Building Great Mental Health Professional–Teacher Teams

MENTAL HEALTH PROFESSIONAL–

TEACHER

teams

A Systematic Approach to Social-Emotional Learning for Students and Educators

Social-emotional health and well-being are at the forefront of educators’ minds, and for good reason. Professional educators confront the realities of high poverty, pervasive trauma, and mental health disorders daily. Building Great Mental Health Professional–Teacher Teams: A Systematic Approach to Social-Emotional Learning for Students and Educators harnesses the power of teams so that teachers and school mental health professionals can combine their expertise to support complex student needs. Authors Tonya C. Balch, Brandie M. Oliver, Chavez Phelps, and Bradley V. Balch facilitate true team collaboration and examine how all educators, including school counselors, psychologists, and social workers, can work together for maximum positive impact. Providing practical advice for strategic planning and a professional development activity for every chapter, this book informs readers how to navigate team tensions and achieve a school culture that fosters respect, involvement, and growth for everyone.

Readers will: • Incorporate social-emotional learning into everyday classroom practice • Learn how to build resilience and a growth mindset in students • Acquire strategies for helping dysregulated students and implementing interventions

• Recognize compassion fatigue in themselves and others, and implement prevention strategies

—Deb Lecklider

Professor and Director of the Experiential Program for Preparing School Principals, Butler University “This authentic, practical, powerful book will change the way you think about, interact with, and support students and families. For educators, school counselors, school psychologists, and administrators who are passionate about empowering and advocating for students and building capacity to positively impact student success, this resource will resonate deeply. Packed with evidence-based practices, practical interventions, professional development activities, and a plethora of resources, this is a true gem!”

—Julie Taylor

Ohio School Counselor of the Year; School Counselor, Starr Elementary School, Oregon, Ohio “As the leader of the classroom, how do you support this student’s emotional needs while maintaining an academic focus for the rest of your students? If you are a mental health professional— that is, a school counselor, school psychologist, or school social worker— how does a wraparound team support students in their holistic education?

In this book, Tonya C. Balch, Brandie M. Oliver, Chavez Phelps, and Bradley V. Balch provide answers to these essential questions.”

ISBN 978-1-951075-11-8 90000

Visit go.SolutionTree.com/behavior to download the free reproducibles in this book.

9 781951 075118

SolutionTree.com

building great

MENTAL HEALTH PROFESSIONAL–

TEACHER

teams

A Systematic Approach to SocialEmotional Learning for Students and Educators

—Erin Stalbaum

Director, Transformation Zone, Kokomo School Corporation, Kokomo, Indiana; Educational Consultant

Balch  Oliver Phelps  Balch

• Discover ways to include trauma-informed and restorative practices in classrooms, in offices, and schoolwide

“The book is amazing and much needed. The authors brilliantly capture a must-read for anyone interested in the well-being of their students and educators by creating a systematic, collaborative team approach.”

Building Great Mental Health Professional–Teacher Teams

building great

tonya c. balch  brandie m. oliver chavez phelps  bradley v. balch foreword by erin stalbaum

Copyright © 2021 by Solution Tree Press Materials appearing here are copyrighted. With one exception, all rights are reserved. Readers may reproduce only those pages marked “Reproducible.” Otherwise, no part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means (electronic, photocopying, recording, or otherwise) without prior written permission of the publisher.

555 North Morton Street Bloomington, IN 47404 800.733.6786 (toll free) / 812.336.7700 FAX: 812.336.7790 email: info@SolutionTree.com SolutionTree.com Visit go.SolutionTree.com/behavior to download the free reproducibles in this book.

Printed in the United States of America

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data Names: Balch, Tonya Christman, 1967- author. | Balch, Bradley V., author. | Oliver, Brandie M., author. | Phelps, Chavez, author.

Title: Building great mental health professional-teacher teams : a systematic approach to social-emotional learning for students and educators / Tonya C. Balch, Bradley V. Balch, Brandie M. Oliver, Chavez Phelps ; Foreword by Erin Stalbaum.

Description: Bloomington, IN : Solution Tree Press, [2021] | Includes bibliographical references and index.

Identifiers: LCCN 2020019805 (print) | LCCN 2020019806 (ebook) | ISBN 9781951075118 (paperback) | ISBN 9781951075125 (ebook) Subjects: LCSH: Teachers--Professional relationships. | Students--Mental health services. | Teaching teams. | Affective education. | School improvement programs.

Classification: LCC LB1775 .B327 2021 (print) | LCC LB1775 (ebook) | DDC 371.1--dc23 LC record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2020019805 LC ebook record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2020019806 Solution Tree Jeffrey C. Jones, CEO Edmund M. Ackerman, President Solution Tree Press President and Publisher: Douglas M. Rife Associate Publisher: Sarah Payne-Mills Art Director: Rian Anderson Managing Production Editor: Kendra Slayton Senior Production Editor: Tonya Maddox Cupp Content Development Specialist: Amy Rubenstein Copy Editor: Mark Hain Proofreader: Kate St. Ives Text and Cover Designer: Abigail Bowen Editorial Assistants: Sarah Ludwig and Elijah Oates

[ table of contents ] About the Authors. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . ix Foreword by Erin Stalbaum. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . xiii Introduction. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1 Team Structure. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3 The Power of a Team Perspective . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5 Maximized Team Effectiveness. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6 The Need for Systematic Implementation of This Book’s Content. . . 17 Professional Development Activity on Getting to Know Each Other . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 20 Summary. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 21

