ISU education professor selected to national committee

Idaho State University assistant professor of educational leadership and development Paul Jantz, Ph.D., has been selected to serve a two-year term as a member of the Test Development Standing Committee for the Praxis School Psychologist test.

The Praxis School Psychologist test is a national credentialing exam. This test is designed to identify graduate-level school psychology candidates who demonstrate minimal competence to practice in public school settings. State offices of education use the test for certification purposes. Passing the Praxis School Psychology test is one of the requirements of the National Association of School Psychologists (NASP) to become a Nationally Certified School Psychologist.  

Jantz is one of five higher-education school psychology faculty members from across the nation to be selected for this assignment.  His role as a committee member is to write test questions, review test questions written by other committee members, review selected test questions following each major administration of the test, review new editions of the test, and review study materials for test takers. He was nominated on the basis of his clinical expertise in the field of school psychology.

Educational Testing Service (ETS), located in Princeton, N.J., is responsible for developing and administering the Praxis School Psychologist test to candidates from across the United States. The Praxis School Psychologist test was developed with input from a diverse committee composed of five higher education faculty involved in the training of school psychologists and five school psychologists practicing in the public schools.  In appointing members of this committee, ETS seeks nominations from state users and relevant professional organizations.

In October of 2006, Jantz served as a member of the National Advisory Committee for the revision of the Praxis School Psychologist test. The committee met in Princeton, N.J., to review the Praxis School Psychologist test to determine the need to update the test to reflect current national qualification standards in the professional field of school psychology.  

Jantz is in the third year as a full-time, tenure-track assistant professor in the ISU College of Education school psychology graduate program.