Resilient Playgrounds (School-Based Practice in Action)

While recess provides children with a time to play and take a break from the school day, research has shown that it is also a necessary and vital part of their social, emotional, and academic development. This book provides tools and strategies for school mental health professionals, teachers, and administrators to evaluate and improve the recess experience in order to ensure that children benefit as much as possible from this important time. Using a data-based problem solving strategy, the author presents methods for assessing playgrounds, identifying features that may negatively impact students and their social interactions, intervening to modify and strengthen these features, and monitoring to guarantee that the interventions have created successful outcomes. An accompanying CD contains forms, examples, PowerPoint presentations, and other resources to support the procedures discussed throughout the book.

Dr. Beth Doll is a Professor in the School Psychology Program of the University of Nebraska at Lincoln. She is Nebraska’s School Psychologist of the Year in 2005, serves on the editorial board of all three major school psychology journals, is an Associate Editor of School Psychology Quarterly, and has served as an officer or president of three state school psychology associations as well as Division 16 (School Psychology) of the American Psychological Association.

Dr. Katherine Brehm is a long-time practitioner of school psychology. She is currently a school psychologist with the Ysleta School District in El Paso, Texas, where she provides consultation services in inclusive classrooms to enhance the social-emotional functioning of students with learning and behavior problems. She was also a practicing school psychologist for sixteen years in Colorado, where she was School Psychologist of the Year in 2001, a guest reviewer for a major school psychology journal, and a board member of the school psychology associations in Colorado and Texas.