Mental Health Screening at School : Instrumentation, Implementation, and Critical Issues

This volume examines the use of prediagnostic mental health screening as part of preventive services in primary and secondary schools. It presents the theory underlying mental health screening for children and the obstacles against its widespread implementation. Empirical findings illustrate the potential of schools as the platform for mental and general health services. The authors contribute their own experiences to provide real-world perspectives and establish future directions for research and practice on mental health screening in schools.

Featured topics include:

• Rationales for comprehensive mental health screening in schools.
• Evaluations of widely used assessment instruments for suitability with children and youth.
• An analysis of mental health screening in a Response to Intervention framework.
• The multiple-gate approach to screening and service delivery.
• Benefits and challenges of screening in educational settings.
• Current and emerging issues in the field.

Mental Health Screening at School is a valuable resource for clinicians and scientist-practitioners, researchers, and graduate students in school psychology, social work, special education, and school counseling, as well as school principals and administrators.

Meghan C. Stiffler, Ph.D., is currently a licensed psychologist in the State of Texas. She has received numerous recognitions for her academic accomplishments. She was awarded the prestigious Presidential Fellowship to obtain her doctoral degree in Educational Psychology at the University of Georgia, where she conducted four years of research, with Professor Randy W. Kamphaus, on school-based mental health screening. She has quickly become a recognized expert on this topic because of her journal articles and many presentations on screening issues such as the use of multiple informants and multiple gates in universal screening programs. She previously worked as a school psychologist with Cypress Fairbanks Independent School District in Houston, Texas for three years. 

Bridget V. Dever, Ph.D., is an Assistant Professor of School Psychology at Lehigh University. Dr. Dever graduated from the University of Michigan in 2009 with a Ph.D. from the Combined Program in Education and Psychology. Her research interests include behavioral, emotional and academic risk, promoting educational resilience, and achievement motivation among at-risk students. Her work includes peer-reviewed publications in Journal of School Psychology, Psychological Assessment, Journal of Psychoeducational Assessment, Contemporary Educational Psychology, Prevention Science and School Psychology Quarterly, several book chapters and over fifty scholarly presentations. Dr. Dever has expertise in universal screening data collection, management, analysis and synthesis from her work on several large-scale school-based research programs, including the coordination of a three-year universal screening program that included more than 8,000 students.