Research Projects

My research focuses on identifying and evaluating innovative and actionable strategies for supporting student mental health and promoting mental health equity.

I work toward this goal through two primary lines of research:

Improving universal mental health screening measures and processes.
Advancing school mental health practice using implementation science frameworks and methods.

You can find more information about these lines of research and my current or recent projects in the sections below.

Improving Universal Mental Health Screening Measures & Processes

Systematic assessment processes, like universal mental health screening (UMHS), that identify school-level and individual student strengths and needs guide service provision within MTSS and, ultimately, can reduce gaps in access to care. My work in this area:

Evaluates the psychometric properties of rating scales for use in UMHS (e.g., Moore, Dowdy, Fleury, et al., 2022; Moore et al., 2017)
Examines methods for classifying youths’ mental health (Moore et al., 2019a, b),
Details contemporary frameworks for UMHS that are strength-based (Moore et al., 2015) and equity-centered (Moore et al., 2023).

See information about two recent projects below.

Universal Mental Health Screening of Children and Youth: A Landscape Analysis for the Mental Health Services Oversight and Accountability Commission

In collaboration with colleagues from University of California San Francisco and WestEd, our team synthesized research on UMHS and conducted a landscape analysis to understand UMHS policies and practices for children and youth in California. We summarized results of a literature review, statewide survey, and community engagement activiteis (e.g., listening sessions, public meetings, interviews) in a report that was submitted to the Commission and CA legislature. To learn more about this work, visit the Commision's project webpage.

Phase 1 Literature Review Report

Phase 2 Landscape Analysis Report

A Systematic Review of Universal Screening Measures for Social, Emotional, and Behavioral Strengths and Concerns

The primary aim of this sytematic review of the universal screening literature (2000– 2025) is to describe the state of the available social-emotional and/or behavioral screening tools for PreK-grade 12 populations. Specifically, our multi-university team is working to summarize the status of the psychometric evidence of available tools and is investigating the extent to which there is evidence that these tools are appropraite for use with historically marginalized and racially/ethnically minoritized student populations.

Reducing the Research to Practice Gap in School Mental Health

Although researchers have developed and investigated a wide range of evidence-based practices (EBPs) to support students’ social, emotional, behavioral, and mental health across MTSS tiers (Sanetti & Collier-Meek, 2019), these EBPs, are rarely successfully installed in practice. My work leverages implementation science to strategically bridge these implementation gaps for UMHS as well as school mental health and school psychological service delivery.

Implementation of Universal Mental Health Screening

Working to Increase the Implementation of School-Based Universal Mental Health Screening

This mixed methods study examined implementation of social, emotional, behavioral screening practices in schools and districts in CA. We sought to:

Describe universal screening practices used by schools and districts in CA,
Examine barriers and facilitators of universal SEB screening implementation, and
Identify strategies that schools and districts have employed to overcome prominent implementation roadblocks.

This work was funded by a University of California Regents Facutly Fellowship. Analysis of project data are ongoing.

With support of Project Cal-Well, our team developed a Research Brief summarizing key findings.

Research Brief

Implementation Strategies to Address Barriers to Universal Mental Health Screening: An Expert Panel Study

Funded by an Early Career Scholar Award from the Society for the Study of School Psychology, this project used established expert panel methods to identify school-based implementation strategies that address barriers specific to UMHS implementation. Three expert panels (school mental health providers; school leaders; researchers) completed two-rounds of modified Delphi surveys. Afterwards, a subset of experts completed interviews to develop hypotheses about how strategies operate. Results inform which strategies may best address UMHS-specific barriers, and propose potential mechanisms of strategy effectiveness.

The first phase of this study was recently published in the Journal of School Psychology. Analysis of the interviews is ongoing.

Co-Designing a Toolkit to Support Implementation of Universal Mental Health Screening in Schools

Funded by a Regents Faculty Development award, this project will co-design a blueprint for an innovative toolkit that will guide school-based users to select and apply implementation strategies in support of UMHS. To develop a usable and effective toolkit, this study’s co-design approach intentionally involves small groups of end users and integrates their knowledge, experience, and contributions. The blueprint will comprise specifications that translate prior research and stakeholders’ perspectives into the toolkit’s core features, content, and format.

Data collection is slated to begin during the 2026-2027 academic year.

School Mental Health and School Psychological Service Delivery

I also foucus on understanding factors affecting school-based service delivery and on identifying strategies to improve the uptake of effective practices.

Core Components and Implementation Determinants of Multi-Level Service Delivery Frameworks

Multilevel service delivery frameworks are approaches to structuring and organizing a spectrum of evidence-based services and supports, focused on assessment, prevention, and intervention designed for the local context. Exemplar frameworks in child mental health include positive behavioral interventions and supports in education, collaborative care in primary care, and systems of care in community mental health settings. This work proposed a conceptual foundation for multilevel service delivery frameworks spanning diverse mental health service settings that can inform development of strategic implementation supports. We identified core components of these frameworks that span child mental health service settings as well as implementation determinants that interface with each component. For more information, see Moore et al. (2024).

Investigating the Organizational Implemenation Context for School-Based Service Delivery

In two studies, my colleagues and I examined school leader's perceptions of the organizational context (culture, climate, leadership) for evidence-based practice implementation.

Moore et al. (2021) examined the organizational context for implementationa cross general and special education settings. We found variability in leaders’ perceptions based on their role and leadership behaviors, signaling that organizational- and leadership-focused supports may be pertinent for improving school-based practice.

In another study (Moore et al., 2024), we sought to understand factors that support or hinder teachers in doing interventions, especially for students receiving special education, and to determine which implementation strategies school leaers think are the most important and feasible in schools.

Together, findings indicated that organizational- and leadership-focused supports may be pertinent for improving school-based practice.

Specifying and Reporting Implementation Strategies Used in a School-Based Prevention Efficacy Trial

Moore, Arnold, et al. (2021) identified and described the implementation strategies used during a large school-based research trial of a universal trauma-informed prevention program delivered by a university research team, community members, and school staff. This study demonstrated the importance of identifying and tracking implementation strategy use during the early stages of intervention research to facilitate the translational research process, such as by designing interventions with future implementation in mind.

Page updated

Google Sites

Report abuse