The School Psychology program at Syracuse University is fully accredited by the American Psychological Association (APA) [Office of Program Consultation and Accreditation, 750 First Street, N.E., Washington, DC 20002-4242: (202) 336-5979]. In addition, completion of the program satisfies the current requirements for certification and licensure in New York State.

The program is housed in the Department of Psychology in the College of Arts and Sciences, and requires 90 graduate credit hours for the doctoral degree. The residency requirements for the program includes at least 1 year in full-time residence at Syracuse University and at least 2 years of full-time study at Syracuse University. A minimum of 3 years total of full-time study is required for the doctoral degree.

The program is committed to creating a supportive environment for student training and mentoring, and attempts to attract students from diverse backgrounds (i.e., locale, gender, ethnicity, culture). Graduates of the program take positions in academic and/or research institutions, public and private schools, hospitals, and mental health centers that serve the needs of children.

The School Psychology program is located in the Department of Psychology along with doctoral training programs in Clinical, Experimental, and Social Psychology. Student resources within the department include a library/study room, computer cluster with laser printer, and dedicated office space. Students pursuing practicum and internship placements have a variety of sites to choose from including two university-run clinics (counseling and psychoeducational), a university-affiliated teaching hospital, agencies serving individuals with developmental disabilities, and area school districts.

Students are engaged in three strands of training throughout the program: course work, clinical service, and research. Consistent with APA guidelines, exposure to clinical service occurs in a graded fashion beginning in the student's first year. Students also have opportunities to assist with teaching and to teach courses of their own. All students are eligible for four years of funding which include a stipend and remitted tuition for either teaching, university fellowships, research assistantships, or clinical externships and internships. Clinical placements occur in schools, hospitals, and agencies serving a broad spectrum of individuals with a wide range of school psychological services (e.g., psychoeducational assessment, consultation, intervention). Graduates of the program are eligible for state certification and the licensing exam, as well as a wide variety of job positions.

The School Psychology program is built on the scientist-practitioner training model. Within this model, students are encouraged to be data-based problem solvers, to seek converging information when making professional decisions, and to evaluate the outcomes of their services. By adhering to these principles of professional practice, students are able to adopt consistently high standards across all phases of professional practice, thereby maximizing the quality and accountability of their efforts. Students in the School Psychology program are trained to serve the needs of children both directly and indirectly by working with parents, teachers, and other direct care providers.

The School Psychology program is committed to providing high-quality doctoral training that prepares students to meet the needs of children in schools, hospitals, and other child-related settings. Students are trained to meet these needs directly through the assessment of learning and adjustment problems, individual and group counseling, and the design of school- and home-based intervention programs. Students are also trained to meet these needs indirectly as university trainers, applied researchers, program evaluators, and consultants to teachers, parents and other direct-care providers. Nine program goals guide training: (a) Demonstrate a thorough knowledge of psychological and educational theory and research; (b) Contribute to scholarship by applying research methods and tools of inquiry; (c) Demonstrate skills in the foundations of school psychology practice; (d) Provide a full range of psychological services in diverse and inclusive settings; (e) Use assessment data on student learning to adapt instruction and design treatment; (f) Engage in continuing professional growth; (g) Provide collaborative consultation with school personnel, families and caregivers, and direct care staff; (h) Adhere to professional, ethical, and legal standards governing the profession; and (i) Contribute to improved student learning and behavior.

Toward these goals, the faculty has established a set of 22 objectives that guide student training as well as descriptions of student performance for demonstrating broad psychological knowledge, research, and clinical practice competencies. These training objectives require all students to: (1) be knowledgeable regarding children’s development in cognitive, affective, social, academic, and adaptive domains; (2) be knowledgeable regarding education, school as a setting, instructional practices, and multidisciplinary school personnel; (3) be knowledgeable of empirical research in psychology and education; (4) be able to evaluate a variety of research methodologies; (5) demonstrate rigorous and creative applications of experimental design, data analysis, and interpretation skills; (6) demonstrate “best practices” in home- and school-based intervention and consultation; (7) demonstrate “best practice” in assessment and evaluation; (8) demonstrate “best practice” in counseling; (9) demonstrate diversity awareness and sensitive service delivery; (10) recognize when issues of diversity affect the manner and nature of interactions with others; (11) adapt or modify practices in response to those being served; (12) demonstrate professional skills in a wide range of settings including clinics, hospitals, and homes with diverse student populations and disabilities; (13) engage in data-based problem solving in all professional decisions; (14) demonstrate increasing independence and responsibility in research participation and clinical work throughout graduate training; (15) maintain certification and licensure while attending continuing education functions as necessary and required by the profession; (16) apply and easily generalize problem solving, interpersonal influence, and implementation support skills in all consultation cases; (17) demonstrate the ability to work effectively and collaboratively with people and agencies; (18) demonstrate knowledge and understanding of professional, ethical, and legal standards; (19) uphold professional, ethical and legal standards in professional decision making to enhance the quality of services and protect the rights of all parties; (20) identify and apply sound principles of behavior change in order to design and implement prevention and intervention programs to promote positive changes in children’s learning and behavior; (21) help parents, caregivers, and schools develop goals for children, taking into account the need to adjust expectations for individual children; and (22) engage in intervention activities that produce positive changes in student learning and behavior beyond that expected by typical growth.

