Home Page

NOTE TO READERS

This website is no longer being updated.  The original authors have all been retired from active service for at least fifteen years.  Although the materials included here are automatically copyrighted readers are hereby formally authorized by the principal editor, Guy M. McBride, Ph.D., to download and use anything herein with or without attribution.  Guy M. McBride, 4/12/2024

 

 

Click here   for What’s New

With the exception of publishers’ test materials and a few books by this blog’s authors,  almost all of our links lead to free content.   If your actual WiFi speed is 50 mbps or more, our pages are designed to load in less than five seconds.  The exception is our Resources page, which, because of its wide reaching content, may take twelve seconds or more to load.

For convenience, any of our pages can be accessed immediately by using the sidebar menu that runs along the right side of each page.

The headings above and every tab on the drop down menus if clicked upon will also lead to the page indicated. 

Almost all of our hyper links are embedded in the text.  Clicking on a light blue word or phrase will open the resource to which it is linked. 

Some of our pages are quite long, but it is quite easy to return to the top of the page or table of contents.  Either click on the caret (^) sign after each major heading or the “Back to Top” box that appears in the lower right hand corner as you scroll down. 

This website contains over 4000 unique links (over 5000 total).  A broken link is identified by its having a line through it.  Once confirmed as broken (not just down for maintenance), we try to fix them as soon as possible by replacing them with updated links, with links to the Wayback Machine, or by deleting them entirely. 

IMPORTANT NOTICE (July 11, 2022):  Although COVID 19 as of this date continues to affect thousands of Americans every day, the widespread proliferation of vaccines and new treatments  has resulted in a renewed normalization of school re-openings.  For that reason, our COVID page has been moved to a sub-heading under “Archived.”  Broken links on that page will no longer be fixed or repaired.

What’s New?

Click on blue bold-faced text to quickly access material.  Links to “What’s New” updates that are more than a year old are occasionally deleted (because they are hardly “new”) but the content  remains available by clicking on the applicable tab above. Also if you have a particular subject in mind, the Search function (at the top of the right sidebar) is also available.

June 11, 2023.  Litigation Updates 2023.  Added Perry Zirkel’s June updates with links to decisions

January 12, 2023, Resources/Attention Deficit Hyperactive Disorder.  Added links to four new videos on Inattentive ADHD.

September 23, 2022.  Litigation  Updates, September 2022.    Bannister v. Knox County.  A sad lesson on how piss poor attorneys can lose your case without anyone actually ever hearing the merits of  your case.  In this case, the suicide of a boy after being mistreated by school staff.

September 1, 2022.  Litigation Updates/September 2022.   
Perry Zirkel Update, with added links and references supplied by the editor.

August 5, 2022.   Litigation Updates/August 2022.   Three new cases, two dealing with teacher discipline, one of which answers the question, “Is it okay to staple a note to an autistic child’s head?”  The third is another LRE case that has taken four years to resolve.

August 4, 2022.    Litigation Updates/August 2022.  Zirkel Legal Update.  Two new decisions of potential interest to school psychologists particularly.

July 30, 2022.  State Regulations/Iowa.  Updated link to Iowa administrative rules.

July 19, 2022,  OSERS AND OSEP GUIDANCE/ July.   OSERS issues new guidance for schools to avoid discrimination in discipline.  

July 16, 2022.  .Resources/Suicide Prevention  The resources and information on this page are designed to help states, territories, tribes, mental health and substance use disorder professionals, and others looking for information on understanding the background, history, funding opportunities, and implementation resources for strengthening suicide prevention and mental health crisis services. SAMHSA announces new national suicide prevention 988 number.

July 14, 2022.  Litigation Update, July. 2022.  L.C. v Arlington Co. Sch. Board.  Unilateral placement in a private school.  Plea for tuition reimbursement.  Parent loses gamble.  n

July 11, 2022.     Litigation Updates July 2022.   Perry Zirkel’s April Update.

July 10, 2022.  Litigation Updates July 2022. Perry Zirkl’s May and June updates.  Also Doe v. Portland Public Schools.

