Return to: School of Education & Human Development
Program Leader: Franci Crepeau-Hobson
Office: Lawrence Street Center, 1113
Phone: 303-315-6315
Fax: 303-315-6349
E-mail: franci.crepeau-hobson@ucdenver.edu
Website: www.ucdenver.edu/education/spsy
Faculty
Information about faculty in the school psychology program is available online at www.ucdenver.edu/education.
Degree
The doctor of psychology (PsyD) degree in school psychology is a 96 graduate semester-hour program that leads to licensure as a school psychologist by the Colorado Department of Education and prepares graduates to apply for licensure by the Colorado State Board of Psychologist Examiners.
The program is based on the Accreditation Domains and Standards of the American Psychological Association (APA) and the Model for Comprehensive and Integrated School Psychological Services endorsed by the National Association of School Psychologists (NASP). This model and these standards promote the following domains of psychology: data-based decision-making and accountability; consultation and collaboration; interventions and mental health services to develop social and life skills; school-wide practices to promote learning; preventative and responses services; family-school collaboration services; diversity in development and learning; biological bases of behavior; research and program evaluation; and legal, ethical and professional practice.
Consistent with a practitioner-scholar model, the PsyD Program in School Psychology prepares professional school psychologists through rigorous academic study integrated with intensive supervised clinical practice. The Program includes an emphasis on the delivery of mental health services in schools, as well as the development of advanced level practice skills. The Program stresses the application of scholarly findings to practice, as well as a respect for all aspects of diversity.
Bilingual School Psychologist Concentration Option
This optional specialization provides School Psychology students with the knowledge and skills to effectively serve English language learners in the school setting. In addition to the three required courses and practicum component, the Bilingual School Psychologist concentration consists of language proficiency assessments to ensure that school psychologists are adequately proficient in another language to provide psychoeducational services. CU Denver provides one of the few bilingual school psychology concentration areas in the country making our graduates even more desirable in their future endeavors.
Admission Requirements
Successful applicants to the school psychology (SPSY) program will have obtained a minimum 3.2 undergraduate GPA and a combined score of at least 300 on the verbal and quantitative sections of the Graduate Record Exam (GRE) and a minimum score of a 3.5 on the written portion of the GRE. Applicants will also submit a current resume or vita, a personal statement that outlines their reasons for pursuing a degree in school psychology at CU Denver, and three letters of recommendation. The highest ranked applicants will be invited to a full-day group interview that includes a program orientation, a writing assignment, and a campus tour.
Application materials are available at https://soa.prod.cu.edu/degreeprog/applyDEGREEPROG_CUDEN/login.action. All materials must be submitted online by December 1 for fall semester admissions. Application materials include the following:
- part I of the application for admissions
- tuition classification form
- $50 application fee (make checks payable to the University of Colorado Denver)
- letter of intent/personal statement
- resume or vita
- three letters of recommendation
- two official transcripts from each higher education institution attended (in the original, sealed envelope)
- official GRE scores sent directly to the University of Colorado Denver
- oath and consent
- fingerprint affidavit
Requirements for the Doctor of Psychology Degree in School Psychology and Licensure
Students will complete course work in learning and cognition, academic interventions, legal and professional issues, psychological assessment, crisis intervention, counseling and other direct interventions, and consultation. Specific course requirements include three prerequisite courses, 71 credit hours of coursework, 7 credit hours of practica (minimum of 500 hours in the field), 6 credit hours of clinical externship (minimum of 500 clock hours in the field), 8 credit hours of internship (minimum of 1500 clock hours in the field), and 4 capstone project credit hours. Successful completion of the School Psychology Praxis exam during the course of study and passing of comprehensive examinations are also required. Prerequisites include an undergraduate or graduate course in each of the following: measurement concepts, basic statistics, and child development. Students may be admitted to the program without first completing these prerequisites; however, these courses must be completed during the first year of study.
Program Requirements
Students will complete the following core course work:
- COUN 5010 - Counseling Theories
- EDHD 5240 - Cognition and Instruction
- SPSY 7500 - Neuroeducational Assessment and Intervention
- - Historical and Philosophical Foundations of Psychology
- - Advanced Social Psychology
- - Methods of Qualitative Inquiry
- - Methods of Survey Research
- - Intermediate Statistics
- - Program Evaluation
- - Behavior Analysis and Intervention
- - School-Based Multicultural Interventions
- - School Psychology: Professional and Legal Foundations
- - Psychoeducational Assessment I
- - Psychoeducational Assessment II
- - Assessment and Intervention: Birth to 3
- - School-Based Interventions: Children, Youth and Families
- - School-Based Interventions: Groups, Classrooms and Systems
- - Psychoeducational Assessment of Culturally and Linguistically Diverse Students
- - Crisis Prevention, Planning and Intervention
- - School-Based Consultation for Mental Health Professionals
- - Identifying and Planning for the Mental Health Needs of Children and Adolescents
- - Academic Interventions in School Psychology
- SPSY 6700 - Advanced Seminar in School Psychology
- - Clinical Supervision and Administration of Psychological Services
Supervised Experiences
- - School Psychology Practicum
- - Advanced Practicum in Psychological Assessment
- - Clinical Externship
- - School Psychology Internship
Total: 96 Hours
The doctor of psychology in school psychology degree also requires satisfactory completion of a case study, demonstrating mastery of the program objectives, a passing score (≥ 147) on the ETS PRAXIS specialty exam in school psychology, a passing score on a written comprehensive examination, and enrollment in 4 credit hours of SPSY 8980 and completion of a capstone/applied research project .
Professional Expectations
All students in the SPSY program are expected to show a strong commitment to the program and to maintain a high academic, professional, ethical standards and a sensitivity to diversity. Inappropriate or unprofessional conduct is cause for discipline or dismissal from the program.
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