Chapter 1 Social-Emotional Risk Factors . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 23 Defining Poverty . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 24 Looking at Poverty’s Impact on Academic Achievement . . . . . . . . 28 Relating to Families. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 29 Mitigating the Effects of Poverty. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 33 Professional Development Activity on Parent or Guardian Engagement. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 40 Summary. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 41

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Building Great Mental Health Professional–Teacher Teams

Chapter 2 Mindfulness. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 43 Self-Regulation, Executive Function, and Mindfulness . . . . . . . . . . 44 SEL and Mindfulness . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 45 A Compassionate Mindful School Environment . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 46 Mindfulness Activities. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 48 Professional Development Activity on Mindfulness Practice. . . . . 54 Summary. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 56

Chapter 3 Growth Mindset and Resilience . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 57 Mindset: The What and Why. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 58 Mindset Strategies in the Classroom. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 65 Resilience: The What and Why. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 68 Resilience Strategies in the Classroom . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 69 Mindset and Resilience Linked: Process Praise. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 72 Professional Development Activity on Mindset . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 73 Summary. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 76

Chapter 4 Trauma-Informed School Practices . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 77 Adverse Childhood Experiences. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 78 Risk Factors That Influence Childhood Trauma . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 80 The Effects of Childhood Trauma. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 81 Brief History and Rationale for Trauma-Informed Practices . . . . . . 82 Fundamentals of Trauma-Informed Practices . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 84 Professional Development Activity on Childhood Trauma Awareness . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 99 Summary. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 100

Chapter 5 Restorative Practices. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 103 Brief History and Rationale for Restorative Practices . . . . . . . . . . 104 Fundamentals of Restorative Practices. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 106 Restorative Practices and SEL . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 109 The Restorative Educator. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 120

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Professional Development Activity on Applying Restorative Practices . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 122 Summary. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 129

Chapter 6 Dysregulated Students and Intervention Implementation. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 131 Dysregulated Students . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 132 Power Struggles in the Classroom. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 135 Teamwork Regarding Students Who Are Struggling. . . . . . . . . . . 140 Professional Development Activity on Tiered Interventions. . . . . 153 Summary. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 155

Chapter 7 Solution-Focused Brief Therapy . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 157 Brief History of and Rationale for SFBT . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 157 SFBT Fundamentals . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 161 SFBT Technique Application. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 165 Professional Development Activity on Solution-Focused Brief Therapy. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 169 Summary. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 171

Chapter 8 Safety and Implicit Bias. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 173 Making Learning Optimal With Safety. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 173 Addressing Implicit Bias. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 185 Professional Development Activity on Addressing Implicit Bias . . 187 Summary. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 189

Chapter 9 Educator Well-Being . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 191 Compassion Fatigue . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 192 Support Strategies. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 195 Professional Development Activity for Assessing Compassion Fatigue and Risk for Compassion Fatigue . . . . . . . 204 Summary. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 205

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Chapter 10 The Future of the Mental Health Professional–Teacher Team. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 207 Self-Assessing to Ensure Team Effectiveness. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 208 Looking at Future Implications for the Team . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 213 Professional Development Activity on Leadership Reflection as a Team. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 217 Summary . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 219

References and Resources. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 221 Index . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 245

[ about the authors ] Tonya C. Balch, PhD, is a professor in counseling and a faculty member in the department of Applied Clinical and Educational Sciences at Indiana State University. Tonya is a former school counselor who worked with students in grades 7–12 in west central Indiana. She served as the director of guidance at Fountain Central Junior/Senior High School in Veedersburg, Indiana. She has been the program coordinator for the school counseling master of education program at Indiana State University since 2005.

Tonya is a member of the American Counseling Association and the American School Counselor Association. She is a member of the Indiana Counseling Association, receiving the President’s Award in 2013, and the Indiana School Counselor Association, receiving the Exemplary Counselor Educator Award in 2011.

She has given presentations throughout the United States and internationally on topics ranging from mentorship of African-American students to continuous improvement to counselor–administrator teams. Tonya has published on topics such as effective transitions and leadership skills influencing student achievement and has written grants totaling more than $430,050 in sponsored program support for the human service professions. Her book, Building Great School Counselor–Administrator Teams, coauthored with Bradley V. Balch, was published by Solution Tree Press in 2016.

Tonya received a bachelor of science in physics, a master of education in school counseling, and a doctorate of philosophy in educational administration from Indiana State University.

To learn more about Tonya C. Balch’s work, follow @TonyaBalch on Twitter.

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Brandie M. Oliver, PhD, is an associate professor at Butler University teaching in the Masters in School Counseling Program. Before transitioning to higher education, Brandie worked as a middle school counselor. Brandie sees her role as a resource and support for all educators. Specifically, she hopes to be an advocate and a source of positive change for all students, parents, and educators. She is a frequent presenter at local, state, and national conferences. In 2016, she was named the Indiana Counselor Educator of the Year and Butler University Young Alumni Award recipient for the College of Education. Her specific areas of interest include social-emotional learning, trauma-responsive education, suicide prevention and intervention, comprehensive school counseling, restorative practices, and ensuring all this work is done through a lens of equity and cultural responsiveness. Brandie has served families at Brooke’s Place for Grieving Young People as a grief support group facilitator and also as an individual grief counselor in the therapy services program.