July 10, 2022.  Litigation, July 2022 Update.  H.W. v. Comal Independent School District, Fifth Circuit.  A FAPE/LRE case that could have gone either way.  But in this instance, the school prevailed.  To see why, click the preceding link.

July 9, 2022.  Litigation Update, July 2022.  J.B. v. Summit, a case where the parents were suing for tuition reimbursement because the school had not identified their children fourteen months earlier. (They lose.)

July 7, 2022.  Litigation Updates for July 2022.  Perry Zirkel’s July update with links and annotation added by this editor.

December 2, 2021.   Litigation Updates, December 2021.  Perry Zirkel’s December Update.

November 4, 2021.  OSEP and OSERS.  OSEP has a new Twitter Account.

October 13, 2021. OCR issues Fact Sheet on Supporting Students in Danger of Harming Themselves .

August 15, 2021.   Spedlaw/OSERS-OSEP.   OSEP issues Fast Facts on Race and Diversity of Studnets with Disabilities under Part B (August 10);

August 7, 2021.  Litigation Update/2021/August.  Rabin v. New Glarus , district court, July 22, 2021.  Parents fail to convince district court judge that the  hearing officer was clearly erronious in declaring a private school virtual learning environment was appropriate for their child.

August 6, 2021.  PAR, Inc is back online.

August 6, 2021.  Litigation Updates 2021/August.  Duncan v. Eugene School District, District Court, July 27, 2021.  Family alleging discrimination based on their child being subjected to a hostile learning environment wins right to sue.

August 4, 2021.  Resources/Organ Transplants.  Additional resources on organ transplants (scroll down).

August 3, 2021.  Resources/Organ Transplants.  NEW SECTION.  Duke Hospital recommended resources.

August 3, 2021.  Litigation Updates 2021/August.   Perry Zirkel’s monthly update focuses on two Covid 19 related cases.

August 2, 2021.  Spedlaw/OSEP and OSERS Guidance/Long Covid.  OCR and OSERS issued a Joint Guidance on long Covid.

August 1, 2021.  Note:  PAR, Inc closed its website down on July 30, causing at least 28 of our links to be broken.  Hopefully they will be restored by 8:AM August 6, 2021.

July 31, 2021.   Litigation Update/2021/July.   Hood River v. Student, July1, 2021.  District court judge affirms ALI ruling giving a child with autism 54,000 minutes of compensatory education. 

1July 29, 2021.  Litigation Update/2021/July.  A.G. v Statesville, NC City Schools, District Court, June 23, 2021  Parent  wins right to sue teacher and assisatnt for just watching SRO handcuff and abuse child with a disability for spitting on the floor.

July 28, 2021.   Disabilities/ Other Health Impaired/White House says long Covid covered disability under federal laws.  

July 28, 2021.  Litigation Updates/2021/July.   Doe v. Huntsville City School Board of Education, District Court (Alabama) July 1, 2021.  Shool employees think telling bully and victim to “be friends” will effectively prevent him from being injured.  Wrong, makes things worse.   Judge decides parent has right to sue under federal law.

July 27, 2021,  FERPA/FERPA and the Coronavirus.  A 2020  FAQ regarding FERPA and the coronavirus.

July 27, 2021.   FERPA/A Parent’s Guide to FERPA.   A publication of the Student Privacy Policy Office.

July 27, 2021.  Test Info/New Resources on Special Education Testing from NCLD.   Testing briefs on what they would consider defensible assessments.

July 25.   Litigation Updates/2021/July.  Y.P. v. Howell Township, Third Circuit, July 19, 2021.   When parents unilaterally change school systems, intra state regs apply, not stay put rules.

July 20, 2021, Litigation Updates/2021/July.    Perry Zirkel. — Post Pandemic Compensatory Services.  Do you know the difference between compensatory services and compensatory education?  No?  Perry explains (in ten pages).  

July 17, 2021   Litigation Updates/2021/July.   E.E. v. Norris School District, Ninth Circuit, July 14, 2021.  Norris School District offers unique arguments as to why its “stay put” placement a better stay put placement than the parents proposed stay put placement.   The court finds their arguments too unique.

