Educational Psychology

The Educational Psychology program of the department of Educational, School, and Counseling Psychology (EDP) at the University of Kentucky (UK) focuses on preparing Educational Psychologists who have strong theoretical, conceptual, and practical ties to educational psychology, and who also possess exceptional skills in the area of measurement, statistics, assessment, and research methodology.

We prepare students for professional positions not only in academic institutions but also in a variety of public and private agencies in positions as policy makers, education advisers, and research consultants. Our graduate program in Educational Psychology reflects a collaborative apprenticeship model that encourages students to go beyond taking courses and checking off requirements.

Our aim is to help educational psychology students to develop the knowledge, skills, and tools to be effective consumers and creators of educational research and to raise thoughtful questions that guide their inquiry. We believe that the best way to learn how to do research, analyze data, communicate results, and teach others is to get directly involved with faculty mentors and advanced students as early as possible in one’s graduate program. Graduate students entering the program will select a program of study focusing on one of four areas of specialization: multicultural education, quantitative methods, motivation, and development.

Structural responsiveness in educational psychology includes an awareness by faculty and students of the multiple structural factors that can influence individuals’ cognition, affect, and behavior and the contexts where people reside. Structural responsiveness in educational psychology also embraces research and teaching that emphasize unbiased treatment of all human beings.

There are many ways in which we believe an educational psychologist can be an advocate for structural responsiveness. Educational psychologists who promote structural responsiveness will

• Promote fair treatment for all human beings
• Inform multiple communities of learners about educational practices that facilitate and strengthen the opportunities of all students to achieve academic, physical, and psychological well-being
• Question whether existing theoretical models are appropriate for all groups of learners
• Increase their own and others’ awareness of the micro-, meso-, and macro-level structural factors that impact the lives of students, teachers, administrators, parents, and community members
• Explore leading and alternative explanations of student performance 
• Provide education practitioners and stakeholders with resources to advance critical thinking about well-being and optimal schooling experiences for all students. 

A degree in Educational Psychology affords a student a number of career options dependent upon the focus of the student’s coursework and the level of degree earned. At the Master’s level an individual might attain expertise in areas that would be readily marketable in a school system: The individual might work in curriculum development, training programs, setting up testing programs, research, and other areas. Additional job opportunities might be found in training departments of various industries, and in training divisions of state and federal agencies.

At the doctoral level an individual’s expertise and marketability may be much broader. For example, program graduates might opt to teach and/or do research and development in colleges and universities, become administrators in higher education, work in medical education or research, develop and manage training departments in industry, work in various areas of publishing, conduct product design and research and/or program development, consult for or head state and federal agencies, conduct measurement and evaluation in school districts, or establish a private consulting firm.