Valerie Buckley, Psy.D.
Assistant Professor
School Psychology
National College of Education
Dr. Valerie Buckley joined the NLU team as full time faculty in July of 2019. She is thrilled to be working with NLU as the Program Director position of the NLU-Florida Ed. S. School Psychology program.
She earned her BA in Special Education from the University of North Carolina-Wilmington. After teaching a self-contained classroom for Kindergarten through 6th grade, she attended East Carolina University where she earned her MA and CAS in School Psychology. She practiced as a school psychologist in three different states since the late 1990’s. The longest school district experience was in Duval County Florida where some of her responsibility areas included the special programs of:
- juvenile justice centers/programs
- youth crisis centers
- hospital home-bound/hospitals
- domestic violence shelters
- day school behavioral units
- center schools for developmental disorders
- residential psychiatric hospitals
- alternative schools
- charter schools
- virtual schools
- drop back in academies/grade acceleration academies for students with two or more retentions
In this capacity she worked with children and adolescents with psychiatric/medical, developmental, or social difficulties such as:
- Traumatic Brain Injuries
- Autism Spectrum Disorder
- Genetic Conditions such as Fragile X, Down’s Syndrome, Duchene’s muscular Dystrophy…
- life threatening illnesses like encephalitic, meningitis, cancers, cystic fibrosis, gunshot wounds…
- mental health concerns such as schizophrenia, bipolar disorder, PTSD…
- Attention Deficit Disorder
- Developmental Disorders
- Intellectual Deficits
- Learning Differences
- Foster children
- Adopted children from other countries
She chaired multiple committees while at Duval County Public School, a large urban, rural, and suburban areas serving over 130,000 students, to create policy and procedures for:
- District Manuals of Section 504
- Identification processes for individuals suspected of being on the Autism Spectrum
- Internship Supervision
- Practicum Supervision
- Processes of assisting homebound children with significant medical issues transition back to school sites.
She is an experienced evaluator, consultant, and counselor as well as a collaborator with community agencies. She has worked within the MTSS framework and assisted with Response to Intervention since Florida’s adoption of the 2004 reevaluation of IDEA Federal Law. As part of district procedure for identifying children and youth on the autism spectrum she has completed hundreds of ADOS administrations since 2006.
In order to broaden her scope of practice and knowledge base she obtained her Doctor of Psychology in School Psychology from Argosy University. After resigning from Duval County Public Schools in June 2018 she began working in a clinical setting at the UF Department of Neurodevelopmental Pediatrics. During this time, she was also offered the opportunity to be adjunct faculty the Interim Chair of the School Psychology MA, Ed. S., and Psy. D. program at Argosy University. She truly loved returning to teaching.
In 2018 she was awarded by the Northeast Florida Association of School Psychologists as the school psychologist of the year which lead to being nominated for the Florida Association of School Psychologist for School Psychologist of the year. She has presented at state and national conferences as well as published articles on Traumatic Brain Injury in national and international peer reviewed journals.
As full time faculty where she teaches courses in the part-time Ed. S. School Psychology hybrid program for working professionals, Dr. Buckley believes that teaching is an interactive endeavor for both students and instructors. Each student comes with their own unique experiences that molds the manner in which they integrate the new knowledge of their graduate studies with their current and future practices. School Psychology is an amazing profession, one in which the professional is able to be an ally to children, families, schools, and communities. The social justice emphasis of the School Psychologist’s Code of Ethics along with the data based decision making and critical thinking expected of school psychologists can open doors for the professional in a wide variety of settings.
Dr. Buckley earned her BA in Special Education from the University of North Carolina-Wilmington. After teaching a self-contained classroom for Kindergarten through 6th grade, she attended East Carolina University where she earned her MA and CAS in School Psychology. In order to broaden her scope of practice and knowledge base she obtained her Doctor of Psychology in School Psychology from Argosy University.
As full time faculty where she teaches courses in the part-time Ed. S. School Psychology hybrid program for working professionals, Dr. Buckley believes that teaching is an interactive endeavor for both students and instructors. Each student comes with their own unique experiences that molds the manner in which they integrate the new knowledge of their graduate studies with their current and future practices.
Dr. Buckley is an experienced evaluator, consultant, and counselor as well as a collaborator with community agencies. She has worked within the MTSS framework and assisted with Response to Intervention since Florida’s adoption of the 2004 reevaluation of IDEA Federal Law. As part of district procedure for identifying children and youth on the autism spectrum she has completed hundreds of ADOS administrations since 2006.
Dr. Buckley has worked with children and adolescents with psychiatric/medical, developmental, or social difficulties such as:
- Traumatic Brain Injuries
- Autism Spectrum Disorder
- Genetic Conditions such as Fragile X, Down’s Syndrome, Duchene’s muscular Dystrophy…
- life threatening illnesses like encephalitic, meningitis, cancers, cystic fibrosis, gunshot wounds…
- mental health concerns such as schizophrenia, bipolar disorder, PTSD…
- Attention Deficit Disorder
- Developmental Disorders
- Intellectual Deficits
- Learning Differences
- Foster children
- Adopted children from other countries
In 2018 Dr. Buckley was awarded by the Northeast Florida Association of School Psychologists as the school psychologist of the year which lead to being nominated for the Florida Association of School Psychologist for School Psychologist of the year. She has presented at state and national conferences as well as published articles on Traumatic Brain Injury in national and international peer reviewed journals.
- Email: vbuckley3@nl.edu
