Hired school by school or district by district, you assess students, run evaluations, and support kids' learning and mental health, often without a permanent post. School psychology on a contract footing.
The work means testing and evaluating students, writing up findings, supporting IEPs, and consulting with teachers and families. You might cover several schools, often spread thin, juggling a heavy assessment load. Much of the job is evaluation and paperwork, and the demand for your time outstrips the hours.
What's hard is the caseload and the contract precarity: you carry many students and little guarantee of the next placement. Paperwork and compliance are heavy, you advocate for kids in a stretched system, and outcomes depend on forces beyond your reach. Settings and stability vary by contract.
It fits someone organized, empathetic, and resilient to a heavy load. If you need stability or quick wins, the contract grind can wear. But if you find meaning in getting a struggling kid the support they need, and like the variety of different schools, the work tends to give that back.
Where this role sits in the broader career landscape — and where it can take you.
Roles like this one sit within a broader occupational category. The numbers below reflect that full landscape — helpful for context, but your specific experience will depend on level, specialty, and where you work.
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