in existence as a traditional school psychology program since the 1960s. However, in 1984, several new key faculty members were brought on board and the program began to undergo some extensive changes in orientation. Traditionally, school psychologists have been people who test students using standardized tests (such as IQ tests) which are generally based upon a deficit model, thus posing the question, "Does this student measure up to a norm? If not, where is she in comparison to an average student?" In today's society, with its ever-increasing diversity of backgrounds and experiences, the concept of an average or norm is no longer feasible as defined by one group or set of values. The training and development of school psychologists with multicultural and bilingual competencies can greatly impact the academic success and achievement of bilingual and limited English proficient (LEP) students.

The San Diego State University (SDSU) School Psychology Program (SPP) admits a cohort of about 35 to 45 students per year (note: the program actually admits only 10-12 new students per year, generating a combined cohort of about 35 to 45 students total), generally 1 out of every 10 applicants to the program. The number of applicants has continued to increase each year. Over the past nine years, the demographics of the program cohorts have changed dramatically--a tangible reflection of the program goals. The 1985-86 cohort was 80 percent Anglo, 15 percent Latino, 2.5 percent African American, and 2.5 percent Asian/Pacific Islander. The 1992-93 cohort is 35 percent Latino, 27 percent African American, 27 percent Anglo, 8 percent American Indian, and 3 percent Asian/Pacific Islander. Of this cohort, 73 percent are students of color.

The program is committed to becoming fully multicultural, a commitment that is reflected in the faculty composition. The program has been successful in attracting and retaining students of color. Contributing to this success is the program's multicultural orientation. When a mainstream or Anglo perspective is being referred to, it is specifically stated as such and presented as one of many perspectives rather than assumed to be the norm.

About 90 percent of students are funded through various scholarships, fellowships, grants, or student loans; virtually 100 percent of the graduates are employed upon completion of the program. Graduates are in high demand, with standing invitations for interviews from school districts as far away as Chicago and Washington, DC. School districts in the San Diego area will often hire as many as five new graduates per year. During a visit to one of the local school districts, this fact was confirmed by a bilingual education specialist who had high praise for the SDSU School Psychology Program. This particular district has hired several graduates of the program and recently consulted with SDSU/SPP faculty and students during development of a two-way bilingual program in one of their schools.

The SDSU School Psychology Program is governed by a program committee composed of five elected student representatives and the four full-time faculty. They meet monthly to discuss and approve policy, regulations, and curriculum development. Courses are developed by teams of faculty members and then presented to the program committee for approval. There is also a program advisory board composed of professionals in the field, program graduates, and community members. This ethnically and professionally diverse group meets two or three times a year.

The School Psychology Program is a comprehensive four-year program that includes a one-year internship working as a school psychologist in a public school. Curricular areas include courses in theoretical foundations of school psychology, basic statistics and research design, counseling interventions and strategies for children and systems, and theoretical issues and practical development of assessment skills. Interspersed with the course work are three years of field experience leading up to a one-year, full-time internship. Students graduate with a Masters of Science (M.S.) degree in counseling with a specialization in school psychology. The program is accredited by the National Association of School Psychologists (NASP) and the National Council for the Accreditation of Teacher Education (NCATE) and is approved by the California Commission on Teacher Accreditation.

Students often pursue specialties within the School Psychology Program. Among the specialized projects are:

As students within these different specialized areas gain knowledge and understanding of their areas, they also share their ideas with other students within their cohort. Students have said that they learn as much from each other as they do from their professors. (And professors have said the same!) Therefore, all students contribute to each other's understanding and building of multicultural competencies as a by-product of their own learning and teaching.

The program seeks to address the need for more school psychologists with multicultural competencies, based upon the finding that "teachers tend not to refer children of their own ethnic background" for special education assessment. They build these multicultural competencies by using ecological and systems perspectives. These are the main philosophical components and underlying values of the SDSU School Psychology Program. This reframing of perspectives includes the development of skills in dynamic assessment, ecological assessment, and critical analysis.

Dynamic assessment includes a shift in paradigm from one of traditional psychoeducational child-focused interventions to one of ecosystems-focused interventions. In the traditional model, the child is the direct recipient of services, whereas in the ecosystem model, indirect services are provided through a key adult, such as a teacher or parent. The traditional model uses strategies directed at working with individual children, while the ecology strategies work with children, families, neighborhoods, schools, and communities.

