About the International School Psychology Association (ISPA)

ISPA is a leading international force in the field of School Psychology. It is a voluntary, non-governmental non-profit organization. Assisted by a small and dedicated central office staff, association members contribute their time and expertise to the work of the Executive Committee, of four standing committees and many ad-hoc committees, task forces, and interest groups. Every year, ISPA members give thousands of hours toward the preparation of the annual conferences, documents, publications, and projects aimed to further the profession worldwide.

ISPA ‘s major aims include:

  • Promoting the use of sound psychological principles within the context of education and schooling internationally at global and local levels.
  • Promoting the improvement of children’s and young people’s well-being as well as their cognitive, emotional, physical, social and spiritual development in schools and communities across the world.
  • Promoting communication and collaboration among parents/caregivers, educators and other professionals who are committed to the improvement of children’s well-being.
  • Promoting high standards for the provision of educating school and educational psychologists nationally, regionally, and internationally.
  • Promoting high standards of practice in school and educational psychology across the world.
  • Promoting high-quality research that informs practice in school and educational psychology and addresses the cultural diversity of children across the world.
  • Promoting and protect the rights of all children and young people according to the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child and related UN statements.
  • Initiating and promote cooperation with other organizations, working for purposes similar to those of ISPA, to advocate for and support children and young people across the world.
  • Promote structures that prevent and protect all children from discrimination based on race, ethnicity, religion, age, gender, ability, sexual orientation, disability, or socio-economic status; and advocate for the inclusion and participation of all children in education and society.
  • Encourage the training of school psychologists in countries where it is lacking.

Some of ISPA’s achievements include the following:

  • ISPA is a Non-Governmental Organization officially affiliated to UNESCO.
  • ISPA colloquia are held in a different country each year.
  • It publishes a quality professional journal 4 times a year – The International Journal of School & Educational Psychology (IJSEP).
  • It provides its members with a valuable Newsletter ‘World*Go*Round’ (WGR).
  • It offers a range of other publications such as the ISPA Code of Ethics, International Guidelines for the Preparation of School Psychologists and Standards for Accrediting Professional Preparation Program.
  • It provides a range of committees, task forces and interests groups.
  • ISPA provides timely support and advice to its colleagues in other countries following a crisis.
  • Another initiative is the Child Well-being and Advocacy Committee’s Child Well-Being Consultation program. This involves experts throughout the world are joining the program to lead consultation processes on topics of high interest and child rights relevance for our profession.

ISPA ‘s major aims include:

  • Promoting the use of sound psychological principles within the context of education and schooling internationally at global and local levels.
  • Promoting the improvement of children’s and young people’s well-being as well as their cognitive, emotional, physical, social and spiritual development in schools and communities across the world.
  • Promoting communication and collaboration among parents/caregivers, educators and other professionals who are committed to the improvement of children’s well-being.
  • Promoting high standards for the provision of educating school and educational psychologists nationally, regionally, and internationally.
  • Promoting high standards of practice in school and educational psychology across the world.
  • Promoting high-quality research that informs practice in school and educational psychology and addresses the cultural diversity of children across the world.
  • Promoting and protect the rights of all children and young people according to the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child and related UN statements.
  • Initiating and promote cooperation with other organizations, working for purposes similar to those of ISPA, in order to advocate for and support children and young people across the world.
  • Promote structures that prevent and protect all children from discrimination based on race, ethnicity, religion, age, gender, ability, sexual orientation, disability, or socio-economic status; and advocate for the inclusion and participation of all children in education and society.
  • Encourage the training of school psychologists in countries where it is lacking.

Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)

  1. What are the general benefits of affiliation to ISPA for an association?
    General benefits of being an affiliate of the International School Psychology Association (ISPA) include:
    • The status of being associated with an organisation that has achieved high status internationally in its work to advance the profession of school psychology.
    • The provision for the nominated affiliate representative to the member’s portal on the ISPA website and access to the journal, WGR and other resources available on the portal.
    • Each affiliate body through the representative has one vote for ISPA Executive positions.
    • The affiliate representative or other nominated person can attend the conference at the member’s rate, will be invited to the leadership workshop preceding the conference, have a vote at the General Assembly and provide a short verbal
      (followed by written) report at the Assembly and for the report to be included in the WGR.
    • A list of affiliates will be made available on WGR issues.
    • Each affiliate may select one article from the International Journal of School & Educational Psychology (IJSEP) per year for republication and, where appropriate, translation in its own association journal or newsletter, or for circulation among its members, subject to the applicable publication and copyright requirements.
  2. How many other affiliating organisations would have a vote at General Assembly?
    Currently there are 14 affiliates who potentially would also vote at assembly. Also, as the affiliate representatives receives information from ISPA about various matters, each affiliate is also able to have on vote for ISPA Executive members at election time.
  3. Can an affiliate member propose a motion at the General Assembly?
    The affiliate representative or their delegate would be able to have the same rights as any individual member to propose a motion at the general assembly.
  4. Are there be discounts for all members within an affiliate groups for –
    (a)  individual membership – no;
    (b)  subscription to the ISPA journal – only the ISPA affiliate representative will have access;
    (c)  attendance at Conference – yes for one member i.e. the affiliate representative or nominated delegate
  5. Can our affiliate group representative nominate to be on the Affiliate Committee?
    Affiliates are welcome to nominate their representative to be on the Affiliate Committee or any other committee listed on the ISPA website. Please contact ISPA Central Office if you are interested on ispacentraloffice@ispaweb.org.
  6. What is the role of the affiliate representative?
    The affiliate representative’s role is to be the conduit between the affiliate’s association and the ISPA affiliate committee. The representative needs to be a member of their Association’s Committee. Their role may include: ensuring the association’s contact information is up to date with ISPA; sharing information about ISPA to the association including newsletters; voting for the ISPA Executive in consultation with their association’s committee; attending the ISPA conference if possible or nominating a delegate; attending the General Assembly at the conference and sharing information on their association’s activities; promoting IJSEP within the affiliate organization and coordinating the annual selection, republication, translation, or circulation of one IJSEP article among its members; and providing information on their association’s activities in the ISPA newsletter *World *Go *Round.
  7. What does my organization need to do to become an affiliate member?
    National, international and regional organizations that have at least 30% of their members who are school psychologists are eligible as ISPA Affiliate Organizations. The fee for affiliation is set by the Executive Committee and found in the Operations Handbook. Organizations struggling to pay the fees are encouraged to contact the Affiliate Co-Chairs to negotiate terms that are more financially viable.The executive body of an Affiliate Organization shall inform the ISPA Executive Secretary of the name of the member having the authority to represent the Organization at the General Assembly. This shall be done in writing and remain in effect until a written amendment is made. More details can be found on the ISPA website as follows: https://ispaweb.org/membership/membership-categories.

 

ISPA Affiliate Chairperson: Coosje Griffiths (Australia)
ISPA Affiliate Co-Chairperson: Véronique Le Mézec (France)