2003 Annual Reports for Boards and Committees

Board of Educational Affairs

Board of Educational Affairs: Jonathan H. Sandoval, PhD (Chair); Bonnie L. Blankmeyer, PhD; A. Toy Caldwell-Colbert, PhD; Cindy I. Carlson, PhD; Cynthia de las Fuentes, PhD; Emanuel Donchin, PhD; Linda M. Forrest, phD; Christine C. Iijima Hall, PhD; Justin (Doug) McDonald, PhD; Wilbert J. McKeachie, PhD; Nathan W. Perry, PhD; Charles D. Spielberger, PhD

Staff Liaison: Robert Walsh

Given the cancellation of the Fall Consolidated meetings, BEA met only once, in March 2003. BEA continued to conduct its business after the March meeting through regular e-mail correspondence, monthly conference calls of the BEA Executive Committee, a brief meeting during the Education Leadership Conference in September, and two conference calls of the full BEA in the Fall.

The range of issues addressed by Board of Educational Affairs (BEA) is broad and encompasses all levels of education from pre-K to continuing professional education. This report provides information on some of BEA’s major activities in 2003.

Education and Training Guidelines and Standards

The BEA Guidelines and Standards Working Group conducted a second round of reviews of the draft document Developing and Evaluating Standards and Guidelines Related to Education and Training in Psychology: Context, Procedures, and Criteria. Revisions have been made to the document based on comments received and advice from the APA General Counsel’s Office. The final document was reviewed by the Board of Directors in December 2003 and will be on the Council of Representatives’ agenda for approval in February 2004.

Education and Training Advocacy

The BEA Advocacy Working Group worked with staff in the Education Public Policy Office to advance APA’s advocacy initiatives for Education and Training, including work on the Graduate Psychology Education (GPE) Program and the reauthorization of the Higher Education Act (HEA). This working group also worked with staff and a group of volunteer Members to develop a sample curriculum for advocacy training, which is now available on the APA website at http://www.apa.org/ed/sample_home.html.

Application of Psychology to Education

The BEA Working Group for the Application of Psychology to Education worked with staff in fostering the development of the Coalition for Psychology in the Schools, a group with representatives from the various APA Divisions and governance groups with a stake in psychology’s role in general education.

Some of BEA’s other notable accomplishments in the later half of 2003 are:

The 2003 Education Leadership Conference

The 2003 Education Leadership Conference was held on September 5-8, 2003 in Washington, DC.  As the conference theme, suggests participants engaged in a number of activities focusing on issues of accountability and assessment as they pertain to education in psychology and psychology in education.  The conference culminated with visits to Capitol Hill during which conference participants and members of APA’s Federal Education Advocacy Coordinators (FEDAC) Network met with legislators and their staff to advocate for support of issues currently on APA’s education advocacy agenda. More information on the 2003 ELC, including streaming audio and video of some of the conference presentations, is available on the APA website at http://www.apa.org/ed/elc03_homepage.html.

BEA Advisory Council on Accreditation

The BEA Advisory Council on Accreditation, which is charged to review the composition of the Committee on Accreditation (CoA) and make recommendations to the BEA regarding (a) how that structure may require change given the current state of education and training in psychology, and (b) the frequency of future reviews of CoA composition and how such reviews should be structured, met in conjunction with the 2003 ELC. The members of the Advisory Council received input from representatives of many of the organizations with a stake in the accreditation of psychology programs during a forum at the ELC. The group then met separately. The Advisory Council has invited more input into its discussions and is currently developing its recommendations, which will be presented to BEA at its March 2003 meeting.

BEA Award for Innovative Practices in Graduate Education

A committee of judges representing BEA and the Council of Graduate Departments of Psychology (COGDOP) reviewed sixteen applications for the first annual BEA Award for Innovative Practices in Graduate Education. After much deliberation the committee announced that the award would be shared by two programs: Department of Psychology at Penn State University and by a Consortium created by the Pacific Graduate School of Psychology and Stanford University.

BEA Task Force on Workforce Analysis in Education and Training

The Task Force met in November 2003 to develop an initial draft of its report, which will outline a proposal for conducting a full-scale workforce analysis for the field.

BEA will review the report in March 2004. BEA may then forward a proposal to the Board of Directors and Council.

Task Force membership included representation from the Board of Professional Affairs (BPA), the Board for the Advancement of Psychology in the Public Interest (BAPPI), and the Board of Scientific Affairs (BSA), in addition to the BEA. The task force also included two external consultants with expertise in conducting workforce analysis.