School Psychology 

Overview

The PhD in School Psychology at Pace University prepares students to address educational and developmental problems bearing upon school achievement, adjustment, specific disabilities/disorders, chronic or acute situations or conditions that influence learning or mental health, school crises, and difficult social conditions that elevate risk to healthy development. 

The program prepares students to develop competencies in psychological assessment, measurement, and intervention, act in accordance with professional values consistent with the highest ethical standards, properly use and benefit from supervision, and to implement evidence-supported practices in intervention.

The program also equips students to develop and implement research methods that are pertinent to the recognition of, distinctions among, and effective preventions and interventions for young individuals facing the many types of risk (e.g., academic, biological, environmental, experiential, psychosocial) that compromise developmental potential. Students will also be equipped to analyze efficacy in the educational system, as well as pediatric health care and others systems, and to inform policy creation in education and mental health care.

Students will develop abilities to carry out scientific research in the area of school psychology, and to develop skills pertaining to the academic and professional communication of research findings. The program will broaden the scope of knowledge in school psychology by addressing individual, group and system issues along with biological, developmental, environmental, psychological, and social factors affecting well-being through the promotion of research and scholarship by faculty and students.

Career

Graduates of the PhD in School Psychology program will have completed all pre-doctoral academic and internship requirements needed to be admitted to the New York State Licensing Examination for the professional practice of psychology. Typically graduates of the program have been awarded the Master of Science in Education (MSEd) in School Psychology (or equivalent program in school psychology), and been recommended for New York State Certification in School Psychology. 

Graduates of the PhD in School Psychology program will be prepared to provide a range of psychological services, including, for example, assessment and evaluation, health promotion, intervention, prevention, and program development and evaluation services with a special focus on the developmental processes of children and youth within the context of schools, families, and other systems.