Ashley Lockemer, EdS
OSPA President 
School Psychologist
Montgomery County ESC Educational Assessment Team
ashley@ospaonline.org

Elana Bernstein, PhD
OSPA-IUC Liaison 
Assistant Professor University of Dayton
ebernstein1@udayton.edu

The Ohio School Psychologists Association is committed to developing creative efforts to assist in alleviating the current shortage of school psychologists. Historically, many school psychologists discovered the field “by accident” or happenstance despite previous efforts to spread awareness about the profession (e.g., School Psychology Awareness Week - SPAW - presentations, word of mouth, etc.). This, in conjunction with attrition, training constraints, an expanding role in schools, and an ever evolving need for increased school psychologists-to-student ratios to address unmet academic and mental health needs, has resulted in a critical shortage of school psychologists nationwide.

To address such shortages, OSPA has collaborated with the National Association of School Psychologists (NASP) Assistance To States program, the Inter-University Council (IUC) of Ohio’s school psychology training programs, the Ohio Department of Education (ODE), Ohio University and Muskingum Valley ESC, regional school psychologist associations and various other external stakeholders and organizations. For example, representatives from ODE, the Ohio Psychologists Association (OPA), and Ohio School Counselors Association (OSCA) regularly attend OSPA executive board meetings during which workforce shortages are discussed. OSPA’s Executive Director, Ann Brennan, also regularly attends state legislative hearings and actively advocates to ensure the needs of OSPA, its members, and the students and families we serve, are both heard and addressed. As an organization, we continue to actively maintain and nurture these relationships, and we are also working to further develop relationships with organizations who serve disadvantaged populations.

OSPA is purposeful and diligent in engaging in strategic study and data collection efforts over the past several years to more fully understand the specific nature of current shortages across the state. OSPA participated in several initiatives to address shortages, including the ODE-sponsored Related Services Workgroup and the OSPA/IUC Joint Task Force, which conducted a strategic analysis of the barriers contributing to the current shortages of school psychologists in Ohio. The findings of these two groups were similar, noting that the greatest area of need for additional school psychologists and related services personnel are in rural and underserved areas, especially in urban districts with high student poverty and average and high population size respectfully and suburban districts with low student poverty and average student population size. Additionally, school psychologist shortages were concluded to be most prevalent in urban districts with high student poverty and large student population size, urban districts with high student poverty and average student population size, and suburban districts with low student poverty and average student population size. For additional information regarding the results of these studies, the reader is referred to the Ohio Related Services Survey, published in April of 2019, and Related Services Workgroup Report and Recommendations, published in October of 2019, as well as the OSPA/IUC Joint Task Force report published in November of 2016.

As an outgrowth of these work groups, several specific recommendations to address the current shortages were made for various external stakeholders including universities, state and local policy makers, OSPA, in conjunction with ODE, IUC and NASP, State Board of Education and General Assembly members, and Ohio’s Congressional Representatives. Additionally, the following goal areas were prioritized:

• Attract (Recruitment): Promote the profession of school psychology to more high school and undergraduate students, as well as the general public, to recruit highly motivated and more diverse students to school psychology graduate programs.
  Prepare (Workforce supply): Assure the maximum number of school psychologist interns graduate from the nine approved state university programs.
• Retain: Retain school psychologists, especially those in under-served school districts, and ensure job quality (e.g., caseloads, workloads), financial incentives (e.g., license renewal fees) and supported professional development.
• Stemming from the aforementioned initiatives, OSPA engaged in multiple advocacy efforts. This included partnering with ODE to put out a memo in April 2019 for the creation of an “Educator on Special Assignment” position to assist school psychologists with daily clerical tasks as well as ongoing outreach to high schools and universities to spread awareness of the field and of OSPA as an organization. Further, OSPA supports the development of a “grow your own” school psychology training program, as well as strategic placement of interns in rural and/or other under-served areas of Ohio. Finally, OSPA is working hard to improve the visibility of related services professions state-wide and increase awareness of our profession through development of recruitment videos, handouts and brochures.

Presidential Challenge

One of OSPA’s main goals is recruiting and attracting individuals to the field of school psychology, particularly those from diverse backgrounds. We began addressing this goal during the 2019-2020 school year when [then] OSPA President, Bradley Paramore, set a goal for OSPA members to introduce 1,000 undergraduate/ high school students to the field of school psychology over the course of one year. Bradley, along with President-Elect Ashley Lockemer, Secretary Kaitlyn Lang, and many other OSPA Executive Board members and school psychologists/OSPA members, universities and high schools across the state of Ohio participated in the initiative. We utilized resources from the NASP exposure project, and Ohio training programs to promote this initiative. In the end, we exceeded our goal in reaching 1058 students. Following these efforts, students from diverse backgrounds expressed interest in learning more about school psychology and OSPA was invited to university career fairs and to return to the academic institutions in future years to present about the field. Though long-term outcomes cannot yet be measured, OSPA is hopeful that university training programs will see an increase in the number of applications from diverse candidates. Through OSPA’s partnership with the IUC, we are investigating a baseline for how many diverse candidates are applying to the field, completing training programs, and remaining in the field after graduation to further identify barriers.

