A note from the Co-Editors of School Psychology International

As a whole, the field of school psychology has become increasingly attuned to its historical and contemporary role in perpetuating systemic racism, particularly anti-Black racism in the United States. Scholars have pointed to evidence of racism across all areas of school psychologists’ professional work, including their research (e.g., Grant et al., 2022), practice (e.g., Albritton et al., 2021), and training (e.g., Proctor & Truscott, 2012). One critical yet often overlooked way in which school psychologists have perpetuated racism is through the recounting of their field’s history. In particular, the centering of whiteness has resulted in the marginalization of ideas and innovations of psychologists of color, who have been instrumental in advocating for a more inclusive field since its inception.

As Co-Editors of School Psychology International (SPI), we are grateful for the opportunity to publish this special issue titled, “Revisiting Albert Sidney Beckham: Contemporary Applications for Research and Practice.” In recent editorials (Noltemeyer & Grapin, 2021, 2022), we identified several interrelated goals reflecting the journal's larger commitment to advancing social justice and equity in school psychology. One of these goals involved inviting contemporary reflections and commentaries on a classic article around social justice from SPI's previous scholarship.

In light of the significant injustices impacting Black school psychologists and Black youth, we invited Dr. Scott Graves, Associate Professor of School Psychology at the Ohio State University in the United States, to guest edit a special issue highlighting the legacy of his 2009 SPI article titled, “Albert Sidney Beckham: The First African American School Psychologist.” This article described the life and work of Dr. Beckham, who, among his many accomplishments as a practitioner and scholar, played a critical role in illuminating racist discourse in assessment research and practice (particularly in the area of intelligence testing). In planning for this special issue, Dr. Graves highlighted three of the article's critical themes, namely: (a) the recruitment and retention of Black school psychologists; (b) assessment of Black youth; and (c) research to practice issues related to Black children, schools, and communities. Accordingly, he invited authors to contribute articles reflecting each of the first (Proctor, 2022), second (Aston et al., 2022), and third (Heidelburg et al., 2022) themes, respectively.

Through this special issue, Dr. Graves and its contributors have commemorated Dr. Beckham's legacy and highlighted its contemporary applications to research and practice. Moreover, their work envisions a critical transformation in school psychologists’ practices to be inclusive of Black thought and to implement culturally responsive, equitable, and just approaches to supporting Black youth and their communities. We are immensely grateful to Dr. Graves and each of the contributing authors and reviewers for developing this important work. We hope that it will encourage readers to revisit (or discover) Grave's (2009) article, consider connections to the contemporary ideas described herein, and reflect on their own service to Black youth in schools and other settings.