School Psychology Jobs & Career Guide 2024

Here are the steps to becoming a school psychologist:

To become a school psychologist, you should pursue a bachelor’s degree in psychology. You can also major in education or another related field based on state requirements. Before enrolling in this program, ensure the NASP accredits it.

You’ll also want to ensure your program has all courses required for a master’s degree. It’s important to check the requirements for a master’s program before choosing a bachelor’s program.

A bachelor’s program at the undergraduate level blends courses in liberal arts and science. During your junior year, you’ll take your psychology electives. You’ll take general courses such as biology, physical sciences, social sciences, speech, English composition, and history.

The advanced-level psychology course has units such as the history of psychology, cognition, counseling, child psychology, human behavior, and psychotherapy.

Applicants with previous experience in youth programs such as mentorship, classroom, or recreational camps have higher chances for admission.

As a senior-year student, your school may require you to submit a thesis or final-year project called a capstone project. To qualify for a master’s degree, you’ll need to complete the 4-year bachelor’s program and have a minimum GPA of 3.0.

Earning a master’s degree is another requirement when learning how to become a school psychologist. You can enroll in this program after completing your bachelor’s program.

Like a bachelor’s degree, ensure that your school offers a master’s degree program accredited by NASP. You can enroll for your master’s degree in a traditional institution or an online program offered by your college or university. Learn more about a Master’s Degree in School Psychology

Your master’s degree program in school psychology will take three years. This includes completing 60 credit hours and one year (at least 1,200 hours) of supervised internship. The third is the internship year, where you get direct supervision from a professional school psychologist.

Fieldwork in a master’s degree involves a practicum where you are required to do the following:

• Observe practicing school psychologists
• Interact with students
• Ask questions
• Analyze your observations

On the other hand, an internship involves working under supervision or independently. Internships help school psychology students to gain competence in program evaluation and research, assessment skills, communication skills, and ethics.

Check with your school to understand whether they support or arrange practicums and internship placements. If you’re seeking the most prestigious internships, expect competition from other school psychology students. You can start planning for an internship earlier to ensure you get your preferred choice.

A master’s program prepares you to work with students, educators, and families. You’ll also need to take electives that match your career plans. Courses such as educational psychology, I/Q evaluation, and counseling prepare you to handle students’ psychological, emotional, and educational needs.

These courses will help you learn how to work with different student groups. They also focus on collaborative problem-solving. If your students struggle with mental health issues, you’ll use research-based treatments to help them.

Some key topics you’ll learn include the following:

• How to find practical solutions for behavioral and learning issues
• How to evaluate students throughout their development levels
• How to create programs that encourage healthy learning environments
• How to use the appropriate psychological interventions

To make your career more marketable, you can add a second language to your master’s program. If you’re planning to pursue a doctoral program, choose electives that’ll qualify you for entry into the program.

Typically, a master’s degree will allow you to earn your state license and work as a school psychologist. It also increases your chances of working in academia, certain work environments, or private practice.

You can pursue a doctoral degree to be more marketable. A doctoral program takes 5-6 years with at least 90 semester hours and a year-long internship.

Additionally, candidates must pass the Praxis II School Psychologist (5402) Exam. Usually, the passing score is 155, but it changes after several years. You’ll need to check if your state requires this exam and the passing score required.

The Educational Testing Service (ETS) administers this exam before students can graduate. You must send your school transcripts and internship completion certificates for approval to sit for the school psychology exam.

Passing the Praxis II exams ascertains that candidates have acquired the minimum acceptable competency to work as professional school psychologists.

After receiving your state license, you can start working as a professional school psychologist. Most people find jobs as school psychologists in public schools. If you’re looking for more alternatives, you can try private schools, research settings, universities, student wellness centers, and preschools.

Remember, you’ll need to renew your state license periodically and take continuing education courses. Learn more about psychologist licensing by state.

Securing a license and a job as a school psychologist is not the end of your education. Like other careers, school psychology requires professionals to maintain their certifications. They must take continuing education programs to keep them up-to-date with the latest techniques.

The courses expose them to new theories and techniques for handling students at different levels. Courses for renewing school psychologists’ credentials vary from state to state.

Some states require professionals to undertake continuing education courses every 2-5 years. This involves 20 to 30-hour training in child psychology each year. School psychologists can attend psychology classes, webinars, or conferences to meet these hours.

You’ll also need to take some tests to earn Continuing Professional Development credits (CPD credits). Professionals must attain 75 CPD credits within the required years to renew their credentials. You gain CPD credits through university coursework, in-service training, self-study, workshops, and conferences.

Some states don’t have specific continuing education requirements. However, practicing school psychologists within those states must renew their credentials. Learn more with our list of CE providers.

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Yes, it can be. Like any career, school psychology has its pros and cons.

School psychologists earn a reasonable salary (although less than some other subfields of psychology) and enjoy a fairly good work-life balance thanks to long summer breaks and their working day typically being focused around school hours.

The work can be immensely rewarding helping children and young adults as well as their families but the issues and challenges that you may be helping people through can be very concerning and make it hard for you to switch off at the end of your day.

There is a good chance you will need to connect children and their families with resources outside of your school and these services are often limited and overstretched which can be frustrating and stressful. There is also frequently a considerable amount of paperwork associated with the role.