SSP School Psychology

Required Courses (66 hours)

• Catalog with Degree Plan
• Students will follow a strict course schedule and are able to take internship (6 hours) upon completion of 54 hours of coursework
• Comprehensive Exams and the Praxis II School Psychologist professional licensure exam will be required after completion of coursework
• Comprehensive Exams consist of both oral and written components, including development of an Electronic Portfolio

*Note - A student wishing to obtain licensure in Texas must also have no criminal convictions other than minor traffic violations.  Requirements for licensure vary from one profession to another and from state to state.  If you are interested in professional licensure, please check with the appropriate licensing body in the state where you intend to practice.  The specialist degree in school psychology at WTAMU may or may not meet requirements for licensure or certification in other states.  Here is a resource from the National Association of School Psychology (NASP) that may help you get started on this process:

NASP Credentialing

The program training philosophy is based on the school psychologist as a producer, consumer, and translator of psychological and educational research.  The school psychologist has strong skills in experimental design, statistics, and program evaluation which provide the foundation for basic and applied research.  In addition, this foundation provides the basis for the data-based problem solving skills of the practicing school psychologist who makes use of the latest educational and psychological research in designing individualized and empirically validated interventions to meet the academic, social, behavioral, and emotional needs of children and youth.  This philosophy is consistent with the scientist-practitioner model of graduate training, wherein students become both competent researchers and also effective problem-solvers who can skillfully apply this relevant research.  George Miller, in his 1969 APA presidential address, told “psychologists to ‘give psychology away’ by sharing its findings with the general public in ways they could apply to their daily lives (Fowler, 1999).”  The school psychologist meets this challenge daily through the use of consultation in which the results of the latest scientific research are shared with parents, teachers, administrators, and others to assist in helping to meet the needs of children and youth.

Quote from the APA Monitor at:
http://www.apa.org/divisions/div50/about_president.html

The mission of the School Psychology Program at West Texas A&M University is to help children and youth of the Panhandle and beyond to succeed academically, socially, behaviorally, and emotionally through preparation of well-trained professional school psychologists to work within the public schools.

The Program is also committed to the larger University's mission:

The mission of West Texas A&M University is to provide intellectually challenging, critically reflective, regionally-responsive academic programs that discover, interpret, apply, and disseminate knowledge for preparing the next generation of global citizens.