Throughout the city, the region and beyond, there is significant need for psychological and behavioral services for school-aged children. When a student's needs impact their learning, school and district psychologists and mental health professionals can offer a wide range of evaluations and services. In fact, they are legally obligated to do so. But the demand far exceeds the resources available within many schools and districts.

The College of Education and Human Development (CEHD) at Temple University helps address the gap through its Psychoeducational Clinic. The clinic takes on individual clinical psychoeducational cases in Philadelphia and the surrounding area, helping schools and districts meet demand. It serves as one example of how the college promotes education as a primary mechanism for social mobility and justice for all learners.

There are two primary goals, according to Jessica Reinhardt, associate professor of practice in Temple's department of psychological studies in education. First, low-cost psychoeducational evaluations for the community. Second, to be a gold-star training site for School Psychology students.

What can clients expect?

The clinic provides affordable, comprehensive, culturally-relevant evaluations.

"There is a long wait list to access private evaluations, even with insurance, but especially for the under-insured," Reinhardt says. "Our services are provided on a generous sliding scale that allows access to this important service."

Assistant professor of instruction Shana Levi-Nielsen explains how to get started. "Parents can call and request a comprehensive evaluation based on any concerns they may have related to their child's functioning. We identify learning needs through RIOT - Record Review; Interviews; Observations; and Testing using curriculum-based measurements, norm-referenced tests and rating scales. Faculty and student clinicians work together to address any of the child's skill gaps, then provide recommendations regarding supports needed for an inclusive education."

The clinic requires close collaboration between faculty, students and community members, and is designed as a training facility for specialist and doctoral students in the school psychology program. Every program faculty member has some involvement with the clinic. Student clinicians develop school psychology practical experience under the supervision of clinic faculty like professors Reinhardt and Levi-Nielsen. "We have a scaffolded training program," Reinhardt explains. "Our process is far more in-depth and involves more clinical care than in other places. The evaluations conducted are robust because they are done in a training environment under close supervision."

"In the first year in our program," Levi-Nielsen explains, "both doctoral students and educational specialist students learn the theory behind conducting evidence-based, culturally responsive evaluations." The second year is when they collaborate with faculty to apply what they've learned to real clients. Levi-Nielsen notes that having research-oriented doctoral students and practice-oriented specialists work together "helps our clients and students get the best of both research and practice."

What do Temple students gain?

The clinic offers a developmental training model, "First-year students observe more senior clinicians-in-training completing the clinical work. This exposure, and accompanying didactics, provides a foundation for clinical skills," Reinhardt elaborates. "Second-year EdS and PhD students are clinicians-in-training, conducting low-cost psychoeducational evaluations, which include interviews with clients, parents and teachers; observations in schools; and psychoeducational testing. It culminates with deliverables including feedback sessions and reports." Advanced doctoral students participate in Supervision-of- Supervision, "Sup-of-Sup," serving as supervisors-in-training to clinicians-in-training while being supervised by their faculty. The goal is to enhance the quality of supervision and ensure trainees receive strong guidance and support.

Highland Park Elementary School Psychologist Joe Rorem earned his education specialist degree from Temple in 2022. "The biggest thing clinic did for me," he says, "is give me the confidence that yea, I can do this."

"Sometimes assessing a kid is like rubbing your belly and patting your head, and there's no way to get used to that except to do it. Clinic gave me that opportunity."

Fully supported by faculty that Rorem says treat the students as equals, he values the clinic experience, in which he says he learned the "farm-to-table" operation, including initial intake interview with the parent, collaboration with the student's school, issuing relevant surveys and rating scales and interpreting them, deciding on a test battery, administering, scoring, analyzing, writing the full report, and presenting findings to the family in a feedback meeting. "I was blown away with how available my supervisors were to support me in every step, as needed," he adds.

"There was a core, unimpeachable sense of legitimacy that clinic provided me. Whatever other challenges a school throws at you, clinic helped me remember, no matter how hard evaluations can be, that I have what it takes."

Levi-Nielsen explains "the crux of the training experience is that the faculty supervisor and student clinician work together behind the scenes to put the puzzle together to generate a report with a narrative that describes who the child is, recommendations, and a diagnosis when warranted. I think of it as a soundboard and there are different facets with levers. We look at all the variables and adjust them to set the right levels."

The result? Prepared, competent and confident practitioners, and supported children, families, and schools.

"What I can tell you I do well is write about kids, not tests," Rorem says. "That's a direct reflection of the instruction I received at the clinic - the imperative to keep the child centered not only in your mind, but in a very literal sense, in the language and structure of your report writing. Families don't want to read about your data, they want to read about what their child can do, where they need help, and how to move forward. Use your data as a tool to communicate those far more important, and human, concepts."

Levi-Nielsen, who also went through Temple's program as a student before returning as faculty, agrees.

"In our clinic, clients get one-on-one attention, and attention to detail that is hard to get in school-based settings with limited resources. The child is not a number. For our student clinicians, this is their case - and they only get four cases. I will never forget the children I evaluated when I was a student clinician. I remember those cases so vividly from working so closely with the families."

"Sometimes best practices our students are learning in class and clinic aren't always what's taking place elsewhere, and we want our students to bring those best practices in," Reinhardt says. "We want to push school psychology forward."

Learn more about the College of Education and Human Development's Psychoeducational Clinic at https://education.temple.edu/pse/psychoeducational-clinic. Additional information about our School Psychology EdS and our School Psychology PhD programs is also available online.