July 16, 2021.  Litigation Updates/2021/July.   T.R. vs. School District of Philadelphia, Third Circuit, July 9, 2021.    Parents try to frame their complaint as a class action suit, avoiding  the exhaustion of administrative remedies requirement.  Their attempt failed.

July 15, 2021.  Litigation Updates/2021/July.   D.D. EX REL. NAILIAN H. v. GARVEY SCHOOL DISTRICT, CA District Court, June 16, 2021.  Parents won at the hearing but wanted more.  Got a little bit but mostly the judge deferred to the ALJ’s decision.

July 14, 2021.     COVID 19/CDC Guidance on COVID 19 Prevention in K-12 Schools.  CDC Guidance updated on July 9, 2021.  We had hoped to be archiving this page about now, but it appears  the Delta variant of COVID is staging an effective comeback.  Litigation arising out of the pandemic is being updated on the Litigation 2021 page and is unlikely to be archived any time soon; that litigation will be on-going for at least the next five years.

July 14, 2021.   Litigation Updates/2021/July.  Perry Zirkel’s Summer COVID 19 Update.

July 12, 2021.  Disabilities/Intellectual Disabilities/AAIDD.   This page, with the most current AAIDD definition of an intellectual disability, was updated.

July 11, 2021.  Resources/Attention Deficit Hyperactive Disorder.   A chart comparing all of the various medicines being  prescribed ADHD and ADD-H today.

July 10, 2021.   Spedlaw/OCR.   Updated OCR’s links to frequently asked questions about 504 and Title II.

July 9, 2021.  Litigation Update/2021/July.  A.R. v Connecticut State Board of Education, Second Circuit, July 8,   A Connecticut case wherein the parents successfully alleged discrimination based on different termination dates for disabled and non disabled children. Not a case of general interest.

July 8, 2021.  Disabilities/Autism.  FDA approves new diagnostic app for autism. Potential users are encouraged to read both the FDA approval letter and opening the links to two critiques included with this addition.

July 8, 2021,  Spedlaw/OSEP and OSERS Guidance.   OSEP Fast Facts for the 2019-2020 School Year graphically presented by OSEP.

July 7, 2021  Litigation Update 2021/July.   Perry Zirkel’s July Legal Update.

July 6, 2021.  Litigation Update 2021/July.  Vinluan v. Ardmore, District Court, April, 2021.  A parent attorney sues the school system with a broadside attack listing offenses under every federal civil rights law under the sun.  A school psychologist’s actions take center stage.  Ardmore prevails and the SP is vindicated.  Parent still gets compensatory education awarded by SRO.

July 6, 2021.  Litigation Update?2021/July.  Perkiaman School District v. R.B. District Court, April 2021.  Parents decline transition program for ID child, unilaterally place in residential school, sue for tuition reimbursement and travelling expenses, and prevail.  

July 5, 2021.   Resources/Attention Deficit Hyperactive Disorder.  Two new resources, both providing short videos on ADHD.  

July 5, 2021.  Litigation Update/2021/July.  L.K.M v. Bethel School System, District Court, April 2021.  A disabled child is assaulted by another student but the sexual assault is not reported because the victim did not object to the assault.  The district launches a vigorous and highly effective legal defense –until it is pointed out that the “victim must have objected” policy was discriminatory because 9n this case the kid was cognitively impaired and lacked the ability to object.

July 5, 2021.  Litigation Update/2021/July.  Crawford v.  School Board for Richmond City.   Three years after filing a complaint in state court, an evaluator goes to federal court alleging retaliation because a school system asked for sanctions against her after she asked for sanctions against them.  

July 4, 2021.  Resources/Attention Deficit Hyperactive Disorder.  Links to Dr. Reynolds podcasts.