A typical sequence of courses is shown below:

The Department of Psychology makes a determined effort to provide financial support for all students during their four years of study. Support is obtained from a variety of sources, including graduate scholarships, teaching and research assistantships, and fellowships. These assistantships currently carry a stipend of approximately $11,286 plus 24 hours of remitted tuition per year (including 6 credit hours during the summer). In addition to on-campus funding, students are frequently funded as paid externs (with accompanying tuition benefits) in local schools and child-related agencies. During the summers, additional assistantships and scholarships are available to students from the Department. In the past 25 years, all students admitted to the School Psychology program have received funding throughout their training.

The program receives approximately 60 applications a year for an incoming class of four persons. The admissions committee bases its decisions on the applicant's grades, GRE scores, letters of recommendation, personal statement, and evidence of hard work, interest, and motivation. Research experience is also looked upon very favorably. Only full-time students are considered for admission. The application deadline for fall admission is January 1st . There are no spring admissions. Admission and application information is available online (http://gradsch.syr.edu/admissions.html). As part of the application process, all students must complete the "Syracuse University General Application for Graduate School," which is also available online (http://gradsch.syr.edu/pdfs/Applications/A&S_app.pdf). A complete application includes official transcripts of all undergraduate and graduate work, scores on the Graduate Record Examination (subject test helpful but not required), a personal statement of interests, a curriculum vitae, and three letters of recommendation from persons familiar with the applicant's academic and/or professional work. All applicants should include in their statement of interest a clear and concise description of their research interests and the faculty member(s) with whom they would like to work as their research mentor(s). Upon receipt of this information the Graduate School forwards copies of the completed application to the Department of Psychology for consideration. Top applicants are invited for campus interviews in late February or early March. All applicants are notified of their acceptance or rejection by April 15th.

Information regarding graduate admission is available by contacting:
Graduate Admissions
303 Bowne Hall
Syracuse University
Syracuse, New York 13244-2340
Website: http://gradsch.syr.edu/
Email: grad@gwmail.syr.edu
Telephone: (315) 443-4492
Fax: (315) 443-3423

Before a student can be considered for admission, the program must receive all application materials. Personal interviews are scheduled with those applicants found promising. Telephone interviews are conducted when travel to Syracuse University is not possible; however, all students are encouraged to visit the campus prior to making their decision to attend Syracuse University.

Students admitted to the program typically have a grade point average exceeding 3.0 and combined verbal and quantitative GRE scores of 1100 or above. Evidence of prior involvement in independent research (e.g., paper presentations) as well as mental health or education related service (e.g., supervisor evaluations) is usually documented. The number of applications, admissions, and acceptances of offers of admission across the last six years is presented below.

The student population of the School Psychology program consists of individuals who have entered the program immediately after completion of an undergraduate degree and those students who have earned a Master's degree. The School Psychology program is strongly committed to the recruitment of individuals from diverse ethnic and cultural backgrounds. Applications from students representing minority groups are welcomed and will be given special consideration by the faculty. Below is a breakdown of student demographic statistics by gender and race for the last seven years.

Benita A. Blachman, Ph.D. (1981, University of Connecticut), Trustee Professor of Education and Psychology. Dr. Blachman teaches courses in learning and reading disabilities. Her research interests focus on the cognitive and linguistic factors (especially phonological processing) that play a role in learning to read, children at risk for reading failure, and early reading intervention. She serves on the editorial boards of the Journal of Educational Psychology and Scientific Studies of Reading.

Tanya L. Eckert, Ph.D. (1996, Lehigh University). Director of Training and Associate Professor of Psychology. Holds certification as a school psychologist in Pennsylvania. Dr. Eckert teaches courses on direct academic assessment, cognitive assessment, introductory seminar in school psychology, and direct academic assessment practicum. Her research interests include examining procedures for assessing academic skills and behavior problems, developing interventions for children with academic and behavior problems, and measuring the acceptability of assessment and intervention procedures. She is a past Associate Editor for School Psychology Review and sits on the editorial board of Journal of School Psychology, School Psychology Review, and Proven Practices: Preventive and Remediation Solutions for Schools.

