Intervention Selection in School-Based Practice: Using Public Health Models to Enhance Systems Capacity of Schools

Abstract. Recent federal initiatives and efforts within education and psychology professional organizations have contributed to an increased focus on scientifically based practices in education. Although interventions are available to educators,there is a need to enhance systems capacity through identification, selection, and implementation of appropriate interventions that will meet the diverse needs of students. This article presents a selection model for education using the public health model of prevention work, based on primary, secondary, and tertiary levels of need, combined with the RE-AIM (Reach–Efficacy–Adoption–Implementation–Maintenance) framework of evaluating interventions along five main dimensions.This model can help systems identify appropriate prevention and intervention approaches for their settings, taking into account the efficacy and effectiveness of the efforts, available resources, and other critical considerations.