serving districts in

Volume 6, Issue 5, January 2017 Page 1

RSE-TASC REPORTER LOWER HUDSON REGIONAL SPECIAL EDUCATION TECHNICAL ASSISTANCE AND SUPPORT CENTER

www.pnwboces.org/rsetasc

Inside this issue:

Improving Mental Health 1

RSE-TASC Trainings 2

Community Trainings 2

School Tools: Starting with Why

3

Bright Spot 4

Contact Information 4

Two years ago I wrote a Reporter

article to share my why (as in Sinek,

2011) – improving mental health

outcomes for all students. Since

then I have participated in the

National Interconnected Systems

Framework (ISF) Targeted

Workgroup and conducted

doctoral research on this topic. My

three biggest takeaways are that

we need to: (a) Start with why, (b)

Demystify mental health, and (c)

Leverage what works.

Starting with Why

Schools and communities have

recently reported increases in

students’ anxiety, acts of hate, drug

abuse, and suicide. Consequently,

there’s a sense of urgency to

remedy these critical challenges,

challenges that were historically

addressed outside of schools. Six

data points demonstrate our

national context:

1) Approximately 20% to 33% of

students are experiencing, or

are at risk of developing, a

mental health challenge

(Centers for Disease Control,

2013).

2) That rate is expected to

increase by more than 50% by

2020 (McIntosh, Ty, & Miller,

2014).

3) Only approximately 20% of

students with a mental health

challenge receive support

(Duchnowski, 2013).

4) Of the students who do receive

support, approximately 70%

receive support in school

(Duchnowski, 2013).

5) Schools are the primary provider

of mental health supports to

youth, followed by the juvenile

justice system (Duchnowski,

2013).

6) Suicide is the second leading

cause of death among

adolescents (Heron, 2016).

(cont’d on pg. 3)

Improving All Students’ Mental Health Outcomes: Start with Why - Part II

By Andrew J. Ecker, EdD, Special Education School Improvement Specialist

WHY

Demystify

Leverage

To register for our Regional Workshops: please go to www.pnwboces.org/catalog. Click on the down arrow next to the

box that says “Click one or more options…”, select RSE-TASC and click “Search”. Scroll down the webpage to the

workshop in which you are interested.

RSE-TASC REPORTER LOWER HUDSON REGIONAL SPECIAL EDUCATION TECHNICAL ASSISTANCE AND SUPPORT CENTER

Volume 6, Issue 5, January 2017 Page 2

IEP Goals (2-Day), 3/22 & 3/28 *WAIT

LIST*

Instructional Practices January

Understanding Cultural and

Linguistic Diversity, 1/31

February

Language Acquisition vs. Learning

Disability, 2/13

Understanding Specially Designed

Instruction—Turning Research into

Practice (3-Day), 2/14, 3/8 & 4/26

Literacy for English Language

Learners with Disabilities: What’s

Different?, 2/16

March

Language Acquisition vs. Learning

Disability, 3/3

Literacy for English Language

Learners with Disabilities: What’s

Different?, 3/24

Explicit Direct Instruction: Providing

Access to Curriculum for Struggling

Students (3-Day), 3/30, 4/6 & 4/19

Leadership February

CSE Roundtable, 2/9

CPSE Colloquium, 2/16

March

CAN*DO (CDOS Association of

Networking Districts and

Organizations) Consortium, 3/10

February

PBIS Booster: Data Tools, 2/2

Teaching Social Skills to Preschoolers,

2/7

FBA-BIP: Tier 3 Behavioral

Interventions (3-Day), 2/13, 3/1 & 3/21

PBIS Essential Elements, 2/16

March

PBIS Coaches’ Forum, 3/9

New Coaches’ PBIS Basic Training, 3/9

Team Implementation Guidance for

Social & Behavioral Supports, 3/28

Individualized Education Planning

and the CSE Process January

New CSE/CPSE Chairperson Training

(3-Day), 1/25, 2/8, 2/15 *WAIT LIST*

February

IEPs for English Language Learners,

2/2

IEP Study Group, 2/3

Student Directed IEPs (Invitation

Only), 2/10

IEP Institute 1: Developing Quality

IEPs (2-Day), 2/28 & 3/14 *WAIT LIST*

March

CSE Part 2: Next Steps, 3/2 *WAIT

LIST*

Testing Accommodations, 3/17 *WAIT

LIST*

IEP Institute 2: Developing Quality

Come Learn with us at our upcoming Regional Trainings!

