From: Rys, Gail
Sent: Mon 2/28/2005 11:31 PM
To: Rich, Daniel; barnekov@UDel.Edu
Cc: Clark, Chris; gbear@UDel.Edu; marym@UDel.Edu; cmason@udel.edu
Subject: RE: Educational Specialist degree

Dear Dan and all,

I am attaching a letter from Dr. Joseph Prus from the National Association of School Psychologists (NASP) Program Approval Board in support of the School of Education's requested changes to the School Psychology program that is currently being considered by Faculty Senate.  As the professional organization for School Psychologists, NASP is the organization that reviews School Psych programs as part of the NCATE accreditation process. 

To answer your questions below:
1. NASP guidelines call for a minimum of 60 credit hours of coursework (including the internship) for a School Psychology program to be accredited.  However, a 60 credit hour master's program is both unusual and potentially financially punitive to graduates as they begin their professional careers.  As you know, most school districts use a matrix that includes highest degree earned and years of experience to determine salaries for their professional staff. They do not differentiate between a 30 credit hour master's degree and a 60 credit hour master's degree. To most school districts, a master's is a master's and salary increases are only awarded when professionals reach levels such as Master's + 15 credits, Master's + 30 credits, etc. Thus, if we only awarded one master's degree at the conclusion of 60 credits, our graduates would begin their professional careers earning much less than colleagues who had graduated from other master's programs, most of which are in the 30-33 credit hour range.  As a point of reference, our current Doctor of Education (Ed.D.) degree is a 54 credit hour program, so our School Psychology students complete more coursework than our EdD gradutes.

2.  Regarding the M.A. versus M.S. degree question, I relly don't have a good answer for you.  The M.A. degree pre-dates both George Bear and me - it was in place as an M.A. when both of us arrived at UD in the late 80's.  In looking at programs at other universities, both M.A. and M.Ed. programs are common, M.S. degrees in School Psychology are rare.  Also, as a point of reference, currently in the SOE we have 5 M.Ed. majors, 3 M.A. majors and one Master of Instruction.  Although UD has other M.S. degrees, there are none currently in the SOE.

3.  The Ed.S. degree is the most commonly recognized and awarded degree within the profession of School Psychology and it is common in other advanced professional programs in education as well.  For instance, many universities have Ed.S. degrees in Reading that are in excess of 30-33 credits.  Since our graduate program in Reading is 33 credits, it makes sense that it is a master's program (M.Ed.) rather than a Specialist degree.  Specialist degrees are almost always reserved for professional programs approaching 60 credits.  The Ed.S. in the world of education is analogous to an M.F.A. in the Art world - it has a special recognition within the profession. 

When I complete the U.S. News and World Report survey that ranks graduate programs, it asks questions about our master's degree students, our doctoral degree students AND our specialist degree students.  Right now, our second and third year school psychology students (who are non-matriculated students) are not being captured in the reported data at all since USNWR is very specific that students have to be in a specialist DEGREE program to be counted.  This fact plus a desire to be consistent with peer institutions and NASP recommendations prompts the School of Education's request to initiate this new degree at UD.

Thank you, Dan, for considering these comments.  Please contact George or me if you have follow-up questions.

Gail



-----Original Message-----
From: Rich, Daniel [mailto:drich@UDel.Edu]
Sent: Mon 2/21/2005 6:33 AM
To: Rys, Gail; barnekov@UDel.Edu
Cc: Clark, Chris; gbear@UDel.Edu; marym@UDel.Edu
Subject: RE: Educational Specialist degree

Gail:
Thanks for the update. I have a few questions.

1. Since the students need 60 credits plus an internship for certification, why isn't that required for the UD M.A. degree?

2. Since it is a professional degree, why aren't we awarding an MS or Master of School Psychology degree instead of an M.A.

3. Why do we need the new EdS degree when we can award an MS degree at the end of the program.

It seems clear that if there is to be a second degree, it should be after all requirements are completed.

Thanks,
Dan

________________________________

From: Rys, Gail [mailto:gailrys@UDel.Edu]
Sent: Sun 2/20/2005 11:08 PM
To: Rich, Daniel; barnekov@UDel.Edu
Cc: Clark, Chris; gbear@UDel.Edu; marym@UDel.Edu
Subject: Educational Specialist degree



Dear Dan and Tim,

On the advice of both Chris and Chuck Mason, current chair of the Faculty Senate Graduate Committee, I wanted to drop you a note and give you a heads up on an agenda item that will soon be appearing on the Faculty Senate Coordinating Committee's schedule.  As you may know, the School Psychology program is currently a 3 year program: students receive an M.A. in School Psychology after the first full year of coursework (30 credits), and then become Non-degree students in the second year (in which they complete an additional 24 credits) and the third year (in which they complete a 6 credit hour, full-time internship). They must complete this entire 60 credit hour program, including the internship, to be eligible for certification as a School Psychologist under NCATE and NASP requirements.

The Non-degree status of these students in the second and third year has become increasingly problematic over the last several years.  For instance, although these students have very strong academic profiles, we are no longer able to "count" them among our fold in the data we report to U.S. News and World Report because they are not matriculated students.  Additionally, Mary Martin had to intervene a few years ago in order to allow these non-matriculated students to be allowed to be considered for assistantships in their second year.

The School of Education has proposed a program change that received the full support of the CHEP Graduate Committee and the Faculty Senate Graduate Committee.  The change requests that these students would still have the M.A. conferred after Year 1, but that these students would then matriculate into an Educational Specialist degree program in Years 2 & 3 and that this Ed.S. degree be conferred at the end of Year 3. This change would not involve any additional resources in terms of additional or different courses  or any additional faculty resources.  Students would take the same courses as they do now, and the third-year internship would also be the same.  The only difference is that students would be matriculated, rather than non-matriculated students in years 2 & 3. Although the Ed.S. would be a new degree at U.D., this degree is quite common at other universities in schools and colleges of education.  The National Association of School Psychologists (NASP) estimates that 100 universities now have Ed.S. degrees in School Psychology including the following:

>> University of Arizona
>> University of Connecticut
>> Gallaudet University
>> University of South Florida
>> University of Idaho
>> Indiana University
>> University of Kansas
>> Michigan State University
>> University of Missouri
>> Kent State University
>> Lehigh University
>> University of Tennessee
>> College of William and Mary
>> James Madison University

NASP is sending us a letter of support to submit with our documentation to the Coordinating Committee and the Executive Committee.

Another suggestion made by Chuck Mason was that any members of the Board of Trustees who might have an education background or be familiar with this degree could be valuable advocates when the matter comes to the Board.  Certainly someone like Jackie Wilson could be an advocate, and there may be others you could think of.  Although Jim Neal is an engineer, he's also my next door neighbor, and I could mention it to him if you think it would be appropriate. I'll await your direction on this.

Please let me (or George Bear) know if you have any questions or concerns about this proposal, and thank you both for any support you can lend to this request.

Best wishes,
Gail