Introduction & Projects
Jennifer Frank focuses on developing and evaluating school-based prevention practices that modify the social ecology of risk (school-family-peer-individual factors) that gives rise to high-incidence disabilities, and preparing the next generation of school-based professionals to implement high-quality prevention practices in school settings. She strives to do work that is interdisciplinary and draw from diverse theoretical and methodological approaches to understand the determinants of risk and resilience. The ultimate goal of her teaching, research, and service activities is to create optimal social contexts to support academic learning that are sustainable in real-world settings. Jennifer's current research interests include: school-based prevention, positive behavior supports, innovative statistical and experimental methods to validate evidence-based interventions, social-emotional learning, and mindfulness-based interventions.
Prevention-related Projects
Recent Publications
Respecting communication skills: The missing link for the wellbeing of educators and their schools
Schussler, D. L. & Frank, J. L. (forthcoming). Respecting communication skills: The missing link for the wellbeing of educators and their schools. In Carpenter, B. W., Mahfouz, J., & Robinson, K. Supporting Leaders for School Improvement through Self-Care and Wellbeing. Information Age Publishing.
Frank, J. L., Broderick, P. C., Oh, Y., Mitra, J., Kohler, K., Schussler, D. L., Geier, C., Roeser, R., Berrena, E., Mahfouz, J., Levitan, J., Greenberg, M. T. (2021). The effectiveness of a teacher delivered mindfulness-based curriculum on adolescent social-emotional and executive functioning. Mindfulness, 12. https://doi.org/10.1007/s12671-021-01594-9
Schussler, D. L., Oh, Y., Mahfouz, J., Levitan, J., Frank, J. L., Broderick, P. A., Mitra, J. L., Berrena, E., Kohler, K., Greenberg, M. T. (2021). Stress and well-being: A systematic case-study of adolescents’ experiences in a mindfulness-based intervention. Journal of Child and Family Studies 30, 431-446. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10826-020-01864-5
Long-term impacts on teachers' self-reported social and emotional competence and well-being
Jennings, P. A., Doyle, S., Oh, Y., Rasheed, D., Frank, J. L., & Brown, J. L. (2019). Long-term impacts on teachers' self-reported social and emotional competence and well-being. School Psychology, 76, 186-202. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jsp.2019.07.009
Chilenski, S. M., Frank, J., Summers, N., & Lew, D. (2019). Public health benefits 16 years after a statewide policy change: Communities That Care in Pennsylvania. Prevention Science, 20, 947-958. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11121-019-01028-y
Doyle, S. L., Jennings, P. A., Brown, J. L., Rasheed, D., DeWeese, A., Frank, J. L., Turksma, C., & Greenberg, M. T. (2018). Exploring relationships between CARE program fidelity, participant responsivenss, and uptake of mindful practices. Mindfulness, 10, 841-853. https://doi.org/10.1007/s12671-018-1034-9
Broderick, P. C., Frank, J. L., Berrena, E., Schussler, D. L., Kohler, K., Mitra, J., Khan, L., Levitan, J., Mahfouz, J., Shields, L., & Greenberg, M. T. (2018). Evaluating the quality of mindfulness instruction delivered in school settings: Development and validation of a teacher quality observational rating scale. Mindfulness. https://doi.org/10.1007/s12671-018-0944-x
Coding semi-structured interviews: Examining coaching calls within the CARE for Teachers program
DeWeese, A., Jennings, P. A., Brown, J. L., Doyle, S. L., Davis, R. T., Rasheed, D. S., Frank, J. L. & Greenberg, M. T. (2017). Coding semi - structured interviews: Examining coaching calls within the CARE for Teachers program. SAGE Research Methods Cases, Part 2. DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.4135/9781473958319
Using virtual role-play to enhance teacher candidates’ skills in responding to bullying.
Schussler, D. L., Frank, J. L., Lee, T. K. & Mahfouz, J. (2017). Using virtual role-play to enhance teacher candidates’ skills in responding to bullying. Journal of Technology and Teacher Education, 25(1), 91–120.
Jennings, P. A., Brown, J. L., Frank, J. L., Doyle, S. L., Oh, Y., Davis, R., Rasheed, D., DeWeese, A., DeMauro, A. A., Cham, H., & Greenberg, M. T. (2017). Impacts of the CARE for Teachers Program on teachers’ social and emotional competence and classroom interactions. Journal of Educational Psychology, 109(7), 1010–1028. http://dx.doi.org/10.1037/edu0000187
Related News
August 18, 2021
Helping special education teachers under stress
Special education teachers are at heightened risk for stress and burnout, which negatively impacts their effectiveness and well-being. With a new five-year, $4 million grant from the Institute of Educational Sciences, Penn State and Georgia State University (GSU) researchers are teaming up with school districts in Georgia to develop and test an adaptation of the Cultivating Awareness and Resilience in Education (CARE) professional development program to support special education teachers.
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December 10, 2020
Mindfulness practices shown to help teenagers deal with stress
Learning to BREATHE, which was developed by Broderick, is a school-based mindfulness-based program (MBP) developed for adolescents that has been implemented in a variety of contexts. The program comprises a six-theme module delivered in six, 12 or 18 lessons, with the module themes stemming from the BREATHE acronym: Body awareness, Reflections, Emotions, Attention, Take it as it is, Healthy Habits of mind, and Empowerment.
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