CoS HIGHLIGHTS:

HIGHLIGHTS of the CoS Meeting in November 2006

The CoS adopted an Education and Training Guide for Specialties to use in preparing their specialty synarchy’s Education and Training materials. The format was developed utilizing several representative documents currently in use by several of the council's specialty groups. These CoS operating procedures involve submission of a specialty synarchy's education and training materials to the CoS for endorsement, once the respective specialty synarchy has approved their document.

In a related policy, the CoS agreed with the APA Committee on Accreditation (CoA), that the CoA's Implementing Regulations, which set up requirements that each specialty synarchy that anticipates applying for postdoctoral specialty program accreditation, would have on file the Postdoctoral Education and Training Guidelines for their specialty. These guidelines would then be forwarded by the CoA, along with other relevant application materials, to individual programs seeking specialty accreditation. During this meeting the specialty synarchy postdoctoral Education and Training documents for both Behavioral Psychology and School Psychology were reviewed, and both were endorsed by the CoS.

Current CoS priorities include explorations of a more formal role for CoS in the process of specialty recognition that takes place through ABPP and CRSPPP, development of criteria for nominating individuals for any new or open CoS seat on the CoA, and continued monitoring of non-standardized terminology (such as tracks, emphases, concentrations, subspecialties) which doctoral training programs use to describe their programs along with general descriptions of recognized specialty training. The CoS joins CRSPPP in concern about the lack of consensus for a taxonomy for describing levels of training in specialty areas. CRSPPP has invited a CoS representative to join their taxonomy panel at the upcoming APA Convention in San Francisco in August, 2007, and a future conference on taxonomy.

The 2007 CoS spring meeting will be held June 9-10 in Washington, D.C.

Walter B. Pryzwansky, Ed.D., ABPP
President, Council of Specialties in Professional Psychology