Transcript Slide 1

Improving School Climate by
Supporting Implementation of
Evidence Based Practices in
High Schools
Presented by:
Christina Jordan, School Climate Specialist, Sheppard Pratt Health System
Kalisha Miller, Assistant Principal Dundalk High School, Baltimore County, MD
Patti Hershfeldt, Director of Training and T.A., Maryland Safe and Supportive School Initiative
The National Community of Practice
on Collaborative School Behavioral Health
The focus of this CoP is to collaboratively work to
create a shared agenda across education, mental
health and families to promote success for all students
To Learn More Please Visit: www.sharedwork.org
Practice Group Co-Sponsors of Today’s Webinar
Connecting School Mental Health with Juvenile Justice and Dropout Prevention. This group
promotes the active exchange of ideas and collaboration between school employed and community
employed mental health providers, educators, and families. This exchange is to support the social,
emotional and mental health and the academic success of all children and adolescents. By working
together in a collaborative and creative manner, school, family, and community resources can better
serve the educational and social/emotional needs of all students and assist in ensuring good mental
health. This practice group is focused on successful strategies and practical examples of how to
develop and implement a culture of collaboration across multiple initiatives, programs, and providers
working in schools.
Connecting School Mental Health and Positive Behavior Supports . This group is a conduit for
families, researchers, administrators, and practitioners to find common interests and practices related
to school mental health (SMH) and Positive Behavior Supports (PBS). PBS approaches are designed to
prevent problem behaviors by proactively altering the environment before problems begin
and concurrently teaching appropriate behavior. School-wide positive behavior support systems
support all students along a continuum of need based on the three-tiered PBS prevention
model. SMH can be thought of as a framework of approaches that promote children’s mental health
by emphasizing prevention programming, positive youth development and school-wide approaches.
These approaches call for collaboration among mental health providers, educators, families, related
service providers and school administrators in order to meet the mental health needs of all
students. By working collaboratively, this practice group seeks to clarify the relationship between PBS
and SMH in order to promote seamless practice at the local level.
Quality and Evidence-Based Practice . This group’s mission is to (a) share information across
individuals and groups interested in improving the quality of school mental health (SMH)
programs and services and (b) discuss, promote, and disseminate evidence based practices in
SMH. The practice group strives to bridge the research-practice and practice-research gaps in
the field. In addition, the practice group seeks to understand and identify the best studentand program-level evaluation strategies.
Improving School Climate by
Supporting Implementation of
Evidence-Based Practices in
High Schools
Federal Grant CFDA #: Q184Y100015
POLLING QUESTION 1
Are you working with high school
implementation of social-emotional,
behavioral, and/or mental health related
Evidence-Based Practices?
Yes
No
Maryland Safe and Supportive Schools
(MDS3)
Implementation
“develop capacity in
schools
to improve”
Research and
evaluation
“sustainable
system to
measure”
Partner with U of
MD- CSMH to gain
support for
integration of SMH.
Administration
“disseminate outcomes to stakeholders”
6
MDS3 Goals
1) Assess school climate, student engagement,
and the school environment
2) Implement evidence-based programs (EBPs)
to meet student needs, based on survey
3) Improve conditions for learning
4) Reduce school violence and substance use,
and improve student engagement and the
school environment to support student
learning.
THE MDS3 Initiative
expanded Partnerships
Local School
Systems
MDS3
MSDE
JHU
SPHS
U of MD
CSMH
Natl. PBIS TA
Center
Community
Stakeholders
LMB, Faith based, DJJ, DCF, Community Mental
Health, Law Enforcement…
MDS3 School Climate Model:
School Climate
Engagement
Safety
Check and Connect
Olweus Bully Prevention
Culturally Responsive Teaching
Botvin Life Skills
Environment
Check in Check Out
+ Academic Support
CBITS & Mental Health Awareness
Relationships
Emotional Safety
Physical
Environment
Respect for
Diversity
Physical Safety
Academic
Environment
School
Participation
Substance Use
Wellness
Disciplinary
Environment
Kristen Harper, Office of Safe and Healthy Students, United States Department of Education
MDS3 Evaluation of School Climate
• MDS3 School Climate Survey
• School-wide Evaluation Tool (SET)/
Individual Student Systems
Evaluation Tool (ISSET)
• School Site Visits
Coaching Functions
Skill Coach
for
Practitioners
Support to
Leadership
Systems Change
Coach
(Facilitator/
Communicator)
Organizational/Systems Change OR The Development of
Effective, Productive, Collaborative Systems that create
optimal Conditions for Learning
A Problem-Solving Approach to School Climate
OUTCOMES
Supporting
Decision
Making
Supporting
Staff Behavior
PRACTICES
Supporting
Student Behavior
COACHING for Outcomes
 Link to School Improvement Plan, state
initiatives, district initiatives
 Community goals/initiatives
 Consider context of the school
 Schools with high staff turnover
 Transient, military, or urban populations
 Rural or isolated school settings with limited access to
outside resources
 Community/parent involvment
 Other key stakeholders
COACHING considering Systems
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Administrative buy-in
Shared responsibility
Pull out hidden resources
Training and SUPPORT
Coordination: working smarter not
harder
 Professional development and problemsolving
 Framework: What does this building
need?
