Educator readiness to adopt expanded school mental health: Findings and implications for cross-systems approaches

Expanded school mental health (ESMH) professionals routinely partner with schools to provide ESMH services. An improved understanding of educators' perspectives in these partnerships is essential. In fact, these approaches often rely on educators as critical change agents. However, educators have traditionally received little training or preparation in children's mental health (Koller & Bertel, 2006). Existing research identifies the importance of readiness as a key construct for individuals' willingness to adopt innovations. Educators in Missouri (N = 89), Ohio (N = 32), and Kansas (N = 1) completed a 66-item online survey assessing readiness to adopt ESMH approaches, perceptions of stress, teaching self-efficacy, professional support, and students' mental health needs. Hierarchical regression analysis revealed that educator stress, perceptions of students' mental health needs, and teaching self-efficacy were all predictors of educators' readiness to adopt ESMH approaches. These findings could prove relevant to collaborative efforts across systems and help ESMH professionals understand the various factors related to educator readiness.