MS & Specialist in School Psychology Field Experience

Field-based practica provides public school experience to students. There are three total practica related to specific courses taken throughout the program plus a 1200 hour internship. Students start completing practica the first Fall semester of enrollment. Practica are 100 hours minimum each, are supervised by educators and school psychologists in the schools, and are coordinated with course work so students can apply concepts and techniques learned in class.

For on campus students, MSUM faculty line up the practica sites and supervisors. Entirely-online students need to provide evidence of the ability to complete the required field experiences in appropriate school settings prior to final admission to the program and will continue to work with faculty and school personnel to make sure each practicum meets MSUM requirements. More information about the field experience requirements for entirely-online students.

Since MSU Moorhead borders Minnesota and North Dakota and has access to different sizes and types of school systems, our graduate students in the Fargo-Moorhead area have the opportunity to learn about how different educational systems operate. Also, the Fargo-Moorhead and surrounding area schools are becoming increasingly diverse with sizable Hispanic and American Indian communities and increasing numbers of new immigrants from a wide variety of countries. Thus, students' practicum experiences are diverse in many aspects. Practicum experiences in alternative school settings or in schools in or near American Indian reservations also have been developed to enhance our students’ experience with diverse students and settings. An effort is made to place students in different settings for the three practica so you have the opportunity to work with a variety of age groups, in more than one district, in an applied environment, and often in both rural and urban settings.

A 1,200 hour internship during the third year of study serves as the capstone experience for training. Internships are usually positions within school districts or special education cooperatives in the tri-state area. Internships that students have taken in recent years have all been at least partially paid, and usually fully paid, positions.

Internships are usually in school districts or education cooperatives in Minnesota, North Dakota, and South Dakota. In the last several years, we have had several students complete internships in Iowa, as well. We also have had interns in other states, such as Colorado, Arizona, Wisconsin, Michigan, Virginia, Alaska and Hawaii. These interns have made use of our distance learning capabilities to participate in the classes we teach in conjunction with the internship.