Although school psychologists are traditionally associated with special education eligibility, their role has expanded in recent decades to encompass a broad range of services that “help children and youth succeed academically, socially, behaviorally, and emotionally.” School psychologists provide services across ten domains which can be distilled into intervention, assessment, and consultation.  

Direct intervention involves a school psychologist providing first-hand academic or mental-health services to a student or group of students. Assessment is the process of collecting data to make programming decisions for individual students, groups of students, or school-wide systems. Consultation trains staff in order to increase their capacity to address student needs on their own. Importantly, all school psychological services are informed by a social justice lens, through which school psychologists work to “ensure the protection of the educational rights, opportunities, and well-being of all children, especially those whose voices have been muted, identities obscured, or needs ignored.”  

School psychologists provide services to all students, including those with disabilities. Often, school psychologists determine if a student has an educational disability that qualifies them for special education services. This process is critical in balancing (a) providing adequate supports to students with disabilities while (b) ensuring that students are not inappropriately identified for special education. Regardless of eligibility, school psychologists provide interventions and supports for all students, including behavior plans, small group interventions, and counseling support. School psychologists also consult on universal curriculum that can be implemented in schools, which can impact school-wide norms related to inclusivity.  

Through this continuum of services, school psychologists help ensure that students with disabilities (regardless of special education status) are adequately supported while being embedded in the social fabric of their school. For more information about school psychologists and the crucial role they play in schools, click here!  

– By Staci Ballard, Graduate Assistant at the Center for Social Development and Education