S.C. Code Regs. 36-13. Licensing Provisions for Psycho-educational Specialists

An applicant for initial licensure as a psycho-educational specialist must: (1) submit an application on forms approved by the Board, along with the required fee; and (2) submit evidence of successful completion of an earned master’s degree plus thirty (30) graduate semester hours, or an earned sixty (60) graduate semester hour master’s degree, or a sixty (60) graduate semester hour specialist’s degree, or a doctoral degree in school psychology from an institution of higher education whose program is approved by the National Association of School Psychologists or the American Psychological Association or a program which the Board finds to be substantially equivalent. A substantially equivalent program must include an earned master’s, specialist’s, or doctoral degree in an applied area of psychology, education, or behavioral sciences from a regionally accredited institution, completion of at least sixty (60) graduate semester hours, and substantial preparation, including coursework, in the following areas: (a) psychological foundations, including biological bases of behavior; human learning; child and adolescent development; social/cultural bases of behavior; and individual differences (exceptionalities/psychopathology of children and youth); and (b) educational foundations, including organization and operation of schools; and instructional/remedial design; and (c) assessment and intervention, including diverse methods of individual assessment that can be linked to intervention; direct intervention including counseling and behavior analysis/intervention; and indirect intervention including a consultation with school personnel and families; and (d) statistics and research methodologies; and (e) professional school psychology, including history and foundations of school psychology; legal and ethical issues; professional issues and standards; alternative models of service delivery; emergent technologies; and roles and functions of school psychologists; and (f) a one-year twelve hundred (1200) hour internship, at least one-half (1/2) of which must be in an approved school setting. The internship shall include a full range of psycho-educational services supervised by a licensed psycho-educational specialist or certified or licensed school psychologist. If a portion of the internship is completed in a non-school setting, supervision may be provided by a psychologist appropriately credentialed for that setting as approved by the Board. The possession of a National Certified School Psychologist (NCSP) credential issued after January 1, 1988 shall be evidence of completion of a satisfactory program as provided above; and (g) has completed, within three (3) years after the effective date of these regulations, a minimum of three (3) graduate semester hours in Psychopathology in academic training from a college or university approved by the Board. This course must provide the practitioner with an understanding of psychopathology, abnormal psychology, abnormal behavior, etiology dynamics, and treatment of abnormal behavior; and (h) has completed, within three (3) years after the effective date of these regulations, a minimum of three (3) graduate semester hours in Diagnostics in academic training from a college or university approved by the Board. This course must provide the practitioner with an understanding of the diagnostics of psychopathology; and (3) provide evidence satisfactory to the Board of certification by the South Carolina Department of Education in school psychology level II or III; and (4) provide evidence satisfactory to the Board that the applicant has successfully served as a certified school psychologist for at least two (2) years in a school or comparable setting. After January 1, 2000, one (1) year must have been under the supervision of a licensed psycho-educational specialist that included experience assessing and treating clients with the more serious problems as categorized in standard diagnostic nomenclature. One (1) year of experience is defined as full-time employment for one (1) contract year of at least one hundred ninety (190) work days. Two (2) consecutive years of half-time work may, at the discretion of the Board, be deemed to be equivalent to one (1) full year of experience. The experience must include provision of a full range of services to children, youth, and families. Experience acquired under a provisional or temporary certificate in school psychology, or in a pre-degree practicum or internship, may not count toward this experience requirement; and (5) submit evidence of a passing score on examinations approved by the Board.