Professional development since 2020 has included some version of this check-in.
While we laughed in person or shared virtually on Zoom chats, we got some superficial acknowledgment of our stressors and went back to work. There have been significant changes in education, and 2020 has been unlike any previous change. Between school closures, unprecedented community distrust of educators, and political divisions in society, it is no surprise that the session is tiptoeing around the needs of educators. These challenges continued as we transformed the landscape of our school.
A more accurate check-in would be:
When considering these squares in real speech, it can be difficult to equate them to one. We must prepare for more serious challenges, including the looming fiscal cliff. When budgets get tighter, critical resources dwindle. Offsetting behaviors and mental health must be supported first. Our teachers, academic counselors, and administrators will be tasked with serving as underprepared and underequipped behavior interventionists, mental health experts, and social skills instructors. This is consistent with the expectation of attracting students with learning gaps to higher academic levels.
Well-intentioned districts and leaders tried out after-school yoga sessions, along with many other ideas, but they fell short. A group of teachers, paraprofessionals, and principals from Southern California went beyond check-ins and offered insight into actionable steps to address the impact of a post-pandemic world.
Current existing MTSS system alignment
The school has a version of a Multi-Level Support System (MTSS). Your implementation lacks three elements: 1) There is a lack of common language and common understanding of the components and alignment of MTSS. 2) Communication is ineffective at all levels of the school system. 3) There is no need to universally implement the identified Tier 1 strategies.
Strengthening classroom-level processes
Teachers observed high levels of aggression, anxiety, developmental delays, relationship problems and trauma among students. As teachers have become better at identifying problems, they have found that the most effective tool for addressing and reducing behavioral symptoms is consistent, clear classroom structure and routines. Schools with strong school-wide Positive Behavior Interventions and Supports (PBIS) systems have had more success with school-wide implementation.
Implementing tiered support
Understanding tiered levels of support seems limited to identifying that there are at most four tiers of support. A common language and common understanding are needed. Students cannot access services that adults cannot speak to clearly. Teams should look to existing, proven frameworks such as PBIS, trauma-informed practice, regulatory domains, and Universal Design for Learning (UDL) to align intervention steps to the MTSS framework.
Strengthen teacher assessment capacity to connect to services
An ineffective process is the student research team. Teachers identify academic, behavioral, mental, or social problems. They then follow the steps outlined, which can take at least 12 weeks from referral, identification and implementation of interventions, and meetings to discuss results. A year was often wasted when teachers could have been given the tools to take action immediately. The elephant in the room: Teachers expressed distrust in their ability to serve students in a timely manner. Schools should overhaul their student learning team systems to ensure teachers can implement interventions immediately. One suggestion is for everyone to follow the alumni center. ABC model Developed in collaboration with John Hopkins University.
Leverage multidisciplinary teams
Tools and institutions must be provided to implement support, but teachers cannot work in isolation. After establishing a common language and common understanding of the different strategies, intervention steps, and available supports, schools should leverage a framework for communication and ongoing access to resources. All Graduate Center ABC Models provide guidance for creating groups, forming effective teams, and scheduling meetings proactively rather than reactively.
Identify and address implementation barriers
Building and district leaders must address these eight barriers:
This is the starting point for immediate action. Building and site leaders must establish a common language and common understanding of the frameworks and practices that need to be implemented or better coordinated. We also need to manage our employees’ mental health differently. This starts with ensuring that teachers' professional development needs and accommodations occur during working hours. Providing teachers with extra pay after school is good, but working a few hours after a long workday is not enough when teachers are expressing extreme burnout and compassion fatigue. We show that we are serious about supporting teachers by integrating it into our professional work and fully preparing and training our teams.