Ecological Risk and Resilience Perspective: A Theoretical Framework Supporting Evidence-based Practice in Schools

Abstract

Multidisciplinary school practitioners are clearly being called to use evidence-based practices from reputable sources such as their own professional organizations and federal agencies. In spite of this encouragement, most schools are not regularly employing empirically supported interventions. This paper further promotes the use of this approach by describing the theoretical support for evidence-based practice in schools. The ecological risk and resilience theoretical framework presented fills a gap in the literature and advocates for evidence-based practice in schools by illustrating how it can assist practitioners such as school social workers to better address problems associated with school failure.

Longitudinal Changes in Adolescents’ School Bonding During the COVID‐19 Pandemic: Individual, Parenting, and Family Correlates

“…Additionally, our findings on the declines in school bonding and their qualifying factors were robust, even after accounting for adolescents' gender, race, and birth order, which is consistent with prior research on sociodemographic predictors of school bonding (Troesch et al, 2018;Wang & Eccles, 2012). Ultimately, these findings extend the ecological risk and resilience framework (Powers, 2010) and prior, mainly prepandemic, research on school bonding (e.g., Assari, 2019;Beckmeyer & Russell, 2018;Goldstein et al, 2015) to aid our understanding of risk and resilience factors both unique to the pandemic and universal to adolescent well-being in the context of stress.…”

“…From a developmental assets framework, school bonding is indicative of adolescents’ internal assets and commitment to learning (Scales, 2005 ). Guided by an ecological risk and resilience framework (Powers, 2010 ), the present study examined changes in adolescents’ school bonding from before to during pandemic‐related shutdowns and whether individual, parenting, and family‐level correlates were associated with those changes over time.…”

“…Protective factors are influences that have the potential to reduce the negative effects of risk or increase an individual’s ability to overcome such risks, such as coping or parental involvement. Consistent with an ecological perspective on risk and resilience (Powers, 2010 ) that acknowledges the embeddedness of adolescents’ multiple ecological contexts, in this study, we explored risk and protective factors across individual, parenting, and family levels.…”

More than the sum of its parts: Cumulative risk effects on school functioning in middle childhood

“…Schools’ intervention efforts could also focus on developing promotive and protective factors (e.g., high self‐esteem, strong relationships, experiencing success; Masten & Coatsworth, ). These enhance resilience and subsequently buffer the effects of exposure to adversity (Powers, ; Stouthamer‐Loeber, Loeber, Wei, Farrington, & Wikströrm, ). The findings from the current study support the proposition that after exposure to a certain number of risk factors, pupils’ coping strategies become overwhelmed and subsequently exhausted, resulting in an exponential increase in difficulties (Evans, ; Gerard & Buehler, 2004b; Oldfield et al ., ).…”

Building Resilience in New and Beginning Teachers: Contributions of School Librarians

“…They hoped to catalyze a change in the focus of psychologists from preoccupation with repairing the worst things in life to building positive qualities. Powers (2010) used the risk and resilience perspective to suggest that positive and protective factors may buffer the effects of risk factors to encourage resilience within the social environment. She defined resilience as dynamic, a process of positive adaptation in the context of adversity.…”