Prince Edward Island’s School Psychology Report

The number of psychology positions in the Prince Edward Island (PEI) school system has increased from only 4 in 2001 to 8.4 at the present time. Although all 8.4 positions were full for a number of years in the mid 2000s, this has not been true in recent years. For several years now, the system has struggled with issues of recruitment and particularly retention. Reasons for this include concerns about professional autonomy, having more limited roles that are heavily assessment focused, reduced job satisfaction, restrictions on additional private practice work, and requirement of an education degree. A number of improvements in these areas have occurred, and now all permanent full-time positions have been filled. However, filling temporary leaves of absence or maternity leaves have remained a significant challenge.

The 8.4 board–based psychology positions serve 19,000 students. This school year (2015-2016), there are 6.6 board–based full-time equivalents (FTE) to serve the province’s 56 English schools, with 1.8 FTE that are vacant and filled by counseling consultants. Three of the positions work out of the Summerside office in the Western end of the province and 3.6 operate out of the Charlottetown office, which is centrally located. The psychology position in the French schools has been vacant for quite some time. There are also a few psychologists or psychological associates who work in individual schools, occupying a school counselor position.

To work in a board-based psychology position, a candidate must have a master’s or doctoral degree in psychology and be eligible for registration with the PEI Psychologists Registration Board. Master’s level candidates are registered as psychological associates in the province, and doctoral candidates as psychologists. Due to increased demands and unfilled positions, the waiting list for a psychological assessment in the school system is currently more than 3 years. As a result of this, the psychologists and psychological associates employed in the schools focus a great deal of their time on assessments. A number of years ago, the lengthy waiting list prompted the new practice of completing a psychoeducational consult as part of the referral process. This involves having the referring school collect a lot of information and doing some initial assessment, before setting up a brief meeting attended by the psychologist and all relevant parties (i.e., including the classroom teacher, resource teacher, school counselor, school administration, parents, student, etc.). During this brief meeting, a decision is made about whether the student should go on the waiting list, but additional recommendations are also provided so that further assessments can take place or other interventions are initiated. Feedback indicates that these brief consultations are very helpful and quickly put some additional interventions in place, while the student remains on the waiting list.

School psychologists in PEI are hoping that the waiting list can be addressed and that they can return to a broader role within the educational system. In the past, they were involved in a broader range of activities, that included not only completing comprehensive assessments and providing diagnosis and educational plans but also, in more direct intervention and consultation, developing detailed behavioral plans, providing regular in-service education to staff, working closely with a smaller number of school teams, assisting in crisis situations/threat assessments, as well as research and evaluation. These activities are also highly valued by school staff and lead to increased services and satisfaction for all.

There are also ongoing changes within the school system at large in PEI. Two years ago, the two large English school boards on the island amalgamated, and the government is currently working on additional restructuring in education. In late 2015, it was announced that the English Language School Board was being dissolved and integrated with the Department of Education. At this time, the system is in flux, but psychologists and psychological associates continue to strive to provide the best possible service to students and staff.