Child, Family, & School Psychology
Mission Statement
The mission of the Child, Family, and School Psychology (CFSP) program is to provide
students with the knowledge and skills relevant for collaboration with diverse families,
students, educators, and professionals to meet the educational and mental health needs
of all students and families within a rapidly changing global society based on a strong
understanding of the interrelationship between environmental, neurobiological, and
cultural influences on development.
To date, 100% of CFSP graduates have secured employment within a variety of settings in the field of educational and school psychology, including schools, medical settings, community, and government agencies.
For more information about the CFSP program, please call or email our Admissions Office at 303-871-2509 or 1-800-835-1607, edinfo@du.edu.
Degree Tracks
The Morgridge College of Education offers two degree tracks in the Child, Family,
and School Psychology program:
1) The School Psychology track prepares students to earn a license in school psychology,
meeting the National Association of School Psychologists' (NASP) Nationally Certified
School Psychologist (NCSP) requirements, as well as a Colorado Department of Education
license in school psychology.
2) The Child and Family Leadership degree track prepares students to contribute to
policy, research, advocacy and teaching positions. This track does not lead to licensure.
Program Goals
The program goals for every degree program are to prepare highly competent, collaborative,
ethical, and self-reflective School Psychology and Child & Family scientist-practitioners
who can problem-solve and share decision-making with others to optimize social-emotional,
cognitive, academic, and behavioral outcomes for typically and atypically developing
children and youth from birth to age 21. The CFSP program strives to produce professionals
who are competent Consumers, Collaborators, Interventionists, and Advocates as they work on behalf of individuals, families, schools, and communities. These
competency areas are defined as follows:
1) Consumers: able to apply, translate, and expand upon scientifically based pedagogy and professional
practice;
2) Collaborators: able to collaborate in strengths-based, problem-solving, trans-disciplinary teams
demonstrating appropriate interpersonal relations and professional dispositions and
work characteristics;
3) Interventionists: able to employ data-based decision-making and systems thinking that links assessment
outcomes to effective individual, family, and group change and to deliver preventive,
remedial strategic accommodations, intervention, and crisis services in a timely and
professional manner; and
4) Advocates: able to advocate for the needs of children and families, to respect the dignity
and worth of all persons, to exhibit compassion and self-awareness, and to demonstrate
strong listening, oral and written communication skills.
The integrated and well-supervised field experiences in which students will participate during the pursuit of their degree are an integral part of the training of future school psychologists and child and family professionals. Such experiences provide opportunities for students to build and reflect upon professional roles and competencies and to master critical professional skills. Field coursework experiences are designed as a developmental Chain of Relevant Experiences (CoRE) through which students progress during coursework and through supervised field placements, initially as Critical Observers, then as Directed Participants, then as Active Contributors, and finally as Independent Practitioners. These progressive experience levels are defined in the Chain of Relevant Experiences.
Please refer to the CFSP Student Handbook for more information.
