NCT06047041

Implementation Supports for Improving Identification and Delivery of School-based Mental Health Supports for Middle Schools Students

Evidence-Informed Mental Health Prevention, Assessment, Collaboration, and Treatment in Middle Schools

• Status: Recruiting
• Phase: N/A
• Study type: Interventional
• Enrollment: 21,350 (estimated)
• Sponsor: University of Virginia · Academic / Other
• Sex: All
• Age: 10 Years – 99 Years
• Healthy volunteers: Accepted

Summary

This study will assess how different types of training and support influence the way that school staff understand, and respond to, the mental and behavioral health needs of middle school students. Researchers will work with middle schools using a developed screening system (called the Early Identification System; EIS) and compare how staff and student outcomes change when schools receive two different types of training and support: 1) standard onboarding/training versus 2) participating in professional learning communities and coaching.

Detailed description

The "Evidence-Informed Mental health Prevention, Assessment, Collaboration, \& Treatment in Middle Schools" (E-IMPACTS) project will evaluate how different implementation supports promote the ability of school staff to identify, and support, the mental and behavioral health needs of middle school students. The project will involve researchers from the University of Virginia, University of Missouri, and University of South Carolina and middle schools (i.e., grades 6-8) that have elected to use a brief, universal tool, called the Early Identification System (EIS). The EIS assesses mental and behavioral health of students and connects these data to intervention recommendations. The EIS is a fully developed and validated tool that was developed to help school staff to identify, and address, the mental or behavioral health needs in their school building. The EIS system was developed as a low/no cost system to 1) be administered fully online and 2) present school staff with actionable next steps for supporting youth mental health needs. Using a school-level randomized controlled trial (RCT) design, this project will test if/how two different types of implementation support changes 1) the way school staff use EIS recommended practices and 2) student outcomes. Half of schools in the RCT will receive standard implementation supports for using EIS. This treatment condition, called "EIS only", involves the existing technical assistance and on-boarding provided to any school already choosing to use EIS. Schools in the other treatment condition, called EIS+ECHO, will receive additional professional development and implementation support. This will involve participating in 1) online professional learning communities following the "Extension for Community Healthcare Outcomes" (ECHO) model and 2) follow-up coaching. The E-IMPACTS ECHO model (a) connects student support teams (e.g., interdisciplinary groups of school staff) across schools with each other and with content experts (e.g., university faculty specializing in school mental health) to collaboratively problem solve challenges they may be experiencing related to supporting student mental and behavioral health needs, and (b) provides schools with follow-up supports to facilitate the implementation of strategies discussed in ECHO sessions. The purpose of the RCT is to determine the "value-added" of the EIS + ECHO, compared to the EIS alone (EIS Only) in Virginia, Missouri, and South Carolina middle schools located in rural areas or small suburbs/cities (i.e., an active comparison condition). Researchers hypothesize that, relative to EIS Only, the EIS + ECHO condition will be associated with greater improvements in: (a) student emotional/behavioral and academic outcomes, (b) staff knowledge, self-efficacy, and practice outcomes, and (c) school-level implementation outcomes.

Conditions

• Mental Health Issue

Interventions

Type	Name	Description
BEHAVIORAL	EIS Only	The EIS Only Condition includes middle schools who have elected to implement the EIS. The EIS: * Is an online tool to that enables schools to identify students in need of additional mental or behavioral health support and provides recommendations for evidence-based practices. * Asks teachers and students to report on 7 areas of student social-emotional functioning * Facilitates schools' understanding of social-emotional student needs and recommended evidence-based practices at a variety of levels (e.g., school-, grade-, and individual-level). EIS Only Condition supports include: * Technical assistance professional development sessions to support the implementation of EIS and schoolwide practices related to identifying and supporting student mental health needs. * Individualized technical assistance for schools to support EIS implementation.
BEHAVIORAL	EIS + ECHO	EIS + ECHO supports include supports from the EIS Only condition plus: * Monthly ECHO sessions for student support teams (SSTs; e.g., interdisciplinary groups of staff tasked to support student mental health). The ECHO experience involves: * Didactic training to support EIS implementation and effective identification and support of student mental and behavioral health needs. * Case-based learning and collaborative problem-solving related to EIS implementation and effective identification and support of student mental and behavioral health needs. * Collaboration with colleagues in schools that are also implementing the EIS. * Opportunities to consult with university faculty and content experts in school mental health. * Individualized SST coaching supports to facilitate the implementation of mental and behavioral health practices and strategies discussed during ECHO sessions.

Timeline

• Start date: 2023-08-31
• Primary completion: 2026-07-01
• Completion: 2026-07-01
• First posted: 2023-09-21
• Last updated: 2025-06-19

Locations

3 sites across 1 country: United States