GACE School Psychology (724) cheat sheet

School psychology's historical roots include Lightner Witmer's 1896 clinic, Granville Stanley Hall's child study movement, and the 1969 Thayer Conference, which defined the role and training of school psychologists.

NASP (National Association of School Psychologists) sets training and credentialing standards; NCSP (Nationally Certified School Psychologist) requires an accredited specialist-level (60+ graduate semester hours) or doctoral program plus supervised internship and passing the Praxis School Psychologist exam.

The NASP Practice Model organizes services into 10 domains, including data-based decision making, consultation/collaboration, academic and mental health interventions, and legal/ethical practice.

The three-tier prevention framework: Tier 1 universal supports for all students, Tier 2 targeted small-group interventions, Tier 3 intensive individualized supports; movement between tiers is driven by progress-monitoring data.

Role boundaries: school psychologists conduct assessment, consultation, counseling, and systems-level work; they do not prescribe medication or make medical diagnoses, though they may coordinate with medical providers.

Supervision and continuing education: NCSP renewal requires 75 continuing professional development hours every 3 years; state credentials have separate renewal requirements.

The scientist-practitioner model guides practice: decisions are grounded in peer-reviewed research and local data rather than anecdote or tradition.

Professional organizations: NASP (practice standards, ethics code), APA Division 16 (School Psychology, doctoral-focused), and state associations that advocate for policy and licensure.

Piaget's stages: sensorimotor (0–2, object permanence), preoperational (2–7, symbolic thought, egocentrism), concrete operational (7–11, conservation, reversibility), formal operational (11+, abstract/hypothetical reasoning).

Vygotsky's zone of proximal development (ZPD) is the gap between independent performance and performance with adult or peer scaffolding; the difference is a target for instruction.

Erikson's psychosocial stages relevant to schooling: industry vs. inferiority (6–12) and identity vs. role confusion (adolescence); school success and peer comparison shape self-concept.

Kohlberg's moral development: preconventional (obedience, self-interest), conventional (social approval, law and order), postconventional (social contract, universal principles).

Bronfenbrenner's bioecological model: microsystem (family, classroom), mesosystem (home–school links), exosystem (parent workplace, community), macrosystem (culture, policy), chronosystem (time/transitions).

Reading development components: phonological awareness, phonics, fluency, vocabulary, and comprehension; early screening for phonological awareness predicts later reading risk.

Math development milestones: number sense and counting in early childhood, fact retrieval and place value in elementary years, proportional reasoning and algebra in adolescence.

Working memory, processing speed, and executive function (planning, inhibition, cognitive flexibility) underpin academic learning and are common targets of assessment and intervention.

Standard score scales: most cognitive and achievement tests use mean 100, SD 15; T-scores use mean 50, SD 10; scaled scores use mean 10, SD 3; percentile ranks express the percentage of the norm group scoring at or below a score.

Reliability refers to consistency of scores (test-retest, internal consistency, inter-rater); validity refers to whether a test measures what it claims; standard error of measurement (SEM) quantifies score-band uncertainty.

A confidence interval around an obtained score is built as score ± (z × SEM); a 95% interval uses z = 1.96.

Curriculum-based measurement (CBM) uses brief, standardized probes to track growth; slopes of improvement and benchmark comparisons drive instructional decisions.

The assessment-to-intervention link: data must inform goals, intervention selection, and progress monitoring; assessment without instructional change is not data-based decision making.

Norm-referenced tests compare a student to a national sample; criterion-referenced tests compare performance to a defined standard; both can be used in a comprehensive evaluation.

Multitrait-multimethod logic and cross-battery assessment compare converging and diverging evidence across sources (tests, rating scales, observations, work samples) to increase confidence in conclusions.

Bias and fairness: review test items for cultural/linguistic bias, use tests normed on comparable populations when available, and interpret scores cautiously when the examinee's language or culture differs from the norm group.

Behavioral principles: positive reinforcement increases behavior; extinction removes reinforcement to reduce behavior; shaping reinforces successive approximations; punishment suppresses behavior but has side effects.

Functional behavior assessment (FBA) identifies antecedents, behavior, and consequences; the resulting behavior intervention plan (BIP) targets the function (attention, escape, access to tangibles, sensory).

Academic interventions should be matched to the skill deficit (e.g., phonemic awareness drills for decoding problems) and delivered with fidelity, then monitored for response.

Progress monitoring: aim for 3–5 data points before judging response; a trend line that does not meet the goal after a set period (often 6–8 weeks) triggers a change in intervention.

Counseling approaches: cognitive-behavioral therapy (CBT) targets thoughts-behavior links; solution-focused brief counseling emphasizes goals and exceptions; group counseling builds social skills and peer support.

Crisis response: risk assessment for suicide/self-harm, threat assessment for violence, and referral to emergency services when imminent danger exists; document actions and notify guardians per policy.

Mental health screening tools (e.g., BASC, SDQ, PHQ-A) identify students needing further evaluation; screening is not diagnosis and requires consent and follow-up.

Self-care and boundaries: school psychologists manage caseloads through triage, consultation, and systems-level prevention to sustain service quality.

Consultation models: behavioral consultation (problem identification, problem analysis, plan implementation, plan evaluation), mental health consultation, and instructional/organizational consultation.

Conjoint behavioral consultation (CBC) links home and school by including parents as partners in defining problems, designing plans, and monitoring outcomes.

Collaborative problem solving: define the problem in observable terms, generate hypotheses, select interventions, assign roles, and set review dates.

Team structures: problem-solving teams (e.g., MTSS teams), IEP teams, and 504 teams each have distinct membership, documentation, and decision rules.

Family engagement practices: two-way communication, culturally responsive outreach, and capacity-building (helping families support learning at home) predict better student outcomes.

Interpreter use: provide qualified interpreters, avoid using students as interpreters, and translate key documents to ensure informed participation.

Conflict and resistance: address concerns with data, active listening, and shared goal setting; consultation is more effective when consultees perceive the process as collaborative rather than top-down.

Systems change: consultation at the school level targets policies, schedules, and resource allocation, not only individual students.

IDEA (Individuals with Disabilities Education Act): free appropriate public education (FAPE), least restrictive environment (LRE), procedural safeguards, and IEP requirements including present levels, measurable goals, and progress reporting.

Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act prohibits discrimination based on disability and requires accommodations for students who do not need special education.

FERPA protects education records and parent/eligible-student access; HIPAA governs health information held by covered entities, and school records generally fall under FERPA.

Informed consent: parents/guardians must consent to evaluation and special education services; consent must be voluntary, documented, and revocable.

Confidentiality limits: disclosure is permitted or required when there is risk of harm to self or others, suspected abuse/neglect (mandated reporting), or a court order.

Nondiscriminatory assessment: evaluate in the child's native language or mode of communication, use multiple measures, and avoid sole reliance on a single test score for eligibility decisions.

Cultural competence: consider cultural and linguistic factors in referral, assessment, and intervention; avoid over-identifying students from marginalized groups for special education.

Ethical standards (NASP/APA): competence boundaries, multiple relationships, informed consent, accurate reporting, and advocacy for students' rights.