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 The
LSU School Psychology Program is accredited by the
American Psychological Association‡ and the
National Association of School Psychologists. The
LSU program is small and collegial. Each student has
intensive and frequent contact with faculty members
within the program, particularly with his or her major
professor. There are ample opportunities for school
psychology graduate students to learn directly about
psychological practice via practicum experiences and
to learn how to do research via hands on involvement
with multiple research programs throughout their graduate
careers. The program is designed to provide students
with an intensive immersive experience and as a result
is designed for full time enrollment over four years
at LSU plus a one year internship away from LSU.
The program embraces a scientist-practitioner model
of training and is designed to train psychologists
who use scientific problem-solving techniques in their
research and practice. The program emphasizes a comprehensive
approach to psychological services in schools including
prevention, intervention, systems development, and
program evaluation. Students receive extensive training
in research methods and logic and are taught to apply
this thinking not only to research issues, but also
to practical issues as well that they encounter in
their practicum experiences. The orientation of the
program is behavioral/ecological with a focus on children
and youth as they function within family, school,
and community systems.
The program prepares students to develop interventions
for behavior and academic difficulties of children
and youth and offers a course sequence that has been
approved by the Behavior Analyst Certification Board
to permit eligibility to sit for the examination for
national board certification in behavior analysis.
The program is also designed to permit students to
pursue licensure as a psychologists and certification
as a school psychologist.
The program emphasizes a strong focus on “hands
on” work in schools, clinics, and institutions.
Faculty and students are active in creating new knowledge
through research and students are exposed to strong
training in evidence-based assessment and intervention
practices incorporating most recent developments in
the field. Graduates of the program are employed by
schools, hospitals, clinics, institutions, and universities.
All of the school psychology faculty members are
active researchers in their areas of inquiry. The
senior school psychology faculty members have received
national awards recognizing their scholarship. They
have received scholarship awards from the division
of School Psychology of the American Psychological
Association and the American Association for the Advancement
of Science. School psychology faculty members have
served or are currently serving as editor or associate
editor of scholarly journals. The senior school psychology
faculty have been successful in obtaining grants to
support their research, training, and service work.
Grant and contract funding have been instrumental
in providing financial support to doctoral students
at LSU.
‡ The Committee on Accreditation of the American
Psychological Association can be reached at by phone
at (202) 336-5979 and on the web at http://www.apa.org/ed/accreditation/.
Its address is: 750 First Street, NE, Washington,
D.C. 2002.
Required Course Work for the PhD in School Psychology
at LSU
I. Departmental Required
Courses
Qualifying Core Courses
During your first 2 years you must
complete the following courses.
- Biological Basis of Behavior (7034)
- Cognitive Basis of Behavior (7030)
- Social Basis of Behavior (7040)
- History of Modern Psychology (4008)
During your first 2 years you must
complete 2 of 3 the required methods courses.
- Methodology and Research (7117)
- Intermediate Statistics (4111)
- Advanced Statistics (7111)
II. School Psychology
Required Courses
You must successfully complete the following courses
before internship:
- Psychological Assessment I (7125)
- Psychoeducational Assessment (7165)
- Cultural Diversity in Counseling and Therapy
(7929)
- Ethical, Legal, and Professional Issues in School
Psychology (7060)
- School Psychological Consultation (7660)
- School-Based Psychological Interventions (7973)
- Developmental Disorders and Psychopathology of
Children (7171)
- Current Problems in School Psychology (7968)
- Child Behavior Therapy (7972)
- Advanced Seminar in Behavior Analysis (7947,
3 Seminars are required)
- Theories and Concepts of Behavior Analysis
- Research Methods and Applications in Behavior
Analysis
- Behavioral Perspectives on Child and Adolescent
Development
- Psychological Assessment Practicum (7688, joint
enrolled with clinical students)
- Practicum in School Psychology (7668, 3 Semesters)
- Practicum in School Psychology (7669, 3 Semesters)
- Thesis Research (8000)
You must successfully complete the following courses
to complete the PhD in school psychology:
- Internship in School Psychology (7969, minimum
of 2 Semesters)
- Dissertation Research (9000)
School Psychology
Training Objectives
The faculty of the School Psychology Program at
LSU has adopted the following training goals to help
organize and guide our training efforts across the
four years that students are typically on campus.
The assessments of these goals and objectives are
integrated into both the ongoing evaluation of students’
progression through the curriculum and in their evaluation
each semester in their applied training. Potential
applicants who would like more detailed information
about the School Psychology Program at LSU are encouraged
to examine the School Psychology Student Handbook
that can be obtained from the link for current graduate
students on the Department’s website.
