A school is an educational establishment designed to offer learning zones and learning environments specifically for the education of young people under the guidance of qualified teachers. Most developed countries have systems of private formal education, which in some cases may be completely obligatory. In such systems, children progress from a single school to another until they gain entry into a secondary school or a college.

Private schools are not governed by statutory rules as are the public schools and universities. Consequently, the provisions of special education and other regulations applicable to children in private schools may not be as rigid as in public schools. This means that school psychologists need to work harder to ensure that a child receives all the support he or she needs from an academic and other behavioral specialist, a psychologist who also acts as a member of the school psychologist team. Such support includes guidance on academic, social and emotional development; help with problems that may arise in the course of the child’s studies; and assistance with any problems that may be faced during the process of obtaining a degree.

A major part of the school system of any developing country is the role of the school psychologist. In many countries, private special education schools are a highly integrated unit of the overall education system, and a school psychologist plays a key role in the daily operation of such institutions. In the United States, the placement of school psychologists is facilitated by the American School Counseling Association (ASCA), which works to bring trained psychologists to communities in need of such assistance. The placement of psychologists in developing countries may be facilitated by the United Nations Development Program (UNDP), which works through the United Nations Economic Commission for Children (UNICEF). All such assistance helps to ensure that school psychologists meet the needs of the school system, the students who attend them and the parents of such students.