Martin Karlberg

Background: Early Absenteeism Guide for Lifelong Education (EAGLE) is an early, school-based intervention designed to help school personnel address emerging school absenteeism. EAGLE aims to support early identification, strengthen school–parent collaboration, and guide parents in managing school attendance through a holistic assessment framework. Objective: This qualitative exploratory study investigates parents' experiences of participating in the EAGLE intervention, focusing on their collaboration with school staff and the perceived utility of the intervention components. Methods: Semi-structured interviews were conducted with parents (N = 10) of children in preschool through third grade with 10–60% absenteeism. Data were analyzed using a codebook thematic analysis approach, guided by predefined research questions focusing on parental expectations, experiences, and areas for improvement regarding EAGLE. Results: Many parents initially reported strained relationships with schools, characterized by mistrust and poor communication, leading to skepticism toward the intervention. However, participation in EAGLE fostered a positive shift for most parents. Clear communication, feeling heard, and the involvement of the school psychologist as a neutral, structured facilitator were crucial in building trust and shared responsibility. Conversely, parents experienced frustration and a loss of trust when schools failed to implement agreed-upon measures or when the intervention period felt too short. Conclusion: The EAGLE intervention may support school–parent relationships through transparent and respectful communication. Findings highlight the importance of organizational coordination and continuity to sustain parental engagement in early preventive efforts addressing school attendance problems.

This study explored staff perceptions of the feasibility of the Check-in/Check-Out (CICO) program in Swedish schools. Semi-structured interviews were conducted with 15 school professionals who had at least six months of experience implementing CICO. Data were analyzed using deductive qualitative content analysis grounded in two dimensions of feasibility: practicality and integration. The analysis resulted in five themes under practicality and three themes under integration. Teaming structures for collaboration and foundational competence in positive behavior support emerged as two key findings related to staff perceptions of feasibility. The findings provide insights into the contextual fit of the CICO program in Swedish schools and highlight directions for future research and implementation.

This study explores factors influencing the implementation fidelity of the School-Wide Positive Behavior Interventions and Supports (SWPBIS) program, adapted as Inclusive Behavioral Support in Schools (IBIS) in Sweden. The objective was to investigate how classroom climate, student problem behaviors, and collective teacher efficacy relate to the program’s implementation fidelity across 23 Swedish schools. A total of 653 school personnel participated, completing surveys on classroom climate, problem behaviors, and collective efficacy. The Benchmark of Quality (BoQ) was used to assess implementation fidelity after seven months. Chi-square analyses revealed no significant association between program fidelity and student problem behaviors at either the classroom or school level. Similarly, no significant relationship was found with collective teacher efficacy. Interestingly, a significant association emerged between poor classroom climate at baseline and higher implementation fidelity, suggesting that schools facing greater challenges may engage more rigorously with the program to address pressing issues. These findings underscore the complexity of implementation processes and highlight the importance of contextual factors, particularly classroom climate, in influencing the successful adoption of evidence-based interventions in educational settings. These findings provide valuable insights for educators and policymakers, emphasizing the need to consider classroom climate when implementing evidence-based interventions like SWPBIS, ultimately supporting more effective and sustainable positive behavior programs in schools.

Background: While positive school climate is important for students’ well-being and mental health, school personnel may experience challenges in creating a nurturing school climate. School-Wide Positive Behavioral Interventions and Supports (SW-PBIS) has shown positive effects on school climate and children’s prosocial behaviors, but fewer studies have been conducted in a European context. Aim: This project aims to investigate the effectiveness of SW-PBIS program for students’ social-emotional skills and academic achievement as well as teachers’ and students’ perceptions of classroom learning environment. Furthermore, the study intends to evaluate how school-level factors mediate or moderate the effects of the intervention. In addition, the study includes a qualitative evaluation of the dynamic interaction processes that occur during program implementation in local school contexts. Methods: Data on school- and individual-level measures are collected in intervention and control schools. With regard to challenges in retaining control groups over extended time periods, two waves of recruitment are used. In the first wave, an active control group is used and data are collected during three time points. In the second wave, a wait-list control group will be used and data will be collected during two time points during one school year. Hierarchical regression analyses will be conducted to explore the effects of SW-PBIS on the outcomes of the study. An ethno-methodological approach will be applied to provide a detailed examination of the social interactional and meaning-making practices of different school implementation teams, and the negotiation of normative expectations and rules of conduct in peer-teacher-student interactions in different classrooms. Discussion: The study is expected to contribute to knowledge on the effects of the SW-PBIS program and how these effects may be mediated or moderated by school-level factors. Combining quantitative and qualitative methods to explore the significance of school contexts in the implementation of the SW-PBIS program constitutes the strength of the study. The challenge in the study is the extended period of implementation of SW-PBIS, which entails difficulties in retaining a control group over the required time period. Therefore, two waves of recruitment are used, encompassing different procedures of allocation to intervention or control group. Trial registration: ClinicalTrials.gov Identifier: NCT06270914 on the 22nd of February, 2024 (retrospectively registered).

