Supporting Innovative Scalable Approaches to School-Based Mental Health: Development and Innovation Research at the U.S. Department of Education’s Institute of Education Sciences (IES)

Abstract

The Institute of Education Sciences (IES), the research arm of the U.S. Department of Education, is the nation's leading source for rigorous, independent education research, evaluation, and statistics. IES’s National Center for Education Research supports rigorous research that addresses the nation's most pressing education needs from early childhood to adult education. IES’s National Center for Special Education Research supports a comprehensive program of education research designed to expand knowledge and understanding of infants, toddlers, and youth with and at risk for disabilities to improve their developmental, education, transition, and postsecondary outcomes. This paper makes the case that IES Development and Innovation research can support the development of usable, feasible, and affordable approaches (practices, programs, or policies) to help schools meet the mental health needs of their students and staff. The goal of this research is to ensure that school-based interventions are contextually appropriate, implemented with high fidelity, and more likely to produce equitable outcomes than current practice.