School Psychology Doctoral Studies

•      General Policies
•           Admission
•           Program Completion
•      Course Requirements
•           Research Methods
•           Learning Theory,
•           School Psychology Specialization
•           Emphasis Area
•           Internship
•           Dissertation
•           Sequence Illustration
•      Program Documents
•           Student Program Forms
•           Specializaton Documents
•      Professional Conferences
•           Dates
•           Pictures

Graduate Degrees - Ph.D. School Psychology

Coursework provides training in:

• a. scientific and professional ethics and standards;
• b. research design and methodology;
• c. statistics;
• d. psychometric theory;
• e. biological bases of behavior;
• f. cognitive-affective bases of behavior;
• g. social bases of behavior;
• h. individual differences.

Students admitted for this specialization are assumed to have completed an Ed.S. from a NASP-approved program, or its equivalent, and provide evidence of the knowledge base of a professional school psychologist. Students without this foundation may be considered for admission with understanding that their programs will be extended to include our Ed.S. program, including internship.

Residence Requirement:

Students in the doctoral program must be enrolled full-time at the University Nevada, Las Vegas for a minimum of two consecutive semesters, not including summer sessions, after admission. Each student's advisor/committee chair and the Department Graduate Coordinator must approve proposed residency periods and courses in advance. Once admitted, the student is expected to enroll continuously, excluding summer sessions. If a program of study must be interrupted, the student may apply for leave status not to exceed one calendar year.

Course Requirements:

The required coursework for the PhD-School Psychology Specialization Strand, including 6 credits for doctoral internship, is minimum of a 73 credits beyond the master's degree. Specific programs of study are determined by a number of factors, including the area of emphasis chosen by the student and doctoral committee. Individual programs of study frequently exceed these minimum requirement. Click here for an illustrative course sequence.

• 1 credit in Proseminar
• 15 credits in research methods courses
• 9 credits in learning theory
• 18 credits in school psychology specialization
• 12 credits in an emphasis area
• 6 credits in doctoral internship
• 12 credits in doctoral dissertation

Program Completion Requirements:

All specialization strands within the Ph.D. in Educational Psychology share some common program completion requirements. Click here for general information about these requirements, including the comprehensive examination, and the dissertation.

Click here for a listing of all required post-bachelor's degree school psychology content coursework.

In addition to the required specialization courses, each student, in consultation with advisor and doctoral committee, selects an individual emphasis area and determines the specific courses to be completed. A minimum of 12 post-master's credits is required for the emphasis area. Some examples of possible areas include:

• learning disabilities
• technology in assessment and consultation
• counseling & psychotherapy
• research methodology (courses in addition to those required for the core)
• child psychology

Standards of the National Association of School Psychologist and the American Psychological Association require a culiminating doctoral supervised internship. This internship is in addition to the internship required at the Ed.S. level and can be completed in a variety of approved settings, including school, hospital, and mental health centers. The doctoral internship in school psychology requires a minimum of 1800 hours completed over no more than a two year period. It follows the completion of all doctoral coursework.

After successfully completing Review I (satisfying the scholarly product requirement) and Review II (passing the comprehensive examination), the student may then submit a dissertation proposal to her/his doctoral committee and submit the accompanying "Dissertation Prospectus" form to the Graduate College. The doctoral committee will meet and determine whether to accept or reject the prospectus. A prospectus can be accepted provisionally given that the student follows the committee's suggestions in the dissertation.

A dissertation is an original contribution to current knowledge in the field and a demonstration of sufficient mastery in the field to pursue independent research and scholarship.

When the dissertation is complete, a defense will be scheduled and conducted in accordance with the Graduate College's policies for thesis and dissertation completion. It is the responsibility of the student to file the required "Notification of Oral or Written Examination" form with the Graduate College in a timely manner.

Doctoral study in the School Psychology specialization strand is based on a mentoring model, and consultation with your advisor is crucial before selecting courses for any semester. The listing below is not prescriptive and is included only as a general guideline for course planning.

To meet the residence requirement, you must have two consecutive semesters of full-time enrollment. This can be either a fall-spring or a spring-fall combination. If you are working full-time, you may want to limit the number of credits in your first semester of enrollment and use the spring-fall combination to meet the residence requirement.

As you move through the program, your advisor will often suggest the addition of 1-credit individual research courses to encourage your linking with program faculty for guidance on planning and conducting research studies.

1st year : Fall Semester: 9-10 credits

EPY 701 Proseminar in Educational Psychology: 1 credit (unless completed during Ed.S. studies)

EPY 757 Theory & Philosophy of Educational Psychology: 3 credits

Research Methods core course requirement: 3 credits

School Psychology core requirement: 2-3 credits

1st year : Spring Semester: 8-9 credits

EPY 767 Human Learning & Cognition: 3 credits

EPY 777 Cognitive Development: 3 credits

School Psychology core requirement: 2-3 credits

2nd year : Fall Semester: 8-9 credits

Research Methods core course requirements: 6 credits

School Psychology core requirement: 2-3 credits

2nd year : Spring Semester: 8-9 credits

Emphasis Area elective: 3 credits

Research Methods core course requirement: 3 credits

School Psychology core requirement: 2-3 credit

3rd year : Fall Semester: 8-9 credits

Emphasis Area electives: 6 credits

School Psychology practicum requirement: 2-3 credits

3rd year : Spring Semester: 6 credits

EPY 799 Dissertation Research 6 credits

4th year : Fall Semester: 9 credits

EPY 799 Dissertation Research 6 credits

EPY 794       School Psychology Internship 3 credits

4th year : Spring Semester: 3 credits

EPY 794       School Psychology Internship 3 credits

¹ This illustrative sequence assumes that the following courses were completed as a part of the Ed.S. degree. Your sequence will vary from the above contingent on specific courses completed as a part of your specialist level training.

Paul Jones, Ed.D., Department Chair 895-3937 | Pamela Staples, Ed.D., Graduate Coordinator 895-1558
Deirdre Lupher, Administrative Assistant IV 895-3253 | Marty Koch, Administrative Assistant II 895-4362
Department Office: Carlson Education Building Room 221 | Phone: (702) 895-3253 | Fax: (702) 895-1658
University of Nevada, Las Vegas | College of Education | 4505 S. Maryland Parkway | Las Vegas, NV 89154-3003