Education and Training Resource Documents

Guidelines on Trauma Competencies for Education and Training (PDF, 527KB)
Approved by the APA Council of Representatives, August 2015.

Competencies for Psychology Practice in Primary Care (PDF, 586KB)
Approved by the APA Council of Representatives, February 2015.

Guidelines for Clinical Supervision in Health Service Psychology (PDF, 604KB)
Approved by the APA Council of Representatives, August 2014.

Health Service Psychology: Preparing Competent Practitioners (PDF, 37KB)
Approved by the APA Council of Representatives, February 2014.

From Health Service Psychology Education Collaborative (2013, August 5). Professional Psychology in Health Care Services: A Blueprint for Education and Training. American Psychologist. Advance online publication. doi: 10.1037/a0033265

Guidelines for Preparing High School Psychology Teachers: Course-Based and Standards-Based Approaches
The purpose of these guidelines is to outline training models for the preparation of teachers of high school psychology.

Guidelines for the Undergraduate Psychology Major
Captures a set of optimal expectations of performance for psychology students at the completion of the baccalaureate degree. The document outlines 10 goals and learning outcomes that represent reasonable departmental expectations for the undergraduate psychology major.

Guidelines for Education and Training in Industrial-Organizational Psychology (PDF, 69KB)
Approved by the APA Council of Representatives in August 2017

Developing and Evaluating Standards and Guidelines Related to Education and Training in Psychology (PDF, 97KB)
The purpose of this document is to provide a common framework for use in the development, evaluation and review of proposed and existing standards and guidelines for education and training in psychology. Psychologists or others seeking adoption of standards or guidelines by the APA, should review this document—approved by the APA Council of Representatives in February 2004.

Guidelines for Education and Training at the Doctoral and Postdoctoral Level in Consulting Psychology/Organizational Consulting Psychology (PDF, 138KB)
Approved by the APA Council of Representatives in August 2017.

Multicultural Guidelines: An Ecological Approach to Context, Identity, and Intersectionality, 2017 (PDF, 1MB)
Adopted by the APA Council of Representatives in August 2017.

National Standards for High School Psychology Curricula
The National Standards set learning objectives for students taking the high school psychology course; the second revision was approved by the APA Council of Representatives in August 2011.

Principles for Quality Undergraduate Education in Psychology
Adopted as APA policy in February 2011, this document articulates a set of recommendations for quality teaching and learning in psychology.

Recommended Postdoctoral Education and Training Program in Psychopharmacology for Prescriptive Authority (PDF, 150KB)
Approved by the APA Council of Representatives, August 2009.

Report of the BEA Task Force on the Integration of Science and Practice in Health Service Psychology (HSP) Training (PDF, 172KB)
The report provides guidance and recommendations for HSP education and training programs. 

Report of the BEA Work Group on the Assessment of Discipline Specific Knowledge (PDF, 180KB)
The report provides guidance and recommendations to articulate and assess minimal qualifications for entry into a doctoral program that prepares HSPs.

Internationalize Undergraduate Psychology
Resources to help teachers of psychology address the current conditions, challenges and responsibilities of internationalization.

Recovery to Practice Curriculum Modules
Released in August 2014, these 16 modules cover a broad range of topics related to recovery from severe mental illness.

Scholarship in Doctoral Education: A Conceptual Framework for Self-Study in Graduate Departments of Psychology (PDF, 140KB)
The conceptual framework presented in this paper was developed with such a context in mind for the purpose of facilitating discussion and analysis of departmental practices and qualities among faculty and students in psychology graduate departments that grant the doctoral degree.

Teaching, Learning and Assessing in a Developmentally Coherent Curriculum
Council received a report on teaching, learning and assessing in a developmentally coherent curriculum in August 2008.

Council of Chairs of Training Councils (CCTC) Guidelines for Communication between Graduate Programs and Internship Programs (PDF, 15KB)
The following guidelines are recommended to enhance communication between graduate programs and internship programs regarding students on internship.

Final Report of the BEA Task Force on the Assessment of Competence in Professional Psychology
The report is not APA policy, however, the report proposes a set of core principles and recommendations to guide the discipline of psychology in implementing competence assessment models.

Learner-Centered Psychological Principles: A Framework for School Redesign and Reform (PDF, 157KB)
This historical document is derived from a 1990 APA presidential task force—revised in 1997.

Just the Facts About Sexual Orientation & Youth

Interprofessional Health Care Services in Primary Care Settings: Implications for the Education and Training of Psychologists (PDF, 453KB)
Report, June 1998.

Recommendations for Education and Training in Primary Care Psychology (PDF, 386KB)

Principles of Good Practice in Distance Education and Their Application to Professional Education (DOC, 367KB)
June 2002.

Resources for the Inclusion of Social Class in Psychology Curricula (PDF, 12MB)
This document includes course syllabi, classroom exercises, scholarly books and articles, as well as examples using fiction and popular media. It is for all psychology educators, including those teaching at the high school, college and graduate school levels.