School psychologists help students succeed academically, socially, behaviourally, and emotionally. They collaborate with educators, parents, and other professionals to create safe, healthy, and supportive learning environments that strengthen connections between home, school, and the community for all students.
The main purpose of the school psychology consultation and assessment process is to provide recommendations for improving the student’s instructional program. Through the process of collection and interpretation of data, a plan is developed to provide intervention techniques that focus on the student’s individual strengths and needs. This process can also provide a basis for systems planning and application of resources.
School psychology is a field that applies principles of clinical psychology and educational psychology. School psychologists are highly trained in both psychology and education, completing a minimum of a Masters level degree program (M.A., M.Ed., PhD) that includes a year-long supervised internship. This training emphasizes preparation in mental health and educational interventions, child development, learning, behaviour, motivation, curriculum and instruction, assessment, consultation, collaboration, school law, and systems.
School psychologists must be certified by the British Columbia Association of School Psychologists (BCASP) or registered with the College of Psychologists of British Columbia (CPBC). BCASP and CPBC set ethical and training standards for practice and service delivery.
School psychology services are accessed through the school-based team (SBT) process.