I love that, too! I tell people that all the time when they ask what I do I say that I track down clues and collect them (all the learning artifacts from teachers and information from parents) and collect new data (my assessments/observations) and then try to "solve the mystery" of why the child is having difficulty learning/behaving. I think it better describes the depth of what we do

I agree that Educational Psychologist might still be misleading, but I think it might be a little less confusing. I love Educational Detective though! It sounds so covert!

Definitely the vast majority of parents/people do not understand what we do. I've been called the "district tester" and then other people believe I do mental health therapy all day long (which is fine, I'm trained to do that, but I have no time to do that!). Consistent with NASP's ideal service model, I was trained for counseling/ therapy, assessment, and consultation. But yes, like you, most people who don't know seem to think I do therapy all day. Definitely a lack of understanding from others of what I do.

Educational Psychologist would still have the word "psychologist" in it, so I would think they would still think of you more in the clinical sense. I prefer to call myself an educational detective, so I think that would be the best title

I'm really interested in knowing what other school employees think of our job titles!

If you are a school psychologist, I was wondering if you like the title "school psychologist". If you aren't, what do you think of when you hear "school psychologist"?

I'm wondering because I wish my title was educational psychologist. Parents (and some staff) think that because "psychologist" is in my title that I am a clinical psychologist. It's like they think I'm the psychologist for the school. I have to then explain that I know about the psychology of learning. Does this happen to you ever?