She has been an active collaborator with the Indiana Department of Education by developing resources for Indiana schools to respond to the anti-bullying legislation, worked on a team to develop a model policy and resource documents in response to the suicide prevention policy, coauthored Indiana’s Social-Emotional Learning Competencies (January 2019), and developed a model discipline plan and resources to respond to legislation addressing research-based, equitable school discipline.

Brandie has served on both state and national boards; specifically, she served on the Indiana School Counselor Association’s Executive Board for seven years. In 2016–2017, she had the great honor to be appointed to the American Counseling Association Presidential Advisory Commission on the Roles and Responsibilities of School Counselor Educators. She also serves on the Evidence-Based School Counseling Advisory Board.

Chavez Phelps, PhD, is an assistant professor of school psychology at Indiana State University. His research interests are childhood trauma and mindfulness, completing a grant-funded trauma-intervention project for middle school students. Chavez offers professional development in trauma-informed care for school districts across the state of Indiana. Currently, he serves as the director of the Hoosier Whole Child Resilience Initiative at Indiana State University, which offers professional development and technical support to schools and other community agencies that support youth with trauma-related behavior and emotional needs.

Chavez is a member of the National Association of School Psychologists (NASP)

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Government and Professional Advocacy Committee, for which he represents states located in the central region of the United States. From 2009 to 2017, he was a schoolbased practitioner in New Orleans, Louisiana, working in nontraditional schools such as juvenile correctional facilities, adolescent mental health hospitals, and alternative high schools. Chavez also served as director of a therapeutic program for students in grades K–8 who presented with significant behavior and social-emotional needs.

From 2014–2017, he was in private practice serving children and adolescents who presented with aggression, anxiety, or depression issues. Chavez engaged in mental health public policy work in Louisiana, where he advocated for legislation that targeted school-based mental health services. He earned his BS in psychology from the University of New Orleans, and his MEd and PhD from Indiana State University.

Bradley V. Balch, PhD, is a professor and dean emeritus at Indiana State University. He is a graduate faculty member in the department of Educational Leadership at Bayh College of Education at Indiana State University. Bradley was formerly a superintendent, principal, assistant principal, and teacher throughout west central Indiana. Bradley was also a two-term public school board member in Covington, Indiana. He has been an educator of industrial technology and mathematics since 1984, having taught kindergarten through twelfth grade in a variety of school settings. His educational work experiences range from rural settings to urban schools with a range of student socioeconomic statuses and academic performances.

Bradley recently served on the board of directors for the American Association of Colleges for Teacher Education and the Teacher Education Council of State Colleges and Universities. Bradley is a member of the Indiana Association of School Principals and, in 2012, won its President’s Award. He has given more than 170 presentations throughout the United States and internationally on topics ranging from accreditation and continuous improvement to leadership and governance imperatives. Bradley has authored or coauthored more than seventy publications, including four books.

His books include Building Great School Board–Superintendent Teams (coauthored with Michael T. Adamson, 2017) and Building Great School Counselor–Administrator Teams (coauthored with Tonya C. Balch, 2016).

Bradley received a bachelor of science and master of arts in education from Ball State University and a doctorate of philosophy in educational administration from Indiana State University.

To learn more about Bradley V. Balch’s work, follow @BalchBrad on Twitter.

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To book Tonya C. Balch, Brandie M. Oliver, Chavez Phelps, or Bradley V. Balch for professional development, contact pd@SolutionTree.com.

Introduction If you are a teacher, the journey to student success may seem more like a complicated labyrinth or maze, full of challenging twists and bends with multiple entrances, exits, and pathway choices. The journey to supporting and building capacity for student success from the perspective of mental health professionals—that is, school counselors, school psychologists, and social workers—may also feel like a daily walk or run through these same complex pathways. As professional educators, you are confronted daily along this journey with the realities of continuous improvement, a plethora of student-achievement assessment, the needs of supporting healthy school climates and cultures amidst a host of negative forces bearing down on schools, and the complex array of challenges that students and families deal with that impact learning.

No doubt this journey can seem daunting, if not exhausting. A key question for professional educators and mental health professionals alike to ask themselves is, “Do I get energy from this daily journey on behalf of the students I serve that excites and invigorates me, or is this journey draining my energy and exhausting me?” If your answer is the latter, your professional situation is simply not sustainable and contributes to a larger, predictable pattern in which ever-increasing numbers of educators are permanently leaving the profession altogether, a problem compounded by the fact that increasingly, fewer people are entering the profession (García & Weiss, 2019).

If you could rise above the labyrinth or maze from time to time to take a 30,000foot view of education, the purposeful nature of the journey might reveal itself: a systematic and intentional pathway with more strategic emphasis, allowing you to focus and reflect on your professional efforts and contribute in ways that bring energy to your job. It is remapping this complex journey with hopeful purpose and strategic intentionality that we hope to address. We are deeply committed to the position that a comprehensive approach to teaching and learning is best approached from a team perspective that moves beyond silos for academic and social-emotional emphases to a mapped systematic plan; a mental health professional–teacher team is far better positioned for fostering student success than either would be working in isolation as individual professionals.

[ 1 ]

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Building Great Mental Health Professional–Teacher Teams

Both society and schools must address the complex issues related to trauma, including abuse, neglect, poverty, addiction, violence, and a host of other factors impacting the health and wellness of so many people. In fact, it is estimated that one in five school-aged children in the United States and Canada shows signs or symptoms of mental health disorders annually (Anderson & Cardoza, 2016; Caring for Kids, 2017). For students who live daily with stress or trauma, the classroom may be the most stable part of their day. These students often dislike inclement weather, school cancellations, or holidays because school has become their one reliable, safe place.

