History of school psychology at the University of Minnesota

School psychology in the state of Minnesota has a long history, going back as far as 1925, when the Minneapolis Public Schools first employed psychologists. However, the training of psychologists to work specifically in school settings did not coalesce until the mid-1950s when two forces converged at the University of Minnesota: the national movement to promote psychology's role in education and the broad base of support for school psychology that has existed historically in Minnesota.

Dale Harris of the University of Minnesota's Institute of Child Welfare (now the Institute of Child Development) helped plan the American Psychological Association's Thayer Conference on School Psychology, which Harris, Maynard Reynolds, and Dean Walter William Cook of the College of Education attended in 1954. Interest in school psychology on the part of the University continued to be strong. Within the next two years, school psychology workshops and courses appeared in the University's summer school program under the joint sponsorship of the Institute of Child Welfare, the College of Education, and the Department of Psychology.

The cooperation among the Department of Educational Psychology, the Institute of Child Development, and the Department of Psychology has taken the unique form of offering degrees to school psychology students from any one of the three departments for which the student qualified upon admission. This interdepartmental cooperation has been a particular strength at Minnesota because of the diverse faculty resources it provides for students.

In 1961, a two-year graduate program leading to a professional certificate—educational specialist in school psychological services—was instituted. In 1963, the first doctoral degree was awarded in school psychology. The Minnesota program was among the first school psychology programs to receive accreditation from the American Psychological Association (APA). Besides continual accreditation since then, an additional tribute to the strength of the program was student support provided by the National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH), from 1958 to 1992.

In 1978 the National School Psychology Inservice Training Network began activities under the auspices of the school psychology program. Through this six-year endeavor, funded by the U.S. Office of Special Education, Minnesota students and faculty played a decisive role in providing extensive inservice training to practicing school psychologists throughout the nation in the development of training materials and in bringing about new thinking about the future of the profession. In 1980, the network, in collaboration with the APA and the National Association of School Psychologists (NASP), sponsored the Minnesota-based Spring Hill Symposium on the Future of School Psychology, the first comprehensive examination of school psychology by school psychologists since the 1954 Thayer Conference. In 2002, specific goals for the future training and practice of school psychology occurred at The Future of School Psychology Invitational Conference where Dr. Christenson was on the of the keynote speakers.

The school psychology program maintains a strong tradition of student involvement in faculty research across the spectrum of the Department of Educational Psychology, the Institute of Child Development, and the Department of Psychology. Drawing on a unique array of interdepartmental faculty resources, students are prepared to become competent scientist practitioners who can apply basic research to the very real lives of children and the adults who care for them. The variety of research projects and theoretical perspectives provided by this interdepartmental structure permits maximal flexibility for the individual student.

In 1987, the faculty engaged in an intensive study of the program's focus and curriculum. That study resulted in the completion of a set of recommendations for restructuring the program and naming a new core faculty to better address the domains of knowledge and practice in contemporary school psychology with a consistent focus on the current needs of the schools. The core faculty represents the Department of Educational Psychology and related departments who have strong preparation, experience, and current commitments in research, teaching, and professional service related to the practice of school psychology. The faculty are committed to translating theory and research findings into practice to address psychological concerns in educational contexts for children and youth. The activities and competencies specified in the document entitled School Psychology: A Blueprint for the Future of Training and Practice was adopted as a model for the program. The document was a product of activities of the National School Psychology Inservice Training Network which was housed at the University of Minnesota from 1978-1984. For over a decade, the S.C. and Ph.D. programs have been NASP certified. Since 1998, School Psychology: A Blueprint for Training and Practice II, which specifies 10 domains of school psychology leadership and function in the schools, has been used as a model for training. We have also added training in supervision and technology.

The school psychology program has produced over 340 Ph.D. and M.A./Specialist (S.C.) graduates since 1963, providing leadership in universities, school systems, and mental health facilities throughout the nation. The student who pursues the field of school psychology at Minnesota will become part of a rich tradition of cross-departmental preparation for serving as a scientist practitioner within the profession. Such opportunities allow for breadth and depth of study in school psychology with the integration of many specialty areas in psychology, education, and child development

Article based in part on Lindborg, S., & Egeland, B. (1987). "Psychology in the Schools Training Programs at the University of Minnesota." Professional School Psychology, 2(1), 67-74.