Ecological assessment seeks to address such "trends" as the "documented apparent discrepancies in the levels of referral and placement of limited English proficient children in special education," and the greater efforts needed "to prevent the intensification of problems connected with mislabeling and high dropout rates among minority children with disabilities."

Ecological assessment describes a way of framing a situation as part of a system of interconnected components, similar to the way in which a natural ecosystem is viewed as a greater system of smaller interrelated systems. In describing a school district as an ecosystem, children, teachers, administrators, staff, families, community, and national policies are the components of the system. They are linked together through their relationships -- all have a place, and all affect the performance and effectiveness of every other component.

Within the ecological framework of the program, the role of language and terminology is carefully examined. For example, students are not referred to as being "at risk;" rather schools are seen as being "at risk" of losing students. The school or school district as a system, rather than the individual student, is viewed as the source of the problem. Interventions are structured from that perspective. Similarly, students are not labeled limited English proficient, or LEP, but rather beginning English speakers, or BES students (which, by design, sounds like "best").

SDSU/SPP sees the role of the school psychologist not only as one of assessing children and recommending special education or other educational interventions, but also as an agent of change or reform within the school district (and the field of education as a whole). They see school psychologists as consultants to teachers, parents, and administrators on general school reform as well as related to specific groups of students (e.g., students enrolled in bilingual education, special education, or multicultural education).

The SDSU School Psychology Program changes and grows, building upon the new information and insights gained by students and faculty each year. As one student said, "Part of the program is change. It will change constantly and consistently." For example, the same course taught in two consecutive years will look slightly different because of the learning and feeding back of information from students and faculty during the previous year. This kind of change is consistent with the ecosystems philosophies, which are the foundation of the program, and with the focus on the process as well as results.

SDSU/SPP students are trained in critical analysis within an ecosystems framework. As part of their training, students -- even first-year students -- present papers at professional conferences. In Southern California, they are gaining a reputation as mavericks in their field. Students are not afraid to challenge even long-time leaders in their field in areas they perceive to be weak or based on untested assumptions. One of the visiting professors in the SELP summer program called her SDSU/SPP class "the most obnoxious group of students" she'd ever encountered because they asked so many questions and challenged her thinking in areas she herself felt to be her weaker areas. The students bring these same skills in critical analysis to their field placements and internships as well as to their school districts upon graduation. They have had the desired net effect of gradually shifting the role of school psychologists in the San Diego area to one of agent of educational reform. Graduates from the program continue to maintain their affiliation with SDSU/SPP and often participate in summer colloquia and/or act as visiting professors or program consultants.

Through their training in dynamic and ecological assessments, SDSU/SPP students learn to look for different signals and behaviors than those taught within traditional school psychology frameworks. To communicate, report, and make recommendations based on their observations from an ecosystems perspective, they have developed an alternative method of assessment, utilizing "bullet" reports, as opposed to traditional tests and results.

Reports are written with the goal of achieving nonjudgmental assessments of students as part of a system of learning. The ecological assessment report begins by providing "Identifying Information." Information about the student, his home and family, and his school and classroom is presented. This section also identifies the procedures for assessment. Subsequent sections address 1) the presenting problem; 2) a description of the problems situation; 3) the issues related to the situation; 4) a summary of the situation; and under the ecological intervention plan, 5) school-based interventions; 6) home-based interventions; and finally, 7) the evaluation plan.

Throughout the report, statements such as "X is capable of learning," and "X's mother is concerned," are written in bold type at the beginning of each paragraph. This statement is followed by a few descriptive lines of data to back up the initial statement. This format continues throughout the report and allows practitioners to assess the situation without immediately assuming a deficit model of problem solving in which the student is held up as deficient compared to his or her peers. This method of assessment also allows school psychologists, teachers, administrators, and parents equally to offer input without needing to know technical, medical, or psychological terms or concepts that might be primarily used in traditional assessments.

The SDSU/SPP faculty, the program committee, and advisory committee have used this method of report writing to assess their own programs and program development process. These descriptions are also used in various proposals, reports, and bulletins to prospective students.

Program Contact: Valerie Cook-Morales, Director
School Psychology Program
College of Education
San Diego State University
5500 Campanile Drive
San Diego, CA 92182-1179
(619) 594-4626/(619) 594-7730