LSU School Psychology Program Training Goals and
Objectives
1. Foundations.
Program graduates will demonstrate understanding of
fundamental principles influencing human behavior.
1.1. Program graduates will demonstrate understanding
of critical biological, cognitive, social, developmental,
and environmental factors influencing human behavior.
1.2. Program graduates will demonstrate understanding
of ecobehavioral models of person-environment interaction
and how this influences behavior.
1.3. Program graduates will demonstrate the ability
to transfer understanding of basic principles of
human behavior to applied specific contexts to generate
hypotheses regarding mechanisms governing the behavior
of individuals.
2. Assessment. Program graduates
will use assessments that meet current professional
standards for practice to guide diagnostic determination,
intervention design, and monitor the progress of clients
they serve.
2.1. Program graduates will demonstrate mastery
of the technical issues relevant to the selection
and interpretation of assessment devices in school
psychology.
2.2. Program graduates will demonstrate a clear
understanding of the different technical qualities
that are desirable in assessment tools that are
used for diagnostic determination, treatment planning,
and progress monitoring.
2.3. Program graduates will devise, implement,
and interpret assessment plans to screen referral
concerns for purposes of triage and problem identification.
2.4. Program graduates will devise, implement,
and interpret assessment data in a professionally
appropriate manner to reach diagnostic determinations
based on the relevant diagnostic criteria.
2.5. Program graduates will devise and implement
behavioral, functional, and curriculum based assessments
to develop case formulations that guide intervention
planning.
2.6. Program graduates will write technically sound
professional reports of assessment outcomes that
are appropriate to the needs of the target consumer.
2.7. Program graduates will demonstrate effective
communication skills in describing assessment reports
in case studies and conferences with parents, educators,
and other service consumers.
3. Intervention.
Program graduates will design and implement evidenced-based
therapeutic interventions that meet the needs of children,
adolescents and families across educational and community
settings.
3.1. Program graduates will demonstrate mastery
of fundamental behavior analytic principles governing
human behavior.
3.2. Program graduates will demonstrate understanding
of the primary research literature regarding evidence
for the efficacy of interventions for social, behavioral,
and emotional concerns evident in children and youth.
3.3. Program graduates will demonstrate understanding
of the primary research literature regarding evidence
for the efficacy of interventions for academic concerns
evident in children and youth.
3.4. Program graduates will use assessment data
to design interventions that match the needs of
children and youth exhibiting social and behavioral
concerns.
3.5. Program graduates will use assessment data
to design interventions that match the needs of
children/youth exhibiting academic concerns.
3.6. Program graduates will produce written intervention
plans that are sufficiently clear and specific that
they are useful to parents, educators, and children/youth.
3.7. Program graduates will demonstrate effective
communication skills in developing intervention
plans with parents, educators, and children/youth.
4. Consultation.
Program graduates will demonstrate competence consulting
with parents, children/youth, and educators regarding
social, behavioral, emotional, developmental, and
academic concerns.
4.1. Program graduates will demonstrate a strong
foundation in the professional literature regarding
effective consultation by school psychologists.
4.2. Program graduates will demonstrate competence
in implementing the Behavioral Consultation Model.
4.3. Program graduates will demonstrate competence
in supporting intervention implementation by parents
and educators as well as supporting progress monitoring,
trouble shooting, and implementation monitoring.
4.4. Program graduates will demonstrate effectiveness
in consulting with and providing workplace embedded
professional development to educators.
4.5. Program graduates will demonstrate effectiveness
in consulting with and providing services to parents
including parent education.
5. Law, Ethics, & Culture. Program
graduates will demonstrate an understanding of the
fundamental legal and ethical principles underlying
the practice of school psychology and exhibit practice
that is congruent with those principles. Fundamental
to this goal is respect for the diversity of individual
and cultural differences.
5.1. Program graduates will demonstrate mastery
of the guides to ethical conduct published by APA,
NASP, and the BACB.
5.2. Program graduates will be able to describe
critical laws governing school psychology practice
such as the mandatory reporter statute, IDEIA, and
Section 504.
5.3. Program graduates will demonstrate an understanding
of the regulations governing the exchange of client
information in education and applied psychology.
5.4. Program graduates will demonstrate an understanding
of the issues surrounding critical issues of culture,
equity, and outcomes in education, assessment, and
the evidence for the efficacy of psychological services.
5.5. Program graduates will conduct their applied
and research activities in a manner that is congruent
with both ethical and legal standards for professional
conduct. This includes demonstrating respect for
the dignity of others.
