Dr Alicia Fischer
About Alicia
Alicia Verity Fischer (she/her) is a graduate of the doctoral School Psychology program at The Pennsylvania State University. She received her Ph.D. in School Psychology in 2020 from The Pennsylvania State University, under Program Director Dr. James C. DiPerna and guidance of Dr. Cristin M. Hall. She earned her M.Ed. in School Psychology in 2016 from The Pennsylvania State University, under Program Director Dr. James C. DiPerna. Dr. Fischer earned B.A. in Psychology from the University of Connecticut in 2014. Her research interests include fostering school-family-community partnerships, social-emotional wellbeing in children, bullying, and parent-child relationships. She joined the Program Evaluation and Education Research (PEER) Group in August 2020 after two years as a practicing school psychologist.
As a school psychologist, Dr. Fischer completed over 100 comprehensive multidisciplinary evaluations to determine eligibility for special education services under state and federal guidelines. Dr. Fischer worked with children ranging from preschool children as part of the transition to kindergarten evaluation process to high school seniors with significant emotional and behavioral challenges. She completed screenings for ADHD with elementary and middle school children and created Section 504 plans to support children in their classrooms. Dr. Fischer served as part of the Multi-Tiered Systems of Support (MTSS), Response to Instruction and Intervention (RtII), Student Assistance Program (SAP), and Crisis Response teams, and provided recommendations to teachers, counselors, and parents on how to support children prior to initiating the evaluation process. On the MTSS team, Dr. Fischer collaborated with the other school psychologist and school counselors to provide tangible resources to teachers for promoting positive behaviors in the classroom, as well as reassess the disciplinary process and streamline the referral process for teachers in the district. Dr. Fischer was an advocate for minority and LGBTQIA youth in her district and provided resources on how to support and represent these youth to school counselors.
