Exploring Fidelity in School-Based Mindfulness Programs

A small but growing body of research on school-based mindfulness programs (SBMPs) has demonstrated benefits for students’ cognitive and affective functioning and overall wellbeing. Yet, lack of fidelity in SBMP implementation may diminish these programs’ purported benefits. This commentary presents 4 current challenges that need to be addressed so that questions of whether and how mindfulness improves student functioning can be clarified and implementation of programs can be strengthened and sustained. These challenges include coming to consensus on the definition and intention of mindfulness training, balancing adherence with flexibility in SBMP delivery, determining the role SBMP teachers’ mindfulness experience plays in program fidelity, and delineating distinctive features of mindful pedagogy. Some suggestions for addressing each of these challenges are provided.

Using Universal Screening to Monitor Students’ Social, Emotional, and Behavioral Health

As many youths will display symptoms of social-emotional or behavioral (SEB) health concerns during their childhood or adolescence, schools are called upon to provide supports to students who have demonstrated barriers to learning. Universal screening has been identified as one strategy to enhance the accurate identification of students struggling with SEB concerns. Universal screening measures take on a variety of formats but often include some type of brief behavior rating completed by a teacher, parent, or student to assess individual student functioning. The current chapter provides an overview of universal screening for SEB concerns. Available screening measures are reviewed, along with the psychometric evidence supporting each measure (e.g., validity, reliability, diagnostic accuracy). Procedural considerations are examined, including administration frequency and duration, screening informant selection, and parental consent protocols. Finally, a procedural framework is provided that outlines how to link screening results to evidence-based interventions.

Psychoeducation

Providing psychoeducation to teachers, families, and other school staff is pivotal to best support students within the school setting. Psychoeducation is generally known as the information and resources provided to school staff, families, and students by mental health professionals to better educate them about the student’s emotions, behaviors, and achievement. Within the school setting, the school (or educational) psychologist often takes on this role when working with students and their families. School/educational psychologists are typically the most knowledgeable about psychological practices, theories, and foundations, and also have expertise in special education services, learning barriers, behavioral and mental health interventions, academic learning, and family–school collaboration, along with consultation and assessment practices. Consequently, these professionals are in a good position to effectively provide psychoeducation to a wide range of individuals. There are various methods of psychoeducation that can be used, such as disseminating resources and reading materials to teachers and families, meeting individually with families or teachers to provide detailed information about what the student is experiencing, and conducting psychoeducational groups with children and/or their caregivers on a variety of topics related to the child’s academic, behavior, or social-emotional well-being. When examining these methods, it is also important to understand how psychoeducation can be used for a wide range of educational practices that promote student well-being. These include using psychoeducation to increase academic achievement, for the prevention of problem behavior, to increase social-emotional well-being, promote educational practices, and provide professional development for school staff, and to inform educational policies. These psychoeducation practices have been widely used globally to better assist student functioning. Although psychoeducation is a widespread practice, there are still different views on how it should be delivered and questions that have arisen from the research.

Understanding the Needs of Incoming College Freshmen: The Parent Perspective

In the last few years, there has been an increase in reported difficulties related to adjusting to college. While work has been done to analyze how college students perceive themselves related to several domains, such as mental health and physical fitness, there is little research to examine parental perception of college student functioning during the transition into college. Furthermore, there is reason to believe that students may differ in their perceived readiness for college based on their gender and socioeconomic status (SES). Using an anonymous survey, this study examined the extent to which 714 parents of students at the University of Florida perceived their college student as being prepared for university life on the domains of time management, social and emotional functioning, and general life skills. ANOVA analyses were conducted to determine group differences. Overall, significant differences by gender were found, with female students outscoring their male peers in many areas, as reported by their parents. Surprisingly, very few significant differences were found based on SES. Where there were differences, the low SES group outperformed their high SES counterparts. As universities consider the needs of incoming students, they may wish to be more intentional with how they target specific populations.

A Preliminary Investigation of the Reliability and Validity of the BESS-3 Teacher and Student Forms

Universal screening for behavioral and emotional risk is an important part of implementing multi-tiered behavioral supports in schools. The current study adds to our understanding of universal screening by examining teacher and student reports of behavioral and emotional risk. Participants included 73 fourth-grade students and 4 teachers in an urban school in the Midwestern United States. Correlations between the two informants ranged from moderate to large for the overall T-score, internalizing problems, and externalizing/self-regulation problems, but were not significant for personal adjustment/adaptive skills. Furthermore, the Behavioral and Emotional Screening System (BESS) Teacher Form (TF) showed concurrent and predictive validity with academic scores, whereas the BESS Student Form (SF) showed concurrent and predictive validity with measures of school climate. Results of this study indicate that teachers and students may provide unique information regarding student functioning.

School corporal punishment, family tension, and students’ internalizing problems: Evidence from India

There is considerable evidence that parental corporal punishment (CP) is positively associated with children’s behavioral and mental health problems. However, there is very little evidence addressing whether CP perpetrated by teachers or school staff is similarly associated with problematic student functioning. To address this gap in the research literature, data were collected from students in a locale where school CP continues to be widely practiced. Participants were 519 adolescents attending public or private schools in Puducherry, a city in eastern India. Students completed surveys assessing school CP, internalizing problems, social support, and resilience. The results indicated that 62% of the students reported experiencing school CP in the past 12 months, with males and those attending public schools being significantly more likely to report school CP than females and those in private schools. Youth who reported school CP reported more anxiety and depression. That relation was more pronounced in youth who reported family tension. Social support and resilience did not moderate the relations. The findings add to the substantial evidence about negative associations regarding the use of CP but in a new venue—the school, and provide some evidence for the need to change how students are disciplined in schools in India and elsewhere.