School Psychology

At Lewis & Clark, students benefit from rigorous training that takes place in the heart of the thriving Portland Metro area. And, because we offer the only EdS degree program in Oregon with national approval from the National Association of School Psychologists (NASP), graduates are able to find work both inside and outside of the state.

Program Details

Degree earned: Educational Specialist (EdS)
Credits: 64 semester hours
Program Length: Three years, minimum (full or part-time study available).
Start: Fall only
View current program of study in the course catalog; for more details, view program handbook.
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admissions requirements and deadlines
Program Director:
Elena Lilles Diamond, PhD, ediamond@lclark.edu
Program Faculty: Peter Mortola, PhD; Jennifer Twyford, Phd

Annual Program Report and Student Outcomes Application Requirements and Deadlines Request Info

School psychologists provide essential support services for students, teachers, families, administrators and other professionals to address the needs of children—social, emotional, and cognitive.

They possess not only an in-depth understanding of children, families and schools, but also a highly-developed set of relational and communication skills. In this way, school psychologists are able to see and understand children in rich and comprehensive ways—through observation, consultation, data collection and assessment—and share those understandings in helpful ways to parents, teachers, and other school personnel. The primary goal of school psychologists is to help children flourish in schools, at home, and in life.

About our Program

In our nationally-approved program, we emphasize the development of this deep understanding of children, families and schools as well as the development of these effective relational and communication skills. Through coursework and practica in counseling, consultation, assessment, and intervention, our students learn to work effectively with individual children, whole families, special education teams, as well as whole school communities to help create learning environments that foster the healthy development of all children.

This specialist degree-level program is designed for students seeking licensure as school psychologists. The EdS degree demands a level of preparation significantly greater than that called for by a master’s degree. The EdS is widely regarded as the intermediary degree between a master’s and a PhD Program completion requires a minimum of three years (including coursework in fall, spring, and summer semesters). The third year of the program is a full-time internship in a public school setting with on-campus supervision.


Accreditation

This program is accredited by the National Council for Accreditation of Teacher Education (NCATE), the National Association of School Psychologists (NASP), and the Oregon Teacher Standards and Practices Commission (TSPC). Because of our NASP approval, graduates are able to apply for the National Certificate of School Psychology (NCSP) which enables graduates to apply for licensure in many states.