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National School Psychology Certification System
The National Association of School Psychologists (NASP) created the National
School Psychology Certification System (NSPCS) for the purpose of credentialing
school psychologists who meet a nationally recognized standard. The NSPCS
is open to members of NASP as well as to nonmembers. The administration
of the NSPCS is vested under the authority of the National School Psychology
Certification Board (NSPCB).
The NSPCS was developed to create a nationally recognized standard for
credentialing school psychologists. A wide range of credentialing requirements
exists across states, creating a need to recognize school psychologists
who meet national standards. By granting national certification, it is
not the intent of the NSPCB to certify school psychologists for employment
nor to impose personnel requirements on agencies and organizations. Rather,
the intent is to provide a national standard that can be used as a measure
of professionalism by interested agencies, groups and individuals. The
responsibility for professional integrity and excellence remains with
the individual school psychologist. It is further intended that national
certification will encourage the continuing professional growth and development
of NCSPs and will foster cooperation among groups actively involved in
the credentialing of school psychologists.
Specific goals of the NSPCS include the following:
- To promote uniform credentialing standards across states, agencies
and training institutions
- To monitor the implementation of NASP credentialing standards at
the national level
- To promote continuing professional development (CPD) for school psychologists
- To facilitate credentialing of school psychologists across states
through the use of reciprocity
- To ensure a consistent level of training and experience in service
providers who are nationally certified
- To promote the utilization of NASP Standards for Training and
Field Placement Programs in School Psychology (2000) by training
institutions
- To encourage school psychologists to seek national certification
State Recognition of the NCSP