July 4, 2021.   Part C of the IDEA/OSEP FAST FACTS.  OSEP has provided a summary of the data it has collected on Part C through 2021.  (Actually for 2018-2019.)  “The fast fact sheets include visualizations of the Section 618 data, including the number of children and students served under Parts B and C of the IDEA across the past decade. The charts also show metrics such as the number of children exiting services and their reason for doing so, total disciplinary removals of children served under Part B, children served divided by gender, and the change in the number of English learners with disabilities served under Part B”  (Council for Exceptional Children)

July 4, 2021.  Litigation Update/2021/July.  Jacquet v. Green Bay Area Catholic Education Inc, 7th Circuit, May 2021.  A Title IX case wherein the school system prevailed because it had not been indifferent, much less deliberately indifferent, to the girl’s complaints.

July 4, 2021.  Litigation Update/2021/July  B.B. v. Education Department of the State of Hawaii.  Mother said child didn’t receive FAPE and wanted school to pay for home program.  Administrative law judge said Mom’s fault child didn’t receive FAPE.  Judge affirmed.

July 4, 2021.   Litigation Updates/2021/July.   F v. MSAD #35.   Mildly interesting; at first glance looked delays in providing services would be a slam dunk argument for the parents.  But on closer look, not when the delays fell on the parents’ shoulders, not the school system.  

July 3, 2021.Litigation Updates/2021/July.  K.D. v. Douglas County, Eighth Circuit, June 2021.   Another Title IX case, but in this instance the district won because no one really did know a teacher was having a sexual relationship with a 13 year old girl.

July 3, 2021.  Litigation Updates/2021/July.  Jane Doe v. Fairfax, Fourth Circuit, 2021.  A Title IX case wherein the district claimed it had not had proper prior notice of an alleged harassment and also had argued that playing with an unwilling girl’s private parts did not constitute sexual harassment.  

July 3, 2021.  Resources/Social and Emotional Issues.  National School Implementation Guidance Modules and Related Projects

July 3, 2021.  July 1, 2021.  Litigation Updates 2021/July.  Links to Perry Zirkel’s publications from February through June 2021. L.C. v. Alta Loma School District,  June 3, 2021 Ninth Circuit.   An unpublished decision, but an interesting discussion of how a court determines whether a district has caused unnecessary delay or not.

July 2, 2021.  Litigation Updates/2021/July.  Richardson v. Omaha Public Schools, April 27, 2021.  Procrastinating attorney loses right to get attorney fees from school system.  SCOTUS affirms.

July 2, 2021.  Litigation Updates/2021/July Perez v. Sturgis School System.  Sue or settle but not both.

July 1, 2021.  Litigation Updates 2021/July.  Links to Perry Zirkel’s publications from February through June 2021.  Includes a separate update on COVID 19 related cases.

March 12, 2021.  Litigation Updates/2021.    A CASE article by Perry Zirkel on IDEA, the pandemic, and emerging decisions on parent lawsuits

March 12, 2021.  Evidence Based Practices.  A tool and taxonomy for schools to use in selecting and evaluating interventions.

March 12, 2021.  State Regulations/Arkansas.   Updated state special education links.

February 23, 2021.  Emotional Disabilities/Additional Resources.  Rethinking Behavior and a link.

February 11, 2021.   Litigation Update 2021.  Price v. Mueller, District Court, 02/2/2021.   A girl with a history of emotional and behavioral problems acts out in class and refuses to leave.  A behavioral specialist with training in de=escalation techniques is called in to de=escalate the situation and encourage the student to leave on her own accord.   The young lady is not impressed.   It doesn’t end well.

February 11, 2021.   Bullying Resources for Schools.  New resources for educators and schools on bullying.

February 8, 2021.  Litigation Update, February 8, 2021.  Perry Zirkel February Updae.

January 28, 2021.   Litigation Update January 2021.  Perry Zirkel January Update.

December 7, 2020.    State Regulations/Age of Cohort.  Different states serve students in  the 3 to 21 age range differently.  To see what ages your state serves, click the preceding.

December 5, 2020.  Litigation Updates/December 2020. C.W. v. Jara, November 10, 2020.   Another COVID 19 case, this time from Nevada, where the parents were asking the judge to  re-open the schools for children with disabilities just like they were pre-pandemic.