In varying ways, educators are attempting to address these big social issues as best they can, but these same educators are also fighting a negative narrative that they are failing to teach children adequately to be competitive in an era of globalization and economic competition. Pressures mount for outcome-oriented, measurable learning gains. As such, measurable learning gains (as evidenced through high-stakes testing and other means of assessment) often compete for priority with students’ (and educators’) health and wellness needs (FairTest, 2007). In this competing scenario, what are teachers and mental health professionals to do? Should student success as measured by assessments be the emphasis? Should a more whole-child approach with an emphasis on social-emotional learning (SEL) serve as a student success imperative? Should the focus be both academic and whole child? Can it be both? For the purposes of this book, SEL is a means through “which children and adults acquire and effectively apply the knowledge, attitudes, and skills necessary to understand and manage emotions, set and achieve positive goals, feel and show empathy for others, establish and maintain positive relationships, and make responsible decisions” (Collaborative for Academic, Social, and Emotional Learning [CASEL], 2020).

Many teachers and mental health professionals would argue that if more expectations are being added to their professional plates, then something needs to be taken away as well. However, we posit that the child is the plate! From this perspective, addressing the whole child is essential to sustained improvements in all facets of a student’s success, including measures of academic achievement, behavioral outcomes, and attendance records (Frezza, 2018). The whole-child approach also paves a pathway to meaningful, purposeful, and sustainable student success that is best informed from a mental health professional–teacher team perspective. A persistent challenge arises with outcome-oriented models utilizing standardized assessment; students may be viewed as numbers or colors on a spreadsheet, and educators react according to the numbers or colors to address core academic needs. When spreadsheet thinking is applied to students living with poverty and trauma specifically, it simply does not work. An educational imperative is to focus on providing students with what they need socially, emotionally, and even physically before addressing academic needs. It is hoped this book provides the insight for teachers to address all of these aspects at

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the same time, which is what we consider the whole-child approach; however, to do so effectively takes a team that sees through a whole-child lens that engages educators with both academics and SEL in tandem.

The collaborative sharing of skills, knowledge, and dispositions garnered by mental health professionals and teachers can best benefit the challenging work these educators are faced with each day.

Team Structure A team approach to helping students solve their problems, which come from often-overlapping social, emotional, physical, and academic challenges, can be highly effective. The primary goal for the mental health professional–teacher team is supporting students so they can be successful in the classroom. Mental health professionals and teachers both have specific degrees and training relative to working with students. Each brings a unique perspective to the team and an understanding of the students in their schools, typical behaviors and attitudes, and ideas for what has been effective when helping students problem solve. As we’ll describe in this section of the book, the mental health professional–teacher team can be a traditional team, a collaboration, or provide professional development.

Traditional Team A traditional team approach is often evident through a committee that identifies interventions for students who are struggling—for example, multitiered systems of support (MTSS), response to intervention (RTI) team, general education intervention team, or student-assistance team. These teams focus on providing interventions for students’ academic success, behaviors, or social interactions. A traditional team “is characterized by a group of people with similar skills working together” with a common goal in mind (Nguyen, 2019). These teams often recommend or provide interventions for a student that a teacher or mental health professional would individually address. For example, a student may be struggling with peer interaction. The team may suggest a two-pronged approach that provides classroom interventions for the teacher to use, such as group work or seating arrangements. Separately, the team might request the mental health professional provide individual sessions to support the student relative to social skills. In this scenario, the mental health professional and teacher, who are also members of the larger team, might individually provide feedback and updates relative to the interventions they are implementing to the team, and they may or may not also be communicating with each other. In a traditional team approach, both professionals are actively working to support the student but possibly delivering interventions in two isolated silos: (1) the classroom

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Building Great Mental Health Professional–Teacher Teams

and (2) the mental health professional’s office. No doubt traditional teams can be effective, but they may be missing the opportunity to work collaboratively together or encourage collaboration.

Collaborative Team Collaboration builds on the concept of teaming, but “brings together individuals with different skills and perspectives” to focus on student needs (Nguyen, 2019).

Working together, the team would embrace collaborative opportunities to support a student as opposed to a traditional team, which may focus on individual efforts. In a collaborative team model, either the mental health professional or teacher is working with students directly and seeks input from the other. For example, a teacher may have several students in his or her class with visible signs of anxiety. The teacher collaborates with the mental health professional to teach students deep-breathing skills to lower anxiety. The mental health professional may be in the classroom or may simply provide ideas for the teacher. A mental health professional may be supporting an individual student who has had loss in his or her family and collaborate with the student’s teachers, who know that student’s typical attitude, behaviors, friends or supports, and any other relevant information. The team is supporting the student, but only one may be providing direct intervention. Joining this collaborative team might be nurses or other specialists who can best support the student’s needs.

Professional Development The final method of teaming is professional development. Each team member has his or her own unique education, training, and area of expertise and could share that expertise in the form of professional development for his or her team members. A teacher may excel in Google forms and share with the mental health professional tips and techniques to use when tracking student data or administering surveys to students for program planning. The mental health professional can share basic techniques for helping students de-stress in the classroom. Professional development may take place between two team members or for the entire school staff. Highlighting individual team member’s strengths can deepen trust, ensure egalitarian roles, and maximize skills for supporting students in the school.

