Date
11-13-2025
Department
College of Arts and Sciences
Degree
Master of Arts in Professional Writing (MA)
Chair
Whitney Strickland
Keywords
Middle School Language Arts, Children's Mental Health, Writing Curriculum, Integrating Mental Health and School, Children's Literacy
Disciplines
English Language and Literature
Recommended Citation
Reed, Donna M., "Desegregated Goals: Integrating Literacy and Behavioral Health in a Community Mental Health Setting to Improve Outcomes for Middle School Students" (2025). Masters Theses. 1390.
https://digitalcommons.liberty.edu/masters/1390
Abstract
Despite an understanding that many at-risk students lack the reading and writing skills to navigate high school and post-secondary education successfully, current interventions are often inadequate. Schools are forced to focus on academic requirements, while other needs of the student are overlooked, and it is those overlooked needs that contribute to the educational failures of the student. This thesis presents an argument for holistic support of the at-risk student when remediating academics, specifically reading and writing skills, focusing on the middle school students of a rural middle school in central Kansas. It develops a curriculum that integrates physical and mental health, social-emotional skills, and English language arts remediation through the study of classic children’s literature and public domain poetry designed for implementation via a community mental health agency.