School-Wide Systems Transition

January

Transition Specialist Network, 1/5

Graduation Options for Students with

IEPs, 1/9

The Forum: The Skills Credential and

the Student Exit Summary, 1/11

Putnam County Transition Consortium,

1/12

Transition Planning and Assessments

for Students with Multiple Disabilities,

1/26

February

Transition Planning Tools and

Resources, 2/6

Putnam County Transition Consortium,

2/9

School-Based Enterprises (2-Day), 2/13

& 3/17 *WAIT LIST*

Transition Planning (High School and

Beyond) for English Language Learners

who have IEPs, 2/14

Behavior & Discipline Supports

January

PBIS Booster: Social/Behavior Lesson

Plans, 1/17

Team Implementation Guidance for

Social & Behavioral Supports, 1/31

Community Trainings From PNW BOCES, www.pnwboces.org/catalog:

OPWDD Eligibility 101 & NYSTART (Systemic, Therapeutic, Assessment, Resources and Treatment), 1/6

Building Grit and Resiliency to Counter Student Anxiety, 1/17

Developing a Critical Consciousness to address the Impact of Race, Power and Privilege in Teaching and Learning, 1/18

From Putnam County Youth Bureau, NYS OCFS, http://putnam.cce.cornell.edu

2107 Putnam County Youth Forum,

Planning Committee Meetings start 1/18

From Rockland BOCES, www.rocklandboces.org:

Scaffolds for Complex Text—Part 2—Secondary, presented by Pat Krizan, 1/12

Youth Mental Health First Aid—8-hour Course, 1/13

From WIHD, www.wihd.org:

Transition from CPSE to CSE: Going to Kindergarten, 1/10 OR 1/17

Annual Reviews—Parents as Partners, 1/12 OR 1/19 OR 1/25

Supporting and Building Social Competence in Young Children, 1/31

From SW BOCES, www.swboces.org:

How to Create Behavior Plans that Work: Ideas for the Defiant, Inattentive, or Anxious Student, 1/6

Understanding Autism Spectrum Disorder: Moving Beyond the Surface Behaviors, 1/10

Integrated Co-Teaching for English Language Learners (HV RBE-RN), 1/19

Differentiating and Adapting for Different Learners: Grades K-2, 1/24

View our Training Calendar &

Register at http://

rsetasc.pnwboces.org/events/

RSE-TASC REPORTER LOWER HUDSON REGIONAL SPECIAL EDUCATION TECHNICAL ASSISTANCE AND SUPPORT CENTER

School Tools: Starting with your Why

Volume 6, Issue 5, January 2017 Page 3

Starting with why means putting

student outcomes first and doing

whatever it takes to achieve those

outcomes. I believe this is the first

step toward improving all students’

mental health outcomes. Students,

families, communities, and schools

identify requisite academic and

cognitive skills for students’ school

and community success, now and

as adults. Articulating those

outcomes and skills and being

driven by, and to, them is starting

with your why. Your compelling

purpose guides you, not your

resources or the way your school

has always done things.

Discussions about improving

students’ mental health within the

school context is an essential first

Start by engaging your entire school community in identifying your Why — what do you believe every student should be able to do to be successful? Here’s a possible tool:

If you want to learn more about a framework for improving students’ academic, cognitive and mental health outcomes, read Effectiveness: Interconnecting School Mental Health and School-wide Positive Behavior Support (https://www.pbis.org/school/school-mental-health/interconnected-systems). It outlines the Interconnected Systems Framework (ISF), a structure for embedding evidence-based school mental health practices into a Multi-Tiered System of Support. Read the overview on pp. 1-2 & Chapter 1, An Introduction to the Interconnected Systems Framework (pp. 3-17).

Appendix B of this document (pp. 134-135) provides a templated structure for answering four key questions that can help a community begin to align systems in order to improve student outcomes. 1) Who cares about this issue and why? 2) What work is already underway separately? 3) What shared work could unite us? 4) How can we deepen our connections?

step toward improving students’

outcomes.

Demystifying Mental Health

Let’s apply the same why-logic

to mental health and shift our

perspective from remedying crises

to teaching and growing critical

life skills. First, we need to

understand what comprises

mental health; i.e. social,

emotional and behavioral skills

(The Center for Health and Health

Care in Schools, 2014). Second,

we can identify across these three

areas the student outcomes, now

and as adults, that are important

to students, families, community,

and school. Third, we must

juxtapose our academic and

cognitive why with our mental

health why to see how these

domains are aligned and

interconnected, and how each

thrives with the support of the

other.

