Board approves regulatory drafting to clarify and tighten experience rules for licensed educational psychologists

The California Board of Behavioral Sciences on Aug. 22 approved proposed regulatory text to clarify how licensed educational psychologists (LEPs) document and demonstrate qualifying experience when applying for licensure.

Board staff presented revisions intended to implement statutory changes in Senate Bill 775 and to resolve long-standing ambiguities about what counts as qualifying experience in private or parochial schools, experience gained through temporary-employment agencies, and experience gained under the direction of a licensed educational psychologist (LEP) in California public schools.

Under the proposed approach, experience earned in private or parochial schools will be accepted only when a supervisor or authorized representative certifies under penalty of perjury that the applicant performed the same range of duties required of credentialed school psychologists in California public schools. The regulation would set documentation minimums for temporary-agency placements and clarify that supervised experience "under the direction of an LEP" means formal supervision from an appropriately credentialed California LEP; it would also bar supervisors from holding a financial or therapeutic relationship with the supervisee.

Board staff said the draft also aligns time limits and definitions: the measure being drafted would define a full school year and what…