As a school psychology trainer dedicated to improving outcomes for those impacted by ID, training socially just school psychologists so they are active participants in services for marginalized youth is an important research goal. I feel that it is vital to prepare high-quality future school psychologists who are academically robust and inclusive in their understanding. I believe that school psychologists have an ethical obligation to deconstruct ableism, as well as other –isms, and reconstruct a strengths-based, affirming understanding of social identity. Thus, I am interested in exploring graduate socialization, recruitment and retention strategies, and graduate training through a Dis/Crit lens.

Excerpt taken from Talapatra, D., Snider, L.A., Robinson, K., & Roach, A. (accepted with revisions). Good and necessary trouble: DisCrit as a framework to shape school psychology in the 21st century. School Psychology Review

DisCrit incorporates a dual analysis of race and ability by drawing on concepts from both Disability Studies and Critical Race Theory (Annamma et al., 2013). It is a framework uniquely suited to deconstructing our educational system’s foundation of segregation, separation, and exclusion. The seven tenets of DisCrit serve as guidelines for how school psychologists can explore ways in which both race and ability are socially constructed and interdependent (Annamma et al., 2013, p. 11). Readers should note that we re-ordered Annamma and colleagues’ tenets in the interest of making them applicable as a framework to guide school psychology research, training, and practice: 

1. DisCrit focuses on ways that the forces of racism and ableism circulate interdependently, often in neutralized and invisible ways, to uphold notions of normality.
2. DisCrit values multidimensional identities and troubles singular notions of identity such as race or disability or class or gender or sexuality, and so on.
3. DisCrit considers legal and historical aspects of disability and race and how both have been used separately and together to deny the rights of some citizens.
4. DisCrit recognizes Whiteness and Ability as Property, and that gains for people labeled with disabilities have largely been made as the result of interest convergence of White, middle-class citizens. 
5. DisCrit emphasizes the social constructions of race and ability and yet recognizes the material and psychological impacts of being labeled as raced or disabled, which sets one outside of the western cultural norms.
6. DisCrit privileges voices of marginalized populations, traditionally not acknowledged within research.
7. DisCrit requires activism and supports all forms of resistance.

The tenets emphasize the insights and experiences of people from marginalized populations and encourage identity-affirming solutions that are grounded in their perspectives. In using these tenets as a framework, we propose that they be applied to examine and extend school psychology research, training and professional preparation, and school-based practice. The tenets represent a recursive two-phase method for this work that includes 1) reflection on our current professional behaviors and systems and 2) response to move forward in a manner that embraces all student needs.

• Graduate students' perception of barriers and facilitators to an academic career
• Graduate students' training and experiences in ID-specific content and with ID populations
• Retention and recruitment of racially/ethnically minoritized faculty

Mentorship in graduate schools fosters research skills, academic socialization, increased opportunities for publishing and teaching, and the formation of their professional identity.  Mentors in turn benefit from increased scholarship and intrinsic satisfaction from collaborating with young professionals during the developmental stages of their career. However, frameworks for mentorship or recommendations for mentorship in graduate programs are scarce. The following projects offer strategies to enhance mentoring relationships:

• Early career mentoring: http://apadivision16.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/03/TSP-Spring-2020_1.pdf
• Vertical research teams in school psychology: https://apadivision16.org/wp-content/uploads/2018/10/TSP-Fall-2018-1-1.pdf

Teaching in academia often falls to the margins. It is an interesting conundrum that we the teachers were never taught to teach. However, teaching is a calling. It must be done regularly, with intentionality, and a desire to continuously learn. The following chapter breaks down the why, the how, and the what of teaching for graduate students, early-career professionals, and senior faculty:

• Talapatra, D., Parris, L., & Roach, A. (2020). Teaching with passion and effectiveness. In Floyd, R. & Eckhart, T. (Eds.) Handbook of University and Professional Careers in School Psychology. Routledge: New York, NY. ISBN 9780367353681