School Psychology Trainer Shortage in the USA: Current Status and Projections for the Future

Abstract

This study documents the number of school psychology faculty openings, reasons for resignations and the outcome of faculty searches in the United States for three consecutive academic years beginning in 2004. School psychology program training directors in the United States were surveyed about program faculty needs, including resignations and the outcome of faculty searches. Ninety-four program directors reported 136 openings and 79 percent of the program directors indicated one or more openings in the three most recent academic years. Results indicate an increasing number of openings left unfilled each year with more than one in four of the positions going unfilled. Data concerning resignations, professionals leaving academia, new positions, previously unfilled positions and age of the current faculty suggest a need to hire at least 36 faculty per year for the 94 programs represented, with increasing numbers of openings in the next decade due to retirements. Directors reported a small percentage of 2006—2007 doctoral level interns were seeking academic positions. Program directors reported concerns and ideas about success in recruitment and retention of school psychology faculty. Implications of the faculty shortage on the profession are discussed.

Personnel Needs in School Psychology: A 10-Year Follow-Up Study on Predicted Personnel Shortages

“…Creative public campaigns to raise awareness about the profession, school psychologists at the high school level taking an active role to promote the profession to high school students, and advocating strong ties between professional school psychology organizations and university faculty to ensure that school psychology is promoted as a potential career option are examples of strategic activities endorsed by Canter. Findings from this study that school psychologists with a doctoral degree and school psychologists who are faculty members in training programs are projected to retire at higher rates require that efforts to recruit future school psychologists also address issues related to a persistent faculty shortage (Clopton & Haselhun, ) that is predicted to worsen. Faculty members play a key role in attracting and retaining graduate students in school psychology programs and preparing personnel for the future.…”

Undergraduate Student Preferences for Graduate Training in Psychology: Implications for School Psychology

“…There is an enduring and severe critical shortage of school psychologist practitioners and trainers of school psychologists projected to continue at least until 2020 (Clopton & Haselhuhn, ; Curtis, Chesno‐Grier, & Hunley, ; Curtis, Grier, & Hunley, ; Curtis, Hunley, & Grier, ; Curtis, Hunley, Walker, & Baker, ; Fagan & Wise, ; Little & Akin‐Little, ). The shortage is greater for doctoral‐level than for non‐doctoral school psychologists and this becomes salient when school psychology tenure‐track faculty position openings are examined from year to year (Kratochwill, Shernoff, & Sanetti, ; Tingstrom, ).…”

What Is a Bilingual School Psychologist? A National Survey of the Credentialing Bodies of School Psychologists

“…The lack of training programs in bilingual school psychology might be the result of a much larger issue that is impacting the specialty of school psychology. It is has been established that there is a national shortage of school psychology trainers in the United States (Clopton & Haselhuhn, 2009). As a result, some school psychology training programs have been unable to fill positions, despite national searches for faculty.…”

“…Furthermore, considering that there are only nine programs that provide training in bilingual school psychology, there may not be enough adequately prepared trainers available to develop more bilingually focused school psychology training programs. Clopton and Haselhuhn (2009) add that school psychology graduate students typically seek applied work with students that they would not get when working in an academic setting. Furthermore, Worrell, Skaggs, and Brown (2006) reported that the salaries associated with academic positions might not be as appealing to graduate students as the salaries of school psychologists working in the public schools.…”