We are delighted you are interested in learning more about Ohio school psychology practice and excited you may be moving to the Buckeye State!
Currently, Ohio transitioned its professional school psychology licensure between various occupational licensure entities that is creating some confusion in our practice communities, which we are describing below in case you are finding disparate information about the process.
Historically, Ohio has offered two distinctive pathways for licensure to practice school psychology, one through the State Board of Psychology and the second through the Ohio Department of Education & Workforce, titled the pupil services licensure in school psychology. Please consider the following links:
State Board of Psychology School Psychologist licensure: https://psychology.ohio.gov/licensing-and-renewal/getting-licensed-sa/getting-licensed
Ohio Department of Education & Workforce - Pupil Services in School Psychology: https://education.ohio.gov/Topics/Teaching/Licensure/Apply-for-Certificate-License/Pupil-Services-Licenses
Ohio Department of Education & Workforce - Out of State Licensure, Pupil Services: https://education.ohio.gov/Topics/Teaching/Licensure/Out-of-State-Licensure#Pupil%20Services
Generally those school psychologists only interested in working within the school arena would have pursued the Ohio Department of Education & Workforce (ODE) licensure. If you wished to provide private practice in Ohio school psychology, you would have wanted to consider the State Board of Psychology independent school psychologist (or general psychologist, if you hold a qualifying doctoral degree) licensure, which has the benefit of also affording reciprocity with ODE school psychology licensure in education.
Effective January 2025, all Ohio school psychology licenses are now exclusively handled through the State Board of Psychology, regardless of whether you will have the education restricted school psychologist license or independent school psychologist license that allows for private/independent practice.
Be aware that having school psychologist licensure in another state should allow you to easily secure your license here in Ohio since there is legislative language that holding a similar license in one state allows for licensure in this state with a year of practice and as long as your license is active in the other locality. Having an NCSP, other state or territorial psychology licensure through a respective psychology occupational licensure board, or graduation from a NASP or APA accredited program can also make the process easier. We would suggest contacting the Ohio State Board of Psychology as described above towards the application process for your licensed school psychologist and/or independent school psychologist licensure(s); the licensed school psychologist instructions appear at https://psychology.ohio.gov/licensing-and-renewal/getting-licensed-sa/licensed-school-psychologist/03-licensed-school-psychologist-applicants while independent school psychologist instructions are available at https://psychology.ohio.gov/licensing-and-renewal/getting-licensed-sa/independent-school-psychologist/02-independent-school-psychologist .
Please let us know what further questions you have and we will be glad to try to help. Once you've finished your relocation and you're working in Ohio, we would also want you to consider joining OSPA, which is our robust, statewide practice association for school psychology. You can find more information about joining OSPA at https://www.ospaonline.org/index.php/membership .
Erich Merkle, Ph.D., Ed.S., NCSP
Licensed & Independent School Psychologist
DEW Licensed Administrative Specialist
OPA & OSPA Association Liaison
OSPA LGBT+ Liaison
Former President, Ohio School Psychologists Association (OSPA), 2014-15
Email: erich@ospaonline.org
My Pronouns: He, him, his
