EPSY - Educational Psychology

Course Descriptions

EPSY 5060 Psychoeducational Assessment I (3)

This course introduces the conceptual, ethical, and legal issues related to psychoeducational assessment of children and adolescents. Graduate students explore the use of assessment methods to evaluate the assessment of learning, learning difficulties, and student achievement. Topics include descriptive statistics, measurement, and the assessment methods used in standardized achievement tests as well as general guidelines for selection of types of assessment methods for individual children (e.g., standardized test, direct observation, questionnaire, interview). This course is focused on academic performance and achievement tests, but connections with other assessments such as intelligence, language, perception, and motor skills tests are also included. Graduate students also explore various academic interventions that result in improved achievement outcomes for students. 

EPSY 5150 Resilience and Self-Concept Development (3)

The purpose of this course is to provide theoretical frameworks, specific concepts, and teaching strategies that help enhance student engagement, self-concept development, interpersonal understanding, and psychosocial resilience in the classroom. Graduate students enrolled in this course gain knowledge of principles and research related to resilience and risk factors for individuals as well as diverse family systems, schools, communities, and cultures. In addition, students will learn about effective crisis prevention and responsive services and multiple ways to promote psychosocial resilience and recovery in children and youth from diverse backgrounds. 

EPSY 5350 Intercultural Communications (3)

In order to function effectively in an interdependent world, we need to get along with and understand people vastly different from ourselves. In this course, students explore the values of their own culture, the extent to which thoughts and perceptions are shaped by cultures, and the expression of cultural differences in education. This course develops skills in self-understanding, listening, and effective communication, interviewing, collaboration, and consultation. The final project for this course culminates is an interview research study of persons from different cultures.

EPSY 5370 Counseling (3)

The focus of this course is the application of major counseling theories, such as psychodynamic, humanistic, and family systems, to an educational setting. Counseling skills, such as empathetic listening, effective communication, and conflict resolution, also will be viewed in the context of the school. Students will learn techniques to diffuse situations with families, teachers, and students in school.

EPSY 5380 Multicultural Counseling (3)

This counseling course is designed to assist students in understanding and valuing multicultural diversity so that they can strive toward becoming a culturally competent practitioner. Students will explore aspects of various cultural experiences (i.e., race/ethnicity, socioeconomic class, language preference, sexual/affectional orientation, gender, and religion) as they impact the counselee, counselor, and the counseling relationship. Students will be asked to examine their own cultural background, values, and biases; students will also analyze the impact of those things on them as professionals working in school systems, community centers, educational programs, and social service agencies. Completion of this course will provide students with an understanding of current theories, trends, and issues in counseling special populations. Additionally, this course will provide relevant skills to work with diverse populations as well as strategies for applying the knowledge gained to educational settings, especially schools, pre-kindergarten through twelfth grade.

EPSY 5390 Applied Statistics in Educational Psychology (3)

This course covers the application of basic descriptive and inferential statistics to the fields of education and psychology. Graduate students will work with real data that is relevant to the lives of children and youth in schools; the emphasis is on solving practical problems in school and educational psychology. Students will develop skills that help them to become thoughtful and responsive evidence-based practioners who know how to provide assistance in schools for analyzing, interpreting, and using empirical foundations for effective practices. Students will learn how to incorporate data collection, measurement, analysis, accountability, and use of technology resources into research and program evaluation. Students will become familiar with Webster University's IRB and they will participate in a collaborative applied research project.  

EPSY 5816 Advanced Child Development (2-3)

Child development is the scientific study of the physical, cognitive, social, and personality changes that occur throughout the childhood years. This course is based on recent research in education, psychology, and child development that aids the educator in guiding learning activities of children of preschool age through early adolescence. Students enrolled in this class will learn how to modify instruction to meet the developmental needs of all children. Issues of diversity in child development, especially multicultural/international perspectives and inclusion strategies, are also examined.

EPSY 5880 Psychology of Memory, Learning and Problem-solving (3)

Students examine current research concerning cognitive psychology, memory, reasoning, problem-solving, and learning systems. Emphasis is placed on studying metacognitive strategies and the development of expertise.

