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School psychologist skills for your resume and career

Updated January 8, 2025
3 min read
Quoted experts
Glenn Valdez Ph.D.,
Barbara Holmes Ph.D.
School psychologist example skills
Below we've compiled a list of the most critical school psychologist skills. We ranked the top skills for school psychologists based on the percentage of resumes they appeared on. For example, 18.4% of school psychologist resumes contained professional development as a skill. Continue reading to find out what skills a school psychologist needs to be successful in the workplace.

15 school psychologist skills for your resume and career

1. Professional Development

Professional development means to have the essential training certification or education with the purpose of earning and having a successful career. Every job requires a different set of skills. However, new skills may be needed in the future. Professional development, in this regard, helps people to develop and polish the skills and become efficient workers.

Here's how school psychologists use professional development:
  • Co-facilitated professional development session on integrating social-emotional learning into academic instruction.
  • Facilitate cultural competence professional development.

2. Mental Health

Mental health is the state of wellbeing in which an individual can cope with the regular stresses and tensions of life, and can work productively without having any emotional or psychological breakdown. Mental health is essential for a person of any age and helps them make the right decisions in their life.

Here's how school psychologists use mental health:
  • Designed and delivered presentations for school faculties to introduce new educational initiatives and to raise awareness of student mental health issues.
  • Facilitate district workshops social emotion intervention and incorporating technology in teaching and mental health service delivery.

3. Psychological Services

Physiological services refer to professional services such as assessment, intervention, and consultation offered by qualified professionals in planning and managing a program that aims to determine the mental state.

Here's how school psychologists use psychological services:
  • Provided psychological services for kindergarten through sixth grade students including assessment, individual counseling, teacher consultation and in-service training.
  • Contracted to assist employee evaluation and coordination of appraisal and psychological services encompassing 36 schools and approximately 40,000 students.

4. K-12

K12 is a term that incldues all 12 years of education in the US education system. It includes the education offered at the primary stage, middle stage, and secondary stage. It includes children of ages as young as 5 to 18 years. The grades included in K12 are Kindergarten, the initial 5 stages, grades 6 to 8, and 9 to 12. This system is followed specifically followed in the US and may vary in other countries.

Here's how school psychologists use k-12:
  • Provided comprehensive school psychology services for students K-12 including psycho-educational assessment, intervention, counseling, and consultation with school staff.
  • Completed comprehensive psycho-educational evaluations for students K-12; disseminated assessment results; conducted individual and group counseling/social skills interventions.

5. Crisis Intervention

Here's how school psychologists use crisis intervention:
  • Participated in crisis intervention meetings and evaluations, and presented recommendations for appropriate courses of action.
  • Provided counseling, consultation, and crisis intervention services for regular and special education students.

6. Autism

Here's how school psychologists use autism:
  • Complete re-evaluations and functional behavioral assessments for children who are classified with emotional disturbance, autism, and specific learning disabilities.
  • Provided educational and therapeutic services and supports for students with severe emotional and/or behavior disorders and/or Autism Spectrum Disorders.

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7. Behavior Management

Here's how school psychologists use behavior management:
  • Developed parent education groups on subjects of behavior management and effectively working with children who have learning difficulties !
  • Provided consultation for the development and implementation of behavior management programs for severely behavior-disordered students.

8. Adaptive

Here's how school psychologists use adaptive:
  • Administered a variety of standardized psychological measures to address cognitive functioning, academic achievement, social/behavioral issues, and adaptive functioning.
  • Evaluate protocols and author psychological reports including intellectual, cognitive, adaptive, developmental and emotional functioning.

9. Functional Behavior Assessments

Here's how school psychologists use functional behavior assessments:
  • Completed functional behavior assessments and developed positive behavior support plans to be implemented within regular and special education settings.
  • Facilitated and conducted in-service training to parents and school personnel on functional behavior assessments and behavioral intervention plans.

10. Community Agencies

Community agencies stand for the organizations operated to provide human service in the community.

Here's how school psychologists use community agencies:
  • Meet to discuss evaluations and determine eligibility for services, sometimes referring to outside community agencies.
  • Work with community agencies and professionals in student evaluations.

11. RTI

Here's how school psychologists use rti:
  • Evaluate students using RtI based assessment, norm referenced tools and curriculum based measures to determine eligibility for special education.
  • Participate in weekly Response to Intervention (RTI) meetings to gather progress-monitoring data and develop intervention recommendations.

12. Child Development

Here's how school psychologists use child development:
  • Provided parenting workshops focusing on parenting skills and child development.
  • Research assistant in child development center of Haifa University.

13. Public Schools

Public schools are available for everyone. They are funded and controlled by the government. With state guidance, each school board determines the curricula, finances, and jobs for schools within its borders. The government also decides on academic standards and standardised tests.

Here's how school psychologists use public schools:
  • Presented on a Functional Behavioral Assessment/Behavior Intervention presentation to Mesa Public Schools 60 school psychologist.
  • Served as school psychologist for six charter and chartered, non public schools including two high schools.

14. Data Collection

Data collection means to analyze and collect all the necessary information. It helps in carrying out research and in storing important and necessary information. The most important goal of data collection is to gather the information that is rich and accurate for statistical analysis.

