Introducing the READY Study: DHH Young people's Well-Being and Self-Determination.

READY is a self-report prospective longitudinal study of deaf and hard of hearing (DHH) young people aged 16 to 19 years on entry. Its overarching aim is to explore the risk and protective factors for successful transition to adulthood. This article introduces the cohort of 163 DHH young people, background characteristics and study design. Focusing on self-determination and subjective well-being only, those who completed the assessments in written English (n = 133) score significantly lower than general population comparators. Sociodemographic variables explain very little of the variance in well-being scores; higher levels of self-determination are a predictor of higher levels of well-being, outweighing the influence of any background characteristics. Although women and those who are LGBTQ+ have statistically significantly lower well-being scores, these aspects of their identity are not predictive risk factors. These results add to the case for self-determination interventions to support better well-being amongst DHH young people.

Facilitators and barriers to the provision of therapeutic interventions by school psychologists.

There is growing concern internationally about the prevalence of mental health problems among school-aged children and their access to specialist services. School psychologists (SPs) may be one group of professionals well-positioned to support the well-being of children and young people, due to their position as applied psychologists working within educational settings and their capability to deliver therapeutic interventions. This research considers findings from a large scale, United Kingdom (UK)-wide survey of the views of SPs (N = 455) about facilitators and barriers to the provision of therapeutic interventions to children and young people. Principal Components Analyses of ranked questionnaire responses yielded three components: The role of the SP; training and practice; and support and psychology service context. Quantitative findings were then triangulated, using qualitative responses from the survey. Greater direction and clarification of the role of the SP as a provider of therapeutic interventions is recommended, particularly given the diverse roles undertaken by SPs and competing demands, particularly from assessment activities.

A systematic review of primary school teachers' wellbeing: room for a holistic approach.

Although the investigation of mental health and wellbeing in education has shown an exponential increase on an international scale, attention has primarily been paid to students, leaving the concept of teacher wellbeing comparatively overlooked. Extant literature offers numerous divergent descriptions, with some academics even avoiding an explicit definition of the term. Thus, there are limitations and inconsistencies in understanding teacher wellbeing as a unique construct. The aim of the current study was three-fold; (1) to assess the extent to which existing research reflects the multidimensional nature of the term teacher wellbeing, (2) to determine whether a holistic construct of teacher wellbeing could be justified, and (3) to evaluate the methodological quality of studies identified. A systematic review following the PRISMA statement was applied to peer-reviewed papers published between 2016 and 2021. Following the screening of 1,676 studies, this paper reports on findings drawn from a final sample of 61 articles conceptualizing teacher wellbeing. Studies were organized by their dominant discourses, namely negativity/ deficiency, positivity/ flourishing, and/or professionalism. Findings illustrate that teacher wellbeing was primarily conceptualized with a professionalism approach (with 18 of the identified studies taking solely this perspective). This is not completely consistent with the prior work that focused on stress and burnout (negativity/ deficiency approach) while exploring teachers' mental health and wellbeing. More importantly, there were only 6 studies that considered all three discourses together. This paper argues that important information is lost through neglecting alternative lenses, requiring further attention in order to address teacher wellbeing comprehensively. Such an endeavor is essential for shaping interventions and strategies aimed not only at enhancing teacher wellbeing but also at improving student outcomes and, ultimately, the overall quality of education. Systematic review registration: https://www.crd.york.ac.uk/prospero/display_record.php?ID=CRD42021278549PROSPERO, CRD42021278549.

A cluster randomized controlled trial of the Promoting Alternative Thinking Strategies (PATHS) curriculum.

This randomized controlled trial (RCT) evaluated the efficacy of the Promoting Alternative Thinking Strategies curriculum (PATHS; Kusche & Greenberg, 1994) as a means to improve children's social-emotional competence (assessed via the Social Skills Improvement System (SSIS); Gresham & Elliot, 2008) and mental health outcomes (assessed via the Strengths and Difficulties Questionnaire (SDQ); Goodman, 1997). Forty-five schools in Greater Manchester, England, were randomly assigned to treatment and control groups. Allocation was balanced by proportions of children eligible for free school meals and speaking English as an additional language via minimization. Children (N=4516) aged 7-9years at baseline in the participating schools were the target cohort. During the two-year trial period, teachers of this cohort in schools allocated to the intervention group delivered the PATHS curriculum, while their counterparts in the control group continued their usual provision. Teachers in PATHS schools received initial training and on-going support and assistance from trained coaches. Hierarchical linear modeling of outcome data was undertaken to identify both primary (e.g., for all children) and secondary (e.g., for children classified as "at-risk") intervention effects. A primary effect of the PATHS curriculum was found, demonstrating increases in teacher ratings of changes in children's social-emotional competence. Additionally, secondary effects of PATHS were identified, showing reductions in teacher ratings of emotional symptoms and increases in pro-social behavior and child ratings of engagement among children identified as at-risk at baseline. However, our analyses also identified primary effects favoring the usual provision group, showing reductions in teacher ratings of peer problems and emotional symptoms, and secondary effects demonstrating reductions in teacher ratings of conduct problems and child ratings of co-operation among at-risk children. Effect sizes were small in all cases. These mixed findings suggest that social and emotional learning interventions such as PATHS may not be as efficacious when implemented outside their country of origin and evaluated in independent trials.

Evaluation of the implementation and impact of an integrated prevention model on the academic progress of students with disabilities.

In this paper we report on the implementation and impact of an integrated prevention model (Achievement for All - AfA) to improve the educational experiences and outcomes of students with disabilities. It comprises three inter-related strands: assessment, tracking and intervention; structured conversations with parents; and, developing provision for wider outcomes. Participants were 12,038 students with disabilities from 431 mainstream primary and secondary schools across 10 Local Authorities in England involved in the two-year AfA pilot. Pre- and post-test data on academic attainment in English and Maths were compared with national data on academic progress for students with and without disabilities over an equivalent period of time. School-level contextual and implementation data and student-level socio-demographic and psychosocial data were also collected. Four hypotheses were tested regarding the impact of AfA on academic attainment in English (H1) and Maths (H2); the influence of aspects of the implementation context and processes (H3); and individual differences between students (H4). Our findings are discussed in relation to the identification and validation of critical intervention components and standards for assessing the practical significance of attempts to improve outcomes for students.

Achievement for All: improving psychosocial outcomes for students with special educational needs and disabilities.

Students with special educational needs and disabilities (SEND) are at a greatly increased risk of experiencing poor psychosocial outcomes. Developing effective interventions that address the cause of these outcomes has therefore become a major policy priority in recent years. We report on a national evaluation of the Achievement for All (AfA) programme that was designed to improve outcomes for students with SEND through: (1) academic assessment, tracking and intervention, (2) structured conversations with parents, and (3) developing provision to improve wider outcomes (e.g. positive relationships). Using a quasi-experimental, pre-test-post-test control group design, we assessed the impact of AfA on teacher ratings of the behaviour problems, positive relationships and bullying of students with SEND over an 18-month period. Participants were 4758 students with SEND drawn from 323 schools across England. Our main impact analysis demonstrated that AfA had a significant impact on all three response variables when compared to usual practice. Hierarchical linear modelling of data from the intervention group highlighted a range of school-level contextual factors and implementation activities and student-level individual differences that moderated the impact of AfA on our study outcomes. The implications of our findings are discussed, and study strengths and limitations are noted.