Educational intervention research addresses multiple barriers that under-sourced communities face in education. I test three methods to improve education program design and evaluation to develop programs that have substantial and lasting impacts on student outcomes. In my dissertation, I review current challenges to educational program evaluation…

This program model describes the phases of planning, implementing, and evaluating a program designed for Tennessee public schools to manage student behavior in at-risk populations. This program model employs a hybrid asset-based community development, logic, and interactive model to implement interventions based on the principles of applied…

The number of direct support professionals (DSPs) needed to support the increasing numbers of adults diagnosed with autism within the United States continues to grow exponentially. DSPs receive minimal training and often fail to generalize the training they have received, which can directly lead to poor learning outcomes for the adults they serve.…

People have long found comfort and support by interacting and sharing their lives with animals, and from this interest has led to a specific modality in human healthcare called Animal-Assisted Interactions (AAI). One application of AAI in higher education has gained much attention in the past 10 years. University campuses are a setting where…

Severe inequities for underrepresented student groups (URGs) in Science, Technology, Engineering, Mathematics, and Medicine (STEMM) fields has remained a topic of national concern for several decades. Research has demonstrated the efficacy of STEMM intervention programs (SIPs) in addressing disparate STEMM outcomes. However, there is a dearth of…

Rape myths are cultural narratives that are deeply entrenched in societal beliefs about sexual assault (Lonsway & Fitzgerald, 1995). Rape myths with female victims typically suggest the victim "asked for it" while rape myths regarding the sexual assault of men typically deny the existence of male rape. Furthermore, male rape myths…

Adults with disabilities experience disproportionately high rates of stress and stress-related conditions, such as anxiety. Over 1 in 4 adults with intellectual disabilities (ID) has a co-occurring anxiety disorder. For the growing number of young adults with ID pursuing college, there is an increased risk of stress during this transitionary…

Although the education system is beginning to recognize the impact of personal and social contextual factors by incorporating Social and Emotional Learning (SEL), it often neglects the sociocultural contextual factors which are vital to the development of students from marginalized groups. The current training practices of preservice teachers…

Mindfulness research is growing as educators and practitioners place emphasis on social emotional learning (SEL). Evidence supports mindfulness benefits are both physical and mental to include lowering blood pressure, decreased anxiety, increased executive functioning, and increased ability to pay attention. While the benefits of mindfulness…

There is a grave need for additions to the school psychologist's toolbox to support students with intellectual disability (ID) and sexual trauma. These children are especially vulnerable to adverse life experiences overall and are at a particularly high risk of experiencing sexual abuse and resulting trauma. Children with ID are less likely to…

In pursuance of analyzing attendance at Midwest Public Urban School District (a pseudonym), the researcher investigated the high school's truancy intervention program's effectiveness. The research intervention program's goal was to find what worked in the program, what needed to be changed, and how practical the truancy intervention program was.…

Adverse life events and trauma have the potential to devastate college students' lives across all domains of well-being, including physical, emotional, intellectual, spiritual, and social. Thriving despite these challenges requires academic resilience. Physical activity is one well-known strategy to support increased resilience. No research has…

There has been a growing body of research on best approaches to reduce college men's sexual assault perpetration. While some interventions have successfully decreased perpetrator behavior, very few have accounted for college men's pre-intervention likelihood of offending (i.e., risk status). Considering the difficulties in changing high-risk men's…

Adolescence is a time of significant physical, mental, emotional, and social development marked by numerous transitions and challenges. Middle school is one of the earliest and perhaps first times of significant social and physical transition that impacts early adolescent development. As a result, schools are becoming a primary care setting for…

This dissertation explored the effectiveness of a well-researched social skills intervention for adolescents with autism spectrum disorder for ethnically and linguistically diverse families. The UCLA PEERS program (Laugeson et al., 2009; 2012) has largely been studied using predominately White and affluent populations; thus, the study explored…