Here's how school psychologists use data collection:
  • Develop and monitor academic and behavior interventions through data collection and observations for treatment fidelity.
  • Develop comprehensive, research-based behavioral plans and tracked progress through data collections procedures.

15. Intervention Strategies

Here's how school psychologists use intervention strategies:
  • Served as a Liaison and Intervention Team Member promoting academic success and developing various intervention strategies to assist at-risk students.
  • Foster parent involvement by communicating regularly with parents regarding skills being taught in counseling and to suggest behavior intervention strategies.
top-skills

What skills help School Psychologists find jobs?

Tell us what job you are looking for, we’ll show you what skills employers want.

What skills stand out on school psychologist resumes?

Glenn Valdez Ph.D.Glenn Valdez Ph.D. LinkedIn profile

Professor, Grand Valley State University

The most obvious skills would be having a good technical background in the area, analytical skills, and research experience. Another important one is communication skills. I think one of the most important things that the pandemic has brought to light is that being able to convey both scientific concepts and the process of science in a clear and understandable way to the general public is critical.

What soft skills should all school psychologists possess?

Barbara Holmes Ph.D.

Professor, Winona State University

Educational Diagnosticians need to have a mastery of interpersonal communication skills and the ability to work effectively in collaborative teams

What hard/technical skills are most important for school psychologists?

Barbara Holmes Ph.D.

Professor, Winona State University

Educational Diagnosticians need to be proficient in assessment, evaluation procedures and knowledgeable of federal laws, rules, and regulations

What school psychologist skills would you recommend for someone trying to advance their career?

Dé Bryant Ph.D.Dé Bryant Ph.D. LinkedIn profile

Professor, Indiana University South Bend

Grads should not think of that year as a throw-away period between serious work on degrees. Instead, they should use this as a time to redefine their own vision. They should ask themselves, "After I have considered everything that I could do with my life, what one things must I do?". Students shouldn't just think about a career in terms of skills acquisition. They should also think about how that time in between degrees could be used to find meaning, adjust their attitudes, build relationships. Among the many things this Era of COVID has taught us, the most important is that none of us is an island. We all live within the society; our task is to find out what that means for our individual lives.

What type of skills will young school psychologists need?

Dr. Daniel Holland Ph.D.Dr. Daniel Holland Ph.D. LinkedIn profile

Assistant Professor, Director of the Institute for Violence Research, Regent University

As our nation's landscape continues to experience a level of polarization, graduates entering the workforce will need the ability to connect with individuals empathically, even those who hold values different from their own. They will need to walk with the hurting through difficult seasons, which will require them to develop and maintain healthy self-care practices. Firm, ethical boundaries, self-awareness, and sound judgment will continue to be highly valued.

What technical skills for a school psychologist stand out to employers?

Dr. Cecy BrooksDr. Cecy Brooks LinkedIn profile

Visiting Assistant Professor, Mississippi University for Women

Due to the pandemic, many graduates had to finish their classes online, meaning that for most, that required more independent learning and virtual team work. Employers will definitely look at how well you function in a virtual environment, especially whether you can conduct and host virtual meetings. Being aware of how multiple systems such as Microsoft Teams, Skype, Go-to-Meeting, and Zoom work can help distinguish a potential candidate. Written skills are also important as email communication may be the primary way to communicate with those within and outside of the organization. Understanding how to write in a clear and concise manner can help boost your resume to the top. Additionally, in some work settings, in-person meetings may not be possible, so you may be writing more messages when you are unable to "see" or call someone on the phone.

List of school psychologist skills to add to your resume

The most important skills for a school psychologist resume and required skills for a school psychologist to have include:

  • Professional Development
  • Mental Health
  • Psychological Services
  • K-12
  • Crisis Intervention
  • Autism
  • Behavior Management
  • Adaptive
  • Functional Behavior Assessments
  • Community Agencies
  • RTI
  • Child Development
  • Public Schools
  • Data Collection
  • Intervention Strategies
  • Educational Programs
  • Kids
  • Pre-K
  • Test Results
  • Evaluation Reports
  • Community Resources
  • Progress Monitoring
  • Education Plan
  • Early Intervention
  • Behavior Problems
  • In-Service Training
  • Assessment Results
  • K-8
  • Assessment Data
  • Psychological Evaluations
  • Classroom Observations
  • Kindergarten
  • Evaluation Results
  • Consultation Services
  • Psychological Assessments
  • IEP Direct
  • Psycho-Educational Assessments
  • PBIS
  • Social Training
  • Elementary Schools
  • Behavioral Issues
  • Applied Behavior Analysis
  • CSE
  • Developmental Disabilities
  • Bips
  • Group Therapy
  • Learning Disabilities
  • ADHD
  • Psychological Reports
  • Academic Achievement

Updated January 8, 2025

Zippia Research Team
Zippia Team

Editorial Staff

The Zippia Research Team has spent countless hours reviewing resumes, job postings, and government data to determine what goes into getting a job in each phase of life. Professional writers and data scientists comprise the Zippia Research Team.

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