EPSY 5890 Psychology of Stress (3)

This course focuses on the biological and psychological foundations of stress. Graduate students learn about the physiological pathways active during human stress experience and the processes by which chronic stressors effect disease and other conditions. They learn about international and multicultural variations in behavior, stress and health. Students learn about several relaxation and cognitive "reframing" techniques to manage personal stress and they develop personal stress management plans. In addition, specific techniques for handling school- and classroom-related stressors and tensions are examined as well as evidence-based to promote social-emotional functioning in these settings.

EPSY 5892 Psychology of Racism/Antiracism (3)

The concept of unalienable rights and all persons being created equal is a myth, particulary within the structural racism of the United States of America, as disparities continue to exist particularly as it relates to race/ethnicity. Given that oppression impacts structural system, such as education, health care, employment and housing. This course also will address the intersectionality of race with gender, sexual orientation, religion/spirituality, ableism, age and socioeconomic status. 

Race and racism are often topics that are avoided due to discomfort. However, through the educational system oppressive factors impact how racial/ethnic minorities are taught and treated in schools as well as other institutions. Educators are in a unique position to learn to recognize the psychology of oppression and teach from an anti-racism lens. This course will outline factors related to forms of oppression including historical oppression and internalized oppression. Students will learn how to identify and articulate safe and effective ways to discuss oppression and anti-racism in the classroom. Prerequisite: EPSY 5350.

EPSY 5911 Social and Personality Development: School Psychology (3)

The content of this course focuses on the theories that explain the growth of social concepts (e.g., responsibility, sharing, friendship, rules, sex roles), the development of values and conscience, and the emerging personality of children and adolescents. This course considers the complex interactions among factors influencing developmental trajectories and both "normal" and "abnormal" development. The course presents different approaches to understanding and conceptualizing developmental psychopathology and explores ways of working with children and youth to enhance their psychological well-being and their healthy emotional, social, and adaptive skills development.

EPSY 5918 Data-based Decision-making in Education and Multi-Tiered Systems of Support (3)

In this course, students will learn the advantages of progress monitoring, how to make data-based decisions to shape instruction, how to develop and improve problem solving teams, how to utilize and support multi-tiered systems, and ways to integrate academic and behavioral supports to maximize student success. This course will provide an overview of conceptual and practice concepts related to Multi-Tiered Systems of Support (MTSS) including Positive Behavioral Interventions and Supports (PBIS) and Response to Intervention (RTI).

EPSY 5941 Systems Leadership: School Psychology Planning and Evaluation (3)

This course examines the leadership roles of school psychologists in analyzing behavior in school context, consulting with schools, developing the human capacity of their organizations and effecting positive change. Leaders need to create a collaborative, positive work culture within their school environment to promote student's diverse intellectual academic and social-emotional needs and ensure that all learners can reach their potential. Topics in this course include systems thinking, the psychology of leadership, program planning, curriculum design, staff development, grant writing, group dynamics and community relations.

EPSY 5952 Children, Trauma and Crisis Intervention (3)

Students enrolled in this course will research and debate the psychological impact of trauma on children. Topics include the impact of community violence on the lives of young people. How war or the threat of war affects children's development is also studied. Students will learn skills that enhance learning, mental health, safety and physical well-being through protective and adaptive factors and to implement effective crisis preparation, response and recovery. Students will contribute to, design, implement and/or evaluate prevention programs that integrate home, school and community resources and promote learning, mental health, school climate and safety, and physical well-being of all children and families. Students will learn about conflict resolution strategies and discover how a crisis can be transformed into an opportunity to foster hope and resiliency in children and youth. Students will critically evaluate anti-bullying curriculum and school-wide prevention programs such as the PREPaRE Curriculum. Students will learn ways to respond to culture and context and to promote peaceful and safe classrooms and schools. In addition, students will receive a certificate in Prevention and Preparedness: Comprehensive School Safety Planning. 