If the team is operating in the true spirit of collaboration, team member differences are viewed as an asset and capitalized on. Local context matters greatly when considering the team. Team composition will vary among teachers, school counselors, school psychologists, and social workers. Others, such as nurses or instructional coaches, may join the team as needed to develop and implement interventions on behalf of students. The frequency of interactions among team members varies greatly, too. When collaborative team efforts are underway on behalf of a student, daily or

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at least weekly team interactions are likely occurring to persistently address progress towards the desired outcomes. The team may be supporting students in the classroom together, or may be delivering interventions separately, but they will be in close communication with each other. However, classroom-based interventions become more frequent and prevalent as the means by which teams address student needs. Have you ever asked, “What does this look like?” We believe the chapters of this book build a robust picture of what this looks like. The Social and Emotional Learning: Coaching Toolkit (https://bit.ly/3huxEJW) also provides an informed perspective on operationalizing team efforts. When we see a team’s SEL efforts coming to life in a school, it is infused with professional development, often delivered through coaching and strategically tied to broader systemic efforts such as professional learning communities (PLCs). No matter the team’s composition and its frequency and means of interacting, professional development is a cornerstone of success and an effective method of ensuring a whole-child focus becomes the culture beyond the classroom and throughout the school.

The Power of a Team Perspective We see many examples of mental health professionals and teachers engaged in what might be considered working groups. These working groups “work on their own assignments with general direction and minimal supervision” (Brounstein, 2020).

While this type of professional relationship has merit in any school setting and may even be necessary in some cases, the focus remains on the individual and individual accomplishments of professional educators. The individual perspective underscores the personal accountability and evaluative needs of the mental health professional or teacher. While that individual may be a highly effective school counselor, school psychologist, school social worker, or teacher, and his or her individual efforts may serve as an efficient means to accomplish tasks, we argue that this approach will always be void of the power of collective efforts and collaborative outcomes associated with an effective team. Simply stated, operating from individual silos may result in missing the opportunity to harness the power of team members collectively contributing to a common student success goal. Originally rooted in the work of Bandura (1993, 1997) and expanded through Hattie (2015), collective efficacy describes individual team members’ shared belief that together they can accomplish more than if they work alone.

The essence of this book is to build capacity for mental health professionals and teachers to move beyond working groups to instead form teams when supporting students. A team is more powerful because of the rich relationships that come from listening to each other, responding constructively to others, supporting one another, and celebrating the interests, talents, and achievements of others as they contribute to

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Building Great Mental Health Professional–Teacher Teams

team efforts. In fact, the Wallace Foundation (2013) insists that “Education research shows that most school variables, considered separately, have at most, small effects on learning. The real payoff comes when individual variables combine to reach critical mass” (p. 4). We posit that it is only through a collective commitment to the team that the issues and challenges of student success within an educational system are best addressed. It is imperative that mental health professionals work collaboratively with teachers to effectively and efficiently meet students’ needs. They can also provide essential supports for teachers’ needs as well. In turn, teachers are the front-line implementers of strategies and provide essential data on implementation effectiveness.

Further, teachers put theory into practice, allowing mental health professionals to continuously engage in research and reflection in order to support teachers effectively.

Having a strong team will maximize benefits for students as teachers gain additional support and interventions addressing student behaviors and other noncognitive factors that impede learning and often lead to students being taken out of the classroom. When students leave the classroom, instructional time is lost not only for the student, but for the classroom as well; removing a student takes learning time away from all students because the teacher has to reorient the class before transitioning back to the lesson. Accumulated lost instructional time can amount to days or even weeks of instruction taken out of a classroom annually, which can impact a variety of concerns, including decreased student achievement (Özek, 2018). When mental health professionals are in the classroom, they gain valuable insight into student behavior and peer interactions, no longer needing to rely on secondhand information related to these important topics.

Even in the best of circumstances, we may lose 40 percent of our instructional time to common transitions such as discipline, between-class changes, between-activity changes, and restroom breaks. Assuming approximately 330 minutes a day across 180 instructional days, Williams (2018) indicated typical transitions alone account for over fourteen weeks of lost instructional time annually. Addressing whole-child issues with minimal lost learning is a team imperative in which the teacher and mental health professional can both find improved capacity to ensure student success through direct supports in the classroom.

Maximized Team Effectiveness Most of us at one time have been part of an effective and high-performing team in which trust and respect among team members is evident, collaboration is abundant, and team outcomes are accomplished efficiently. So, what empowered this effective and high-performing team, and how does it apply to the mental health professional– teacher team? A partial answer to this question begins with an organizational understanding of the team. Effective teams also share certain characteristics and thoughtfully

Introduction

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address any resistance from team members. When working as a team, members are most effective when they understand organizational context, team effectiveness characteristics, and what to do about any resistance to working in teams.

Organizational Context Mental health professionals and teachers find increasingly overlapping roles and responsibilities related to parent, guardian, and other stakeholder consultations, providing advocacy, working collaboratively toward student success, using assessment to identify teaching and learning needs, and addressing the whole child (Schmidt, 2008). In suggesting the power of the mental health professional–teacher team, we do so with the informed understanding that role and responsibility overlap can be a source of tension. This predictable tension can be minimized among team members, however, by focusing on working together effectively; we will detail how to do so later in this introduction.

