Did you know? More than one of every five students have, or are at risk for, an emotional or behavioral disorder, such as depression or ADHD. Additionally, research suggests many students may also face certain stressors, trauma or other problems in their daily lives, which can adversely affect a student’s learning, ability to focus on schoolwork and engage with their school community.
In fact, when a student is showing academic challenges or behavior problems at school, they may be dealing with a larger underlying issue. However, many educators may not be aware such risks and challenges are facing their students.
That is why SRI International’s Student Behavior Research Team, which studies the emotional, social and behavioral issues that are critical for students’ well-being and success in school, has launched a new Student Behavior Blog. The team shares their research findings, lessons learned, tips, strategies and interview insights with education stakeholders on the blog to help create a supportive and safe academic environment for students, educators and caregivers.
The goal is to help educators, administrators, school social workers, counselors, parents/caregivers, students and other researchers learn about evidence-based practices that ultimately support all students’ positive behavior, mental health and well-being.
How It Works: Conducting the Student Behavior Research
Because students spend a lot of time at school interacting with a range of adults, peers and environments, classrooms and schools are ideal places to facilitate powerful and robust changes. As such, our SRI Education Student Behavior Research Team conducts evaluations of a variety of school-wide and classroom-based programs nationwide that promote positive school climate, appropriate behavior, and student well-being.
In order to do this efficiently, effectively and in culturally competent ways, they build strong and lasting partnerships with school administrators, teachers, program developers and mental health practitioners. These partnerships are critical to ensuring that we focus on high-priority issues and develop practical solutions that meet the needs of students.
The team also has access to additional knowledge from the unique research capacitiesof colleagues at SRI International, with scientists exploring the use of artificial intelligence, robotics, information technology, health sciences and other tools and therapies that can be applied to the educational arena to explore innovations in improving student outcomes.
The Student Behavior Research Team has deep experience conducting evaluations of school-based behavior interventions in PreK–12 through post-secondary school environments, and has been awarded contracts from local communities, foundations, state agencies and federal government agencies, including the Institute of Education Sciences (IES), Office of Innovation and Improvement, the Office of Special Education Programs (OSEP) in the U.S. Department of Education and the National Institute of Justice (NIJ) in the U.S. Department of Justice.
Join Our Efforts to Promote Positive Learning Environments
Creating supportive environments and policies that enhance protective factors and improve academic performanceis a collaborative effort, and we are always looking for partners. We work closely with dozens of school district leaders and teachers, intervention developers, other researchers and funders, and we would love to add you to the team!
Whether you’re a school leader or teacher, an intervention developer or a funder looking to invest in effective behavior management and socioemotional interventions, the blog will offer a variety of insights to create a supportive and engaging academic experience for students.
We are excited to share many lessons learned from our Student Behavior Research Team’s years of work and resources for supporting effective behavior management and social-emotional learning for students, and interviews with educators and experts.
We hope that you will follow along on the Student Behavior Blog, share helpful posts with your networks, and we always welcome contributions to the discussion.
If you are interested in learning more, we would love to hear from you. Reach out at: studentbehaviorblog@sri.com.