Submission deadline August 15, 2015
About the Special Topic Section
Diversification among school psychology students, practitioners, and faculty warrants further understanding and emphasis. There is a critical need to identify high-quality research and practices that are being conducted across the field of school psychology in order to scale-up and advance efforts to diversify the profession. The American Psychological Association’s Division 16 (School Psychology) Committee on Ethnic Minority Affairs (CEMA) has highlighted the need for more racial/ethnic diversity within the profession, particularly amongst school psychology faculty and students, and has engaged in initiatives to advance knowledge, understanding, and diversification.
Among the professional psychology domains, school psychology programs have the lowest percentage of full-time faculty from racially and ethnically diverse backgrounds (APA Center for Workforce Studies, 2011). The APA Center for Workforce Studies revealed that in 2009 to 2010, 12% of full-time school psychology faculty were from racially/ethnically diverse backgrounds in comparison to 26% of full-time faculty in counseling psychology and 17% of full-time clinical psychology faculty. Similarly, a recent national study of school psychologists revealed that approximately 9% of school psychology professionals in the United States are ethnic minority, and that African Americans and Latinos comprise only 1% and 6% of school psychology faculty members, respectively, with European Americans representing the majority (93%) of faculty members (Castillo, Curtis, Chappel, & Cunningham, 2011; Castillo, Curtis, & Gelley, 2013). These findings parallel the racial/ethnic diversity of graduate students enrolled in school psychology programs nationally. The relatively low representation of racial/ethnic minorities in the profession of school psychology and amongst school psychology faculty is concerning because of the need to prepare a workforce that is representative of the population served, and also to continue to diversify ideas, perspectives, and experiences that drive research and practice in school psychology (Antonio, Chang, Hakuta, Kenny, Levin, & Milem, 2004; Nemeth, 1992). Whereas a number of publications have identified strategies for addressing the lack of diversity in the profession, with few exceptions, empirical research examining the implementation and the effectiveness of these practices has not been forthcoming (Graves & Wright 2007; Rogers & Malina, 2006; Proctor et al., 2014).
The purpose of this special topic section is to advance the evidence-base in school psychology on how to increase diverse scholars and leaders in the profession and the status of the profession in effectively recruiting and retaining racial/ethnic minority graduate students, mentoring racial/ethnic minority students to pursue careers in academia, and promoting faculty development and retention of racially and ethnically diverse faculty. Authors are encouraged to submit manuscripts for review that address one or more of the following topics (or closely related topics): 1) recruitment and retention of diverse students in school psychology doctoral programs; 2) graduate students preparation for faculty careers; 3) retention and promotion of racially and ethnically diverse faculty; and 4) the mentorship and promotion of racially and ethnically diverse faculty into professional leadership. We encourage submission of empirical studies utilizing a broad range of methodologies from multiple disciplines relevant to school psychology and higher education to reflect the interdisciplinary approaches to faculty recruitment, retention, and development.
The submission deadline for manuscripts is August 15, 2015. All manuscripts submitted to School Psychology Quarterly will be subject to the typical peer-review process. Additional information about the journal, guidance for authors, and links to the electronic submissions webpage are available at http://www.apa.org/pubs/
About the Journal
School Psychology Quarterly is Edited by Dr. Shane Jimerson and is published by the American Psychological Association and is the official journal of the APA Division 16 (School Psychology). School Psychology Quarterly is part of Thomson Reuters’ Web of Science and has an ISI impact factor of 1.209, ranking 21st out of 50 journals in “Psychology—Education” category. Every article published in SPQ is included in PsycINFO, PsycARTICLES, and MEDLINE, the world’s most comprehensive and widely used psychological databases.
School Psychology Quarterly publishes empirical studies and literature reviews of the psychology of education and services for children in school settings, encompassing a full range of methodologies and orientations, including educational, cognitive, social, cognitive behavioral, preventive, cross-cultural, and developmental perspectives. Focusing primarily on children, youth, and the adults who serve them, School Psychology Quarterly publishes international research advancing science, practice, and policy pertaining to the education of populations across the life span. (see recent brief article about SPQ in APA Monitor http://www.apa.org/monitor/
Recent special topic sections featured in SPQ include:
http://psycnet.apa.org/index.
Assessment of General Education Teachers’ Tier 1 Classroom Practices: Current Science and Practice
(published Volume 28 issue 4, 2013)
School Climate, Aggression, Peer Victimization, and Bully Perpetration
(published Volume 29 issue 3, 2014)
Assessing, Understanding, and Supporting Students with ADHD at School
(published Volume 29 issue 4, 2014)
Mental Health Service Delivery within a Multi-Tiered Problem-Solving Framework
(in press, Volume 30, issue 2, 2015)
Immigrants, Schooling, and School Psychology Practice
(in progress, Volume 31, 2016)
Diversification of School Psychology: Developing an Evidence-Base from Current Research and Practice
(in progress, Volume 31, 2016)