We humbly acknowledge the professional differences in the fundamental roles of mental health professionals and teachers. However, we do not recommend forcing team relationships in a way that marginalizes unique roles and responsibilities inherent to the teacher or mental health professional. The inevitable overlap of roles and responsibilities often comes down to questions of What? and How? For example, what student interventions should we consider, and how should we implement them?

Attempting to make answers to these questions discrete in a way that does not require collaboration may be possible, but the overarching question is, What best serves our students? A strong degree of trust among team members with a willingness to allow professional vulnerability to influence teamwork means team members can share their strength and talents regarding a particular issue as well as where they fall short and need support. In this context, collaboration flourishes.

Considering the overall team, we respectfully acknowledge that situational context matters much, and one-size-fits-all models would trivialize the important nuances that exist within schools, greatly influencing the work of teams. The team exists in varying forms in most every school, and the differences between schools matter greatly. We advise mental health professional–teacher teams to discuss their organizational model in terms of strengths and challenges. The team might consider the following organizational topics. § The number of mental health professionals and teachers included in the team § Each team member’s full- or part-time status § The job descriptions of each team member versus how that member actually spends his or her time on the job (that is, assuming a

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Building Great Mental Health Professional–Teacher Teams

workday is 100 percent, distribute percentages of effort on daily tasks) (Visit go.SolutionTree.com/behavior for a form on which team members can record how much time they spend doing tasks.) § The chains of command and reporting structures, including direct, indirect, between, and among team members (This can be influenced by funding sources [for example, Title funds] and contract commitments.) § The physical proximity of the team (that is, close together or spread out in the school or district) § The availability of team members during the professional day (for example, before or after school, common planning periods, individual preparation time, collaboration time, professional development schedules, and so on) A thoughtful discussion of the preceding organizational elements helps set the tone for addressing the team’s effectiveness. There may be other organizational issues the team should consider, such as the role of PLCs, climate, culture, and other team structures already inherent to the school. The team should thoughtfully consider any organizational issues of influence before considering other team characteristics.

Team Effectiveness Characteristics Psychologist Catarina Lino (2016) notes, “Simply working with other people doesn’t mean that you’re working as a team; real work implies collaboration, communication and the acknowledgement of a common purpose” (p. 5). Effective mental health professional–teacher teams persistently aspire to the following six key characteristics of team effectiveness: (1) trust and transparency, (2) results orientation, (3) professional relationships, (4) respect for diversity and divergent thought, (5) agreed-on decision-making process, and (6) commitment to continuous improvement.

Trust and Transparency Trust and transparency are possibly the characteristics most important in forming the cornerstone of an effective team relationship. Former Secretary of Health, Education, and Welfare John Gardner (1990) believes the time-honored means of building trust is to be trustworthy. Being trustworthy builds predictability into team member actions and decisions and adds an essential element of fairness when dealing with team issues, because each team member understands how actions and decisions are deliberated over and ultimately decided on. This will be important to the team since mental health professional and teacher perspectives can differ based on each discipline’s professional orientation. Teachers, for example, may have an academic

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orientation with strong conceptions of what effective teaching and learning should be. Mental health professionals may have a health and wellness orientation with strong conceptions of the need to address the whole child. As trust deepens, the Leaders Institute (n.d.) notes that high-trust teams “take risks and share successes and praise” (p. 2). Taking risks on behalf of the students you serve creates “stretch opportunities” for improvement. Risk can also build capacity for a collective growth mindset in which team members believe they can address student challenges with hard work and a dedicated focus (Dweck, 2015). Trusting teams are able to be honest about what worked and what did not relative to risk and reflect on what could be done differently moving forward.

The team should reflect on the current level of trust and discuss any past, current, or future issues that may impede trust. The following questions might prove helpful. § Do you believe we are communicating effectively? What can we improve on? § Are we meeting too little or too much? Is there a sense of purpose when we’re together or is our time wasted on trivial or ad hoc matters? § Do we care about each other (are we congenial, for instance)? § Is each voice on the team respected and valued? § How would you describe our current level of trust? Why?

Results Orientation Effective teams have a strong sense of purpose (Covey, 1990; LaForce, n.d.; Leaders Institute, n.d.). Purpose helps teams strive for results, whether they reach them or continue striving (Berns-Zayre, 2019). A results-oriented team has capacity for individual team members to work independently on various issues with the same end goal in mind. As noted in this chapter, this takes on the form of a working group when individuals are emphasized; however, as individual work gives way to member interdependence, a team forms around a unified goal. The benefit of the interdependent emphasis hinges on creating a culture of being results oriented. This culture is far more influence by all team members working collectively together as opposed to individual contributions. Only together as a team can members focus on establishing “ways of working that lead to desired results” (Janicik, 2017). Each time the team is faced with an issue, team members should discuss the end goal (that is, the result they hope to achieve), providing the opportunity to discuss the issue at hand from varying mental health professional and teacher perspectives.

Measuring results will vary greatly based on the student success criteria being pursued. Common measures include student achievement and performance measures, exclusion data, frequency of unwanted behaviors, attendance data, surveys from

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Building Great Mental Health Professional–Teacher Teams

faculty, staff, students, and families, observational data, and grades. The effective team will determine these metrics ahead of time and select truly useful measures that will help the team’s decision making. Schools are collecting a lot of data, but the question remains, How are we turning data into useful information? Teams must select only the essential metrics needed for successful appraisal, or they stand to spend more time collecting data than using data. The team might also determine milestones along the path to success to ask, “What is working and what is not?” Be flexible and adjust outcomes as needed. Be sure to celebrate successes along the way as well!

