Research and Evaluation

The CSMH is involved in school mental health research and evaluation related to several projects and initiatives.  The research and evaluation components and the role of the CSMH for each project is highlighted below. 

• Anne Arundel School Mental Health Initiative
With regard to evaluation this project will consider the impact of the provision of school-based mental health services on the following factors for individual students:  school and behavioral functioning, number of children referred to and placed in highly restrictive settings, attendance and graduation rates for students with emotional disturbance, behavioral sanctions/suspensions, and system cost savings.

Click here for more information about the Anne Arundel School Mental Health Initiative.

• Center for Adolescent Research in Schools (CARS)
The CARS project is a five-year initiative funded by the Institute of Educational Sciences.  Housed in Lehigh University under the supervision of Dr. Lee Kern, the Center for Adolescent Research in Schools aims to explore effective school-based services and accommodations for students with severe emotional disturbances. Key staff attached to the project include: Lee Kern, PhD (PI, Lehigh University), Steven W. Evans, PhD (co-PI, James Madison University), Tim Lewis, PhD (co- PI, University of Missouri), and Mark Weist, PhD (University of Maryland). In its first two years (Fall 2008-Spring 2010), CARS staff will engage in various assessments aimed at understanding youth with emotional disturbances, including:  examining decisions leading to external restrictive placements, identifying appropriate accommodations, racial socialization among African-American youth, examining host environment, examining psychometric properties of the Classroom Performance Survey, mental health intervention evaluation, examining teacher-student interactions

During the Fall of 2010-Spring 2013, interventions will be administered to high-school students with emotional disturbances, and assessed for efficacy.

The Center for School Mental Health (CSMH), under the supervision of Dr. Mark Weist, is presently involved in several sub-projects of the grant, including an examination of federal and state-level classification of students with emotional and behavioral disorders, an assessment of school characteristics, and an analysis of the impact of educator stress on student outcomes. The CSMH will assist with the development and refinement of the intervention packages from Fall 2008 – Summer 2010, and, in the Fall of 2010 – Spring 2013, engage in the intervention administration and data collection process in the schools.

Click here for more information about the CARS project.

• Calverton Elementary/Middle School Mental Health Initiative (Funded by the Open Society Institute, Baltimore)
This project seeks to reduce suspension and expulsions in a Baltimore City School designated as “Persistently Dangerous.” In addition to providing a full continuum of mental health services (including individual, group, and family therapy, consultation, and prevention programming), the project has a focus on improving school climate, particularly as it relates to safety, connectedness, and warmth.  The project, locally called 1100 Peace, includes a mediation program and a restorative justice component for students who have been suspended.  Data collected include: school climate summary data, social-emotional-behavioral survey data for students seen four or more times, grades, attendance, academic promotion, and satisfaction and impact data related to the mediation and restorative justice programs. 
(Click here for more information about the mediation and restorative justice materials used within this project.)

Click here for more information about the Calverton Elementary/Middle School Mental Health Initiative.
Click here for a PowerPoint Presentation related to the project from the 13^th Annual Conference on Advancing School Mental Health.

• School Mental Health Capacity Building Partnership (SMH-CBP-NASBHC)
The CSMH is partnering with the National Assembly on School-Based Health Care (NASBHC), the Center for School-Based Mental Health Programs at Miami University in Ohio, the Center for Advancement of Mental Health Practices in Schools at the University of Missouri-Columbia, and the Federation of Families of Palm Beach County, Inc.  In May of 2006, NASBHC received a five-year cooperative agreement with the Center for Disease Control's (CDC) Division of Adolescent Health (DASH) to build capacity of state and local education agencies to provide effective and sustainable school mental health services to young people. The aim of this initiative is to disseminate model mental health policies, programs, and services to education agencies in order to improve access to high quality, school-based mental health services.

The CSMH has helped to lead stakeholder focus groups and to help analyze data for this project.

• Excellence in School Mental Health Initiative (Funded by the Association of Baltimore Area Grantmakers)
This project seeks to improve and implement evidence-based positive learning strategies and school cohesion within two Baltimore City elementary/middle schools, Patapsco (#163) and Bay-Brook (#124). The child intervention components are the Paths to PAX curriculum, a school-based intervention aimed at enhancing school climate through the use of positive language and positive coping strategies; Coping Power, which is a multi-session child group that educates students on: short and long term goals, organizational and study skills, social skills, problem solving skills, the ability to resist peer pressure and gaining successful entry into positive peer groups; and Incredible Years, a prevention program aimed at increasing student emotional intelligence through education on identifying feelings, social competence, anger management, and problem solving. The school staff and clinicians also hold regular social events for parents to encourage positive social interaction and school connectedness.

