Systems Consultation and Change in Schools: Integrating Implementation Science Into Practice

This book explores the ways in which systems (organizational) consultation may be applied to school roles and functions as part of an overall systems change process. Using an implementation science framework grounded in systems/organizational consultation research, the volume details how school reform or improvement may be facilitated. School-based case studies illustrate the application of implementation science to systems change efforts in schools and districts across the United States. Each case study describes the implementation science steps taken to deliver a school-based innovation at the systems level. The book discusses implementation science theory combined with real-world examples of its use in planning for, implementing, and engaging in ongoing evaluation of a systems change effort.

• Key areas of coverage include:
• Implementation science in educational settings.
• Key stakeholder roles in school-based systems change.
• Implementing and evaluating systems change in schools.
• Teacher-student mediation to reduce conflict and ensure effective school discipline and behavior practices.
• District-level processes and supports for English Language Learners.
• Mental health screening and social-emotional well-being of students.

Systems Consultation and Change in Schools is an essential resource for researchers, professors, and graduate students as well as scientist-practitioners, school-based practitioners, and clinicians across such disciplines as school administration and leadership, school and clinical child psychology, social work, public health, teaching and teacher education, educational policy and practice, and all interrelated fields.

Leah Nellis, Ph.D., is dean of the School of Education at Indiana University Kokomo. In this role, Dr. Nellis leads undergraduate and graduate teacher education programs and educational innovations through an extensive network of PreK-12 school partnerships. She is involved in multiple state-level projects and grants, including the Indiana Center for Teacher Quality, a state professional development grant, Indiana Special Education Disproportionality Monitoring and Technical Assistance, and Teacher Residency Programs. Dr. Nellis works with PreK-12 schools to support strategic planning and improvement, special education programming and delivery, social-emotional wellness programs, and assessment practices. She previously worked at Indiana State University as the Director of the Blumberg Center for Interdisciplinary Studies in Special Education and was the program director of the school psychology doctoral program. Dr. Nellis has worked as a school psychologist, special education coordinator, and school psychology graduate educator in Indiana, Kentucky, and Arizona. She is a licensed school psychologist in Indiana and holds the National Certification in School Psychology. She is active in professional association leadership at the state and national level including the Indiana Association of Colleges of Teacher Education (IACTE) and the National Association of School Psychologists (NASP).

Pamela Fenning, Ph.D., ABPP, is a professor and associate dean of research at Loyola University Chicago, and a licensed clinical and school psychologist in Illinois. She is board certified in School Psychology. Her research and clinical work focus on multitiered academic and behavioral interventions at the high school level, systems level interventions, disproportionality by race/ethnicity, disability in school discipline policy and practice, evaluation of alternative to suspension programs, high-risk behaviors of adolescents, competency training in school psychology professional preparation programs and support of military families. Dr. Fenning has published widely in the area of school discipline and alternatives to suspension and expulsion. She currently serves as the co-director of the School Psychology graduate program and is on the NASP Program Approval Board.