Recruiting

Observational Study

Sponsor:

University of Virginia

Code:

NCT06047041

Conditions

Mental Health Issue

Eligibility Criteria

Sex: All

Age: 10 - 70+

Healthy Volunteers: Accepted

Interventions

EIS Only

EIS + ECHO

Study Details

Brief summary:

This study will assess how different types of training and support influence the way that school staff understand, and respond to, the mental and behavioral health needs of middle school students. Researchers will work with middle schools using a developed screening system (called the Early Identification System; EIS) and compare how staff and student outcomes change when schools receive two different types of training and support: 1) standard onboarding/training versus 2) participating in professional learning communities and coaching.

Conditions

Mental Health Issue

Study ID

NCT06047041

Start date

Aug 31, 2023

Status verified date

Mar, 2025

Completion date

Jul, 2026

Anticipated

Primary completion date

Jul 1, 2026

Anticipated

Eligibility Criteria

Eligibility Criteria

Sex: All

Age: 10 - 70+

Healthy Volunteers: Accepted

Inclusion Criteria:

  • Public middle schools (must include grades 6-8) planning to implement the EIS
  • Located in rural areas, towns, \& suburbs / cities (NCES locales)
  • All children attending the schools and staff employed by the schools are eligible for inclusion

Exclusion Criteria:

  • Previous use of EIS (i.e., use of all screening data and intervention hub)
  • <70% response rate on pre-intervention implementation of EIS

Study Design

Enrollment

21350 participants

Anticipated

Allocation

Randomized

Intervention Model

Parallel Assignment

Primary purpose

Prevention

Interventions and Outcome Measures

Arms

active comparator: EIS Only

EIS Only (active comparator) condition schools involve technical assistance to support the implementation EIS.

experimental: EIS + ECHO

EIS + ECHO (experimental) condition involves all of the activities included in the "EIS Only" condition and will include enhanced implementation supports. Enhanced implementation supports involve 1) monthly collaborative learning ECHO sessions for school student support team staff to support implementation of EIS and evidence-based mental and behavioral health practices and 2) individual school teams will also receive follow-up supports to promote the implementation strategies presented during ECHO sessions.

Interventions

EIS Only

The EIS Only Condition includes middle schools who have elected to implement the EIS. The EIS:

  • Is an online tool to that enables schools to identify students in need of additional mental or behavioral health support and provides recommendations for evidence-based practices.
  • Asks teachers and students to report on 7 areas of student social-emotional functioning
  • Facilitates schools' understanding of social-emotional student needs and recommended evidence-based practices at a variety of levels (e.g., school-, grade-, and individual-level).

EIS Only Condition supports include:

  • Technical assistance professional development sessions to support the implementation of EIS and schoolwide practices related to identifying and supporting student mental health needs.
  • Individualized technical assistance for schools to support EIS implementation.

EIS + ECHO

EIS + ECHO supports include supports from the EIS Only condition plus:

  • Monthly ECHO sessions for student support teams (SSTs; e.g., interdisciplinary groups of staff tasked to support student mental health). The ECHO experience involves:

  • Didactic training to support EIS implementation and effective identification and support of student mental and behavioral health needs.
  • Case-based learning and collaborative problem-solving related to EIS implementation and effective identification and support of student mental and behavioral health needs.
  • Collaboration with colleagues in schools that are also implementing the EIS.
  • Opportunities to consult with university faculty and content experts in school mental health.
  • Individualized SST coaching supports to facilitate the implementation of mental and behavioral health practices and strategies discussed during ECHO sessions.

Primary outcome measure

  • Change in youth mental health measured by the Early identification System [ Time Frame: 2 time points (over 9 months) ]
  • Change in staff knowledge of evidence-based school mental health practices as measured by the Perceptions of Response To Intervention Skills Survey [ Time Frame: 2 time points (over 9 months) ]
  • Change in staff behaviors of evidence-based school mental health practices as measured by the Perceptions of Practices Survey [ Time Frame: 2 time points (over 9 months) ]
  • Change in staff burnout as measured by the Maslach Burnout Inventory [ Time Frame: 2 time points (over 9 months) ]
  • Change in schoolwide school mental health implementation outcomes as measured by the School-wide Evaluation Tool [ Time Frame: 2 time points (over 9 months) ]
  • Change in schoolwide school mental health implementation outcomes as measured by the Individual School-wide Evaluation Tool [ Time Frame: 2 time points (over 9 months) ]

Central Contacts and Locations

Central contacts

Michael D Lyons, Ph.D.

434-924-0790mdl8s@virginia.edu

Faith A Zabek, Ph.D.

434-243-4726tak9uz@virginia.edu

Locations

University of Missouri

Recruiting

Columbia, Missouri, United States, 65211

Contacts

Keith C Herman, Ph.D.

573-884-2419hermanke@missouri.edu

University of South Carolina

Recruiting

Columbia, South Carolina, United States, 29208

Contacts

Samuel D. McQuillin, Ph.D.

803-777-6725mcquills@mailbox.sc.edu

University of Virginia

Recruiting

Charlottesville, Virginia, United States, 22904

Contacts

Michael D Lyons, Ph.D.

434-924-0790mdl8s@virginia.edu

More Information

Sponsor

University of Virginia

Last update posted

Jun 19, 2025

Last verified

Mar, 2025

Keywords

  • Schools
  • Adolescent Health

Trial information was received from ClinicalTrials.gov and was last updated on 2026-09-09. This information was provided to ClinicalTrials.gov by University of Virginia on 2025-06-19.