The planning process may have taken two years, but the need and rationale were decades in the making. Over the past two years, a passionate and dedicated group of high school psychology teachers, university professors, and APA Education Directorate staff planned and designed the inaugural APA Summit on High School Psychology Education. Held in July 2017 and hosted by the outstanding faculty and staff at Weber State University in Ogden, Utah, the summit mission was easy to say, but challenging to address and put into action: to plan the best future for high school psychology education. The mission left no room for anything less than optimal effort and full engagement in the process; the 72 educators who participated met this challenge head-on.
As APA President Antonio “Tony” Puente, PhD, said in his opening remarks, the issues high school psychology teachers face have been around for decades. What is the most important content and skills to teach our students? What is the best way to teach it? How do we get the best learning in the discipline? How to we ensure access to psychology for all students?
Teachers from across the nation met for five days this past July to discuss and develop ideas and plans necessary to create high school psychology’s best future — a future that will help teachers meet the needs of students taking what we believe is the most important high school course they will ever take.
The summit was organized around eight working groups, each addressing one of the following key areas:
- Psychology as Science
- Skills that Improve Well-Being and Flourishing
- National Standards for High School Psychology Curricula
- Assessing Student Knowledge and Skills in Psychology
- Credentialing and Identifying High School Psychology Teachers
- Ongoing Professional Development
- Diversity and Access
- Technology and Online learning
Participants in these eight groups worked in the six months leading up to and during the week of the summit to develop over 40 “deliverables,” each intended to support the mission of the summit. Deliverables include resources, advocacy guides and action plans. Groups also provided recommendations for high school teachers, administrators, policy makers and the APA to advance the summit mission. The work was challenging, rich and invigorating. This special issue describes the work that took place and started at the summit and shares perspectives that will inform the best future ahead.
The first word of the summit was science. The last word was champion. Aren’t we all science champions in our classrooms, teaching high school psychology as a scientific discipline, alive with daily discoveries? Many of us learned psychology and how to teach it on our own, and that learning has fostered our love for the course and what it provides to our students. We can all be high school psychology champions, championing the value, delivery, assessment and reach of this important class in our schools, within our districts and in our communities.
The work of the summit is far from finished. Without additional efforts from a broad base of psychology teachers, the summit will fall short of its mission. We need you to join us in making sure the summit deliverables are broadly disseminated and used. We need you to help advocate for better professional learning opportunities. We need you to teach a standards-based course and to use quality assessments to ensure students are learning psychological science. We need you to foster inclusiveness while promoting the richness of diversity in your courses. You are the key to fulfilling the vision of the best future for high school psychology. To become one of the growing number of high school psychology champions and to help us meet the summit’s mission, please contact one of us, APA staff or any steering committee member to express your interest. We can be reached by email (Amy Fineburg or email Randal Ernst). We look forward to hearing from you.
About the authors
Randy Ernst, EdD, recently completed 30 years of service with Lincoln Public Schools (Nebraska) and is now an assistant professor at Nebraska Wesleyan University. As an author, Randy has written or edited psychology textbooks, teacher’s guides and activity books, and has authored or co-authored articles in the "Oxford Review of Education, American Psychologist and Teaching of Psychology." Randy was a member of the committee that founded the APA Teachers of Psychology in Secondary Schools (TOPSS), and was on the original AP Psychology Test Development Committee. More recently, he has facilitated workshops in several states (and countries) that foster the skills of well-being (e.g., resilience, gratitude, grit) in teachers and administrators.
Amy Fineburg, PhD, is the advanced programs specialist for Jefferson County Schools, which serves over 36,000 students in the Birmingham area. She supervises AP, IB, dual enrollment, early college and virtual learning programs. She earned a PhD in educational psychology from the University of Alabama in 2010. Amy taught AP psychology for 14 years and authored teaching resources for high school and AP textbooks. She has served APA as chair of the TOPSS Committee and on the APA Board of Educational Affairs. Amy is the current vice president for Awards and Recognitions for the Society for the Teaching of Psychology (APA Div. 2) and serves on the College Board’s Southern Regional Council. She is a member of the Alabama Council for Leadership Development and serves on the Dean’s Advisory Committee for the Howard College of Arts and Sciences at Samford University.