Newell, Markeda

Associate Professor, School Psychology

Dr. Newell earned her BS in Elementary Education at the University of Southern Mississippi. Dr. Newell went on to obtain her MS and PhD in Educational Psychology at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. Before joining Loyola's School of Education, Dr. Newell was an Assistant Professor in School Psychology at the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee. Dr. Newell is an Associate Professor in School Psychology, and she is committed to advancing consultation and multicultural competence among school psychologists.

Education

• PhD, University of Wisconsin-Madison, Madison, WI

Research Interests

Dr. Markeda Newell earned her PhD in Educational Psychology from the University of Wisconsin-Madison. The focus of her research is on the development, implementation, and evaluation of multicultural and consultation competence among school psychologists.

The purpose of this agenda is to prepare school psychologists who can seamlessly work with educators, parents, and community members to provide the most appropriate and effective services for all students. Specifically, I am interested in identifying the fundamental knowledge and skills school psychologists need to serve students who represent a range of racial/ethnic, linguistic, economic, and cultural backgrounds. Integral to addressing the needs of a diverse school population is working with teachers, parents, and community members. Therefore, as part of identifying how school psychologists can become more culturally competent, I believe they also need to be competent consultants.

For this reason, my research agenda also includes identifying the content and sequence of consultation training that yields competent consultants who can adapt and modify their practices given the client characteristics/needs, resources, and setting. The final component of my research agenda is to develop methods to evaluate school psychologists’ cultural and consulting competence. One of the major challenges facing the competency-based movement in psychology is the evaluation of competence. Thus, my research is designed to study new techniques such as computer-simulation to examine how well school psychologists have developed and integrated the knowledge, attitudes, and skills needed to serve all students and families. Dr. Newell has received several grants and has published several empirical articles and book chapters on multicultural and consultation competence evaluation and development

Professional/Community Affiliations

• National Association of School Psychologists (NASP)
• American Psychological Association (APA)
• Council of Directors of School Psychology (CDSPP)

Courses Taught

Publications/Research Listings

• Newell, M., Henderson, H., Chan, K. T. (2020). Accountability for Child Rights in School Psychology. In B. Nastasi, S. Hart, & S. Naser (Eds.), International Handbook on Child Rights and School Psychology, pp. 129-143. Switzerland: Springer International Publications.
• Graves, S., Newell, M., Harrell, F., Wells, T. (2019). A Mixed-Data Study of Graduate Student Preparation for Faculty Careers in School Psychology. Contemporary School Psychology, Online First: Available: https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s40688-019-00253-0 
• Newell, M.L., Reed, K., & Zwolski, S. (2019). School-based consultation. In C. Falender & E. Shafranske (Eds.), Consultation in Health Service Psychology: Advancing Professional Practice—A Competency-Based Approach, pp. 201-219, Washington, DC: American Psychological Association.
• Newell, M.L., & Looser, J. (2018). Does context matter? Analysis of training in multicultural assessment, consultation, and intervention between school psychologists in urban and rural contexts. Psychology in the Schools, 55(1), 85-92.
• Rosenfield, S., Newell, M., Zwolski, S.*, & Benishek, L., (2018). Evaluating problem- solving teams in K-12 schools: Do they work? American Psychologist.

Awards

• School Psychology Research Collaboration Conference (SPRCC), Early Career Scholar (2009)