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SPIRSS impact on rural high-need LEA's
McCosh, Morgan DeVeney, Sam Accito, Nellie Fuentes, Sandra
McCosh, Morgan
DeVeney, Sam
Accito, Nellie
Fuentes, Sandra
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McCosh_2025.pdf
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2025-04-11
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McCosh, M., DeVeney, S., Accito, N., & Fuentes, S. 2025. SPIRSS impact on rural high-need LEA's. -- In Proceedings: 21st Annual Symposium on Graduate Research and Scholarly Projects. Wichita, KS: Wichita State University
Abstract
INTRODUCTION: The field of school psychology has grown in recent years, however, there is still a shortage of school psychologists in rural high-need local education agencies (LEA's) across Kansas. In these districts, there are inadequate resources to address students' mental health needs. This study evaluates the impact of the School Psychology Partnerships to Increase Rural School-Based Services (SPIRSS) initiative. Under SPIRSS, graduate students deliver evidence-based mental health services to students in rural high-need LEA's as part of their field experience semester. Funded by the U.S Department of Education and now in its third year, SPIRSS has made significant strides towards reducing the mental health needs of children across rural Kansas.
PURPOSE: To increase the quantity of mental health service providers and address the mental health crisis in high-need rural LEA's across Kansas.
METHODS: The study included 47 participants aged 8 to 15 years old, with a gender distribution of 17 females and 30 males. Participants completed the Behavior Assessment System for Children, Third Edition (BASC-3) Self-Report to evaluate Anxiety, Depression, and Internalizing Problems scales at two time points: pre-intervention and post-intervention. Scores were recorded withing three tiers to reflect severity levels. Data were analyzed to assess changes between pre- and post-test scores using paired t-tests, effect size calculations (Cohen's d), and subgroup analysis based on gender differences.
RESULTS: A paired-samples t-test was conducted to compare Tier 3 pre-test and post-test scores for Depression, Anxiety and Internalizing Problems. The results indicated a statistically significant decrease in Tier 3 scores from pre-test (M = 13.67, SD = 4.16) to post-test (M = 6.00, SD = 2.00), [t(2) = 4.35, p = .049, d = 4.35]. These findings suggest that the intervention had a significant effect on the most affected individuals (Tier 3), as evidenced by a large effect size (Cohen's d = 4.35), which indicated a very strong practical impact. Analyses of Tier 2 data set yielded no statistically significant results between pre-test and post-test scores. To explore gender-based differences in the intervention's effectiveness, estimated Tier 3 change scores were analyzed separately for females (n = 17) and males (n = 30). The results suggested that males experienced greater reductions in symptoms across all categories:
Scale Females Males
Depression M = 2.53 M = 4.47
Anxiety M = 1.81 M = 3.19
Internalizing Problems M = 3.98 M = 7.02
CONCLUSION: The SPIRSS initiative has shown promising results in reducing mental health challenges among students in rural, high need LEAs throughout Kansas. Further expansion of the SPIRSS program could prove to further address the mental health crisis amid rural districts across Kansas.
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Description
Presented to the 21st Annual Symposium on Graduate Research and Scholarly Projects (GRASP) held at the Rhatigan Student Center, Wichita State University, April 11, 2025.
Research completed in the Department of Intervention Services & Leadership in Education, College of Applied Studies.
Research completed in the Department of Intervention Services & Leadership in Education, College of Applied Studies.
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Wichita State University
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GRASP
v. 21
v. 21