EPSY 5953 Historical and Psychological Perspective of Identity Development/Whiteness (3)

This class investigates whiteness (Who is white?) and the way definitions of whiteness have changed through history. How can the construction of whiteness as a category help us understand the racial identities of figures like Eminem? Barack Obama? We proceed chronologically from slavery and end with the Black Lives Matter movement. This course will explore issues of identity politics, race, privilege and ethnicity; this course emphasizes important critical reading and thinking skills. Students explore various constructions of racial identity -- biological, cultural and political -- and discuss the history of shifting ideas about what race means. Prerequisite: EPSY 5350.

EPSY 5991 Issues in Assessment: Cultural Diversity & Giftedness in Underserved Populations (3)

Students examine theory, research and skills related to assessment and cultural diversity. Structured as a seminar, discussions include professional issues in psychoeducational examination, testing and assessment issues, techniques with regard to multiculturalism, and cultural differences, reviews of past discriminatory practices that have unfairly influenced the assessment of learning, recommendations for modifying traditional assessment procedures, and ways to stress children’s cultural strengths rather than their cultural deficits. Students will also gain knowledge and improve personal skill levels in the areas of multicultural assessment in order to serve gifted and talented learners from diverse linguistic, geographic, economic and cultural backgrounds. 

EPSY 5995 Race in Education (3)

Many of us believe that education is the great equalizer, that hard work and perseverance can lead an individual out of poverty and beyond the barriers of race, gender and economic based oppressions. This belief embedded within the American Dream proposes education can move families out of the working class and into a middle class and prosperous lifestyle. Race in Education offers a historical and cultural context for understanding how inequality plays out in schools and provides educators with the skills and confidence to lead more excellent, equitable schools. Students will learn to recognize structures that perpetuate inequality, address assumptions about how people learn and create opportunities for more children to succeed. 

It is more important than ever to develop critical frameworks for making sense of the institutional history, policy climate and contentious realities of teachers and students within U.S. public schooling. To set the context for analyzing these experiences, we will consider larger social issues such as the role schools play in the socialization of young people, and as instruments of social control and social stratification. We will examine how the historical development of public education in the United States has influenced its present form, and take a critical look at some of the current issues and policy debates in education involving the debate over school reform, the school-to-prison pipeline, discipline policies, ethnic studies and affirmative action. These pursuits will ultimately lead us to consider ways in which the problems facing U.S. schools can be more effectively remedied. Prerequisites: EPSY 5350, EPSY 5890 and EPSY 5953.

EPSY 6000 Advanced Graduate Certificate Project (3)

The advanced graduate certificate (AGC) project is the culminating experience in the AGC program. These projects are based on applied field research at the student's own workplace or practicum placement. Projects may be professional presentations, case studies, or professional articles. Examples of final projects include a presentation for professional organization, a case study that emphasizes linking assessment and intervention, or a research project that might be published in professional journal. Prerequisites: EPSY 5892, EPSY 5953 and EPSY 5995.

EPSY 6036 Psychoeducational Assessment II (3)                           

This course is designed to provide school psychology students with skills in administering, scoring, and interpreting individual assessment instruments, especially intelligence tests. The skills acquired through this course will provide students with a solid foundation in these areas of assessment of cognitive functioning, a foundation upon which their subsequent clinical experience and expertise can be established. Interpretation focuses on the information provided by the instrument(s) administered and how this information fits into a total assessment battery. Students should be prepared to agree to and sign Applied Educational Psychology: School Psychology Handbook, the ISPA Code of Ethics, National Association of School Psychologists Principles for Professional Ethics (2010), join Missouri Association of School Psychologists, and complete an introductory course in psychoeducational assessment such as EPSY 5060. School psychology students should take this course in conjunction with EPSY 6103 Practicum in Advanced Psychoeducational Assessment and Intervention (1).

