Access to a high-quality K-12 education is critical for the optimal growth and development of every child. Children who attend excellent schools benefit from a range of opportunities designed to develop their intellectual abilities and social skills. The benefits are long-lasting, as educational achievement is linked to higher lifetime earnings and better health. However, there remains a stubborn achievement gap in America's schools due to disparities in funding and teacher training. FPG's work in K-12 education aims to provide educators, public officials, and parents with the resources and tools needed to ensure that a high-quality education is accessible to students from all backgrounds and at all grade levels.
Featured Publication
Parents play a vital role in their children's education, not only in supporting their learning, but also in supporting their mental health needs. School psychologists are encouraged to empower parents to be active partners in their child’s education, including providing social-emotional supports. FPG researchers examined the frequency and modality of parent engagement in an elementary school mental health intervention, finding that the results suggest a variety of opportunities for parent involvement may lead to enhanced engagement.
Featured Project
There is evidence that racial biases exist in early educators’ appraisals of Black children's behaviors, likely leading to the racial disparities found in teachers' office discipline referrals (ODRs) and student suspensions in elementary school. Postdoctoral Research Associate Kamilah Legette’s project, Teachers' Racialized Behavioral Appraisals: Exploring Emotion Regulation as a Mechanism to Reduce Racial Disparities in Discipline, examines the relationship between race and teachers' emotional responses to children's classroom behaviors.
Featured Publication
For many individuals on the autism spectrum, postsecondary outcomes are poor. This may be due to insufficient academic supports, particularly regarding literacy skills, during high school. FPG autism researchers examined the stability of literacy profiles of adolescents on the autism spectrum and associations with involved parties’ perceptions of appropriate high school support needs and discussed the implications for practice and the role of speech-language pathologists in assessment and intervention.
