School psychologists have an inherent and ethical responsibility to advocate for the students, families, schools, and communities they serve. Listed below are a few tips to being a good advocate. For more in-depth advocacy strategies and ideas, check out our Policy Playbook.

Respond to NASP Action Alerts. At any given time, NASP will issue an action alert to bring your attention to an important piece of legislation or rule change that NASP is organizing member action on. In an Action Alert, NASP will generally ask you to visit the Advocacy Action Center to either submit a letter or make a phone call to your congressional representative and/or two senators from your state. Action alerts are generally made on social media (@NASPonline on Twitter and Instagram; National Association of School Psychologists on Facebook) or, occasionally, via email. Additionally, be sure to engage with your state association, who may issue action alerts around state policy proposals impacting school psychologists.   

Join our Rapid Response Team. You may also opt to join our Rapid Response Team. By joining this network, you'll receive a limited number of emails asking you to amplify NASP's responses to various current events. Join now by simply filling out this form.  

Read Communique. NASP releases its newspaper, Communique (CQ), for its members eight times each year. The purpose of CQ is to keep members informed about the activities of the Association and about the critical issues and current practices in school psychology. In each edition, there is a column dedicated to the current public policy issues in the world of school psychology. Be sure to read this content to keep you informed on what's happening and how you can help.  

Read the PolicyMatters Blog. NASP's advocacy team maintains a blog with consistent, up-to-date information on its advocacy efforts, in addition to guest posts from advocates across the country doing work in their own states. Bookmark the blog and check it regularly to stay connected, and contact NASP's advocacy team to contribute.  

Check the Advocacy Action Center. NASP's Advocacy Action Center is the Association's one-stop-shop to advocate to your federal representatives for school psychology as a profession and issues that impact the kids and communities they work with. At any given time, the Advocacy Action Center will have multiple policies that it is organizing its membership to advocate for or against. Be sure to bookmark and check this page regularly, as there will often be new opportunities for you to send letters or make calls for or against various policy proposals - and it won't take more than 5 minutes!  

Join the Advocacy and Public Policy Interest Group. As a part of NASP's online community, there is an advocacy and public policy interest group designed to promote, discuss, and support the advocacy efforts of school psychologists across the country. You can join the interest group here.