Using professional development workshops to support school professionals' capacities to promote students' social, emotional, and behavioral health

Abstract

AbstractThe objective of this study was to evaluate an innovative model for providing high quality professional development workshops (PDWs) in the context of a Learning Collaborative (LC) based intervention to build the capacities of school professionals to promote the social, emotional, and behavioral health of students. Eleven PDWs totaling 27.5 h were facilitated with 10 school‐based teams. Matched pre‐ and post‐surveys were completed by a total of 177 participants across the 10 teams. Results demonstrate significant increases in participants' self‐reported knowledge, skills, and self‐efficacy from pre‐ to post‐participation in each workshop, as well as high ratings of overall satisfaction. LC‐based PDWs, facilitated by school‐based behavioral health (BH) providers, hold promise for enhancing school professionals' capacities to address the critical social, emotional, and behavioral health needs of their students. Implications for administrators, school‐based BH providers, partnering community‐based agencies, and policymakers in sustainably replicating this promising, data‐driven model in schools are discussed.