Future School Psychologists of Ohio Club

Moving forward, one relatively unexplored avenue through which to address the school psychology shortage is the creation of a school psychology-related club at the high school and undergraduate levels. In alignment with OSPA’s current mission, this club would focus on student outreach opportunities and would be fashioned as a recruitment tool to increase the number of school psychologists of diverse backgrounds, race, gender and ethnicity, as well as potential school psychologists from rural areas, especially those who might wish to commit to working in these areas. In collaboration with the OSPA Executive Board, OSPA and IUC endorsed the club proposal, agreed to name the club the “Future School Psychologists of Ohio” and approved the logo below developed by Rachel Chilton, OSPA’s business manager.

Mission Statement: The Future School Psychologists of Ohio (FSPO) club aims to spread awareness and garner the interest and early commitment of students to the field of school psychology by providing members related educational and professional outreach opportunities within educational, psychological and other community settings.
More specifically, the primary goals of the FSPO are to provide both high school and undergraduate students with related educational and community opportunities and volunteer experiences, live testimonials from professionals in the field and related fields, didactic sessions on various disabilities, basic civil rights training, and participation in community outreach activities and/or fundraisers to increase awareness and knowledge of school psychology as a profession. Ultimately, the FSPO can serve as an avenue to assist the individual in garnering related experiences and necessary skills toward becoming a successful school psychologist.

FSPO Club Meetings will be held either in person or virtually and will include:

• Opportunities for students to share a positive and challenging experience and/or an experience related to the field of school psychology
• Didactic training on a topic of focus related to school psychology
• Relevant legal updates on disabilities, mental health, etc.
• Opportunities to engage in educational (school district, university) and/or community experiences & interact with various external stakeholders and related organizations (e.g.,
• PsiChi, greek organizations, mental health professionals, Big Brothers, Big Sisters, 4-H advisors, etc.)
• Opportunities to plan and execute a community outreach project/fundraiser
• Opportunities to spread awareness of the field of school psychology during SPAW

A pilot of the project will occur at the University of Dayton during the 2020-2021 academic year, in a partnership between Dr. Elana Bernstein, Assistant Professor in School Psychology and IUC President, and Ashley Lockemer, OSPA President. Emily Mosca, intern and third-year student representative for the School Psychologists of the University of Dayton (SPUD) and former UD OSPA student representative; and Annie Justice, second-year school psychology student, will serve as student facilitators in a liaison role between SPUD and the FSPO. Annie is currently the Vice President for SPUD; Katie Pfiefer, SPUD President, will also assist with the initiative. Finally, several members of the OSPA Executive Board will also participate, including the Early Career Committee, Membership Co-Chair, student representatives to OSPA, the OPA Liaison, and the Fiscal Advisory Committee. NASP also awarded OSPA a “Creating Connections Communities of Practice Mini Grant” in May of 2020 that will partially fund the project.

Consistent with OSPA’s commitment to social justice, the FSPO project will be extended in future years to universities in rural and urban areas, and then to high schools in diverse and/or under-served areas. We intend to seek inclusion of several external stakeholder groups, particularly those who serve diverse populations (e.g., Hispanic Association of Colleges and Universities, Offices of Multicultural Affairs, individuals/groups attending the Latino Education Summit), as well as others that engage broad groups of students (e.g., American Psychological Association psychology teachers groups, local Psi Chi and Student Affiliates of School Psychology chapters, and the Ohio School Counselors Association).

In the midst of a pandemic, anti-racism advocacy efforts, an ever-changing educational landscape, and rising mental health needs among the students and families we serve, now more than ever, we need to be a part of the solution to actively address the shortages in school psychology in Ohio and nationwide. We must unite and do our part to educate Ohio’s students about the joy that can stem from joining such a rewarding profession.

On this note, OSPA is seeking practicing school psychologists, university faculty and graduate students who are interested in facilitating Future School Psychologists of Ohio clubs in years to come. If you would like to join our efforts in recruiting the next round of bright minds and perspectives to the field, please contact Ms. Lockemer at Ashley@ospaonline.org or Dr. Bernstein at ebernstein1@udayton.edu for additional information on how you can become involved in FSPO!

Shortage-Related Studies & Publications

Ohio Related Services Survey (April 2019) https://drive.google.com/file/d/1n3SKSYUdmRTr2bLuqYzWhF6mzC-JwFge/view?usp=sharing
OSPA/IUC Joint Task Force Report (November 2016) https://drive.google.com/file/d/1ldMfLGIeKb7sp9wOmx9oL7m2BK1jopFr/view?usp=sharing
Related Services Workgroup Report and Recommendations (October 2019) http://education.ohio.gov/getattachment/Topics/Special-Education/Related-Services/Related-Services-Workgroup-Report-and-Recommendations-1.pdf.aspx?lang=en-US

Recruitment Tools & Publications

Addressing Shortages of School Psychologists Memo (April 2019) https://drive.google.com/file/d/16xAOaJHhnKEPe5TLr_1_9HasFbiorWFS/view?usp=sharing
ODE & OSPA’s School Psychology Handout (November 2019) http://education.ohio.gov/getattachment/Topics/Special-Education/Related-Services/School_Psychologist.pdf.aspx?lang=en-US
ODE & OSPA’s School Psychology Recruitment Video (November 2019) https://youtu.be/9ugozy2NKBs
OSPA’s Who Are School Psychologists Brochure (2019) https://www.ospaonline.org/images/public_relations/SP_Brochure.pdf