Master of Science in School Psychology with Pupil Personnel Services Credential (California)

This course is designed to introduce students to the history of school psychology, and the professional standards set forth by the California Commission on Teacher Credentialing (CCTC) School Psychology Performance Expectations (SPPE). Students will learn the historical timelines of school psychology, the role and functions of school psychologists, and the evolution of the field. This course will engage students and promote critical thinking to evaluate and address the importance of social justice, ethical considerations, and legal aspects required in the field of school psychology.

Prerequisite: PED 606

This course introduces candidates to the roles school psychologists play in the state of California and nationally focusing on the ethical and legal guidelines that shape the profession and emergent practices in assessment, crisis intervention, personal and social counseling, behavior management, consultation, and systems change. Emphasis will be placed on professional dispositions (behavior and attitude), responsibility, adaptability, initiative, and self-care.

Prerequisite: PED 608

This course is an introduction to basic concepts and methods of measurement as applied to psychological and educational testing. Candidates will learn about the basic concepts, competencies, issues, and tools used in psychological testing and measurement and their practical applications. Emphasis will be placed three main areas: 1) theory and principles (e.g., statistical foundations, reliability, validity, item analysis), 2) applications and issues (e.g., test construction and evaluation), and 3) practical elements (e.g., test use in educational and clinical settings).

Prerequisite: PED 610

This course will provide candidates with an introduction to California State Educational Code and federal laws for the purpose of advocating for students in need of special education supports. Candidates will examine the timeline of special education legislation, specifically focusing on the Individuals with Disability Education Improvement Act (IDEIA), due process, mediation, Individual Education Plans (IEP), Least Restrictive Environment (LRE), and Free and Appropriate Public Education (FAPE) within a culturally diverse student population. A focus will be addressing landmark cases directly related to Special Education.

Prerequisite: PED 612

This course provides candidates’ knowledge and training in Multi-Tiered System of Supports (MTSS) which includes Response to Intervention (RtI) and Positive Behavior Intervention and Supports (PBIS). The framework focuses on Universal Design for Learning (UDL) and provides supports and resources for K-12 students in the areas of academics and behavioral success. Candidates will also learn to select, implement, and monitor evidence-based interventions to improve academic performance with diverse students.

Prerequisite: PED 614

This is the first of four assessment courses. This course provides the foundation for all assessment courses by exploring assessment practices, ethical expectations, historical context of assessment, and considerations of all learners with special emphasis on students who are ethnically, linguistically, and culturally diverse. Content includes psychometrics, psycho-educational assessment, cognitive theories, assessment processes and data-based decision making. Emphasis will be placed on Cattell-Horn-Carroll (CHC) theory of cognitive abilities to formulate a student’s cognitive profile to drive instructional change based on strengths and needs. Multiple assessment factors will be reviewed (e.g., motivation, attendance, school climate, etc.) which can impact student learning. Proper administration, scoring, interpretation of results, and synthesis of data from several sources will be addressed.

Prerequisite: PED 616

PED 618a is an online and school-based practicum course designed to provide candidates with an orientation to the professional role and responsibilities of a school psychologist within school systems. PED 618a is part one of a three-part consecutive course sequence. Skill development and level of independence will advance with each course. Candidates will observe school psychologists in their daily activities and engage in experiences across NASP’s 10 Domains of Practice and CCTCs 10 School Psychology Performance Expectations (SPPEs). Special emphasis will be placed on ethical and legal issues associated with service delivery, federal and state guidelines for special education, and psychoeducational assessment. Issues related to diversity, equity, and inclusion will be examined in relation to assessment, collaboration, and intervention.

Prerequisite: PED 616

This course is an introduction to the foundations of human development across the lifespan. The course will describe the history and foundational knowledge related to the study of childhood and adolescence, examine the various theories of developmental psychology, and highlight current issues in the field of school psychology.

Prerequisite: PED 620

This course is designed to introduce school psychology candidates to problem-solving consultative and collaborative procedures to engage in effective design, implementation, and evaluation of collaborative procedures with teachers, administrators, parents, and community agencies. Emphasis is placed on candidates engaging in multi-disciplinary teams to support a positive school climate, student engagement, and academic, behavioral, and social-emotional interventions.

Prerequisite: PED 622

This is the second of four assessment courses and is designed to explore academic assessment and investigate additional psychological processing assessments. This course will further candidates’ understanding of the various ways to assess academic skills in students, including cognitive processing assessments, curriculum-based assessment and measurement, and response to intervention in order to further explore a student’s overall learning profile to select, implement, and monitor evidence-based interventions to improve academic performance in diverse students. Emphasis will be placed on interpretation of assessment results for students from ethnically, linguistically, and culturally diverse backgrounds.

Prerequisite: PED 624

PED 618B is the second practicum course within the three-part practicum sequence. During this course candidates will continue to build on their knowledge of the role and responsibilities of a school psychologist within school systems. Special emphasis will be placed on ethical and legal issues associated with service delivery, best practice in implementing multi-tiered interventions and assessment and intervention for academic, behavioral, social-emotional concerns. Issues related to diversity, equity, and inclusion will be examined in relation to assessment, system-level policies, and intervention.

Prerequisite: PED 624

awareness, fluency, vocabulary and comprehension). Candidates will also be introduced to reading difficulties (I.e., dyslexia) and will learn how to assess reading skills and deficits. Emphasis will be placed on evidence-based reading interventions to support student’s reading growth. The link between the “Big five” and instructional decision-making will be ongoing throughout the course, with attention to standardized assessment practices, curriculum-based measurements, DIBELS and other alternative measures for learners with diverse needs and providing instructional support to teachers.

