Guidelines for Preparing High School Psychology Teachers: Course-Based and Standards-Based Approaches

• Published in: The American psychologist 2013-01, Vol.68 (1), p.41-44
• Main Author: [Unknown]
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Academic Standards; Adolescent; American Psychological Association; Best Practices; Competence; Course Objectives; Curriculum - standards; Educational Indicators; Educational Methods; Educational psychology; Educational Standards; Evidence; Faculty - standards; Guidelines; High School Education; High Schools; Humans; Learning; National Standards; Preservice Teachers; Psychologists; Psychology; Psychology - standards; Psychology Education; Quality of education; School Psychology; Schools - standards; Secondary education; Secondary School Teachers; Secondary schools; Standardization; Teacher Education Curriculum; Teacher training; Teachers; Teaching; Teaching Methods; United States
• ISSN: 0003-066X; 1935-990X
• DOI: 10.1037/a0029375

Psychology is one of the most popular elective high school courses. The high school psychology course provides the foundation for students to benefit from psychological perspectives on personal and contemporary issues and learn the rules of evidence and theoretical frameworks of the discipline. The guidelines presented here constitute the second of two reports in this issue of the American Psychologist (January 2013) representing recent American Psychological Association (APA) policies that support high-quality instruction in the teaching of high school psychology. These guidelines, aligned to the standards presented in the preceding report, describe models for the preparation of preservice psychology teachers. The two reports together demonstrate the rigor and competency that should be expected in psychology instruction at the high school level. (Contains 1 footnote.)