Jessica Dirsmith

Clinical Assistant Professor of School Psychology Dr. Jessica Dirsmith, NCSP is a Pennsylvania and nationally certified school psychologist and a licensed psychologist. She has served as both a school psychologist practitioner for over a decade and a trainer of future school psychologists. Dr. Dirsmith is the 2017 recipient of the School Psychologist of the Year Award in Pennsylvania. Active in advocacy for school psychologists, she is on the Association of School Psychologists of Pennsylvania board and serves as the ASPP Membership Chair. Her research interests include school-wide positive behavioral interventions and supports (SWPBIS) with a focus on underserved populations including racially and culturally diverse students, English Learners, and students from diverse socioeconomic backgrounds. She also researches school-based mental health, emotional and behavioral disability case law, legally defensible assessment practices, and identification of underserved gifted learners. Dr. Dirsmith focuses on disseminating systems-level efforts that are efficient, effective, and evidence-based in order to improve prevention, intervention, and identification practices in schools. She is passionate about a problem-solving approach, incorporating strengths-based methods to best support academic, social, emotional, and behavioral learning for all students.

D.Ed., Indiana University of Pennsylvania, 2013