Professional Relationships Congenial team members do much to strengthen the group dynamic because they care about other team members. However, too much focus on congeniality can create a culture in which “getting along and preserving harmonious relationships” (Janssen, 2014) compete with a results orientation and can even impede honesty for fear it may strain relationships and hurt feelings among team members. Congeniality should be valued by team members, but not serve as the primary team characteristic.

Collaboration, on the other hand, gives emphasis and attention to a healthy professional relationship. Working together for a common purpose encompasses the basic spirit of collaboration, but more specifically, it requires solution-based thinking and brainstorming among team members, a strong sense of purpose evidenced by the value of working together, and a commitment to equal participation in which every voice is valued (Hill, 2016). The team should discuss its levels of congeniality and collaboration to date and how both may serve to help and possibly hinder team functioning.

Effective communication is an essential component to a healthy professional relationship. Effective teams understand that some communiques have the potential for confusion and in these cases, rely on “face-to-face interaction or telephone conversations” (Tallia, Lanham, McDaniel, & Crabtree, 2006, p. 48), minimizing the use of email or other one-way communiques. Strong communication does not just imply skill in sending and receiving information, but also means you can “adapt . . . to new and different situations, read the behavior of other people, compromise . . . have difficult conversations with ease, and avoid and resolve conflict” (Kermode, 2011).

How well does the team currently communicate?

Respect for Diversity and Divergent Thought Diversity considerations are many and may include factors such as gender, race, ethnicity, age, or workplace values; attention to diversity, however it may be defined, only serves to strengthen the team. For our purposes, we find value in consultant Margy Bresslour’s (2013) assessment of diversity’s contribution to goal

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accomplishment: “goals can often be best achieved when diversity of opinion, background, and skill are engaged.” A persistent focus on diversity in a way that upholds team members’ worldviews as part of the team culture actually builds capacity to enlighten, grow, and develop new insights (Bresslour, 2013). Never mistake another team member’s divergent thoughts or perspectives as a personal affront against you.

Doing so can break down the team’s common purpose and marginalize effectiveness. Are all team members valued? Is divergent thinking embraced or suppressed?

Ensuring members are valued means focusing on effective communication. Whether it is face-to-face, virtual, or otherwise, the team should communicate frequently and be present as well as help others be present. Inviting responses to questions helps keep the team present and contributing. Pursuing professional development together as a team deepens respect for each other and builds capacity for sharing divergent views.

We have developed professional development activities in each chapter to support this notion.

Agreed-On Decision-Making Process As teams mature, professional and sustainable decision-making processes should emerge. Ultimately, an effective team identity includes team decision making. The reason focusing on a process of decision making is so important is predictability. In the absence of predictable decision making among team members, outcomes may be viewed as spontaneous and emotive, lacking in judgment or facts, biased, or an attempt to be all things to all people. However, “making good decisions is a method that must be learned” (Gray, 2014). A number of decision-making models exist and are often distinguished by how participatory they may be (Stein, n.d.). This may include top-down, consensus, or bottom-up models of decision making. The differing skills, abilities, and roles of team members as well as the tasks to undertake may dictate a variety of decision-making models. The simple but seminal steps adapted from Bruce Tuckman’s (1965) four team-building stages—(1) forming, (2) storming, (3) norming, and (4) performing—work in many situations the team will face and can be modified for situational context.

Forming In this stage, team members are defining their next-step roles in problem solving.

Those involved transition from individuals to members of the team. The goal in this stage is to accurately frame the problem the team is forming to address. Teams should resist the temptation to rush to a solution at this stage and take the time to discuss the resources needed (for example, time and personnel) and other considerations (urgency level) and set the boundaries for the decision. Discuss individual team member roles as well. In this stage, members should ask ample what questions (for example, “What is the problem? What do we know so far? What information do we

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Building Great Mental Health Professional–Teacher Teams

need to collect?”). A pitfall at this stage is the discussion of symptoms or issues not relevant to the key problem. Stay focused on the issue at hand!

Storming This is often the most difficult stage. Depending on the student success initiative being pursued, the team gathers input or data from necessary sources, but team members often realize that collecting relevant information and considering the weighted influences among all this data may prove more challenging than first imagined.

Representative metrics that might be collected to inform the team were discussed in a preceding section titled Results Orientation. Often, the information presents conflicting or contradictory views and interpretation must occur. Sometimes, there may be a perception of having too much data, and extracting good information from all the data may seem overwhelming. At this point, some team members might get impatient and wish they had moved forward based on their own personal or professional experience, resisting the need for team collaboration. To reorient the team, focus collectively on why questions (for example, “Why did this occur? Why did we discover such conflicting witness perspectives? Why didn’t we anticipate this issue?”).

Good questions help the team thoughtfully analyze the problem. Active listening to each other is necessary as well. This stage’s pitfall is the urge to move on or conform to rapidly arrive at a decision.

Norming In this stage, norms for decision making set in as individual member roles and responsibilities are both understood and valued among team members.

Communication becomes open and productive and team members believe progress is being made toward solving the problem. During this stage, the team moves from problem analysis to generating possible solutions. As team members brainstorm solutions, the proposed solutions should not be judged or evaluated. Questions for clarity should be asked, however—for example, “Could you explain that? What do you mean? Can you say more about that?” Given the complex nature of schooling, the team should remember that multiple solutions might be necessary to solve a single problem. Resist the temptation to oversimplify the solution.

