PhD/PsyD Going from teaching to school psych?

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PsychMajorUndergrad18

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So I have been looking at the statistics for how many teachers leave and it seems that lots of new teacher leave after 5 or so years of teaching. So in the off chance of me deciding to leave teaching, how hard would it be to get into a MA/ED.S or a Ph.D in School Psychology?

So far my plan is to graduate with a BA in History with a dual minor in psych and poli sci (tho I may decide to do more psych classes instead of the poli sci courses) and then do a Masters of Education. What option do you all think would be best to do if I decide to have a career change to school psych in my late 20s or very early thirties?

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I've known a few people who've done this. I think it has some advantages and you may actually be able to waive a few courses, plus if you are working in a school I think it could really help as a rapport builder and a boost to credibility when working with teachers. One criticism SPs sometimes get is that they don't understand the ins and outs of teaching (particularly early in their career) and that their recommendations aren't realistic given all the other responsibilities teachers have.

I'd argue it would be more difficult to get into a PhD since it's unlikely you'll be involved in research while working as a teacher, but you could volunteer at a nearby lab, particularly if they do work related to academics. An EdS program would probably be reasonably easy to get into, as long as you have the grades and GRE scores to be a competitive candidate.
 
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