The aim of this study was to evaluate the Collaborative and Proactive Solutions (CPS) intervention in an alternative educational setting for students with behavioural problems. The effect of the CPS intervention on students’ off-task behaviour was studied using a single-subject experimental design that included two students with behavioural problems via systematic direct observations and direct behaviour ratings. The usability of the CPS intervention was investigated through questionnaires and interviews with the participating students and teacher assistant. The results revealed no significant effects of the CPS intervention on students’ off-task behaviour. The students and teacher assistant viewed the CPS intervention as acceptable but the teacher assistant’s ratings of the feasibility of the intervention were lower, together with the ratings of the extent to which the intervention matched the socio-political climate of the educational setting.

While individual and family factors behind students’ school absenteeism are well-researched, fewer studies have addressed school climate factors. This study investigated the association between school climate in Swedish schools and students’ absenteeism. A multi-informant survey of school climate was conducted in 101 schools and analysed in relation to the history of absenteeism of 2770 students attending those schools in the 7th grade at inception, with follow-up until completion of the compulsory school (9th grade). Data on absenteeism was extracted from schools’ registers. Student (but not teacher) positive ratings of school climate were associated with lower absenteeism between the age of 13 and the age of 16. The associations between student rated school climate and absenteeism appeared stronger among students with highly educated parents.

This article reports findings from a larger study aimed at identifying the perceptions of teachers across four municipalities in Sweden on continuing professional development. It focuses on beginning teachersˡ, namely those who are in their first five years of their career. This study has been undertaken amidst growing concern that current models of in-service training in Sweden are not leaving the desired impact on teacher motivation and student achievement; that the teaching profession feels disengaged, disempowered, distrusted. It has been undertaken in a context which is finding it hard to attract teachers into the profession, and one where teacher attrition is high. The responses help to shed light on what the municipalities and teacher education institutions need to focus on in order to support new teachers. Implications are drawn out for schools, municipalities and teacher education institutions as they need to come together to engage in more collaborative ventures to ensure adequate and ongoing support to new teachers.

Longitudinal studies indicate strong associations between school proficiency and indicators of mental health throughout adulthood, but the mechanisms of such associations are not fully elucidated. The Kupol study is a prospective cohort study in Sweden set up in order to: (i) describe the association of school pedagogic and social environment and its specific dimensions with the risk of mental ill-health and psychiatric disorders in adolescence; (ii) evaluate the direct effects of school pedagogic and social environment on mental health and the effects mediated by the individual’s academic achievements; and (iii) assess if school pedagogic and social environment are associated with mental ill-health through epigenetic mechanisms, in particular those involving genes regulating the response to stress. The Kupol cohort at baseline consists of 3959 children attending the 7th grade of compulsory school (13–14 years old) in 8 regions of central Sweden in the school years 2013–2014 or 2014–2015. Three follow-up surveys in subsequent years are planned. Teachers’ and students’ perceptions of the culture, climate and ethos of their schools, and students’ mental ill-health are assessed at the whole school level by annual questionnaire surveys. In order to conduct epigenetic analyses saliva specimens are collected from a nested sample of students at inception and two years later. Further, class-, family- and child-level information is collected at baseline and during each year of follow-up. Self-reported information is being complemented with register data via record-linkages to national and regional health and administrative registers. The topic being investigated is new, and the sample constitutes the largest adolescent cohort in Sweden involved in an ad hoc study. Epigenetic analyses centered on environmental cues to stress response are a thoroughly new approach. Finally a notable feature is the multi-informant and multi-method data collection, with surveys at the school, class, family, and student level. Collaboration and data access: interested investigators should contact the coordinating centre. Additional information is available on the study’s website, http://kupolstudien.se/ .