@blossom@sybbie719 OK, I looked again, and it is a masters then the EdS. So a full three year (Fall, Spring, Summer) program requiring 78 hours but no dissertation. Supposedly it gives you the credentials to become a school Psychologist… See last sentence below. Does that make sense to you guys?
The first level of the program includes basic psychological foundations and leads to a Master of Arts
degree (33 credit hours). Successful completion of the Master’s degree and faculty approval enables
the student to move to the Educational Specialist level of the program. A second year of course work,
in addition to a research project and a 10 month internship, leads to the Educational Specialist degree
(an additional 45 credit hours).
To be admitted to the Educational Specialist level of the school psychology program, students must
have completed a Master’s degree in psychology or a related field.
Students completing only the Master’s degree are not eligible for licensure as a school psychologist.
The Educational Specialist degree is the entry-level credential in school psychology and leads to
eligibility for licensure as a school psychologist by the Commonwealth of Virginia Department of
Education.
Does she plan on spending her whole career in VA? She may have problems with reciprocity if she decides to leave VA where the requirement for school psychologist is a Doctorate
If she’s credentialed and has worked a few years, she could always go back to school to complete the doctorate. We’re talking about things 10-15 years in the future. I think the key issue here is whether it’s easy to cross register with Wake and how many students actually do this every semester.
@MYOS1634 , @bopper Citymama9 posted a link in #22 with state credentialing requirements for a school psychologist. I clicked on the first 10 or so states and most of them accepted a School Psychology EdS for obtaining credentials. There may be some states that require a PhD, but from my sample, it is not required by most. If I’m misinterpreting the credentialing requirements, please let me know. For example @MYOS1634, in your reply you stated “If she’s credentialled and has worked for a few years, she could always go back for her doctorate”. Why would she need a doctorate if she could obtain the credential with an EdS and get a job as a school psychologist with that? Does the PhD pay a premium?
Yes. You don’t need a PhD to be a school psychologist, but there are school psychologists with PhDs and PsyDs. Public schools and private schools may want different things so you want to do some googling.
I meant if she can be credentialed in Virginia with her master’s, she can work for a while before having to think about the credentials required in other states.
You do not necessarily need a PhD in order to be a school psychologist. The education requirements vary by state. A friend of mine has a master’s degree in psychology and she’s a school counselor.
@tucsonmom I think there is a difference between a school counselor and a school psychologist. Probably in terms of pay and the credentials needed. The EdS degree that I was referring to seems like it is much more intensive than a masters (it actually requires a masters in psychology first), then requires another two years of intensive study and many hours of internships. It seems like it is just shy of the time needed to complete a doctorate, but it doesn’t require a PhD dissertation and instead focuses on getting a lot of experience working with kids. Which is what she’d rather do, I believe. On one college’s psychology grad program page, I saw that a master’s in Psy requires 30 hours, the School Counseling grad degree requires 54 hours, the EdS in School Psychology requires 78 hours (including like 1200 hours of internships) and then the PhD adds yet another year with a dissertation required. I’m not sure what the career differences (in terms of pay and actual work tasks) are between the four, but I’m assuming the opportunities are better with the latter three. She’ll have four years to figure out which option she wants to take thank goodness! My best friend from high school is also a school counselor and I know she didn’t get a PhD either .
My wife’s masters in counseling psychology in CA was 90 units and something like 3000 intern hours to sit for the licensing exam. When you pass the license exams you could be a psychologist at a school. However any psychological assessments needed are performed by a PhD. If you just want a masters degree in counseling that is only 52 units at her school, but you can not sit for licensing exam.
@nordicdad Wow! That’s a lot of units for a master’s degree! Like I said above, the school psychology program at one of our nearby state schools is the third most intensive of the four related grad degrees offered (just shy of the PhD) and is only 78 hours and less than half of the intern hours required by your wife’s school. I wonder why there is so much difference in the units required?
@LeastComplicated It is due to different licensing requirements in different states. States with more consumer protections tend to have more stringent licensing requirements. The organization that determines the requirements is run by people in the field, so I believe the requirements are designed to limit competition in the field.
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