Objective-Staff burnout is a frequent problem for mental health providers and may be associated with negative outcomes for providers, consumers, and organizations. This study tested an intervention to reduce staff burn-out.Methods-Community mental health providers were invited to participate in a day-long training session to learn methods to reduce burnout. A Web-based survey was given at time of registration, before the intervention, and again six weeks later.Results-Eighty-four providers participated in the training, and follow-up data were available for 74. Six weeks after the day-long training, staff reported significant decreases in emotional exhaustion and depersonalization and significant increases in positive views toward consumers. There were no significant changes in providers' sense of personal accomplishment, job satisfaction, or intention to leave their position. Ninety-one percent of the staff reported the training to be helpful.Conclusions-This brief intervention is feasible, is acceptable to staff, and may improve burnout and staff attitudes.Mental health service providers may be at increased risk of experiencing staff burnout, a syndrome consisting of emotional exhaustion, depersonalization, and decreased personal accomplishment (1). Burnout is frequently discussed as a problem, with studies reporting that 21%-67% of mental health workers experience high levels of burnout (2,3). Moreover, burnout may be on the rise because government budget cuts and revenue shortfalls have led some mental health agencies to increase staff productivity standards for billable services within a given workday.Burnout has been associated with a range of negative work consequences, including increased absenteeism and reduced satisfaction, commitment, and performance (4). Burnout effects can also spill over to life outside of work, with burned out mental health workers mpsalyer@iupui.edu . Disclosures The authors report no competing interests. reporting more strain on personal relationships (5), poorer health and somatic complaints (6), and mental health concerns, such as depression, anxiety, and substance abuse (3). Burnout can also have a negative impact on employers-and ultimately consumers-with increased employee sick days and turnover and decreased empathy, continuity of care, productivity, and effectiveness. Burn-out in mental health agencies has been shown to lead to economic inefficiencies and waste (7). NIH Public AccessSurprisingly little research has studied interventions for reducing burnout among mental health workers. For example, a systematic review of interventions designed to improve outcomes for mental health staff in inpatient or community-based residential psychiatric units found only four studies that directly measured burnout, and two found significant between-group differences in favor of the intervention (7). Because of the small number of studies, additional research and development are clearly needed.We tested the feasibility and preliminary outcomes of a day-long training retreat to r...

This investigation was conducted to test the effectiveness of strategy teaching and sequencing practice problems in teaching students with learning disabilities to identify the correct algorithm for solving addition and subtraction word problems. Sixty-two students were assigned to one of three experimental groups: strategy plus sequence, strategy only, and sequence only. The results indicated that students in the strategy-plus-sequence group, as well as those in the strategy-only group, scored significantly higher than did students in the sequence-only group. Findings indicated that strategy teaching was the more effective of the two instructional components. Implications are discussed in terms of instructional design for students with learning disabilities.

Over the years, a variety of political, social, and other contextual factors have contributed to the expansion of roles for PK-12 special educators, leading to a complex set of challenges and opportunities that must be addressed as the field of special education looks to the future. Today’s special educators need to collaborate with general educators in tiered systems of support while providing specialized instruction for students with the most intensive needs, yet teacher education and professional development opportunities may not always adequately prepare them for these changing roles. The recent re-authorization of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act (ESEA) creates a new policy context with the potential to bring about additional changes in PK-12 settings and teacher preparation. In recognition of the need to more clearly articulate and align the demands of PK-12 schooling with the teacher education enterprise, the article concludes with a set of policy recommendations intended to promote clarification of special educators’ roles and inform the future of university-based teacher preparation programs (TPPs) engaged in fostering their development at the preservice and in-service levels.

Coaching in the school setting typically follows the traditional format of preconference, observe, and postconference, where feedback on teaching performance is shared but often delayed. Professional development (PD) provides teachers with skills to enhance their teaching practice with little to no follow-up or support. The most effective way to produce change in the school setting is to show the connection between PD and student performance, and iCoaching can help to bridge the gap. In this study, four teachers participated in a focused PD session and subsequent iCoaching sessions where the researcher used iPods and Bluetooth earbuds as a bug-in-ear (BIE) device. A coach served as a live, remote observer providing coaching prompts to increase teacher-delivered opportunities to respond (OTR). The results indicated that iCoaching was effective in increasing teacher-delivered OTR and in increasing student responses and academic performance.

We evaluated the efficacy of an instructional procedure to teach young children with autism to evacuate settings and notify an adult during a fire alarm. A multiple baseline design across children showed that an intervention that included modeling, rehearsal, and praise was effective in teaching fire safety skills. Safety skills generalized to novel settings and maintained during a 5-week follow-up in both training and generalization settings.