December 5, 2020.  Litigation Updates/December 2020.  Perry Zirkel’s Update.  This month’s update identifies recent court decisions of general significance, specifically addressing issues of (a) settlements for special education students, and (b) system-wide claims arising under COVID-19.

December 5, 2020.  Litigation Updates/December 2020.   Norris v. Opeika, district court.  Teacher wins right to sue ex employer for alleged retaliation against her exercise of protected free speech.

November 10, 2020.  Litigation Updates/November 2020.   Perry Zirkel’s Special Education Updates.

November 9, 2020.  Resources/ASD.  Sleep disorders are especially common in child with ASD.  There are numerous resources available to assist parents in addressing this problem, some of which have added as annotated links on our resources page.

October 29, 2020.  Resources/Medical Information.   Updated medical information on sleep apnea in children.  Three new links. 

October 26, 2020.   Resources/Assistive Technology.  A Guide to Special Education Resources Ready Now.  (26 pages, with multiple links to new and almost new AT resources now available.

October 4, 2020.   Litigation Update/October.  A new Perry Zirkel update.  Cases I reported previously, but a different perspective.

October 1, 2020.  COVID-19.   New Q and A from OCR on 9/28/2020 emphasizing that children’s right to FAPE under 504 is unchanged during the pandemic.  

September 29, 2020.   COVID-19.  New Questions and Answers from OSEP on 9/28/2020.   Appears  to essentially reinforce the fact that there are no federal exceptons to the 2006 Part B Final Regulations.  

September 26, 2020.    COVID-19/Online Accommodations.   Three annotated links.

September 26, 2020.  Disabilities/Specific Learning Disabilities/Kaufman-Mather.   Added a 2008 chapter by Nancy Mather on SLD Identification.  Dated, included here for historical information but with some caveats.

September 25, 2020.   Litigation Update/September 2020.   A decision from a Western District Court in Texas.  Parents of a teen aged girl suffering from anorexia was interviewed and photographed for the school yearbook. The girl was humiliated when details of her disorder were published.  In this decision the parents were allowed to sue under the ADA/504 alleging deliberate indifference.

September 24, 2020    Litigation Updates 2020/September.  Parents of child with autism awarded compensation for one to one ABA as well as attorney fees.

September 22, 2020.   Minor revision to Online Degrees above to address hybrid psychology programs.

September 21, 2020.  Updated IEPs and School Psychologists/Iowa Guidance.  Deleted bad link, added two new links.

September 20, 2020.   COVID 19:  The Pandemic’s Impact on Special Education Evaluations and SLD Identification (NASP).

September 19, 2020.  Litigation Update September 2020.  Garza v. Lansing.  Parents win the right to sue administrators who allegedly stood by and did next to nothing as a special education teacher abused one child after another over a span of years.

September 18, 2020.  Litigation Update September 2020.   Killoran v. Westhampton.  Parents lose case seeking modification of stay put provisions because both worked and they could no longer be at home without experiencing extreme hardship.  

September 18, 2020.    Today was Concussion Awareness Day.   In recognition of both this day and the prevalence of concussion (mild traumatic brain injury), nine (9) additional resources have been added to Resources/Traumatic Brain Injury.

September 17, 2020.   Spedlaw/Litigation Update 2020/September.   Perry Zirkel’s monthly COVID-19 update.  The best that’s available, but still not very helpful.

September 14, 2020.  COVID 19.  Wrightslaw Advice to Parents (links)

September 13, 2020.   IEPs and School Psychologists/Student Refusal.   Additional revisions and resources

September 12, 2020.  Litigation Update/September 2020.   A new case litigating whether or not a school system violated two nurses protected speech rights by retaliating against them.   Also a link to Justia’s Opinion Summary.

September 11, 2020.  Updated “Student Refusal” section in IEPs and School Psychologists page with additional guidance.

September 8, 2020.   Disabilities/IEPs and School Psychologists/Student Refusal of Supports or Services.  “The best laid plans of mice and men aft gang agley” (Robert Burns.) Especially true in special education when a student refuses accommodations or services in an IEP.  Although a common problem, authoritative advice available online is limited.  Available information issummrized here.  

