ED&D Podcast: Episode 7

Dr. Samuel O. Ortiz, Ph.D., Professor of Psychology, College of Liberal Arts and Sciences, St. John’s University

Biography statement

Dr. Ortiz is Professor of Psychology and former Director of the School Psychology Program at St. John's University, Queens, New York. He earned his Ph.D. in Clinical Psychology from the University of Southern California and completed postdoctoral training in Bilingual School Psychology at San Diego State University where he also obtained certification as a school psychologist. In addition, he has served as Visiting Professor and Research Fellow at Nagoya University in Japan and was recently elected Vice President for Professional Affairs of Division 16 of APA beginning Jan. 2003. Dr. Ortiz trains and consults nationally and internationally on topics ranging from nondiscriminatory assessment to contemporary evaluation of learning disabilities. He combines practical and research based experience with specialized education and training in working with culturally and linguistically diverse children and parents. Dr. Ortiz is bilingual (Spanish) and bicultural (Puerto Rican).

Research Interests

Dr. Ortiz has studied and published on topics that include assessment of culturally and linguistically diverse individuals, application of modern intelligence theory in testing through CHC Cross-Battery assessment methods, differentiating cultural and linguistic differences from disorders, and development of the CHC Culture-Language Matrix as a method for determining the primary influence of culture and language on test performance. He recently authored three chapters in NASP's Best Practices IV on nondiscriminatory assessment, contemporary intellectual assessment, and working with culturally and linguistically diverse children and families. Dr. Ortiz is also the author and developer of the WWW School Psychology Homepage, which was the very first site on the internet devoted exclusively to school psychology (published Oct. 1994).