Evaluation of the Readyset Roadmap: Preparing Schools to Select and Implement Mental Health Prevention and Promotion Programs

Background and Purpose: School mental health (MH) prevention and promotion programs are shown to strengthen protective factors and reduce risk factors associated with the development of more severe MH conditions in youth. However, despite this potential for broad impact, many schools often do not use data to inform the selection and implementation of these programs so that they align with student and school needs. A school-university community partnership was formed to help address this research to practice gap, specifically to develop and implement a data-driven capacity-building intervention – the ReadySET Know, Prepare, Go (KPG) Roadmap – designed to increase schools’ readiness to identify and use data to select MH prevention and promotion strategies that best meet their unique needs. This presentation will share mixed method evaluative findings from the pilot implementation of the ReadySET KPG Roadmap at one elementary school.

Methods: The ReadySET KPG Roadmap consists of four modules. Each are approximately 40 minutes in length, and were delivered by a school implementation team between August 2025 to January 2026. Multiple data sources were used to evaluate the Roadmap. Pre- and post-intervention surveys were distributed to all school staff, and included the Comfort, Culture, and Commitment to School Mental Health Scale (adapted from Brackett et al., 2012) and the Data-Based Decision Making Scale (adapted from Dunn et al., 2013). These data were analyzed in SPSS using paired-sample t-tests. Additionally, semi-structured interviews were conducted with the school implementation team following the delivery of each module. Qualitative data were analyzed inductively in MaxQDA to examine participants’ perceptions of the Roadmap’s impact and implementation facilitators and challenges.

Results: Paired-sample t-tests indicated no significant changes in data-based decision making, comfort, or culture from pre- to post-intervention. A marginally significant increase was observed for commitment, t(49) = -1.96, p = .056, suggesting a slight increase in staff commitment to engaging in school MH prevention and promotion practices. Analysis of interviews with the school implementation team identified three major themes, 1) perceived impact of the Roadmap, 2) tips for future implementation, and 3) contextual implementation challenges. Consistent with the significant increase in commitment from the pre/post surveys, participants described positive impacts of the Roadmap, including greater willingness to engage in conversations about student and staff MH, increased clarity around referral processes, and identification of previously unknown staff needs. Participants also offered tips for future implementation, such as adapting delivery to fit school context, involving MH staff more closely in delivery of the modules, and allowing adequate time for preparation and learning. Finally, participants identified contextual implementation challenges, including competing professional development demands and limited preparation time, which contributed to attendance and engagement barriers.

Conclusions and Implications: Despite study limitations, findings highlight the potential utility of the ReadySET KPG Roadmap. Implications of this research for continued refinement of the Roadmap, particularly in identifying the components and delivery approaches that most effectively strengthen schools’ decision-making in this area, as well as implications for school-university partnerships and the role for school social workers within this work will be shared.