Sarah M. Stilwell

Technical Assistance (TA) is an essential strategy for supporting organizational growth and aiding implementation of evidence‐based interventions in mission‐driven sectors, including education. While TA is crucial for addressing challenges and improving performance, the field has limited consensus on key features and best practices, particularly in the context of school safety. This paper explores the development, implementation, and application of the Trust‐based, Evidence‐informed, and Adaptive Model for Scalable Technical Assistance (TEAMS‐TA), a comprehensive approach to providing tailored support for organizations, particularly schools, to address complex challenges in school safety. TEAMS‐TA is rooted in data‐driven decision‐making and culturally responsive practices, ensuring that support is customized to meet unique organizational needs and available resources for individual schools, districts, or statewide systems. This model's focus on trauma‐informed approaches, continuous feedback, and collaborative partnerships enhances effectiveness in addressing school safety, particularly for contexts with challenging circumstances. Through a multi‐phase approach integrating proactive and responsive assistance, the model provides comprehensive support from needs assessment to crisis response, fostering long‐term sustainability and capacity building. This paper discusses core model features, school safety applications, and potential for expansion to other sectors. It also identifies future research opportunities, including the effects of TA relationships and alternative frameworks for evaluating success.

Understanding student attitudes toward emergency preparedness drills (“drills”) in response to an active shooter is critical to developing best practices and guidance for schools implementing them. We utilized a national sample of middle and high school students and young adults (N = 1,901) to examine perceptions of school actions when conducting drills including notifications before drills, debriefing, and simulated gunfire. Respondents broadly agreed that drills do not create unnecessary anxiety and should continue to be implemented. Nearly half of respondents reported feeling unprepared in the event of an active shooter, indicating a need to improve drill procedures and training. Debriefing following drills was associated with less drill-related anxiety, feeling more prepared, and taking drills seriously. Notifying before drills and simulating gunshots did not affect responses, especially after controlling for debriefing. Results support more focus on quality debriefing following active shooter drills and that debriefs can have operational and socio-emotional advantages.

Development across childhood and adolescence is fundamentally relational, emerging through repeated interactions between young people and the social environments that shape their everyday experienc...

In an educational climate marked by increasing censorship and the marginalization of historically oppressed communities, fostering critical consciousness (CC) among adolescents is both urgent and necessary. Schools can function as transformative spaces where students critically examine social inequities and work to address them. This systematic review examines how inquiry‐based learning approaches (IBL), specifically Project‐Based Learning (PBL) and Youth Participatory Action Research (YPAR) facilitated adolescents’ engagement in critical action. Grounded in a sociopolitical development framework, the review analyzes how these pedagogies cultivate social analysis, and political agency. Twenty‐five studies (23 YPAR; 2 PBL) were included. Findings indicate that PBL and YPAR foster opportunities for adolescents to interrogate power structures, develop collective strategies, and engage in critical action beyond the classroom. Overall, this review posits IBL as a powerful approach for advancing educational equity and youth empowerment, composed of seven key mechanisms that foster students’ critical action. Through this review, we map specific inquiry‐based strategies that facilitate adolescents’ critical consciousness development from reflection to action within a classroom setting. We emphasize key recommendations for research, practice, and policy.

Background Technology-facilitated anonymous/confidential reporting systems (TFRS; app/text-based helplines) are used statewide in 34/50 states, yet little is known about trends of help-seeking using these systems. Methods Data were 44 998 tips submitted to the statewide TFRS in North Carolina between November 2019 and May 2025. Time series, descriptive and regression analyses were used to characterise overall trends and by specific temporal period (time of day, day of week, month of year) relative to tip severity and tip topic (eg, interpersonal violence, mental health, school attack). Results Between November 2019 and May 2025, TFRS submissions increased, with the most tips submitted in October (monthly mean=1046.0) and March (1001.5), and the fewest in June (100.8) and July (48.0). However, a higher proportion of tips requiring emergency responders was submitted when school was not in session—37.5% of tips submitted in July (monthly mean=18.0) and 29.2% in June (25.2) compared with 14.7% in March (153.3). Submission timing varied by concern: interpersonal violence tips were most common during school hours (8:00–17:00; hourly mean range=0.39–0.79), while school attack and mental health tips peaked in the evening (20:00–22:59, hourly mean range=0.18–0.20; and 20:00–21:59, hourly mean range=0.32–0.34, respectively). Conclusions Greater tipping during times when school is in session likely corresponds to higher rates of risks that are not life-threatening but still important to address (eg, bullying). Despite lower numbers of tips during times school is out of session, those submitted are much more likely to be life-threatening, supporting the importance of systems always being available.

