Advancing Intervention Research in School Psychology: Finding the Balance Between Process and Outcome for Social and Behavioral Interventions

Abstract.

School psychology research focused on child outcomes is critical for understanding which social and behavioral interventions affect children in schools. Yet effective interventions fulfill their promise when they fit their implementation contexts, are implemented well with existing resources, and can be sustained or scaled up to new populations. Process research to inform the work that occurs before outcome evaluation and during scale-up efforts remains underspecified. Toward this aim, we provide a conceptual model and guiding themes for conducting rigorous and responsive intervention development in school contexts. We introduce how the articles in this special series exemplify these themes and illuminate the methodological and conceptual approaches to this work. Documenting the research steps of intervention development, implementation, and dissemination may help to advance theoretical models of intervention science as well as guide school psychologists to build and install programs that allow more children to succeed in school.

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Elise Cappella

Elise Cappella, PhD, is Assistant Professor of Applied Psychology at New York University (NYU). With funding from the Spencer Foundation and the Woodrow Wilson Foundation, she developed and evaluated a prevention program to reduce relational aggression and enhance prosocial leadership among girls. She received recognition for this research in the Emory L. Cowen Dissertation Award for the Promotion of Wellness and the Gabriel Carras Research Award at NYU. As an Institute of Education Sciences–American Psychological Association Postdoctoral Education Research Training Fellow and coinvestigator on a National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH)-funded intervention trial, she worked with colleagues and community partners to implement and examine a mental health model focused on behavior and learning in urban schools. She was awarded an Early Career Research Award from the Society for the Study of School Psychology and a Community Collaborative Research Award from the NYU Steinhardt School to integrate this mental health model with a teacher professional development program toward improvement of classroom interactions and child behaviors. As coinvestigator of the NIMH-funded LINKS Center, she has conducted an experimental evaluation of this intervention to determine its effect on classrooms and children. She received her doctorate in clinical and community psychology at the University of California, Berkeley, and her undergraduate degree in history at Yale University.

Wendy M. Reinke

Wendy M. Reinke, PhD, is an assistant professor in the Department of Education, School, and Counseling Psychology at the University of Missouri. She earned her degree in school psychology from the University of Oregon and completed her postdoctoral training in prevention science at Johns Hopkins University. She has advanced training in teacher consultation and behavior analysis. She received a grant from the U.S. Department of Education to support her development and evaluation of a teacher coaching model, the Classroom Check-up, for reducing problem behavior. She has published extensively on supporting teachers with classroom management and prevention and early intervention of disruptive behavior problems in children. She is coauthor of three books, including Motivational Interviewing for Effective Classroom Management: The Classroom Check-up. She is the founder and codirector of the Missouri Prevention Center. The focus of the Center is on the prevention and early intervention of aggressive behavior and depression in children. She is a scientific investigator on several large studies. She is a coinvestigator on the National Institute of Mental Health–funded Johns Hopkins Center for Prevention and Early Intervention, evaluating strategies to enhance fidelity and increase family engagement of school delivered evidence-based interventions. She is also the principal investigator on an Institute of Education Sciences grant to evaluate the efficacy of the Incredible Years Teacher Classroom Management Training program, evaluating whether the intervention can increase teacher use of effective classroom management strategies and improve student social and academic outcomes.

Kimberly E. Hoagwood

Kimberly E. Hoagwood, PhD, is Professor of Clinical Psychology in Psychiatry at Columbia University, where she directs the Child and Family Services Research Unit within the Division of Mental Health Services and Policy Research. Before coming to New York, she was Associate Director for Child and Adolescent Mental Health Research with the National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH), and oversaw the portfolio of research on child and adolescent mental health. From 2000 to 2001, she served as scientific editor for the Office of the Surgeon General's National Action Agenda on Children's Mental Health. She directs an Advanced Services Research Center funded by NIMH on Implementation and Dissemination Science in State Mental Health Systems, and has been a scientific investigator on several large, multisite studies on community-based services for children with psychiatric disorders. She has been a member of the MacArthur Foundation Youth Research Network (John Weisz, director). Among her awards and honors are the Outstanding Scholar in Education Award from the University of Maryland and the American Psychological Association's Distinguished Contribution Award in School Psychology. She is the author of over 100 papers and numerous book chapters, and is coeditor of five books on topics relevant to community-based services for children and families.