Students at risk of suicide can be identified effectively through school-based prevention programs such as Signs of Suicide (SOS), which incorporate both psychoeducation and screening components. Prior research has focused on high school students; however, there is limited research in middle schools, and even less is known of school staff's…

This quantitative study examined factors that predicted teacher implementation of social and emotional learning (SEL) at the elementary, middle, and high school levels. Positive outcomes of SEL for students include higher academic achievement and fewer behavior problems. Given increased mental health issues among youth, attention to SEL has become…

In this dissertation study, we investigated the social validity of Tier 1 practices within tiered systems, with specific foci on the Comprehensive, Integrated, Three-Tiered (Ci3T) model of prevention and the high school context. Specifically, we began by outlining the challenges associated with implementing Tier 1 practices, particularly within…

Inquiry-Based Teaching Practice (IBTP) is an essential component of science education, and promoting its implementation is at the heart of various reform efforts. Even though science teachers regard IBTP as an essential pedagogical method, they rarely use it for various reasons. This study utilizes Bronfenbrenner's ecological framework to examine…

Social-emotional and character development (SECD) programs promote the development of youth's social-emotional skills (e.g., empathy) and cultivation of pro-social character virtues (e.g., gratitude). When provided universally within the school context, these interventions have been shown to increase students' social-emotional learning (SEL) and…

Implementation of evidence-based, Tier 1 social-emotional learning (SEL) programming that supports healthy relationships skills is recognized as a key mental health promotion and violence prevention strategy for youth. However, work specifically exploring how to support the high-quality implementation of such programming with Canadian teachers and…

Imagine Math® is a standards-aligned, adaptive, interactive online mathematics program designed to supplement in-class instruction for students. This evaluation report examined the fidelity of implementation of Imagine Math® and the associations between its use and student achievement in Houston Independent School District (HISD) secondary schools…

Diversity in schools is at an all-time high, and student diversity will continue to increase (Crouch, 2012; Tomlinson, Brighton, Hertberg, Callahan, Moon, Brimijoin, Conover, & Reynolds, 2003). The result is a need for teachers to respond to the differences among students. Teachers can respond to student differences through differentiated…

In this study, longitudinal data from 708 schools across five states in the continental United States were analyzed to measure the time between initial training and adequate implementation of Tier I Schoolwide Positive Behavioral Interventions and Supports over 5 years and the extent to which it varied by school characteristics. Results indicated…

This study documents the process of implementation of an adolescent reading intervention. Using data from observations of teachers (n=17) during the 2013-14 school year, I conducted a nuanced descriptive analysis of fidelity of implementation (FoI). I also analyzed weekly logs completed by literacy coaches (n=3) to examine variation in quantity…

Data from a large-scale math intervention program were used to evaluate the degree to which implementation fidelity (IF) and interventionist content knowledge were associated with student outcomes. Data were available for 33 interventionists serving 658 students in Grades 4-6 across one school year. A series of multilevel models were fit to the…

This study examines predictors of abandonment of evidence-based practices through descriptive analyses of extant state-level training data, fidelity of implementation data, and nationally reported school demographic data across 915 schools in three states implementing school-wide positive behavioral interventions and supports (SWPBIS). Schools…

The purpose of this study was to explore 188 third through eighth-grade students' patterns of social interaction related to a comprehensive school-based health program, and to investigate relationships between student social capital (i.e., number and frequency of interactions with friends, teachers, and guardians/family members) and teacher…

Developing instructional capacity in schools is a central challenge of the Common Core movement. Most conceptualizations of capacity building focus on infusing externally generated professional development into schools. In this article, we explore the professional resources that reside inside schools that might be utilized to develop instructional…

The current study explored the extent to which a common measure of perceived implementation of critical features of School-wide Positive Behavior Support (SWPBS) predicted fidelity of implementation 3 years later. Respondents included school personnel from 261 schools across the United States implementing SWPBS. School teams completed the…