“An Act to improve the delivery of school psychological services to children in Maine schools”
1. Changing to title to “School Psychologist” will align Maine regulations with Federal
regulations, regulations from other states and permit use of the nationally recognized title
for the profession of school psychology:
A. Federal and state statutes, regulations, and authorities (e.g., IDEA, ESEA,
U.S. Department of Education, U.S. Department of Labor and State
regulations) refer to the practice of school psychology and the title of
“School Psychologist” for services for children in general and special
education.
B. The title of “School Psychologist” has been defined in Federal law
(Elementary and Secondary Education Act/No Child Left Behind, Section
5421):
(4) The term “school psychologist” means an individual who
(A) Has completed a minimum of 60 graduate semester hours in school
psychology from an institution of higher education and has completed
1,200 clock hours in a supervised school psychology internship, of which
600 hours are in the school setting
(B) is licensed or certified in school psychology by the State in which the
individual works; or
(C) in the absence of such State licensure or certification posses the
national certification by the National School Psychology Certificaiton
Board.
C. Over 90% of state boards of education use the title “School Psychologist”
for specialist level credentialing of professionals in public schools. (All states
except for Maine, Texas and Arkansas)
D. Use of the title “School Psychologist” by both specialist-level (minimum 60
hours of graduate school) and doctoral-level school psychologists has been
supported by the American Psychological Association’s (APA’s) Model
Licensure Act (MLA) for over 40 years.
E. A three year review of the MLA was recently completed (February 2010).
The APA Council of Representatives voted to retain the right of both
specialist and doctoral level school psychologists credentialed by State
Education Agencies to use the title “School Psychologist”
F. The professional organization that represents school psychology is the
“National Association of School Psychologists” (NASP)
G. Maine’s Chapter 115 certification 093 uses NASP’s “Nationally Certified
School Psychologist” (NCSP) credentialing standards.
H. Professionals who have earned the NCSP have been prohibited from spelling
out this credentialing by Maine’s Psychology Licensing Board.
I. The argument has been made that use of the nationally recognized title
“School Psychologist” is a free speech protection (1st Amendment), as it
represents use of the title which is nationally accepted and is embedded in
both Federal and State statutes. Anyone who meets the Federal definition
of a school psychologist, has free speech protection in using the term to
describe themselves.
J. The title “School Psychologist” more accurately reflects the scope of
services provided to children in schools across the country.
2.
Providing a more comprehensive definition of the practice of school psychology will align
Maine’s certification with Federal regulations, State regulations and national standards
encouraging access for Maine schools to broader, more comprehensive and effective
psychological services:
a. This new definition is consistent with Maine’s Chapter 101 requirements for school
psychologists and corrects inconsistencies with the current Maine Chapter 115 –
093 certification language. These inconsistencies have prevented some school
psychological service providers from fulfilling requirements in Chapter 101 which
resulted in increased expenses for schools.
b. The new definition is based on nationally accepted standards NASP’s newly revised
(2010) Model for Comprehensive and Integrated School Psychological Services. The
Model for Comprehensive and Integrated School Psychological Services represents
the official policy of NASP regarding the delivery of comprehensive school
psychological services. First written in 1978 as the Guidelines for the Provision of
School Psychological Services, revised in 1984, 1992, 1997, 2000, and 2010, the
model serves as a guide to the organization and delivery of school psychological
services at the federal, state, and local levels.
c. According to NASP adopting this comprehensive model for school psychological
services helps schools:
A. Improve academic engagement and achievement
B. Facilitate effective instruction
C. Support positive behavior and socially successful students
D. Support diverse learners.
E. Create safe, positive school climates
F. Strengthen family–school-community partnerships
G. Improve student, classroom, and school-wide assessment and
accountability
H. Invest existing resources wisely
3. Clarifying the population served by school psychologists to include birth – grade 12 will
improve consistency between Federal and State regulations and promote the delivery of
seamless special education services throughout the age span.
a. The provision of psychological services across the age span is consistent with
A. Federal regulations (IDEA)
B. Maine’s Chapter 101 regulations
C. administrative and legal opinions provided by the Department of Education
b. The current Chapter 115 - 093 certificate is labeled a K – 12 certificate, putting it in
contradiction with Federal and State regulations and with the goal of seamless birth
– grade twelve services.
4. The Chapter 115 - 093 certification had required supervision for the first year of practice
after receiving the certificate. This provision was removed in 2004 without the proper
procedure being utilized. Reinstating requirements of supervision for initial practice will
improve the quality of services at a minimal expense.
a. This requirement is consistent with the national (NASP) standards upon which 093
certification is based.
b. This requirement is consistent with requirements for other professionals in the field
of education.
c. Supervision will improve performance of Maine School Psychologists and thus have
a positive impact on children, families and schools.
d. Cost will be limited, as over the past 5 years a mean of 9 new school psychological
services providers have been certified. The flexibility in the standard allows for cost
effective options such as off-site and group certification. Many districts have an
experienced 093 certified person on staff who can provide this service at no extra
cost.
e. Cost savings can be realized with more effectively delivered services throughout the
career of a properly supervised school psychologist who can facilitate:
A. Effective school-wide and pre-referral intervention services that reduce the
number of students in need of special education services
B. Accurate assessments that decrease the chances of IEP Teams making
inaccurate identification decisions
C. Effective delivery of special education services that have the potential to
decrease the need for more costly and longer term special education
services
5. Inclusion of school psychologists as qualified providers of Maine Care school based
rehabilitative services for which schools can be reimbursed
a. Removes barriers to schools from receiving federal funds for services already
rendered
b. Consistent with practices in other states
c. Cost savings by reducing redundancy of services