First Graduates of Dallas-based School Psychology Program
Spring 2024
Leading the way — The first graduates from Baylor’s School Psychology EdS program in Dallas were (front row L-R) Vicole Nguyen, Jennifer Harman, Mia Banks , Elena Tranka, and (back row L-R) Marci Walton, Alex Jones, and Eamon Stewart.
The first cohort of the School of Education’s Dallas-based program in School Psychology graduated in May of 2023. The program offers the Education Specialist (Ed.S.) degree and mirrors the Baylor program in Waco. Both campuses are nationally accredited by the National Association of School Psychologists (NASP). The degree requires three years of full-time study to complete, with the third year typically spent in a paid full-time school-based internship experience.
School Psychology is a specialty of professional psychology that focuses on the science and practice of psychology with school-age children and their families in the context of public and private schools. School psychologists are the school-based mental health experts in the U.S. that apply expertise in learning and behavior to help children and youth succeed academically, behaviorally, socially, and emotionally.
The Baylor School Psychology Program in Dallas launched in the fall of 2020 and is housed in Baylor’s Louise Herrington School of Nursing Academic Building, where classes and faculty offices are located.
The inaugural graduating cohort class of seven achieved several impressive accomplishments including a 100% pass rate on the national School Psychology (Praxis) exam, a 100% paid internship placement rate, and 100% of the graduates acquired a job as a school psychologist. These accomplishments are consistent with the achievements met by the program graduates on the Waco campus since 2015 and is a direct response to addressing school-based mental health needs by increasing the number of school psychologists in the U.S.