Rate My Professor Heather Ormiston

Heather Ormiston serves as Assistant Professor in the School Psychology program in the Department of Applied Psychology in Education and Research Methodology at Indiana University Bloomington School of Education, a position she has held since January 2023. She directs the Undergraduate Minor in Child and Adolescent Mental Health since August 2022 and the School-Based Mental Health Research and Training Initiative since August 2019. A Nationally Certified School Psychologist and clinically licensed psychologist endorsed as a Health Service Provider in Psychology in Indiana, Ormiston earned her Ph.D. in School Psychology with a minor in Special Education from Indiana University Bloomington in June 2007, M.S. in Educational Psychology from Indiana University Bloomington in May 2005, and B.S. in Psychology cum laude from Loyola University Chicago in May 2003. Her career includes roles as school psychologist at Buffalo Trail Elementary School and Horizon Middle School in Cherry Creek School District, Aurora, Colorado from 2007 to 2010; Behavior Specialist at Monroe County Community School Corporation in Bloomington, Indiana from 2013 to 2017; Research Associate at the Center on Education and Lifelong Learning from 2010 to 2013; adjunct faculty from 2010 to 2016; Visiting Clinical Professor from 2017 to 2019; and Clinical Assistant Professor from 2019 to 2022, all at Indiana University Bloomington.

Ormiston's research specializations encompass school-based mental health, multi-tiered systems of support to improve student well-being, school climate, and academic engagement; trauma-informed strategies; universal screening for social, emotional, and behavioral risks; mental health action plans; and educational supports for school reintegration following hospitalization. She has obtained funded grants totaling over $6.4 million, including the U.S. Department of Education School-Based Mental Health Grant for the SMAHRT Initiative (2023-2027, Indiana University subcontract $1,308,326), Mental Health Professional Demonstration Grant for the TIMS Project (2019-2024, subcontract $984,729), and Maris M. Proffitt Endowment Grants for educator gratitude groups (2025-2026, $29,415) and school reentry perspectives (2021-2022, $19,000). Awards include the Indiana University Trustees Teaching Award in 2022, School of Education Award for Outstanding Partnership and Collaboration in 2024, and Early Career Scholar from the Society for the Study of School Psychology in 2022. Key publications comprise "Educational services and school reintegration supports for youth after acute behavioral health unit hospitalization" (2025), "Determinants of implementing the Mental Health Action Plan (MHAP) pilot program with fidelity" (Nygaard & Ormiston, 2025, Psychology in the Schools), "Student outcomes from participation in the Mental Health Action Plan pilot program: A case study" (Nygaard & Ormiston, 2025, Psychology in the Schools), and "Stability, latent profiles, and sociodemographic predictors of student-rated social, emotional, and behavioral risk" (2025, School Mental Health). Her grant-funded partnerships advance comprehensive mental health services and train school psychologists to mitigate professional shortages.