Doctor of School Psychology
School Psychology PsyD Virtual Open House
Join us October 27 from 6:00–7:30 p.m. for a free and informative Virtual Open House and hear more about our program directly from faculty, students, and staff!
School PsyD Overview
The doctoral program in School Psychology is based on the PsyD/Practitioner-Scholar model of training, initially developed at the 1973 Vail Conference on Levels and Patterns of Professional Training in Psychology. This model places primary emphasis on delivery of psychological services and on the evaluation and improvement of services. It emphasizes professional practice based on an understanding of research-supported knowledge in the discipline. It supports a view of professional school psychology practice that is guided by knowledge of the theory and research related to school psychology and by data-based decision making in the practice setting.
Science-Based Approach
We educate and train graduate students to think psychologically and systematically about the nature of schooling, using a science-based approach to the design, implementation, and evaluation of practices, programs and services at the individual, group, and organizational levels, in order to support the emotional, social, and academic development of students in schools. Department of School Psychology faculty members believe that service delivery should be grounded in research findings that professional practices or programs are likely to contribute to beneficial results for clients.
In addition, faculty members believe that decision-making about initiating, maintaining, modifying, and terminating practices, programs and services should be data-based and therefore, reflective of individual needs and client goals. Throughout our curriculum, theoretical and research foundations are integrated with practice issues, and didactic training is integrated with field experiences, in part, to emphasize the relationship between science and practice.
Education and Training
Faculty members in the Department of School Psychology educate and train students to provide school psychological services that are referenced to educational and psychological needs and are evidence-based, culturally sensitive, collaborative, and coordinated with other school practices, and informed by literature on systems and organizational functioning. We promote use of an approach to professional practice that includes data-based clarification of needs and concerns, in which evidence is evaluated in terms of its technical reliability, validity and scientific meaningfulness, and the practitioner seeks to understand the problem or task within a theoretical framework.
The social/organizational context is understood as a critical dimension of professional service delivery. Evaluation of the results of professional activity is seen as an essential component of professional practice. Social responsibility of the school psychologist is also emphasized as it relates to issues such as diversity and social justice.
In 2025-26, students had an impressive 97% APA-accredited internship match rate.
Learning Outcomes
While earning their PsyD, each graduate of the School Psychology Program will be trained in the following profession-wide competencies identified by the American Psychological Association (APA), as well as in our program-specific competency in Systems-Based Practices:
- Research: To understand and engage competently in research and other scholarly activities that contribute new scientific, psychological, or professional knowledge.
- Ethics and Legal Standards: To understand and apply ethical and legal principles to the practice of psychology in schools and other service delivery settings.
- Individual and Cultural Diversity: To display adequate knowledge and professional skills to address issues of human diversity, especially in terms of students in schools and other service-delivery settings, and to develop skills for working with individuals and groups from diverse racial, cultural/ethnic, linguistic, socioeconomic, gender, and other backgrounds.
- Professional Values and Attitudes: To maintain self-awareness, beliefs, and behaviors that reflect the values and principles of school psychology.
- Communication and Interpersonal Skills: To demonstrate effective interpersonal and communication skills within schools, other professional practice settings, and community contexts, in the service of the psychological development and educational achievement of children and adolescents.
- Assessment: To demonstrate knowledge of and skills in administering, interpreting, and communicating about evidence-based assessments.
- Intervention: To understand and apply evidence-based interventions across a range of professional contexts and populations.
- Supervision: To understand and apply knowledge of effective supervision practices regarding the provision of school psychology practices.
- Consultation and Interprofessional/Interdisciplinary Skills: To collaborate effectively with professionals and stakeholders to address problems, share knowledge, or promote high-quality service delivery.
- Systems-Based Practices: To understand and apply a systems framework to school psychology research and practice at the individual and organizational levels.
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Contact Information
Amanda Gall
GSAPP's School PsyD program is: APA-accredited
Questions related to the program's accreditation status should be directed to the Commission on Accreditation:
Office of Program Consultation and Accreditation
American Psychological Association
750 First Street, NE
Washington, DC 20002-4242
Phone: 202-336-5979
Email: apaaccred@apa.org
Web: www.apa.org/ed/accreditation
Summary of CUDCP Policy for Graduate School Offers and Acceptances - Information for Applicants