Responses of Education Preparation Program Instructors toward Mental Health Legislation
In 2013, Texas State legislature passed Senate Bill 460 which implemented a law that requires the inclusion of knowledge relating to students’ mental health status in teacher preparation curriculum. This requirement is explained in Texas Education Code (TEC) §21.044(b). The purpose of this study is to examine the degree of awareness of the new requirement and the attitudes toward mental health among Education Preparation Program (EPP) instructors. In addition, faculty were asked about their implementation plans for the new requirement. A survey was developed to address these research questions. Thirty-five public and private universities in Texas were targeted, which resulted in the identification of seventy-five (N=75) faculty participants. The survey included items that addressed faculty attitudes and current level of knowledge about 13 different mental health disorders perception regarding the locus of responsibility for awareness of mental health issues in the school setting. Finally, there were questions about how instructors and affiliated Education Preparation Programs were going to address the change in legislation. Knowledge, awareness, rank, years of experience, and attitudes were found to predict the degree to which faculty members’ included mental health issues in instruction- F (5,63) = 10.129, p< .001.
Mental Health, Legislation, Compliance, Texas, Education Prepartion Programs, Preservice teachers, Educational Psychology, Teacher Education and Professional Development
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