Lindsay Fallon, an associate professor of school psychology in the College of Education & Human Development, was awarded a four-year grant of $1,999,991 by the United States Department of Education. The grant, given through the Institute of Education Sciences’ National Center for Special Education Research (NCSER), will fund the development of resources to help educators provide culturally relevant social, emotional, and behavioral supports in the classroom.
As the principal investigator of the project titled “Advancing Equity in the Implementation of Comprehensive Behavioral Health Supports for Youth with or at Risk for Disabilities,” Fallon will collaborate with Assistant Professor Brian Daniels of UMass Boston, Associate Professor Tamika La Salle-Finley of Georgia State University, and Professor Jennifer Greif Green of Boston University as co-principal investigators.
The project aims to develop “Advancing Equity” (AE), a training and coaching professional development package that will equip educators to prioritize equity in the design and implementation of schoolwide social, emotional, and behavioral supports for K-12 students. The research team will partner closely with Boston Public Schools’ Behavioral Health Department, an organization dedicated to the Comprehensive Behavioral Health Model for the district.
Fallon highlights the importance of the research, intending to address the disproportional representation of racially and ethnically minoritized youth in special education, specifically noting the overrepresentation of Black youth in categories like emotional disturbance. The project’s goal is to disrupt these trends through tailored professional development resources that train educators on cultivating culturally relevant classroom supports.
By integrating equity considerations into the design and delivery of universal supports, educators can create inclusive and affirming learning environments for all students. The researchers anticipate that this approach will enhance the implementation of culturally responsive behavioral health practices and reduce social-emotional-behavioral risk in schools.
The NCSER funding will support the multi-year research project within the Boston Public School community. The researchers will collect data and analyze the outcomes to further advance knowledge in this field.