EPSY 6037 Mental Health in Schools: Assessment and Intervention (3)

This course is designed for school psychology students and provides an overview of assessment and intervention for mental health disorders among children and adolescents in school-based settings. Assessment, evaluation, and diagnosis of emotional and behavioral disorders are explored with special attention given to educational classification systems. Different models of developmental psychopathology are studied and risk and protective factors are discussed. Although this course is more focused of classification, assessment and characteristics of various disorders, best practices in school psychology dictate that assessment practices are linked to interventions. Therefore, school-based prevention and intervention approaches with regard to social and emotional functioning are examined. In addition students will complete a practicum experience that allows them to apply the skills learned in the course within a school setting.

EPSY 6103 School Psychology Practicum I (3)

Expertise in psychoeducational assessment requires knowledge of varied models and methods of assessment, data collection, and data analysis. Practicum courses provide graduate students with opportunities to apply their knowledge of assessment models and methods to specific school-related concerns. Graduate students will gain experience collecting data, evaluating information, identifying strengths and needs, and developing effective services and programs in schools. Students will practice data-based decision-making and accountability skills within a school setting. This practicum is designed to provide experience administering and interpreting psychoeducational tests. In addition, the student will gain additional knowledge of the special education process and the state plan for special education.

EPSY 6105 School Counseling Practicum (1.5)

Students are required to complete two terms of Practicum. Registration for these two terms of Practicum requires permission of the faculty supervisor and or the School Counseling Coordinator or Counseling Advisor; appendix D and a copy of the site supervisor's license/certificate have to be provided to the faculty supervisor in order to register for this course. Some field experience sites require background checks and/or letters of recommendation for field experience from the University in order to be accepted into field experience. In these instances, it is the student's responsibility to pay for and provide the background check and/or communicate with their faculty advisor to receive a letter of recommendation. The Practicum Agreement must be reviewed and appropriate appendices signed by the student and the practicum site supervisor and submitted to the school counseling coordinator or practicum faculty supervisor to be approved. Prerequisites: COUN 5110, COUN 5840 and COUN 5685.

EPSY 6107 School Psychology Practicum II (3)

This course is the second semester of the school psychology practicum that takes place in a public school setting. Expertise in psychoeducational assessment requires knowledge of varied models and methods of assessment, data collection and data analysis. 

The professional practice of school psychology requires knowledge of varied models and methods of assessment, data collection and data analysis. This practicum is designed to be taken while in a practicum placement in a school setting. This placement will provide additional experience administering and interpreting psychoeducational tests and informal academic assessments. Students will then use that information to recommend appropriate academic interventions. Prerequisites: EPSY 6036, EPSY 6103 and EPSY 6200. Concurrent enrollment in EPSY 6200 is permitted.

EPSY 6200 Seminar in School Psychology: Professional School Psychology (3)

This seminar is designed to familiarize students with the roles and functions of the school psychologist in school settings or other alternative service delivery systems. Topics include assessment, consultation, intervention, special education, research, ethics and standards, and the future of education and school psychology.

EPSY 6201 School Psychology: International and Multicultural Perspectives (3)

This seminar is designed to provide international and multicultural perspectives on the roles and functions of the school psychologist. Topics include the following: the international growth in school psychology, cultural diversity, ethical practice, global perspectives, social justice, children's rights, effects of poverty, professional organizations, and the future of school psychology.

EPSY 6202 School Psychology: Case Studies of Exceptional Children and Youth (2)

In this advanced seminar, graduate students explore the psychology of the exceptional child through case studies of children and youth with disabilities and/or giftedness. The case studies include studies of individual children, programs affecting groups of children, and legal cases/professional issues related to educational services for exceptional children. Students acquire advanced skills for determining eligibility for gifted programming and special education services. Special attention is given to cases involving children and youth from diverse ethnic/racial minority backgrounds, who are learning English, who have disabilities, who are gifted, and/or who are twice exceptional.