Leveraging what Works

Positive Behavioral Interventions

and Supports (PBIS) and Explicit

Instruction (EI) are two of schools’

most efficacious systems and

practices. Leveraging PBIS’s tiered

prevention logic helps us view

mental health skills as something

we can teach, acknowledge,

reinforce, monitor, and remediate.

Many schools have a poster, or

matrix, that defines three to five

behaviors, is highly visible

throughout the school, and is a

frequent reference for all staff and

(cont. from pg. 1)

WHY?

Our students, families, community, and school believe that every student should _____________________

___________________________in order to be successful in our school and community now and as adults.

In order to achieve our why, every students needs these critical skills:

Academic Cognitive Social Emotional Behavioral

(cont. on pg. 4)

Volume 6, Issue 5, January 2017 Page 4

students. That matrix can be

enhanced to include the important

social and emotional expectations

identified in your why. Mental

health must be explicitly taught

with the same intentionality and

explicit instructional strategies that

we teach behavior and academics.

See the School Tools on page 3

which has a tool for each step of

this process.

Two quotes impact the way I

frame this work: “Every system is

RSE-TASC REPORTER LOWER HUDSON REGIONAL SPECIAL EDUCATION TECHNICAL ASSISTANCE AND SUPPORT CENTER

Patti Slobogin, Director Leslie Zedlovich, Jr. Administrative Assistant Felecia Morris, Sr. Office Assistant Megan King, Office Assistant

Regional Trainers: John Boniello, Bilingual Special Education Specialist Kit Casey, Transition Specialist Sara Fienup, Behavior Specialist Dale Langley, Behavior Specialist Erin Leskovic, Preschool Behavior Specialist Laurie Levine, Regional Special Education Specialist Ann Narcisse, Regional Special Education Specialist Stephanie Wozniak, Transition Specialist

Special Education School Improvement Specialists (SESIS): Randy Ascher, Yonkers City Schools Andrew J. Ecker, Putnam Northern Westchester Fran Fernandez, Special Act and Approved Private Schools Denise Jaffe, Southern Westchester Nicole Scariano, Rockland David Luhman, Southern Westchester John McCabe, Special Act and Approved Private Schools Martha Trujillo-Torp, Yonkers City Schools

RSE-TASC Staff—914-248-2289, rsetasc@pnwboces.org, www.pnwboces.org/rsetasc

Bright Spot!

At the end of each year, we like to recognize you, the educators of the

Lower Hudson Valley, as our Bright Spot.

Each and every one of you do the critical work every day of supporting

our students with disabilities in improving academic, social emotional

and life skills.

Thank you!

perfectly designed to get the

results it gets” (Batalden, undated)

and “Student behavior won’t

change until adult behavior

changes” (Scott, 2015). The first

quote tells us what happens if we

do nothing. The second quote

tells us when and where to start –

with why.

References

Batalden, P. B. (Undated). Centers for Disease

Control and Prevention (2013). Mental health

surveillance among children – United States,

2005 – 2011. Morbidity and Mortality Weekly

Report, 62(2), 1-35.

Duchnowski, A. J. (2013). Preface. In S. Barrett, L.

Eber, & M. Weist (Eds.), Advancing education

effectiveness: Interconnecting school mental

health and school-wide positive behavior

support (pp. v-vi). Retrieved from

www.pbis.org/school/school-mental-health/

interconnected-systems.

Heron, M. (2016). Deaths: Leading causes for

2014. (National Vital Statistics Reports; Vol. 65

No. 5). Retrieved from National Center for

Health Statistics website: https://www.cdc.gov/

nchs/data/nvsr/nvsr65/nvsr65_05.pdf.

McIntosh, K. Ty, S. V., Miller, L. D. (2014). Effects

of school-wide positive behavioral

interventions and supports on internalizing

problems: Current evidence and future

directions. Journal of Positive Behavior

Interventions, 16(4), 209-218.

Scott, T. M. (2015, May). Managing challenging

students: Effective teaching behavior. Keynote

presented at the Northeast PBIS Network

Leadership Forum of the Office of Special

Education Programs Center on Positive

Behavioral Interventions & Supports and the

Center for Behavioral Education & Research,

Mystic, CT.

Sinek, S. (2011). Start with why: How great leaders

inspire everyone to take action. New York:

Portfolio Trade.

The Center for Health and Health Care in Schools.

(2014). The impact of school-connected

behavioral and emotional health interventions

on student academic performance: An

annotated bibliography of research literature.

Retrieved from http://www.cep- dc.org/

cfcontent_file.cfm?

Attachment=RentnerPrice_Bibliography_Guidet

oFedPrograms _050714.pdf.

You!