The purpose of this phenomenological qualitative study was to explore the lived experiences of school counselors who address the mental health needs of students through at least one of the following educational evidenced-based programs: Positive Behavior Intervention and Supports, Response to Intervention, Restorative Practices, and Student Assistance Program. EBPs have evolved as a staple of quality educational programming with a focus on best practices, data, and accountability. Over the past several decades, school counselors have struggled to demonstrate efficiency, accountability, and transparency consistently in counseling outcomes (Generali, Foss-Kelly, & McNamara, 2013). Recent literature in school counseling embraces the movement toward evidenced based practices to urge counselors to demonstrate their capacity for leadership, advocacy, and accountability (Cressey, Whitcomb, McGilvray-Rivet, Morrison, & Shander-Reynolds, 2014; Goodman-Scott, Betters-Bubon, & Donohue, 2015). Six significant themes emerged through data analysis: 1) Cultivating advocacy and leadership skills; 2) Recognizing benefits of EBP integration; 3) Being frontline in mental health as personal-social domain dominates school counselor role; 4) Collaborating and consulting with school and community stakeholders; 5) Needing supportive environment to promote mental wellness; and 6) Navigating EBP implementation challenges. Findings from this study suggest that promoting mental wellness using EBPs is conducive to address the personal social needs of students. Moreover, the school counselor participants indicated that the EBPs reviewed were valuable school reform models as the EBPs address students’ mental health needs. The findings also suggest that school counselors, as key educational stakeholders, should be included in the discourse of EBP advancement, execution, and assessment.

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Research reveals that disciplinary alternative education programs (DAEPs) are growing at an alarming rate. What are schools doing to ensure success for those students who are placed in a DAEP? In this descriptive qualitative research study, I examined how DAEPs can operate at a more effective level in order to provide a restorative environment, resulting in a decreased recidivism rate for troubled youth. In order to achieve this overall objective, the following research questions framed this study RQ1: What are the qualities in a disciplinary alternative education program setting that lead to either success or failure of a DAEP program? RQ2: Why do students continue to commit offenses which lead to multiple assignments in a disciplinary alternative education program? RQ3: How does a disciplinary alternative education program provide a restorative environment for troubled youth in order to decrease recidivism? RQ4: What resources are available to reduce the amount of repeat student assignments to DAEP? Participants were 12 North Texas secondary school students with multiple assignments to DAEPs and 12 North Texas secondary counselors who provide emotional and behavioral supports to these students. The findings indicate there is a high need for the implementation of transitional supports, a high need for consistent and targeted counselor support and resources, a high need to change student behavior, a high need to build positive relationships, and a high need to address the environmental (social) factors that influence behavior.

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The purpose of this study was to expand upon the research with high school principals and leaders of school divisions as they seek to implement the Multi-Tiered Systems of Support (MTSS) framework. Though a significant number of studies have been conducted at the elementary and middle school levels, research at the high school level has lagged (Choi et al., 2019). This study consisted of a survey sent to 251 principals in the Commonwealth of Virginia. The survey return rate was 17%, with a fully completed survey return rate of 10%. The survey consisted of a principal self-assessment of the MTSS framework and of the four elements necessary for the implementation of MTSS: collaborative culture, Response to Intervention (RtI), Positive Behavior Intervention and Supports (PBIS), and social-emotional learning (SEL). The self-assessment section of the survey was followed by a series of Likert scale statements addressing collaborative culture, RtI, PBIS, and SEL. These statements went into specific detail to create a deeper reflection on the school culture by principals. The statements were divided into two parts. The first part addressed potential obstacles within the school culture and the second addressed potential principal actions. The first phase of analysis consisted of a two-tailed t test to compare the mean of the MTSS framework self-assessment to the means of the self-assessments for collaborative culture, RtI, PBIS, and SEL. The second phase was a series of two-tailed t tests to compare the means of collaborative culture, RtI, PBIS, and SEL to the means of the Likert scale statements. The p-value for all but one two-tailed t test performed in the study exceeded the accepted 0.05. The one exception was the mean of the principal self-assessment for SEL compared to the mean of the Likert statements for SEL at 0.03 and N = 25. Beyond conducting the mean analysis, Likert scale ratings for each statement were examined to identify trends and outliers. The implications of the results are that the data from the survey or similar surveys can be useful to principals and leaders of other school divisions to inform professional development, prioritize resources, and implement strategies to improve student performance in both academic and social-emotional learning. / Doctor of Education / Multi-Tiered Systems of Support (MTSS) was part of the Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA) in 2015. Originally focused on literacy, MTSS has evolved into a framework designed to eliminate achievement gaps in academics and in social-emotional learning (SEL) for students. This study was designed to add to the research as it applies to the implementation of MTSS at the high school level. The research at the elementary level, and to a lesser degree at the middle school level, is much more robust than at the high school level. The survey used in this study was based on a literature review that showed there are four elements necessary for the implementation of MTSS: collaborative culture, Response to Intervention (RtI), Positive Behavior Intervention and Supports (PBIS), and SEL. The survey was sent to high school principals in the Commonwealth of Virginia and consisted of five sections. The first section was a principal self-assessment of the readiness of the culture of their school to support the MTSS framework, as well as for collaborative culture, RtI, PBIS, and SEL. The following four sections of the survey included a series of Likert scale statements for each element of implementation (i.e., collaborative culture, RtI, PBIS, and SEL) that addressed obstacles to implementation as well as principal actions to overcome those obstacles. A two-tailed t test was performed to determine whether any of the comparisons of the means were statistically significant. Only one t test, the mean comparison of SEL self-assessment to the mean of the Likert scale statements, was statistically significant with a p-value of 0.03, with the mean of the self-assessment rating higher than the mean of the Likert scale statements. The analysis of the Likert scale statements did show trends and outliers for specific statements for all four elements necessary for the implementation of the MTSS framework (i.e., collaborative culture, RtI, PBIS, and SEL). The data collected along with the literature review, adds to the research on MTSS for high school principals and school division leaders. The data point to implications for principals and leaders of school divisions in terms of professional development, allocation of resources, and areas of focus for closing academic and social-emotional gaps for students.

This work analyses music activities of English-speaking children of pre-school age, attending international schools in Prague, following the British Curricula. The goal of this work is to develop and to validate teaching materials of musical activities, supporting children with different native languages from the language of the teaching material, those in transition period, and those with communication barriers, and to offer concrete implementation strategies for teachers of music in both Czech and international schools. The theoretical part compares Czech and British music curricula for pre-school children. It defines terms such as transition period and describes its course in Czech and international environments. Furthermore, it addresses the role of music during this stage of development and explains the concepts of project-based learning and music integration project. As theoretical underpinning for the practical portion, the work offers detailed discussion of musical factors, syllabic structure both in English and Czech language, and the variations in interpretation of musical fairy tales. The practical part describes the goals, methods, and procedures of the action research focused on the implementation of the musical fairy tale in Czech and English, as well as reflection and evaluation of...