Training School Psychology Graduate Students to Address Regional Shortages: A Distance Learning Model

Addressing the shortages of school psychologists in underserved regions of the country is critical to the profession and the communities served by its members. This article describes a school psychology satellite training program using a hybrid approach combining distance learning technologies and face-to-face classroom meetings. The purpose of this study was to describe the experiences of sixteen graduate students in a rural, Appalachian region of Ohio as members of the first two cohorts enrolled in the school psychology satellite program. School psychologists are in short supply, particularly in traditionally underserved school districts struggling to meet the needs of their student population. Nationally, the shortage of professionally trained school psychologists can be attributed primarily to demographic trends indicating that practicing school psychologists are reaching the age of retirement (Curtis, Chesno Grier, & Hunley, 2004; Hosp & Reschly, 2002; Lewis, Truscott, & Volker, 2008; Walker-Abshier, Curtis, & Chesno-Grier, 2003) and the expanded role of the school psychologist to include a wider range of prevention and early intervention services (Reschly & Ysseldyke, 2002). The need for highly trained school psychologists to lead the profession toward ever more effective practices has been noted by many in the field (Lichtenstein, 2005; Reschly & Grimes, 2002). The lack of high trained school psychologists is often dire in rural regions that lack a local graduate training program. At present, six states (Alaska, Hawaii, Missouri, New Hampshire, Vermont, Wyoming) do not have a training program approved by their credentialing professional organization, the National Association of School Psychologists (NASP, 2007). Even within states with multiple NASP-approved training programs,