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Thomas R. Kratochwill & Elisa Steele Shernoff

July 2004

When it comes to the delivery of mental health services, most people picture a clinical setting. In reality, for children the most common setting is the school. In fact, for many children, school is the only place mental health services are available.

School psychologists, and the psychological and educational interventions they implement, are thus important to the lives of growing numbers of children.

In this context, UW-Madison professor Thomas R. Kratochwill and graduate student colleague Elisa Steele Shernoff emphasize the importance of adopting evidence-based interventions (EBIs) in school practice-that is, interventions whose efficacy is demonstrated by a credible body of scientific work. Among education researchers, the EBI movement has recently gained great momentum, especially with current developments in the fields of psychology, psychiatry, education, and prevention science.

Kratochwill and Shernoff participate in a task force based at UW-Madison that examines the multiple roles that practitioners, researchers, and trainers play as they integrate EBIs in practice. The Task Force on Evidence-Based Interventions in School Psychology was formed to identify, review, and code studies of psychological and educational interventions targeting behavioral, emotional, and academic problems and disorders in school-aged children.

The Task Force aims to improve the quality of research training, to extend knowledge of evaluation criteria for EBIs, and to disseminate this knowledge to the profession of school psychology. An ultimate goal is to promote the use of EBIs in the fields of psychology and education, and specifically in school psychology.

Integrating EBIs in practice

The EBI movement has attracted increasing interest among researchers and practitioners in disseminating and using research-based interventions in practice. Yet using EBIs in practice has raised a new set of challenges. For example, the use of manual-based treatments or procedures may run counter to trainers' and practitioners' philosophical or theoretical beliefs.

Kratochwill and Shernoff point to four issues related to adopting and sustaining EBIs in practice settings:

1. More and more educators and groups are reviewing research with the intent of establishing an evidence base for their work. Although there is some overlap in the coding criteria in use, the diversity of efforts has created challenges for consumers.
   
2. Integrating EBIs into practice is not always well tailored to the realities practitioners face-for example, administrative and practical barriers that are not present in research settings.
   
3. When designing, implementing, and evaluating their own interventions, some psychologists may be more influenced by clinical judgment than by research supporting EBIs.
4. Many psychologists-both trainers and practitioners-lack the training to implement EBIs in their school practice. Teachers are also often involved in implementing interventions in schools, further increasing the complexity of adopting EBIs and meeting training needs.

Graduate training programs in clinical, counseling, and school psychology often promote a view of the school psychologist as a "scientist-practitioner." This is a demanding role in that it requires the school psychologist to bridge the gulf between research and practice. The challenges of adopting EBIs go to the core of traditional problems surrounding the scientist-practitioner model.

Researchers, trainers, and practitioners share responsibility for meeting the challenges posed by the adoption and implementation of EBIs in practice settings. Sharing this responsibility means

1. working together to evaluate the feasibility and effectiveness of EBIs that are integrated into practice and training settings, and
   
2. valuing practitioners' experience with EBIs and their contribution to the scientific knowledge base related to EBI practices.

1. Develop a practice-research network in school psychology.
   
2. Promote an expanded methodology for evidence-based practices that takes into account the implementation of EBIs in practice as well as research contexts.
   
3. Establish guidelines for school psychologists to use in implementing and evaluating EBIs in practice.
   
4. Create professional development opportunities for practitioners, researchers, and trainers.
   
5. Forge a partnership with other professional groups who wish to make more use of EBIs.