School Psychology, Overview

Abstract

While there are currently 14 specialty areas recognized by the American Psychological Association (APA), School Psychology was one of the four specialties originally categorized within the “profession of psychology” by APA (the others were Organizational Psychology, Clinical Psychology, and Counseling Psychology). While there is a common science of psychology undergirding all four of these original professional specialty areas, school psychology focuses on the application of social and organizational, educational and learning, child and adolescent, normal and abnormal, and biological and ecological psychology to the school and schooling process. This entry provides an overview of school psychology from both professional and practice perspectives. In the context of effective school and schooling, the roles, functions, and practices of effective school psychologists are described and discussed.