6. Research. Program graduate will
contribute to the development of new knowledge within
psychology.
6.1. Program graduates will demonstrate mastery
of diverse research methodologies.
6.2. Program graduates will demonstrate the ability
to synthesize and summarize the research literature
within a specific domain.
6.3. Program graduates will use the existing literature
to formulate a research question, formulate a study
design, and appropriate analytic strategy for resultant
data.
6.4. Program graduates will complete original research
that makes a substantive contribution to psychology
including skill in scientific writing.
Data Regarding
Matriculation through the LSU School Psychology
Program
The following data describe aspects of our students’
progress through the School Psychology Program at
LSU. The data are based on students over the
last 7 years.
| Admissions |
|
| Mean number
of applicants |
22 |
| Mean number
of offers of admission |
5.3 |
| Mean size
of entering classes |
4.4 |
| Mean GRE
Verbal |
510 |
| Mean GRE Quantitative |
619 |
| Mean undergraduate GPA |
3.5 |
| |
|
| Financial Support |
|
| Percentage
of students offered graduate assistantships
over the past 5 years: |
100% |
| |
|
| Internships |
|
| Internships
(number/percentage) |
20/100% |
| Paid Internships
(number/percentage) |
20/100% |
| APPIC
Member Internships |
18/90% |
| APA Accredited
Internships |
18/90% |
| CDSPP Conforming Internships |
18/90% |
| Two year
half time Internships |
0/0% |
| |
|
| Attrition |
|
| Percentage
of students leaving the program |
12.9% |
| |
|
| Time
to Program Completion* |
|
| Mean
years to program completion |
5.9 |
| Median
years to program completion |
5.8 |
| Percentage
in 5 years or less |
29% |
| Percentage
in 5-6 years |
47% |
| Percentage
in 6-7 years |
12% |
| Percentage
in 7+ years |
12% |
*Due to the very small percentage of
program completers during this period (6%) who entered
with a master’s degree, these data are not reported
separately.
Professional
Credentials
Consistent with the program’s broad training
model, program graduates have obtained varied professional
credentials. The table below presents the three primary
types of licenses and certifications that graduates
over the past seven years have obtained. It is important
to note, that many states require substantial post
doctoral supervised hours that can create further
delays to obtaining licensure as a psychologist.
|
Credential |
Percentage |
| Licensure
|
24%* |
| Certified
School Psychologist |
35% |
| Board
Certified Behavior Analyst |
59% |
* Because psychologists are commonly
required to obtain additional supervised practice
experience for one to two years after graduation to
obtain licensure, PhD programs in psychology typically
report the percentage and number of licensed graduates
for graduates over the last decade, excluding graduates
from the last two years. For this group, 59%
of LSU School Psychology graduates are licensed with
this group including 13 of 22 graduates.
Current Program
Costs
Current Fees and tuition at LSU for full time graduate
students is range from $2,266 to $2,326 for in state
students per semester based upon course load. For
out of state students the range is $6,416 to $6,476
per semester. However, all students currently enrolled
in the school psychology program at LSU have graduate
assistantships. Graduate assistantships include full
tuition waivers and waiver of the non-resident surcharge
in addition to their salary. As a result, students’
current real costs for full time attendance range
from $770 to $830 per semester. Over the last 5 years
all students in the PhD program in psychology have
been offered a university funded departmental assistantship,
externship, or grant funded assistantship.
Additionally, assistantships also include access
to medical insurance with the University defraying
the bulk of the costs. Current student contribution
to the medical insurance premium range from $63 per
semester to $117 depending upon the level of coverage
the student elects to have. Participation in the health
insurance program is optional.
School Faculty
Frank
M. Gresham • Professor; Ph.D.,
University of South Carolina • Application
of response to intervention strategies within a problem
solving model to remediate academic and social behavioral
difficulties in school settings; social skills assessment
and training; interventions for severe emotional,
behavioral, and social behavioral difficulties in
schools; enhancing the integrity of interventions
delivered in schools.
George
H. Noell • Professor; Director
of School Psychology; Ph.D., University of California
– Riverside • Behavioral consultation
and child behavior therapy; value added assessment
of teacher preparation; assessments that guide treatment
design; treatment implementation by care givers; intervention
for young, at-risk children, and children with high
incidence handicaps.
Jeffrey
H. Tiger • Assistant Professor;
Ph.D., University of Kansas • Applied behavior
analysis; developmental disabilities; autism; preschool
classroom management; functional analysis of behavior.
For more information on School Psychology, please
contact Dr. Noell at gnoell@lsu.edu.
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