MUNCIE, Ind. – Two studies published in the journal Psychology in the Schools rank Ball State University's school psychology doctoral program among the nation's best for scholarly productivity and successful graduates.

Out of more than 50 school psychology doctoral programs, Ball State's ranks in the top 10 in the country most areas. Here are some of the program's recent accomplishments mentioned in the studies:

• First in total number of graduates since 1990 in academic positions
• First in annual rate of graduates in academic positions since program gained American Psychological Association (APA) accreditation
• Third overall in total number of graduates in academic positions

Other high rankings include:

• Seventh in number of publications from 1995-99
• Ninth in authorship credit and number of publications 1995-99
• Third in number of journal publications outside of school psychology 1995-99
• 13th in authorship credit ratings 1995-99

"We share the same tier as University of California-Berkeley, University of Wisconsin-Madison, University of Texas-Austin, among other prestigious universities," said Dan Lapsley, department chair. "This validates other empirical work that ranks programs in terms of faculty publications and the success of our students in their own scholarly publication after they graduate."

Lapsley credits the department's faculty members who continually make impressive contributions to their field—contributions that are not limited to research and scholarship. For example, 40 percent of licensed school psychologists in Indiana who were trained in the state are graduates of the department. This by far exceeds the percentage trained by any other public university in the state.  

Locally, the department provides psychological and educational services to eight school corporations and to the community through the School Psychology Clinic, located in Teachers College. In addition, the school conducts research and provides training and services through its Neuropsychology Lab and Parent/Child Interactive Therapy lab.

These accomplishments and top rankings confirm the program's growing national prominence. A study released in 2001 named its doctoral program fifth in total publications of current school psychology programs 1970-99.

"The program has been enormously successful for a long time, and we continue to be innovative in our training model and in our use of technology and assessment," he said. "We attract outstanding students and encourage broad collaboration that positions them to be well prepared to take up careers in academia or professional practice."

By Leslie Benson, student news writer