EPSY 6300 School Consultation in a Global Society (3)

This course provides school psychology candidates with the knowledge and skills necessary to engage in consultation, collaborative problem solving, and systems level interventions in school settings. Candidates will learn theories, models, and processes of consultation. In addition school psychology candidates will learn how to be impact change with administrators, teachers, parents, community and mental health agencies, and students. Consultation within a cross-cultural, international, and ethical framework will be emphasized. Particular attention is given to students with behavioral problems. The majority of this course will be devoted to instruction in skills and strategies required to conduct collaborative consultative services through lecture, applied case work, group work, student presentations, role play, self appraisal, and class discussion.

EPSY 6500 School Psychology Internship I (3)

The purpose of EPSY 6500 School Psychology Internship I is to assist in the preparation of school psychology graduate students for entry into the field. Included are topics and activities in the professional practice of school psychology. The internship provides an opportunity to apply knowledge and skills obtained through coursework, practicum, and other training experiences full time while under the guidance and supervision of an appropriately credentialed and practicing school psychologist. The school psychology internship is a minimum of 600 hours in this course totaling 1200 hours over the academic year. Prerequisites: EPSY 6103 and EPSY 6107

EPSY 6501 School Counseling Internship (1.5)

Opportunity to practice and demonstrate competency in the practical application and integration of principles and methods studied in the training program in an elementary and/or secondary school setting. Students are required to complete Internship in conjunction with their Counseling curriculum. Enrollment in this course requires permission of the faculty supervisor. Prerequisite: EPSY 6105.

EPSY 6502 Secondary School Counseling Internship (1.5)

Opportunity to practice and demonstrate competency in the practical application and integration of principles and methods studied in the training program in a secondary school setting. Students are required to complete internship in conjunction with the counseling curriculum. Acceptance into a section of internship is only per the certified/licensed faculty supervisor of the course. Hence, enrollment in this course requires permission of the faculty supervisor. If your site has changed since Practicum, a formal Internship Agreement must be submitted to the faculty supervisor before the first week of class. 

Students are required to abide by the ASCA Code of Ethics (2010) in their internship experience. Violation of ethical code with result in a grade of F in the course and all hours for the term will be lost; and potential dismissal from the program. The internship is graded on the credit/no credit/fail grading option. Additional fees are required of students in this course for professional liability insurance and purchase of recording equipment. Students are required to provide evidence of professional liability insurance to the faculty supervisor prior to seeing clients; insurance form must be in student file.

This course is time consuming and demanding. Students should be prepared to apply more hours to this course than to most other courses. Self-growth experiential activities are a required part of this course. Prerequisite: EPSY 6105.

EPSY 6503 Elementary School Counseling Internship (1.5)

Opportunity to practice and demonstrate competency in the practical application and integration of principles and methods studied in the training program in an elementary school setting. Students are required to complete internship in conjunction with the counseling curriculum. Acceptance into a section of internship is only per the certified/licensed faculty supervisor of the course. Hence, enrollment in this course requires permission of the faculty supervisor. If your site has changed since Practicum, a formal Internship Agreement must be submitted to the faculty supervisor before the first week of class.

Students are required to abide by the ASCA Code of Ethics (2010) in their internship experience. Violation of ethical code with result in a grade of F in the course and all hours for the term will be lost; and potential dismissal from the program. The internship is graded on the credit/no credit/fail grading option. Additional fees are required of students in this course for professional liability insurance and purchase of recording equipment. Students are required to provide evidence of professional liability insurance to the faculty supervisor prior to seeing clients; insurance form must be in student file.

This course is time consuming and demanding. Students should be prepared to apply more hours to this course than to most other courses. Self-growth experiential activities are a required part of this course. Prerequisite: EPSY 6105.

EPSY 6505 School Psychology Internship II (3) 

The purpose of EPSY 6505 School Psychology Internship II is to assist in the preparation of school psychology graduate students for entry into the field. Included are topics and activities in the professional practice of school psychology. The internship provides an opportunity to apply knowledge and skills obtained through coursework, practicum, and other training experiences full time while under the guidance and supervision of an appropriately credentialed and practicing school psychologist. This course serves as the final course in the school psychology internship sequence. The school psychology internship is a minimum of 600 hours in this course totaling 1200 hours over the academic year. Prerequisite:EPSY 6500.