SCCP Master of Arts Course Requirements

The School & Clincial Child Psychology Program involves two years of full-time study; it comprises eleven half-courses including a practicum course, and a thesis. The program is designed to meet the academic requirements for registration in Ontario as a Psychological Associate. The focus of this program is applied, with practicum experience in the second year. The practicum experience, which consists of approximately 250 hours, typically includes placement in a school board.

Recommended Program Timetables
Year One: Courses, planning for thesis including formation of thesis committee, thesis proposal approval
Year Two: Courses, practicum, thesis data collection, analysis, completion of thesis

First Year Required Courses
HDP1215H Psychological Assessment of School-Aged Children
HDP1216H Psychoeducational Assessment
HDP1219H Ethical Issues in Applied Psychology
HDP1220H Introduction to School and Clinical Child Psychology
HDP1285H Psychology and Education of Children with Learning Disabilities (recommended in the first term)

Second Year Required Courses
HDP1218H Seminar and Practicum in Assessment (See Section 5.9 for practicum details)
HDP1236H Developmental Psychopathology

First or Second Year Courses
Statistics
HDP1288H Intermediate Statistics and Research Design

Cognitive/Affective Bases of Behaviour Requirement
In consultation with your advisor, choose one of the following:

JDS1233H Cognitive Development and Applications
HDP 1234 Foundations of Cognitive Science
HDP 1237 Development and Learning
HDP1299H Language Acquisition and Development

MA Elective
Students choose one elective course in consultation with their faculty advisor

Additional Requirements
HDP 1201 Child and Adolescent Development: Students who have not taken a child development course in their undergraduate program, must take HDP1201 as an extra course (above the 11 half-course requirement).
HDP1287 Introduction to Applied Statistics: Students who have not successfully completed a full course credit in statistics (or the equivalent) as part of their undergraduate program, must take HDP1287 as an extra course (above the 11 half-course requirement).

These requirements are normally stipulated on the letter of admission. Consult your faculty advisor if you believe you should be exempted from this requirement.

MA Practicum
The MA practicum placement is administered through required course HDP1218 Seminar and Practicum in Assessment. It consists of a one day per week placement typically in a school setting. An MA student is required to complete a minimum of 250 hours in the practicum setting. The student must receive a minimum of one hour per week supervision from the setting supervisor. It is expected that 20% of that time will be in direct client contact.

Students in the MA practicum are also expected to learn the fundamentals of diagnosis. These skills are taught in the seminar using lectures and video. Students are evaluated on their knowledge of diagnosis on an in-class test.

MA Placement Information
SCCP students obtain their first placement experience in a school board. In a typical school board placement, students are likely to acquire assessment experience related to learning issues: slow and gifted learners, learning disabilities, attention problems and English as a second language. Although this is the typical school experience, many schools have developed programs to respond to the needs of atypical students. Thus there may be opportunities within some boards to develop specialized clinical skills.

As a minimum students should complete at least two full assessments while in their placement and they should learn about the role of a school psychologist.

Within Metropolitan Toronto the two main school boards are the Toronto Catholic District School Board (http://www.tcdsb.org/) and the Toronto District School Board (http://www.tdsb.on.ca/). In addition, there are a number of school boards within driving distance of Metro Toronto. Students wishing to learn more about other school boards outside of Toronto can find information on the Ministry of Education website at www.edu.gov.on.ca.

MA Thesis
Students are initially sponsored into the program by a faculty member who shares their area of interest and agrees to function as their program advisor. This advisory relationship assumes importance as the student decides upon his/her area of professional specialization and develops the thesis topic. Students become involved in their advisors’ research by participating in research groups and through graduate assistantships or externally funded assistantships. These involvements typically lead to the development of a thesis topic.

Normally, there are eight major steps to completing a thesis:

1. Review of OISE/UT Guidelines for Theses and Orals
2. Establishment of a thesis topic
3. Selection of a thesis supervisor (normally the student’s Faculty Advisor)
4. Formation of a thesis committee
5. Ethical review, if required
6. Thesis proposal approval
7. Thesis work
8. Final thesis approval and submission

When preparing a thesis, a student works in consultation with his/her thesis supervisor until a committee is formed and, after that, with his/her thesis committee. A thesis in an MA program is evaluated by a minimum of two faculty members (both holding either Full or Associate School of Graduate Studies appointments, with at least one member from HDAP).

Professional Licensure as a Psychological Associate:
The College of Psychologists of Ontario
Students whose plans include preparation for professional practice in psychology should note that the practice of psychology in the province of Ontario is regulated under the Statute Law of Ontario. Graduation from a master’s program or from any graduate program in psychology does not, in itself, qualify a person to practice as a psychological associate. The College of Psychologists of Ontario (CPO) regulates the professional practice of psychology in Ontario and examines candidates for registration as psychological associates.

The SCCP MA is designed to meet the academic requirements for registration as a psychological associate. The SCCP PhD is designed to meet the academic requirements for registration as a psychologist. At the discretion of the College, courses other than those required by the program may be required for certification; necessary substitutions should be discussed with the student’s faculty advisor. These two programs are the only programs in HDAP that lead to such qualifications.

For more information contact:

The Registrar,
College of Psychologists of Ontario
Suite 201, 1246 Yonge Street
Toronto, Ontario M4T 1W5
(Tel.) 416-961-8817
(Fax.) 416-961-2635
(e-mail) cpo@cpo.on.ca