A primary aim of this book is to identify the most prominent theories guiding the school psychology field; thus, it is also relevant to at least briefly explore the distinct features of the school psychology profession. We do so by briefly reviewing the historical evolution of the profession and then commenting on the contemporary features of the discipline. Although we do not provide an exhaustive review of these issues, we hope to underscore notable origins of the field and also highlight where it is today.
Historical Context
Notably, the field of school psychology is relatively young, with an origin in the early 1890s (Fagan, 1992; Fagan & Wise, 2007), and has been recognized as an organized profession within only the last few decades (Merrell, Ervin, & Gimpel Peacock, 2012). The American Psychological Association (APA, 2020) described the profession as “a general practice and health service provider specialty of professional psychology that is concerned with the science and practice of psychology with children, youth, families; learners of all ages; and the schooling process” (para. 1). One of the distinct features of the field’s professional identity, outside of other disciplines within psychology, has also been the emphasis on the training of nondoctoral practitioners. Tension between doctoral and nondoctoral training within the field, and among other psychological disciplines, has existed almost from its inception.
There are several movements that have been noted as central to the origin of the field of school psychology, the most notable being industrialization in America, associated social changes and reforms aimed at children (e.g., child labor laws, juvenile courts, vocational guidance, institutions serving children), and compulsory schooling. These developments in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries created a culture and need for psychological services for a new, large, and diverse population of students attending the nation’s public schools. Additionally, prominent figures such as Granville Stanley Hall and Lightner Witmer were instrumental in the rise of the fields of child development, educational psychology, and special education (Fagan, 1992). Hall founded the American Psychological Association in 1892, whereas Witmer founded the first psychological clinic serving children in the United States in 1896. The duality of school psychology, with its emphasis on clinical and educational psychology, can be traced back to these early influences (Fagan, 1992).
The rise of special education within the nation’s schools was also a perfect foundation for the advancement of psychological testing and a need to sort children into different programs. Scholars have also referred to this as the child study movement (Fagan, 1992). The birth of the intelligence test occurred in 1905 with the publication of the Binet-Simon scales and set the stage for the “test and place” model in the field of school psychology, entrenching many school psychologists in a psychometric-driven role of sorter or gatekeeper (Merrell et al., 2012). In short, school psychology is rooted in a practice aimed at addressing the academic and mental health needs of a diverse set of public school children, the same of which can be true today.