SPR Special Topic Section - Open Call for Papers - A Call to Action: Social Justice Advocacy in School Psychology
Shane Jimerson
Dear Colleagues,
Please share with those you think may be interested in submitting a paper for review. See the details below and attached. Submissions due October 30, 2025.
A Call to Action: Social Justice Advocacy in School Psychology
Guest Editors: Kari A. Oyen, Katya Sussman-Dawson, and Chavez Phelps
The need for effective advocacy approaches is ever pressing and necessary to advance the field of school psychology and best approaches to support all students. In recent years, the passing of anti-Black and anti-LGBTIAP+ legislation and policies have added considerable challenges for school psychologists and other school-based clinicians to support marginalized youths and their families. Further, there has been a push to censor social-emotional learning (SEL) practices due to the misconception it is a guise to promote gender identity awareness (Mitchell et al., 2024). These policies can create ethical dilemmas by making it harder for school psychologists to support equitable practices for all students. While the 2020 NASP Model for Comprehensive and Integrated School Psychological Services (NASP, 2020) notes advocacy to be a foundational role of school psychology, little is known about the effective school-based advocacy approaches and strategies used to engage in advocacy practices in the field (Rogers et al., 2020). There is limited research on the experiences of school psychologists who are involved in advocacy efforts to address societal conditions that can be detrimental to youth (Winter et al., 2025).
This special topic section aims to explore the role of advocacy to meet the unique challenges that school psychologists encounter when supporting youth, families, and schools. More specifically, effective social-justice advocacy approaches and strategies will be highlighted to address critical issues school psychologists experience. However, the field of school psychology has not formally operationalized social justice advocacy in practice (Celeste & Proctor, 2019), which is probably one of the reasons there is limited research in this area. Rogers et al. (2020) have argued that the field of school psychology needs to have a keen focus on the role advocacy can play to address the needs of the most vulnerable through individual, institutional, and societal change.
In the field of counseling, there has been considerable work to outline the purpose and focus of social justice advocacy. The American Counseling Association (ACA) Code of Ethics indicated that counselors should advocate at the individual, group, institutional, and societal levels to address oppressions and obstacles impacting the lives of clients (ACA, 2014). Further the ACA has endorsed advocacy competencies outlining six domains that explain advocacy principles: (a) client/student empowerment, (b) client/student advocacy, (c) community collaboration, (d) systems advocacy, (e) collective action, and (f) social/political advocacy (Toporek & Daniels, 2018). When considering a social justice framework, there are levels of advocacy that can occur within the school setting. Social justice advocacy is “scholarship and professional action designed to change societal values, structures, policies, and practices such that disadvantaged or marginalized groups gain increased access to these tools of self-determination” (Goodman et al., 2004, p. 795). Marshall-Lee et al. (2020) suggested that social justice advocacy consists of work happening at the micro-level (e.g., immediate environments of students), meso-level (e.g., interactions between school systems and health care systems), and macro-level (e.g., political and educational policies).
Submissions of original empirical work, systematic reviews or meta-analyses, case studies, and conceptual or theoretical papers on the role of advocacy within schools and other settings primarily serving youth populations are encouraged. We encourage manuscripts that use a social justice approach to identify the effectiveness of advocacy to address the individual and systematic needs of youth. Areas that papers might address include, but are not limited to:
- Social Justice Advocacy as a Form of Resistance and Resilience: Exploring how school psychologists can engage in social justice advocacy as a means of resistance and resilience within school systems and communities.
- Navigating the Dual Role of School Psychologists: Investigating the complexities school psychologists face when balancing their responsibilities as public servants with their role as advocates for students and communities.
- Navigating Hostile Geopolitical Climates: Addressing the challenges school psychologists face when working within politically charged or adversarial environments, and the impact on advocacy efforts.
- Hot Topics in School Psychology: Discussing the difficult, often controversial, topics and issues that school psychologists encounter in their practice, and the strategies for addressing these topics in a sensitive and effective manner.
- The Role of School Psychologists in Amplifying Marginalized Voices: Examining how school psychologists can support and amplify the voices of students, families, and communities from historically marginalized backgrounds.
- Considerations in Advocacy Research: Analyzing current research on advocacy in school psychology and related fields to identify gaps and suggest directions for future work in this area as it relates to school psychology.
- Systemic Analysis of Advocacy Research: A critical review of systemic factors influencing the field of advocacy in school psychology, including structural barriers and opportunities for change.
- Ethical and Legal Considerations for Advocacy: Investigating how ethical and legal frameworks can both empower and hinder school psychologists' ability to advocate effectively for change while navigating complex legal and ethical landscapes.
- The Role of Advocacy in School Psychology Leadership: Exploring how advocacy is an integral part of leadership and how leaders directly impact the progression of the profession and the ability to provide students and families with effective support at various levels within the field of school psychology, from individual to global contexts.
- Graduate Training Approaches for Advocacy Skills: Examining effective strategies and approaches for integrating advocacy skills and experiences into graduate training programs for future school psychologists.
- Supervision and Advocacy at Multiple Levels: Exploring how advocacy is supported and integrated into supervision at different levels of school psychology practice.
- Graduate-level training, School-level support, District-level leadership, Statewide coordination, National and international leadership
- Self-Reflection Techniques for School Psychologists: Exploring how school psychologists can best engage in self-reflection techniques to triage where school psychologists can expand and contract their responsibilities in order to increase their capacity for being a change agent and maximizing their impact.
- Impact of Shortages and Burnout on Advocacy: Investigating how workforce shortages and burnout affect the ability of school psychologists to act as advocates, and how these challenges can be mitigated.
- Celebrating Small Wins in Advocacy: Highlighting the importance of recognizing incremental successes in advocacy work, and how they contribute to long-term change.
- School Psychologists’ Self-Efficacy and Preparedness in Advocacy: Research exploring school psychologists’ confidence, preparedness, and self-efficacy in taking on advocacy roles within their professional practice.
- Systemic Facilitators and Barriers to Advocacy: Analyzing the structural facilitators and barriers within school systems that either support or hinder advocacy efforts, with potential solutions for overcoming these obstacles.
- Frameworks, Models, and Theories for Advocacy in School Psychology: Research that provides new or reviews previously existing frameworks, models, and theories to help school psychologists integrate social justice principles into advocacy across all levels of practice and advocacy.
- Advocacy Action Models: Exploring action research and models that school psychologists can implement to foster systemic change and promote social justice.
- Examination of Policies and Practices in School Psychology: Investigating policies and practices that impact the effective implementation of a comprehensive school psychological role, ensuring equitable access for all students.
- Sociological and Ecological Models in Advocacy: Applying sociological, ecological, and intersectionality frameworks/models (e.g., Bronfenbrenner’s ecological model) to enhance advocacy efforts and understand the complexities of advocacy work in school psychology.
- Interdisciplinary and interprofessional collaboration: Featuring how insights from other professionals contribute to social justice advocacy in School Psychology
- Systems-Level Impact on Change: Examining systems-level work that have successfully led to meaningful change in school psychology practices, including: Regional differences, State-level variations, Federal policy implications, International perspectives
Each submission will be processed through triple-anonymous peer-review to determine whether the manuscript is suitable for publication in the journal. The initial deadline for the receipt of submissions is October 30, 2025.
Email SPR Editor-Elect Tyler Renshaw - tyler....@usu.edu
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