Program success is being evaluated through end-of-the-year aggregate data on student office referrals, student suspensions for behavioral problems, attendance data, student lateness, grades in core academic subjects, reports of student behavior, and student Psychosocial Environment Profile, reports of student behavior, school adjustment and academic performance will be evaluated through the annual end-of-year recording of aggregate data on student office referrals and school suspensions for behavioral problems, student attendance, student lateness, and grades in core academic subjects.

Click here for information about the Excellence in School Mental Health Initiative.

• International Alliance for Child and Adolescent Mental Health and Schools (INTERCAMHS)
INTERCAMHS recently partnered with the CSMH on an international survey of principals’ views on the impact and importance of mental health on students and school staff. The survey, administered to educational administrators in 2008, revealed that principals across various countries and continents agree that student mental health is an area of importance and necessitates staff and administrator attention. For additional information on the survey, please contact Christianna Andrews (Project Coordinator) at candrews@psych.umaryland.edu

• Maryland Statewide School Mental Health Survey
In April 2008, an online survey was distributed to Directors of Student Services and were completed in collaboration with Directors of Special Education and Core Service Agency Directors in each of the 24 jurisdictions in Maryland. Content areas addressed include: evidence-based programs implemented, staffing of mental health personnel (school-hired, school-based community providers, community providers), family involvement, formal collaboration guidelines with child welfare and juvenile services, and funding sources. Research staff is presently compiling results for broader dissemination. 

Click here for a copy of the Maryland Statewide School Mental Health Survey.

• National Expanded School Mental Health Survey
This survey disseminated broadly in the fall of 2007 surveyed ESMH programs on numerous dimensions including: staff composition (demographics and professional field), geographic area served, demographics of students served, funding, evidence-based practices and programs.  Findings from the survey will be posted on this website by August 2009. 

Click here for a copy of the National Expanded School Mental Health Survey.

• Prince George’s School Mental Health Initiative
The PGSMHI aims to provide quality school-based services for students receiving special education services for emotional and/or behavior disorders. The goals of the initiative are to provide an integrated model of mental health services in the least restrictive setting using a cost-effective framework for service administration. An ancillary goal of the initiative is to reduce the number of cost-intensive alternative and non-public placements for students with emotional/behavior disorders. Evaluations of program efficacy involve a thorough analysis of end-of-the year data on: the number of students referred to and seen by PGSMHI staff, the length of the sessions with the clinician, the number of out-of-school placements, and the length of out-of-school placements.  The program is evaluated in relation to diverting costs for students who would otherwise need more intensive non-public placements. 

Click here for more information about the Prince George's School Mental Health Initiative.

• Quality and Evidence-Based Practice
The CSMH has a long history of advancing quality assessment and improvement in school mental health, including a focus on evidence-based practice.  Through a research project (R01-MH71015-01A1) led by Mark Weist, Ph.D. the CSMH worked in three states (Maryland, Delaware, and Texas) on a formative evaluation assessing proximal impacts on quality of clinician services and implementation of EBPs, as well as distal impacts on student level outcomes. Resources, including the School Mental Health Quality Assessment Questionnaire, PowerPoints related to advancing Indicators, a Resource Manual, PowerPoints related to advancing Evidence-Based Practice for Four Key Disorders, a Practical CBT Guide, and more can be found. 

Currently the CSMH is helping to lead the Quality and Evidence-Based Practice Group of the National Community of Practice on School Behavioral Health. Through this practice group there are a series of brief surveys to engage stakeholders in a dialogue about barriers to the implementation of evidence-based mental health practices in schools. The survey inquires about experiences with barriers to implementing effective mental health practices in schools. The CSMH is compiling the responses and will generate a summary document for dissemination. 

The CSMH is also working collaboratively with the National Assembly on School-Based Health Care to advance quality in school mental health.  The CSMH faculty has collaborated with the NASBHC to develop the MH-PET and is participating in key workgroups to facilitate the advancement of this work, including the Mental Health and Quality Improvement Workgroup.