'Staying Afloat': A Mixed Methods Study of the Financial and Psychological Well-being of Early Childhood Educators.

Early childhood educators play a critical role in the lives of young children, especially through their sensitive interactions. Educators' capacities to engage in high-quality interactions are shaped by their mental health. Studies examining early childhood educators' mental health often focus on psychopathology or negative aspects of mental health, despite the importance of understanding mental health through a well-being lens. This study explores the connection between two important areas of well-being: psychological and financial well-being. Using mixed methods, we examined 123 early childhood educators' financial well-being and psychological well-being. Financial well-being predicted psychological well-being, but the relationship was curvilinear; those with the highest and lowest financial well-being had the highest psychological well-being. Qualitative findings suggest possible buffers for psychological well-being among educators with low-financial well-being and highlight struggles of those with low psychological well-being. Implications for how early childhood educators' well-being might be supported with policy and practice initiatives are discussed. Supplementary Information: The online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1007/s10643-022-01429-9.

A Mixed Method Study of Teachers' Appraisals of Student Wellness Services and Supports During COVID-19.

BACKGROUND: Understanding teachers' appraisals of student wellness services and supports during COVID-19 is essential to strengthening services and improving student health outcomes. This mixed-method study aimed to examine US PK-12 teachers' appraisals of student wellness services and supports during COVID-19. METHODS: This study focuses on qualitative data from 291 teachers' open-ended responses to the question: "What do you wish your school leaders knew about this (wellness support) aspect of your work?" and whose responses described wellness services and supports. A qualitative content analysis was conducted by an interdisciplinary research team using open- and axial coding. RESULTS: Three main themes emerged. (1) insufficient access to mental health professionals and programming at schools, (2) concern about the quality of available services, and (3) a need for teacher professional development and support on student wellness. Statistically significant differences in teacher appraisals of insufficient access to mental health professionals and programming were found based on grade level taught and percentage of immigrant students in the school. CONCLUSION: With amplified student wellness needs, school personnel, including school leaders, must consider ways to allocate additional resources/staffing, assess the quality of services and supports, and design professional development opportunities to support teachers' involvement in supporting student wellness needs.

Purpose plus: supporting youth purpose, control, and academic achievement.

Research in the past decade suggests that a persistent achievement gap between students from low-income minority backgrounds and higher-income white backgrounds may be rooted in theories of student motivation and youth purpose. Yet limited research exists regarding the role of purpose on positive youth development as it pertains to academic achievement. Using a sample of 209 high school students, this study examines the effectiveness of an intervention designed to promote purpose development and internal control over academic success in high school students from a low-socioeconomic-status community. Findings reveal that a short-term intervention was effective in significantly increasing internal control over academic success and purpose in life for students participating in the intervention group. In addition, analysis of academic achievement for students who experienced positive gains in internal control and purpose demonstrates significant gains in academic achievement as measured by grade point average. Implications are made for further study of internal control and life purpose as a means of academic intervention in the effort to address the achievement gap.