COVID-19 and School Psychology
The 2020 Coronavirus Pandemic is recognized as a severe global health crisis. Societies and populations around the world are faced by massive, unprecedented challenges, disrupting essential aspects of public, economic, and private life. School psychology practice has had to adapt to the pandemic acutely and the question remains whether these changes will be permanent changes in school psychology as a field. The articles in this special topic collection include submissions from nationally and internationally prominent scholars and practitioner-scholars, which focus on understanding the roles of school psychologists and educators in short-term and long-term responses towards COVID, and further bridge the research-to-practice gap by including empirical papers on theory, research, practice, and policy.
The COVID-19 pandemic has had an impact on children, families, and schools. Students have experienced many challenges including disruption in academic learning, social isolation, economic recession, and greater screen time. The pandemic has negatively impacted youth mental health and social, emotional, psychological and educational well-being. The impact may be even greater for students with disabilities, and students from culturally linguistically diverse families that are more severely influenced by COVID-19. This research informs school psychologists and education professionals to address the educational and psychological impacts of the pandemic in the schools.
This special topic collection features empirical work related to COVID-19 and school psychology, including the following topics:
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Social, emotional, psychological and educational, effects of the pandemic for children, families, and educators
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Modifications to assessment, intervention, and other forms of service delivery supported with empirical data
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Adaptations to support training and education in school psychology