Catalog Year

2023-2024

Degree

Doctor of Psychology

Credits

106

Locations

Mankato

Accreditation

NASP

National Association of School Psychologists

School Psychology (PSYD)

The Doctor of Psychology (Psy.D.) program in school psychology trains students to attain certification to practice as school psychologists and/or pursue other doctoral-level employment such as university teaching. The program emphasizes (a) data-based decision making, (b) multiculturalism, (c) mental health, and (d) prevention. The program is certified by the National Association of School Psychologists (NASP). 

Program Requirements

Common Core

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Professional Experiences - * 8 credit minimum for Internship.

This is a field-based course that introduces school psychology students to the K-12 school context via in-school observations and brief clinical experiences. Students complete 45 hours of field experience.

Prerequisites: none

This is the first half of a year-long practicum placement in which students engage in a wide variety of professional school psychology practices under the supervision of a licensed practicing school psychologist. Students complete 160 hours of field experience.

Prerequisites: none

This is a continuation of PSYC 750. Students complete an additional 160 hours of field experience in school psychology.

Prerequisites: none

Doctoral students engage in supervised clinical experiences in a placement that will further their preferred areas of professional expertise related to school psychology. Students complete 80 hours of field experience.

Prerequisites: none

This 1500-hour internship is a culminating experience for the school psychology Psy.D. program. Students are placed at a site where they engage in a wide range of school psychology services under the supervision of a doctoral-level school or licensed psychologist.

Prerequisites: none

Choose 2 Credit(s).

This is a continuation of PSYC 760. Students complete an additional 80 hours of field experience in school psychology.

Prerequisites: none

The course will provide a high-quality multicultural experience for advanced doctoral students interested in broadening their understanding of educational practices at the international level. Students will have the opportunity to impact students in poor regions in need of their attention.

Prerequisites: none

Diversity and Disability

This class will be a comprehensive overview of the cultural, socioeconomic, and ethnic competencies needed by school psychologists entering today's diverse educational setting. Students will learn about services that respond to culture and context to facilitate family and school collaborations.

Prerequisites: none

Current practices in the identification, placement, and education of exceptional children and youth. Emphasis on patterns of social, cognitive, language, and psychological development of exceptional children. Social, political, and economic advocacy issues.

Prerequisites: none

Psych/Ed Foundations - Choose 20-21 credits

This course trains students in the diagnosis of child psychological disorders using DSM classification procedures. Case conceptualization from a developmental psychopathology perspective is emphasized.

Prerequisites: none

Details the principles and standards put forth by the APA to guide the profession of psychology. The course is oriented towards those going into either a career in therapy (i.e., clinical, counseling, or school psychology), research or teaching.

Prerequisites: none

This course will introduce school psychology doctoral students to the wide range of professional issues relevant to school psychology and provide a context for their training at Minnesota State Mankato.

Prerequisites: none

Pediatric Neuropsychology will focus on diagnostics, referrals and common neurological problems encountered by School Psychologists in field or hospital settings. It is designed to train skills used in recognizing, assessing, and treating complex neurological disorders commonly seen in school-aged populations.

Prerequisites: none

This graduate course is designed to assist educators to develop knowledge of the due process requirements outlined in Minnesota Rule and Statute as well as a working understanding of federal special education law under the Individuals with Disabilities Act (IDEA) and Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act. Understanding the requirement of due process and federal special education law is critical in today's schools, both for teachers as well as administrators.

Prerequisites: none

Choose 3 - 4 Credit(s).

This course will allow the teacher candidate to critically reflect on the various cognitive, language, personal and social developmental factors involved in student learning. In addition, the teacher candidate will apply this knowledge into instructional decision-making for teaching in the inclusive classroom. Dispositions and skills of recognizing exceptionality in student learning, including learning disabilities, perceptual difficulties, and special physical or mental challenges, gifts, and talents and accommodating and accessing appropriate services and assistive technology will be developed. The level of expected performance is in accordance with graduate level expectations.

Prerequisites: none

Physical, social, emotional, intellectual, and personality development from conception to preadolescence. Focus on interplay between maturation and experience.

Prerequisites: none

This class covers the development of the individual from the age of 11 to 19 years of age. Discussion will include aspects of both normal and abnormal development.

Prerequisites: none

Assessment - * Select from PSYC 676 or 683

This course is an advanced overview of applied behavior analysis and it application to real world settings for graduate students. The class also will acquaint students with different strategies that may be used to assess and change behavior, as well as the variety of settings in which behavioral principles and techniques may be applied to improve the lives of individuals. Students will be required to conduct a functional behavior assessment, design a treatment plan, and monitor progress by the end of the semester.

Prerequisites: none

The primary purpose of this graduate course is to introduce the principles and techniques of assessment and case formulation utilized by behaviorally oriented clinical psychologists. The course focuses on behavioral assessment and case formulation as a process of identifying specific behaviors of concern, developing a treatment plan, and evaluating treatment outcomes.

Prerequisites: none

This course focuses on the role that standardized tests and measures play in educational decision-making. Students also learn how to evaluate the psychometric quality of tests.

Prerequisites: none

The basic skills required to professionally administer intelligence tests are covered. Students develop initial fluency in the administration of at least two tests and are exposed to several others.

Prerequisites: none

This class will focus on the application of hypothesis testing processes and a range of procedures to understand child abnormal behavior and formulate interventions. Topics include assessment procedures and application of these procedures to specific categories of psychopathology.

Prerequisites: none

Intervention/Prevention

Students focus on learning a data-based approach to problem solving academic problems for individual children. Focus is on assessment leading to intervention.

Prerequisites: none

Topics include models of consultation, the development of school and parent consultation skills, and providing educational and mental health services across all levels of prevention.

Prerequisites: none

Students focus on understanding how school systems function, how to be a leader in system-change efforts and how to supervise and support the continued professional learning of individuals and groups in school settings.

Prerequisites: none

This class focuses on the development and implementation of specific psychological interventions in school settings following the assessment and diagnosis of specific mental health problems.

Prerequisites: none

Research/Methods Course(s)

* PSYC 780 must be taken twice for 4 credits total

Research methodology and statistical procedures involving descriptive and inferential techniques for simple and multivariate situations involving parametric and non parametric variables using manual and computer methods.

Prerequisites: none

Covers methods for analyzing treatments and experimental (as well as quasi-experimental) manipulations that focus on the behavior of the individual subject, multiple N=1, and small group designs.

Prerequisites: none

Overview of multivariate statistical analyses including: multiple regression, ANCOVA, MANOVA, discriminate function analysis, and factor analysis.

Prerequisites: none

Doctoral students participate in research teams, gain experience in data collection, develop research ideas, and write research and IRB proposals.

Prerequisites: none

Unrestricted Electives

Electives - Choose 4 Credit(s). Advisor approval required before electives count toward degree, PSYC 516 or 514 are strongly recommended for those who would like to pursue Board of Psychology licensure

Capstone Course

* PSYC 799 requires minimum 8 credits

The dissertation is based on independent research conducted by doctoral candidates at or near the end of their course of study. The dissertation culminates in an oral defense.

Prerequisites: none