Brittany Zakszeski

Assistant Professor University of Delaware

  • Newark DE

Prof. Zakszeski’s research centers on promoting students’ mental and behavioral health through multi-tiered support systems.

Contact

University of Delaware

View more experts managed by University of Delaware

Social

Biography

Dr. Brittany Zakszeski is an assistant professor specializing in school psychology in the School of Education at the University of Delaware. She earned her Ph.D. in School Psychology from Lehigh University and is a nationally certified school psychologist, licensed and nationally registered health service psychologist, and a board certified behavior analyst–doctoral level. Prior to joining the faculty at the University of Delaware, Dr. Zakszeski worked in urban, rural, and alternative schools, most recently consulting with schools, districts, and other child-serving agencies to promote organizational change and improve outcomes for youth with or at risk for emotional and behavioral challenges.

Dr. Zakszeski’s research centers on promoting students’ and personnel’s mental and behavioral health through multi-tiered systems of support in schools. Her work leverages advances in implementation science to address barriers to schools’ adoption, high-fidelity implementation, and sustained use of evidence-based assessment and intervention practices, at the universal (system-wide), targeted, and individual levels. In recognition of limited school resources and workforce shortages, Dr. Zakszeski prioritizes refining accessible, efficient, and scalable practices. Given the persistence of vast educational and health disparities, she is particularly committed to promoting equitable outcomes for minoritized students, families, and communities.

Dr. Zakszeski directs Project GROW (Growing Resilience, Opportunities, and Wellness in Delaware Schools), a project funded by the United States Department of Education and Delaware Department of Education. Project GROW seeks to integrate and evaluate state-wide, cross-university efforts to advance school mental health service professional recruitment, preparation, practice, and retention in high-need schools across Delaware. Concurrently, this project targets the adoption and sustained use of inclusive practices and equity-focused data-based decision-making within multi-tiered systems of support (MTSS) in Delaware schools.

Dr. Zakszeski teaches courses in behavioral and systems consultation and supervises fieldwork in school psychology. She has held various leadership roles in the National Association of School Psychologists and serves on the editorial boards for Journal of School Psychology and School Psychology Review.

Areas of Expertise

School Psychology
School Mental Health
Multi-Tiered Systems of Support
Developmental Psychology
Health Service Psychologiy
Behavior Analysis
Child Development

Media Appearances

Building A Multi-Tiered System of Supports (MTSS) Framework for Mental Health

Tech & Learning  online

2022-03-22

To address these mental health challenges, schools need to implement a multi-tiered system of supports (MTSS), say psychologists Laura E. Rutherford and Brittany Zakszeski. Rutherford is director of training and a research psychologist at Devereux Advanced Behavioral Health Consulting, a behavioral healthcare nonprofit, while Zakszeski is a training and consulting specialist at Devereux Center for Effective Schools.

View More

Articles

Pilot Evaluation of the POWER Program: Positive Outcomes with Emotion Regulation

School Mental Health

2024

The Positive Outcomes With Emotion Regulation (POWER) Program is a transdiagnostic intervention for adolescents at risk of developing emotional disorders. The POWER Program was designed to be implemented in secondary schools, by school personnel with or without specialized mental health training, as a Tier 2 intervention. In this pilot study, the POWER Program was implemented by school psychologists and school psychologists-in-training and evaluated across four focal student participants using a multiple-baseline-across-participants single-case design.

View more

Informant discrepancies in universal screening as a function of student and teacher characteristics

School Psychology Review

2023

Despite the widespread use of school-based universal screening systems for social, emotional, and behavioral risk, limited research has examined discrepancies in ratings provided by teachers and their secondary students. Using the Social, Academic, and Emotional Behavior Risk Screener (SAEBRS; teacher report) and mySAEBRS (student report) scores from a middle school sample, we examined the magnitudes and prevalence of informant discrepancies as well as associated student and teacher factors. Analyses revealed discrepancies consistently in the direction of teachers reporting lower levels of risk than students and were starkest for the Emotional Behavior Risk subscale.

View more

Targeted intervention for elementary students with internalizing behaviors: A pilot evaluation

School Psychology Review

2023

The Calm Cat Program was developed in response to the need for intervention approaches that target internalizing symptoms, are developmentally appropriate for early elementary students, and are feasible for school-based implementation by staff without specialized training. The Calm Cat Program is a brief Tier 2 intervention combining behavioral skills training and mentor-based coaching. In this initial study, the Calm Cat Program was evaluated in a cluster-randomized controlled trial of 72 student participants in nine elementary schools. Over a 5-week period, school counselors implemented small-group skills training sessions, and classroom teachers provided daily coaching on targeted relaxation skills.

View more

Show All +

Research Grants

School-Based Mental Health Promotion in the First State: Building Capacity with Multi-Tiered Systems of Support

United States Department of Education, Office of Elementary and Secondary Education, Safe and Supportive Schools: Mental Health Service Professional Demonstration Grant Program

2023–2027

Pilot Evaluation of a Targeted Mental Health Intervention for High School Students

Society for the Study of School Psychology, Early Career Research Awards Program

2022–2023

Efficacy of a Targeted Intervention for Elementary Students with Internalizing Behaviors

American Psychological Foundation, John and Polly Sparks Early Career Grant for Psychologists Investigating Serious Emotional Disturbance

2021–2022

Accomplishments

Honorable Mention, School Psychology 2021 Article of the Year, American Psychological Association Division 16

2022

Servant Leadership Award, Devereux Advanced Behavioral Health

2022

Early Career Scholar, School Psychology Research Collaboration Conference, Society for the Study of School Psychology

2021–2022

Show All +

Education

Lehigh University

PhD

School Psychology

2019

Lehigh University

Certificate

Behavior Analysis

2018

Leigh University

MEd

Human Development

2015

Show All +

Affiliations

  • American Psychological Association (APA)
  • Association for Positive Behavior Support (APBS)
  • Association of School Psychologists of Pennsylvania (ASPP)
  • Delaware Association of School Psychologists (DASP)
  • National Association of School Psychologists (NASP)

Event Appearances

Youth mental health during the COVID-19 pandemic: An intersectional analytic approach

(2024) American Psychological Association Convention  Seattle, WA

Patterns of youth adversity and relations with behavioral health during the COVID-19 pandemic

(2024) American Psychological Association Convention  Seattle, WA

A scoping review of classroom management assessment tools

(2024) American Educational Research Association Annual Meeting  Philadelphia, PA

Show All +