Graduate School of Education

Ph.D School Psychology Program Requirements

School psychology students obtain the Ph.D. by successfully completing the following sequence of course work, practical experiences, and research activities.  Remember, this program requires a minimum of four years of full-time academic study or its equivalent beyond the baccalaureate degree.  You should not, however, think of the Ph.D. degree as simply a linear completion of a set number of courses or hours.  Instead, the Ph.D. degree in school psychology represents an evolutionary process in which you learn to think like a psychologist, act like a psychologist, and to be a psychologist.  This is accomplished through each student's involvement in course work, field experiences, and applied research activities.

Coursework Requirements

The UCR Ph.D. School Psychology Program is designed to meet the content requirements of national accrediting agencies such as the American Psychological Association and the National Association of School Psychologists as well as the California Commission on Teacher Credentialing.  In addition, the UCR School Psychology Program will prepare you to become a Nationally Certified School Psychologist (NCSP) and to become eligible to sit for the Examination in professional Psychology (EPPP) that is required for licensure as a psychologist in every state.  The required courses are listed below.  Appendix A includes the credentialing bodies' requirements and indicates the UCR courses that address each organization's standards.

Research Requirements

A critical goal of the Ph.D. program is to ensure students are able to conceptualize, design, and carry out high quality research in school settings.  Besides learning research skills through coursework, it is expected that all Ph.D. students should gain a substantial amount of experience conducting research with program or other UCR faculty.  To that end, all students are expected to complete at least 10 hours per week of research each quarter before internship (e.g., years 1 to 3).  Students working as research assistants for at least 10 hours per week meet this requirement and do not to register for additional credits.  Ph.D. students not working on grants must register 2 credits of EDUC 290 each quarter and conduct research supervised by a UCR GSOE faculty member.

Supervision

All Ph.D. students must gain experience conducting supervision of mental health provision.  For most students, this goal will be achieved as part of the EDUC 302 requirement by supervising students in the assessment sequence or consultation