Prerequisite: PED 626

This course is designed to develop candidates’ knowledge and skills in educational research and inquiry, including qualitative and quantitative research methods, basic statistical analyses, psychometric concepts, critical evaluation of research and its methodology, cross-cultural methods of inquiry, and the ethical standards guiding educational research.

Prerequisite: PED 628

This course teaches the foundational principles of applied behavior analysis and social-emotional learning. Candidates will learn to apply various theoretical frameworks such as social cognitive theory, respondent conditioning, and operant conditioning to improve social-emotional and behavioral functioning of k-12 students. This course will explore functional behavior assessments, behavior intervention plans, schoolwide positive behavior and intervention supports, data collection methods, and intervention design within a problem-solving framework. Additionally, candidates will examine how diversity, equity, and inclusion affect behavior management in schools.

Prerequisite: PED 630

PED 618c is the final practicum course in the three-part practicum sequence. During this course, candidates will demonstrate their knowledge of the role and responsibilities of a school psychologist within school systems. Special emphasis will be placed on data-based decision-making, assessment of low incidence populations, home-school collaboration, evidence-based counseling practices, mental health, and crisis intervention. Issues related to diversity, equity, and inclusion will be examined in relation to building collaborative partnerships with families and the community.

Prerequisite: PED 630

This is the third course in a sequence of four assessment courses. In this course, social-emotional, behavior and trait-oriented assessment tools are introduced and explored. This course will examine the theories and skills needed to properly administer and interpret standardized measures and research-based evaluations assessing social-emotional functioning and behavioral conditions to determine appropriate special education eligibility for Other Health Impaired and Emotional Disturbance. Candidates will analyze ethnic, linguistic, and cultural background in the interpretation of assessment results to develop effective Functional Behavior Assessment and behavior intervention plans.

Prerequisite: PED 632

This course will initially provide an introduction to the major theories of counseling including behavioral, humanistic, social learning, psychoanalytic, and cognitive. Approaches, principles, and procedures of counseling and consultation will be introduced including individual and group. In addition, this course provides the theoretical and practical foundation and strategies for candidates to design and implement interventions that focus on behavioral and social/emotional wellness appropriate for all students that adhere to the national and state models within a multicultural context.

Prerequisite: PED 634

This course will introduce school psychology candidates to school related culturally responsive mental health supports and multi-tiered crisis preventative strategies. Areas of focus include protective and resiliency factors, crisis preparation, response, and recovery. Emphasis is placed on collaborative problem-solving procedures to promote school safety through mental health supports, threat and risk assessments, and crisis response planning.

Prerequisite: PED 636

This course will look at child psychopathology from a development perspective, covering typical social-emotional and cognitive development and then examining how this gets disrupted or otherwise altered to result in child and adolescent psychopathology. We will examine classification systems and models of diagnosis and disease, as well as alternatives to the more traditional “medical model” such as examining risk, resilience and the role of psychosocial and cultural factors. The course will aim to teach candidates to identify potential mental/behavioral health issues in children and adolescents, and then understand and be able to explain to others what the implications of this might be for a given student. Candidates will think critically about the ethics and issues of controversy around child and adolescent mental health. The emphasis is on the psychological disorders of children most encountered in the delivery of school psychological services.

Prerequisite: PED 638

This is the final assessment course. In this course, assessment processes for determining eligibility for Autism and Intellectual Disability will be examined. Content will include investigating non-school-based supports (e.g., regional center, Department of Rehab, etc.) to provide support for students and families outside of the school setting. Candidates will learn how to use both standardized and non-standardized assessment methods to address student needs and skills. Candidates will practice methods to communicate eligibility determination to families in a sensitive manner.

Prerequisite: PED 640

PED 646 is a supervision course for the first 600 hours of the school psychology internship. The internship is considered the culminating training experience within a school psychology program. The goal of the internship is to provide high-quality, comprehensive training experiences across all the domains of practice to prepare candidates for their role as school psychologists. School Psychology candidates will demonstrate their ability to apply their university training, knowledge, and specialized assessment skills to address the needs of children, families, and the community. In PED 646, candidates will engage in supervised fieldwork experiences leading to competencies in the following areas: data-based decision making, human diversity, social justice, legal/ethical issues, academic and behavior interventions, social-emotional development/mental health, crisis response, program development and evaluation, preventative and responsive services, consultation and collaboration, leadership and advocacy as they are related to the School Psychology profession. In this course, candidates will develop an internship portfolio, that will be used throughout their internship, to demonstrate proficiency in all school psychology performance expectations.

Corequisite: PED 642 If a student has not been enrolled into PED 644 by completion of PED 642, it will be at the discretion of the faculty to enroll students during PED 646. Advisors should contact faculty prior to enrollment for approval.

This seminar is for school psychology interns and will run concurrently with PED 646 or PED 648. PED 644 will provide further knowledge on special topics in school psychology such as manifestation determinations, risk and threat assessments, social justice, culturally responsive assessment and interventions, and evidence-based counseling strategies. Support will be provided for graduation preparation, Praxis and comprehensive exam, portfolio construction, the school psychology program exit process and entry into the profession.

Prerequisite: PED 642

PED 648 is the continuation of the previous supervision course for the last 600 hours of the school psychology internship. The goal of the internship is to provide high-quality, comprehensive training experiences across all the domains of practice to prepare candidates for their role as a school psychologist. School Psychology candidates will have the opportunity to demonstrate their ability to apply their university training, knowledge, and specialized assessment skills to address the needs of children, families, and the community. In PED 648, candidates will continue to engage in supervised fieldwork experiences leading to competencies in the following areas: data-based decision making, human diversity, social justice, legal/ethical issues, academic and behavior interventions, social-emotional development/mental health, crisis response, program development and evaluation, preventative and responsive services, consultation and collaboration, leadership and advocacy as they are related to the School Psychology profession. Candidates will complete and defend the internship portfolio in this course.