Program Overview

Education Specialist (EDS) in School Psychology (AZ)

About OU’s Education Specialist in School Psychology (Arizona)

The Ed Specialist degree program in School Psychology is offered exclusively at Ottawa University’s Arizona adult campus. The program provides real-world knowledge through internship and practicum experiences in school psychology. It seeks to provide comprehensive school psychological practices in applied settings by preparing students for services in consultation, assessment, and intervention services for schools and school children.

Program Overview

The program emphasizes providing tools for working in collaboration with students, teachers, parents, administrators, and members of the community to promote learning in school settings. Students will develop entry-level skills in training students to identify evidence-based practices that address cognitive, academic, and social/behavioral needs of children and youth.

Degree Outcomes

The Ed Specialist degree is needed to work as a school psychologist. The degree enables students to work directly with children, parents, and teachers in a school setting. This program also provides a foundation for students who wish to pursue doctoral studies in school psychology in the future.

Career Outlook for the EdS Degree

The U.S. Department of Labor projects that employment opportunities for clinical, counseling, and school psychologists are projected to grow 14 percent through 2026, faster than the average for all occupations. It is further projected that employment of school psychologists will continue to grow because of the raised awareness of the connection between mental health and school outcomes.

The EdS in Perspective

This program provides students with the necessary credentials to become a state-board certified school psychologist. Students will gain the skills to advocate for children and their families regarding the learning environment, interpret data to improve the learning experience, use research to inform practices, and learn professional practice through instructors who are currently in the field.

Where School Psychology (AZ) is Offered

• Surprise, AZ (Residential Campus)
• Online

Careers in School Psychology (AZ)

Professional Licensure Disclosure

This program meets professional licensure requirements in certain states, as outlined on the University’s Licensure Disclosure page. Students are advised to verify that they are located (or plan to seek initial licensure) in a state where Ottawa University’s program meets requirements.

School Psychology (AZ) Courses

Foundation Courses

• Professional & Historical Issues in School Psychology An introduction to the field of school psychology, including its history, the roles and functions of school psychologists, professional issues, and ethics and law for school psychologists.
• Counseling & The Helping Professions Examines the counseling process, instruction and practice in communication skills in counseling, history, development, and practice of counseling as a profession, and how and where counseling is provided.
• Research: Assessment and Evaluation Develop conceptual and analytical skills and knowledge to assess organizational needs and program effectiveness through the use of research methodologies.
• Social & Cultural Basis of Assessment This course will examine issues in the assessment of bilingual students, including the appropriate use of standardized measures, non-discriminatory assessments, alternative approaches to the assessment of cognitive functioning, and social adaptive behavior of linguistically diverse students.
• Master's Research Project Prepare major culminating scholarly project directly relevant to the program of study. Approved project proposal required.

Concentration Courses

• Behavioral Methods and Interventions Course explores strategies and specific interventions to assist professionals in school settings. Emphasis is placed on remediation of academic areas, cognitive processes, and behavioral deficits.
• Assessment & Intervention: Academic & Alternative Principles and methods of performing individual psychological evaluations of school-age children and youth. Administering, scoring, and interpreting Wechsler Intelligence Scales, Stanford Binet, and other assessment instruments.
• Assessment & Intervention: Social & Behavioral Provides applied learning for the administration, scoring and interpretation of behavioral and personality measures, such as parent teacher child interviews, youth self-report measures, standardized rating scales, and projective techniques.
• Educational & Psychological Measurement Psychological testing theory, clinical and practical aspects of individual test administration, educational and clinical diagnosis, interpretation, and non-discriminatory and controversial issues in testing.
• Educational Statistical Methods I Overview of common statistical techniques used in educational research, including univariate and bivariate descriptive statistics, chi square, and linear regression.
• Educational Statistical Methods II Concepts and techniques involved in the analysis and interpretation of clinical and research data. Lecture and laboratory descriptive and inferential statistics.
• Special Education Law Legal issues and challenges facing the field of Special Education with emphasis on topics such as non-biased assessment, mainstreaming, non-categorical vs. categorical special education, effects of labeling multicultural, special education, and evaluation programs for the school psychologist.
• Consultation Strategies for School Psychology Concepts and practice of consultation in a variety of settings, including child-centered, teacher-centered and system-centered techniques.
• Theories of Learning in School Psychology Provides an in-depth review of major learning theories with an emphasis on how this impacts the practice of school psychology.
• Academic & Alternative Test Practice Students spend 45 hours in a school setting working with a school psychologist practicing academic and alternative testing procedures and report writing.
• Personality, Behavior, Social & Emotional Testing Procedures Students spend 45 hours in a school setting working with a school psychologist practicing personality, behavior, social, and emotional testing procedures and report writing.
• Theories of Trauma, Grief, and Loss Examination of the dynamics of grief, loss, and trauma and the role of the counselor in elementary, secondary, and community college settings in supporting students who have experienced loss or trauma.
• Internship in School Psychology I The internship requirements are equivalent to four semesters of full-time placement in a school setting under the dual guidance of an on-site staff psychologist and a University-based supervisor.
• Internship in School Psychology II Continuation of Internship II in the same school setting as Internship I.
• Advanced Assessment & Intervention: Academic & Alternative Course extends skills in academic and alternative testing, including report writing, selection, use, and interpretation of academic instruments, as well as ways to summarize and report test results to other professionals and parents.
• Child and Adolescent Development Examines theory and principles of development from conception through adolescence. Topics include an in-depth study of physical, social/emotional, cognitive, language, and aesthetic development.

University Accreditation

Ottawa University, as a whole, is accredited by the Higher Learning Commission. Specific degree programs within our institution have also been accredited by relevant bodies within the field.