Evaluating a Mental Health Workshop for Teachers

Twenty-four elementary and high school teachers in North Carolina participated in an eight-week inservice training program on mental health concepts applied to the classroom. The teachers met once weekly for two-hour sessions. Using the Minnesota Teacher Attitude Inventory as the criterion measure of attitude improvement, the authors compared the participants with matched controls before and after the workshop. Although the control group scored significantly higher on the pretest, no change occurred for it on the post-test, whereas a statistically significant mean change score of 9.42 was found for the participants. The authors conclude that the training program was effective in changing attitudes in the desired direction for teachers who were motivated to take the training.