Ed. S. Program Requirements

The course of study leading to an Educational Specialist degree with a specialization in School Psychology is a three-year program. The School Psychology Program Coordinator will provide updates to the course sequence, describing which courses to take each quarter. The course sequence is organized so that all basic foundation courses are completed in the first year, the second year provides practice at the University of Washington, and the third year is an internship in public schools.

During your first year, you will take courses in the scientific foundations of the practice of school psychology:

  • Human Learning
  • Development (Early Childhood, Middle Childhood, & Adolescence)
  • Personality Theory
  • Individual Differences
  • Multicultural Issues
  • Families
  • Research Methods
  • Statistics

In addition, you will take courses that introduce you to the field of school psychology; ethical, legal, and professional standards of practice; consultation (indirect service delivery); and interdisciplinary collaboration, group, and behavioral intervention.

The second year is designed as an integrated on-site practicum experience at the University of Washginton (UW), during which students provide direct and indirect services (to children from birth to age 21) under the supervision of UW faculty. You will learn to:

  • administer and interpret intellectual, cognitive, academic, and neuropsychological tests;
  • assess social and emotional functioning and adaptive behavior;
  • interview parents, children, and teachers;
  • observe children in the classroom;
  • test clinical hypotheses;
  • generate recommendations for interventions;
  • write psychological reports;
  • provide oral feedback and consultation; and
  • counsel individual children and their parents.

The entire third year is designed as a field-based internship in public schools, during which interns are supervised by certified school psychologists and also receive additional supervision once per week at the UW. Altogether, this program requires 118 credit hours.