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Virginia Administrative Code
Title 18. Professional And Occupational Licensing
Agency 125. Board of Psychology
Chapter 20. Regulations Governing the Practice of Psychology
12/22/2024

18VAC125-20-56. Education requirements for school psychologists.

A. The applicant shall hold at least a master's degree in school psychology, with a minimum of at least 60 semester credit hours or 90 quarter hours, from a college or university accredited by a regional accrediting agency, which was accredited by the APA or CAEP or was approved by NASP, or shall meet the requirements of subsection B of this section.

B. If the applicant does not hold a master's degree in school psychology from a program accredited by the APA or CAEP or approved by NASP, the applicant shall have a master's degree from a psychology program that offers education and training to prepare individuals for the practice of school psychology as defined in § 54.1-3600 of the Code of Virginia and that meets the following criteria:

1. The program is within an institution of higher education accredited by an accrediting agency recognized by the U.S. Department of Education or publicly recognized by the Association of Universities and Colleges of Canada as a member in good standing. Graduates of programs that are not within the United States or Canada must provide documentation from a credential evaluation service acceptable to the board that demonstrates that the program meets the requirements set forth in this chapter.

2. The program shall be recognizable as an organized entity within the institution.

3. The program shall be an integrated, organized sequence of study with an identifiable psychology faculty and a psychologist directly responsible for the program and shall have an identifiable body of students who are matriculated in that program for a degree. The faculty shall be accessible to students and provide them with guidance and supervision. The faculty shall provide appropriate professional role models and engage in actions that promote the student's acquisition of knowledge, skills, and competencies consistent with the program's training goals.

4. The program shall encompass a minimum of two academic years of full-time graduate study or the equivalent thereof.

5. The program shall include a general core curriculum containing a minimum of three or more graduate semester hours or five or more graduate quarter hours in each of the following substantive content areas:

a. Psychological foundations (e.g., biological bases of behavior, human learning, social and cultural bases of behavior, child and adolescent development, individual differences).

b. Educational foundations (e.g., instructional design, organization and operation of schools).

c. Interventions/problem-solving (e.g., assessment, direct interventions, both individual and group, indirect interventions).

d. Statistics and research methodologies (e.g., research and evaluation methods, statistics, measurement).

e. Professional school psychology (e.g., history and foundations of school psychology, legal and ethical issues, professional issues and standards, alternative models for the delivery of school psychological services, emergent technologies, roles and functions of the school psychologist).

6. The program shall be committed to practicum experiences that shall include:

a. Orientation to the educational process;

b. Assessment for intervention;

c. Direct intervention, including counseling and behavior management; and

d. Indirect intervention, including consultation.

C. Candidates for school psychologist licensure shall have successfully completed an internship in a program accredited by APA or CAEP, or approved by NASP, or is a member of APPIC or one that meets equivalent standards.

Statutory Authority

§§ 54.1-2400 and 54.1-3605 of the Code of Virginia.

Historical Notes

Derived from Virginia Register Volume 16, Issue 2, eff. November 10, 1999; amended, Virginia Register Volume 37, Issue 20, eff. June 23, 2021.

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