September 5, 2020.    COVID 19/Updated information for school psychologists on online assessment.   Additional information from both Pearson, WPS, Riverside, Pro-Ed and PAR on how to use their tests online.  An excerpt from the 1999 Part B Final Regulations and additional links to professional organizations are also included in this new section.   

September 4, 2020.   Litigation Update:  September  2020.   Monthly legal update from Perry Zirkel, Puerto Rico ABA case where parents win services and legal fees, but school system staves off further damage by writing appropriate IEP for 2021.  

August 25, 2020.   Litigation Update/August 2020.   Two summaries from Perry Zirkel, one case where the availability of punitive damages is discussed at some length.

August 22, 2020.  State Regulations/Missouri.  Updated link to Missouri’s RTI plan.

July 20, 2020.  State Regulations/Tennessee.   Links to state dyslexia law , “Say Dyslexia,“and education department guidance on implementation of the law.  .

July 19, 2020.  State Rules and Regulations/North Carolina.  Added new links to 2020 SLD supplement “outlawing” use of historical discrepancy formula, link to resources on teaching during pandemic, and a bunch of links on assessing and identifying children with ASD.

July 10, 2020.  Provided a long overdue update to Winkleman v. Parma, a Supreme Court case.  Also provided an updated link to the Supreme Court decision in Fry v. Napoleon, which established the current judicial standard for determining when administrative remedies do and do not need to be exhausted.

July 10, 2020. Litigation Update 2020/July.  Another tuition reimbursement case. The parents provided documentation purportedly showing their child did better in private than in public school, but it was not enough to win the day.

July 9, 2020.  COVID 19 page.   Latest information from the United States Department of Education.

July 9, 2020.    Litigation Update: July 2020: Failure to consider OHI, failure to consider IEE in timely manner.  A case out of Missouri where a school does a couple of things wrong, most everything right, but ends up paying more than a hundred thousand dollars to the parent’s attorney.

July 8, 2020.   Two new publications by Perry Zirkel, one on general law and COVID 19, the other on recent cases.(Litigation Update, July 2020.)

June 15, 2020.  Litigation Update June 2020.  The school wins a case because even though it did not properly classify a student, it provided the same services it would have provided had they labeled him correctly.  Also while proving the school erred in appointing a surrogate when a foster parent was available, the participation of the foster parent in all important meetings mitigated the error so there was no loss of FAPE.

June 14,  2020.  Litigation Update June.  Parents sued alleging that their child had been denied FAPE because he was not diagnosed with autism and because there had been three times that his BIP had not been strictly followed.  Court found for school system.

June 14, 2020.  We received the following request on June 13, 2020 and as we are in general agreement with the principles therein are happy to oblige the writer and endorse the document below  endorsing a united call to action in combating racism.  .The link to the Joint Statement is included in the letter below.  The editor would also note that NASP is not a Johnny-come-lately to this issue, and our professional organization has issued a number of Position Papers and statements encouraging action to mitigate the effects of racism and discrimination in our society.  Two of the more recent statements can be found in the following PDF documents.   The current civil rights movement has its roots in the largely peaceful demonstrations beginning in the 1950’s led by Martin Luther King.   At that time, the movement was ignited not by the murder of a black man by a police officer, but by a simple act of civil disobedience when Rosa Parks was arrested on December 1, 1955 for refusing to give up her seat to a white man.   From that time to this, America has been torn by the simple and all too obvious conflict between the ideals expressed in our Declaration of Independence and Constitution and the systemic treatment of and discrimination toward people of color, including not only African Americans but also in these troubled times Hispanics and Asians.  

NASP Position Statement   Racism prejudice,Disrcrimination

Understanding Race and Privilege (2016)

These are not new issues, even within the lifetimes of many of our members.   

Please have https://www.myschoolpsychology.com/ endorse the “School Psychology Unified Anti-Racism Statement and Call to Action”:

https://ucsbeducation.az1.qualtrics.com/jfe/form/SV_6DSJMBduXKTYwbH

This document was created by the following organizations:

APA Division 16 School Psychology
Trainers of School Psychologists
Council of Directors of School Psychology Programs
Society for the Study of School Psychology
American Board of School Psychology
National Association of School Psychologists

 

 

Who are School Psychologists?

