School Psychology

Welcome to the School Psychology Program at Radford University! Thank you for your interest in the program and for visiting the program's website. The school psychology program at Radford University has been in existence since 1967 and became a three-year Education Specialist program in 1978. The program is approved by the Virginia Department of Education, and the National Association of School Psychologists. The faculty are proud of our long history of producing well-trained school psychologists who successfully serve schools in the Commonwealth and beyond. Over the years the program has continuously adapted its training so that graduates are prepared to meet the dynamic and complex needs of children, families, and schools. These changes are reflected in our progressive curriculum and training experiences. In addition, we work to retain a small student to faculty ratio, with an approximate ongoing ratio of 1 faculty member for every 6 graduate students. This ratio allows faculty to work closely with students in the classroom, on research projects, and in clinical supervision. Faculty embrace their role as professional mentors and encourage students to travel to professional conferences, present and publish with faculty, and serve on graduate student committees within various organizations. The program at RU emphasizes training in comprehensive service delivery, and an ecological orientation in understanding student and family needs. Importance is placed on intervention development and delivery, advocacy, and data-driven and ethical decision making. We hope you will take a few minutes to further explore the information provided on the program’s webpages to learn more about school psychology at RU. If you have questions about the program and would like more information please don’t hesitate to contact me. 

Sincerely, 

Melinda Cruz, Ph.D., NCSP — Program Coordinator, School Psychology 

Why Choose School Psychology at Radford University?

We are proud of our program and the opportunities we provide to our students.

  • You’ll take assessment and intervention classes in cognition, academics, neuropsychology, and early childhood.
  • We provide two counseling classes that will train you to work with individual students, small groups and to do crisis intervention counseling.
  • Students are well trained in state of the art practices such as RTI and neuropsychological assessment and intervention.
  • We work with students that want to complete their third-year internship in their home state, increasing the likelihood that they will be offered a job there.
  • Our faculty are school psychologists that have real life experience working in school districts.
  • Student may earn both an Ed.S. Degree in School Psychology and an M.S. degree in psychology.
  • We are one of the few programs that offer a Study Abroad option.
  • We are currently Nationally Recognized with Conditions by the National Association of School Psychologists.
  • Graduates are eligible to apply to be a Nationally Certified School Psychologist (NCSP). For more information on routes to applying for the NCSP please click here
  • Information regarding eligibility for licensure as a school psychologist in other states for those who graduate from the Radford University School Psychology Program can be found here.