Promoting Professional Practice Standards through Consultation Training: Opportunities from a University-School District Partnership

The National Association of School Psychologists' Professional Standards delineate 10 domains of professional practice that are infused into graduate preparation, credentialing recommendations, and service delivery. School psychology graduate students need exposure to, and practice with, these domains. A university-based graduate class in consultation skills is an ideal mechanism for learning and applying the domains of practice. However, the domains cannot be meaningfully practiced without a partner school district that is willing to provide opportunities for students to advance their knowledge and skills in real world settings. Thus, the purpose of this article is to describe one such partnership and the robust opportunities for consultation enabled by the school district. Such opportunities cut across virtually all domains of training and practice and provide mutual benefit to the students and to the school district. Outcomes for graduate students and the school district are discussed, and components of successful university-district partnerships are presented.