New graduate program designed for future school psychologists
Hannah Lazar
Issue date: 11/5/09 Section: News
The university now has a graduate department of school psychology.
The announcement was make via a press release by the university Oct. 21.
Dr. George Helton and Dr. Pamela Guess, co-coordinators of the program and professors in psycology, announced the department of school psychology, which falls under the college of health, education and professional studies, has received official status from the National Association of School Psychologists.
This program is a graduate program which leads to an education specialist degree.
To enter the program, students must have at least a bachelor's degree, take the graduate record examination and supply three references and a personal statement.
Helton said the goal of the degree is to become a school psychologist, typically in a public or private school.
Some students in program are studing to work with infants or children with disabilities in mental health institutes.
School psychology is not quite the same as school counsellorship, Helton said.
"While we do work directly with children who are having problems, direct counseling is not our primary role," Helton said.
"Instead, we focus on assessing children and adolescents who are having trouble in school, both to understand the reasons for their difficulties and to plan ways of helping them do better," he said.
"We also focus on consulting with parents and teachers to help find strategies they can use to help their kids do better," Helton said.
He said, the level of interest for this program is relatively high with 38 students enrolled in the school.
Jamie King a graduate assistant from Columbia, Tenn., and sophomore Kevin Roberts, Chattanooga, said they find the program well-developed and helpful.
Roberts said each faculty member brings critical specialties to the program and the classroom.
"In addition to being well-balanced and knowledgeable, the faculty are very passionate about school psychology," Roberts said. "[They are] passionate about teaching graduate students how to become successful school psychologists."
The announcement was make via a press release by the university Oct. 21.
Dr. George Helton and Dr. Pamela Guess, co-coordinators of the program and professors in psycology, announced the department of school psychology, which falls under the college of health, education and professional studies, has received official status from the National Association of School Psychologists.
This program is a graduate program which leads to an education specialist degree.
To enter the program, students must have at least a bachelor's degree, take the graduate record examination and supply three references and a personal statement.
Helton said the goal of the degree is to become a school psychologist, typically in a public or private school.
Some students in program are studing to work with infants or children with disabilities in mental health institutes.
School psychology is not quite the same as school counsellorship, Helton said.
"While we do work directly with children who are having problems, direct counseling is not our primary role," Helton said.
"Instead, we focus on assessing children and adolescents who are having trouble in school, both to understand the reasons for their difficulties and to plan ways of helping them do better," he said.
"We also focus on consulting with parents and teachers to help find strategies they can use to help their kids do better," Helton said.
He said, the level of interest for this program is relatively high with 38 students enrolled in the school.
Jamie King a graduate assistant from Columbia, Tenn., and sophomore Kevin Roberts, Chattanooga, said they find the program well-developed and helpful.
Roberts said each faculty member brings critical specialties to the program and the classroom.
"In addition to being well-balanced and knowledgeable, the faculty are very passionate about school psychology," Roberts said. "[They are] passionate about teaching graduate students how to become successful school psychologists."