Lawrence J. Lewandowski, Ph.D. (1978, University of Michigan). Professor of Psychology and Meredith Professor for Teaching Excellence. Clinical Professor of Psychiatry at SUNY Upstate Medical University (UMU) and research professor in the Department of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation at SUNY UMU. Dr. Lewandowski holds New York state licensure as a Psychologist. He teaches courses in neuropsychological theory and assessment, brain and behavior, socio-emotional assessment, and pediatric disorders. In addition, he supervises field placements and internships. His research focuses on neuropsychological, cognitive and psychosocial aspects of learning disabilities, ADHD, and concussion; computer-based interventions for reading and writing disabilities; test-taking skills and performance speed; and issues of test accommodations. He serves on the editorial boards of the Journal of Psychoeducational Assessment, Journal of Attention Disorders, and the ADHD Report. He is a member of the American Psychological Association, National Association of School Psychologists, New York Association of School Psychologists, and International Academy for Research in Learning Disabilities.

Brian K. Martens, Ph.D. (1985, University of Nebraska-Lincoln). Professor of Psychology and Associate Department Chair. Teaches courses in applied behavior analysis, behavior therapy practicum, tests and measurements, and school consultation. His research interests include applied behavior analysis, school consultation, and fluency building. He serves on the editorial boards of School Psychology Review, School Psychology Quarterly, the Journal of School Psychology, the Journal of Behavioral Education, and the Journal of Applied Behavior Analysis.

Laura Lee McIntyre, Ph.D. (2003, University of California - Riverside). Assistant Professor of Psychology. Holds certification as a school psychologist in California and New York, is a Board Certified Behavior Analyst (BCBA) and a licensed psychologist in NY State. Dr. McIntyre teaches courses in consultation practicum, behavioral assessment, and preschool/family. Her research interests include early intervention in pediatric populations, assessment and treatment of children with developmental disabilities and behavior problems, kindergarten transition, and home-school collaboration. She is a member of the editorial board for Journal of School Psychology, and guest reviews for a number of journals including Journal of Applied Behavior Analysis, Research in Developmental Disabilities, Pediatrics, and Journal of Family Psychology.

Other faculty closely related to the program include: Jerry Dusek, Ph.D., Developmental Psychology; Barbara Fiese, Ph.D., Clinical Psychology; Michael Gordon, Ph.D., Director of Child and Adolescent Psychiatric Services, SUNY Upstate Medical University; Michelle Storie, Ph.D., Adjunct Professor of Psychology and Education, Syracuse University; and Brian Rieger, Ph.D., Director of the Concussion Clinic, SUNY Upstate Medical University.

Program Costs. For students entering the program during the 2007-08 academic year, the full-time student tuition costs were $24,288.00 (24 credit hours @ $1,012.00 per credit hour). No additional fees were assessed beyond tuition costs. As previously discussed (see Financial Assistance), the Department of Psychology makes a determined effort to provide financial support for all students. In the past 25 years, all students admitted to the School Psychology program have received tuition remission throughout their training.

Attrition. In the last 7 years, 10 matriculated students have left the program. During this period of time, the total number of students matriculated in the School Psychology program was 45. This results in an attrition rate of 22% in the last 7 years.

Internships. Of those individuals graduating from the School Psychology program at Syracuse University in the past 7 years, a total of 20 students completed a predoctoral internship prior to the granting of the doctoral degree. The following table provides the most recent data regarding the percentage of graduates from the program who: (a) obtained internships, (b) obtained paid internships, (c) obtained Association of Psychology Postdoctoral and Internship Centers (APPIC) member internships, (d) obtained American Psychological Association/Canadian Psychological Association (APA/CPA) accredited internships, (e) obtained internships conforming to the Council of Directors of School Psychology Programs (CDSPP) guidelines, and (f) obtained two year half-time internships.

Time to Completion. Since 2001, 20 students have graduated from the School Psychology program at Syracuse University. For all of the graduates during this time period, the mean number of years to complete the program from the time of program entrance was 5.90 years and the median number of years to complete the program from the time of program entrance was 5.50 years. For those bachelor level graduates (n = 17), the mean number of years to complete the program from the time of program entrance was 5.94 years and the median number of years to complete the program from the time of program entrance was 6.0 years. For those graduates who began with advanced standing (n = 3), the mean number of years to complete the program from the time of program entrance was 5.67 years and the median number of years to complete the program from the time of program entrance was 5.0 years. The following table provides a descriptive breakdown of the percentage of students completing the program in fewer than 5 years, 5 years, 6 years, 7 years, and more than 7 years.

Licensure. A total of 15 (60%) program graduates have become licensed psychologists within the 8 years spanning the period of 2-10 years post-graduation (i.e., 1997-2005).

For more information about the program please direct requests to: Sue Bova