“School psychologists are uniquely qualified members of school teams that support students’ ability to learn and teachers’ ability to teach. They apply expertise in mental health, learning, and behavior, to help children and youth succeed academically, socially, behaviorally, and emotionally. School psychologists partner with families, teachers, school administrators, and other professionals to create safe, healthy, and supportive learning environments that strengthen connections between home, school, and the community.” NASP

While most schools will have a more detailed job description, North Carolina’s state Job Description is a particularly detailed overview of a school psychologist’s potential roles in a public school system.  For a more comprehensive description of what it is a working school psychologist can do, click here.

Do you want to become a school psychologist?

Every SEA has its own standards for being licensed or certified as a school psychologist.   All require a post graduate degree.  NASP maintains a list of all known school psychology programs with their level of NASP approval by state.   Some but not all states require graduates to have completed a NASP or APA approved  program (APA only reviews and approves Ph.D. programs.)  To see whether your state requires graduation from a NASP or APA approved program, NASP also provides a handy list of SP certification requirements state by state,  However, as the listings may not be up to date, readers are urged to consult their SEA  for current certification requirements.

Online Degrees

There are a number of on-line (sometimes called distance education) institutions that claim to provide the training necessary to become a certified/licensed  SP. As far as we know, none are APA or NASP approved even if the programs require a certain amount of time for attending classes on-campus.  Before enrolling in such a program  we would strongly advise a potential candidate to consult with the state education agency in the state they will seek employment to see if their course offerings would meet their standards.    One potential concern often cited in justifying a requirement for students seeking initial certification/licensure as a school psychologist to attend classes on campus is the difficulty online courses would have in helping develop the assessment and clinical skills a school psychologist must have.  

Some universities have addressed that concern.  One well known university, for example, is offering a hybrid program for an Ed.S. in psychology with only some courses online.  Their entrance requirements are high.   The average cost reported is $35000 a year.  Their five year Ph.D. program in clinical is APA approved.  However, APA does not offer approval for any non Ph.D. program, and some states will only accept degrees from a NASP approved non Ph.D. program for certification or licensure as a school psychologist.  This high quality program, as good as it appeared to be, did not report that it has received NASP approval.

Our warning here is not based on hypotheticals.  For example, when applying for licensure as a private psychologist in North Carolina, the board has frequently denied those applications based on degrees from online programs.  Their reasons differ somewhat from the concerns above.

 “Under Board rules, in situations where individuals have applied for licensure having graduated from programs which provide online instruction as the primary mode of instruction, the North Carolina Psychology Board has denied the applications. Some of the reasons for the denial, based upon Board rule, include, but are not limited to the fact that a program must have “an identifiable body of students in residence at the institution . . .” and “an identifiable full-time psychology faculty in residence at the institution . . . providing instruction at the home campus of the institution”; and that the program include one year’s residency which is defined as 30 semester (45 quarter) hours taken on a full-time or part-time basis at the institution.” The Board has not determined that instruction provided on computer in one’s home or another location which is not at the institution is the equivalent of being “at the institution.”   (June 2005)

Determination of licensure eligibility for school psychologists in NC comparatively seems pretty straight forward. 

1. Advanced degree in school psychology.
2. Completion of NASP or APA approved program in school psychology (minimum 60 graduate semester hours, including internship [specialist minimum 1200 hours; doctoral minimum 1500 hours]). …
3. Qualifying score of 147 or higher on the Praxis School Psychologist exam.

Again, caution is strongly advised before paying an online institution to get a degree that will not be recognized in your state as qualifying for licensure or certification.

 

Free Downloads to read all our documents if you do not have the actual program . . .

PDF files should open in  Microsoft Edge, Firefox, or Chrome.   For more features, however, click on PDF Viewer to download a free reader from Adobe.  The Installation program may also install additional software (e.g., Google Chrome) if the user does not uncheck the box.   A mobile app is also available.