NEED #1
NEED # 2
NEED # 3
POLLING QUESTION 2
In what ways does your organization use
data to guide social-emotional learning
goals and school-wide behavioral
supports?
(Open ended)
Coaching using Data
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Data crosswalks
Telling the story
Zoom out and zoom in
Share the data!!!!
Data Tools: Crosswalk
Climate
Survey
Data
SAFETY
ENGAGEMENT
ENVIRONMENT
Site Visit
Data
SET (Schoolwide
Evaluation
Tool) Data
ISSET (Individual
Student Systems
Eval. Tool) Data
School Data
(Attendance rates,
graduation rates,
discipline referrals)
Coaching practices to support students
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Increase protective factors
Teach and practice skills
Change norms and attitudes
Increase natural supports
Consider special populations
Use student voice
OWL LEADERSHIP ACADEMY ACTIVITY
• Modeling behavior
• Connecting with
staff, peers,
community
• Engaging in healthy
leadership activity
• Connecting with
peers
• Making academics
relevant
• Building autonomy,
belonging,
competence
Dundalk High School
Dundalk High School Profile
Total Enrollment: 1,228
Graduation Rate: 71%
Dundalk High School Profile
Mobility Rates
Entry: 19%
Withdrawal: 23.5%
Dundalk High School Teachers
POLLING QUESTION 3
In your building/district/center, how involved is the
community in supporting schools, students, and staff
toward improving school climate and dropout
prevention efforts?
• The community is very strong and has goals in mind,
resources available, and an action plan
• The community supports the concept of improving
school climate and reducing dropout prevention, but
needs some guidance to become more involved
• The community is not currently very involved in
partnering with schools
Our Challenges
•
•
•
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Transient student population
Staff turnover
Very involved (and busy) staff
New federal, state, and district
initiatives
• Construction and moving to new
building
Our Strengths
•
•
•
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Administrative support
Committed staff!!!!
Responsive staff
Responsive student body
School climate and dropout prevention
efforts
• Safety: Student well-being
• Engagement:
Relationships/connectedness; parent
and community involvement
• Environment: We notice you, we want
you to be here, to learn, to succeed,
have support
School-wide (Universal) Supports
•
Positive Behavioral Interventions and Supports: Clear expectations
and stable environment; positive staff-student interactions;
teaches and reinforces skills for success
•
Olweus Bullying Prevention Program: Increases student and staff
knowledge awareness about bullying prevention; teaches adults
and youth skills to prevent and intervene in bullying situations;
aims to change attitudes/norms in school and community; utilizes
student voice; encourages community involvement
•
Botvin LifeSkills Training Program: Students practice and receive
feedback on problem-solving and decision-making skill; students
discuss healthy vs. unhealthy attitudes and decisions; program
increases knowledge of health risk behaviors
Targeted Supports
• Majority of staff involved (Mentoring: Check
and Connect and CICO, AVID)
• Early screening and identification
(Mentoring, LifeSkills)
• Use of existing tools and county data
(Mentoring, Life Skills, AVID, AdvancePath)
• Use evidence-based practices (CnC, CICO,
Life Skills)
• Provide training and continued TA to staff
Owl Leadership Academy (CICO)
Intensive Individualized interventions
• Whatever is needed
• Layer supports
• Continue targeted supports and add
individualized interventions
• Early intervention
• Keep all staff involved and use natural
supports
What students are saying
Being in the program
helps me stay
motivated and get
good grades. When I
finish High School I
want to go to a four
year college.
My mentor helps me think
of different solutions to a
problem and pick the right
one.
Before, I didn’t know
how to control my anger.
Now I know to take a
break before I talk if I am
really mad..
The way we do things…
• Care for the kids!
• Constant screening and monitoring
• Shared responsibility/ shared
ownership
• Kudos from administration to staff
• Aligned with other initiatives
• Monitoring of new information
• Spread the wealth!
Sustainability/ Building Capacity
 District TA
 Shared responsibility in the building
 Staff culture of “this is how do do
things”
 Coordination and school manuals
 Continued staff development