The COVID-19 pandemic significantly disrupted many school-based services, including mental health support. This qualitative study examines the efforts of school professionals from sixteen Michigan high schools participating in a larger trial implementing a mental health evidence-based practice program to continue delivery in response to COVID-19 related school building closures. Nineteen in-depth interviews were carried out between June and October 2021 to understand to what extent and through what mechanisms school professionals modified and continued their mental health service delivery. Findings from thematic analysis reveal heightened responses to changes in student mental health needs through multiple modalities, modification of previous mental health service delivery methods to fit virtual and hybrid context, and shifts in school professional roles while simultaneously managing providers’ personal responses to COVID-19. Themes identified underscore the complexity of sustaining mental health service provision amid school building closures and virtual or hybrid learning environments. While findings highlight challenges related to student accessibility, engagement, and communication, the study also identified unanticipated positive shifts in delivery, including increased service utilization by students who previously did not access school-provided mental health services and, in some schools, increased collaboration with teachers and administrators. Findings illuminate how schools and individuals delivering mental health services respond to crises and can inform the development of strategies to improve the resilience and adaptability of school-based mental health services.

Rising rates of weapon carriage in U.S. K–12 schools threaten the safety and well-being of students, educators, and staff. Despite widespread use of security measures such as metal detectors and law enforcement presence, evidence supporting their effectiveness remains mixed. This scoping review analyzes empirical studies from 2005 to 2025 that evaluate interventions aimed at reducing weapon carriage in U.S. schools. Only two studies met inclusion criteria: one assessing the impact of random mandatory metal detector searches on weapon carriage and student safety perceptions, and another evaluating the Say Something Anonymous Reporting System (SS-ARS) for its potential to prevent firearm-related incidents. While both interventions showed limited positive outcomes, the overall evidence base is weak, and long-term effectiveness is unclear. Moreover, ‘target hardening’ strategies like metal detectors may negatively affect student perceptions of safety, particularly among students of color. Findings highlight the need for more holistic, evidence-based approaches that go beyond physical security. Interventions that emphasize social and emotional learning, mental health support, and positive school climate may better address the root causes of weapon carriage. Future research should focus on evaluating integrated strategies that balance physical safety with psychological well-being to create more supportive and secure school environments.

Suicidality among adolescents is a significant public health issue, with suicide being the second leading cause of death in the 10–14 year-old age group (CDC, 2024). Youth identifying as LGBTQ + (lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and/or questioning/queer), in particular, experience disproportionately high rates of suicidal thoughts and behaviors (STB), often exacerbated by bullying, stigma, discrimination, and lack of support. Research indicates that protective factors, such as supportive adults, inclusive policies, and safe school environments, can reduce the risk of STB. Schools are uniquely positioned to implement suicide prevention strategies, including anti-bullying programs, LGBTQ + curricula, and mental health training for students and staff. This scoping review investigates the landscape of school-based efforts to prevent STB among LGBTQ + youth in K-12 schools over the past three decades (1994–2024). Focusing on implementation strategies, approaches, and design elements, this scoping review seeks to understand: What suicide prevention efforts have been implemented in K-12 schools to support LGBTQ + youth? Findings from the review suggest that school-based efforts ( N = 5), such as inclusive anti-bullying policies, LGBTQ + curricula, and support networks like gender-sexuality alliances (GSAs), can reduce suicidal thoughts and behaviors among LGBTQ + youth. However, gaps remain in understanding the long-term effectiveness of these efforts, highlighting the need for more comprehensive, evidence-based strategies that address both individual and community-level factors.