In this stage, how questions are the emphasis (for example, “How should we proceed? How consistent is this with similar problems we’ve solved?”). Once the team feels they have brainstormed sufficient plausible solutions, the potential solutions should now be evaluated on their overall worth, effect, and sustainability. As a part of the evaluation, be sure to discuss the negative or unintended consequences to the solution as well. The pitfall to this stage is an attempt to keep the productive and more positive team spirit that comes from generating solutions alive by avoiding

Introduction

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conflict. If conflict does occur, which may happen during the evaluation process, keep teamwork focused on the solutions.

Performing Team confidence is high at this stage as members implement and assess the solutions. The team is performing well together, and decisions are considered shared.

As solution implementation occurs, some facets may be immediate while others are delayed. Team members should reassess their roles during this stage and discuss this among themselves. The key implementation goal for the team is sustainability and assessing the solution contributes much to sustainability. The most basic assessment question to ask is, “Does the solution work or not?” The team should be prepared to reassess at any time and modify or replace an existing solution when necessary.

Commitment to Continuous Improvement This final characteristic places a strategic emphasis on teams building capacity to move beyond reacting to issues, which over time can be exhausting. Rather, teams should aspire to proactively act on issues that are regularly anticipated. When teams focus on continuous improvement, they are building predictable patterns into team operations by which challenges are solved in a proactive, not reactive, way. How do teams address representative but predictable student success issues like unwanted behaviors, absenteeism, achievement gaps, lost learning, and student engagement?

Continuously improving on these important topics helps ensure sustainable successes moving forward. Building on the idea that “He who stops being better stops being good” (Andrewes, 1621, as cited in Quote Investigator, n.d.) productivity expert Laura Stack (2013) offers five simple steps for continuous improvement that have strong implications for the team to resist the status quo and minimize operating out of a reactive mode.

1. Deploy improvement strategies carefully. Considering the appropriate time needed for implementation and the necessary resources will greatly support sustainable improvements. Additionally, avoid one-size-fits-all solutions, which often have the effect of oversimplifying complex issues schools face and overlooking important situational contexts.

2. Pace improvements incrementally with the anticipation of slower development. Quickened improvement often has the effect of wearing out other stakeholders, and change may be viewed by others as nothing more than the flavor of the day.

3. Involve others in the implementation process. Allow for ample buy-in among stakeholders closest to the change agenda.

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Building Great Mental Health Professional–Teacher Teams

4. Regularly assess data on changes as they are collected, then convert the data into useful information to answer the important question of, “What is working and what is not?”

5. The team should regularly discuss the implemented improvements and solicit feedback from other key stakeholders closest to the changes as well. The team must be sensitive to the nature of change, recognizing that for some, change is part of day-to-day operations, and for others, it is a complete departure from all they know to be true and right.

This five-step process will also help identify additional gaps that need to be addressed as improvement opportunities. The team should discuss how difficult decisions as well as day-to-day mundane decisions are resolved.

Resistance to Working in Teams In spite of the many effectiveness characteristics that the team may embrace, some team members may resist team efforts, choosing instead to work independently.

When this occurs, consider the basic reasons members of a team might resist working together in hopes of identifying some next-step interventions to build greater team capacity. The absence of any of the preceding six effectiveness characteristics (page 8) may well underlie the resistance to working together. Additionally, consider the following four predictable reasons for team resistance: (1) fairness, (2) change, (3) cultural values, and (4) focus on performance and success.

Fairness Scholars Bradley L. Kirkman, Robert G. Jones, and Debra L. Shapiro (2000) note three fairness considerations: (1) pay and workload distribution among team members, (2) decision-making criteria, and (3) interpersonal treatment of team members.

If a resistant member believes a task is above his or her pay grade (in other words, “I’m not getting paid enough to do this” or “That’s not in my job description”), the team must discuss this bias so they can move past it. This conversation’s goal is to encourage the belief that the team’s overall work is important despite titles, wages, workload responsibilities, and other position-based benefits, roles, or responsibilities.

Finally, teammates treating each other with trust and respect facilitates a desire to commit to the team and should be a focus on team interactions. Do any past, current, or future fairness issues exist in the team? Review Kirkman and colleagues’ (2000) fairness criteria to best answer this question. How decisions will be made is also important. If the team has been instructed on what the outcomes will be (for instance, a top-down approach), that is very different than a team that’s been charged with a student success issue with broad latitude to accomplish its task.

Finally, team member relationships matter much. Is every voice valued and respected?

Introduction

15

In some cases, what is best for the team’s student success initiatives should trump relational issues that may be a source of strain among team members. Putting student success at the center of every conversation helps minimize relational differences. As a basic ground rule, team members should expect that students are the center of all conversations!

Change When it comes to change, team members are likely to interpret and react to it differently. The difference is based on perceptions. Education researchers Tim Waters and Sally Grubb (2004) describe first- and second-order change. First-order change, which many team members experience, is simply “an extension of the past” (Waters & Grubb, 2004, p. 8) and aligned with their existing norms, values, and beliefs. An example might be a student who is not meeting certain performance benchmarks and a response to intervention (RTI) committee has recommended that a combination or relearning and remediation be offered to the student. Generations of teachers understand and are able to use these teaching techniques to address student needs as an extension of their past teacher preparation and current practices.

Those holding first-order change perceptions are usually more willing to embrace change. Second-order change, however, may be considered a complete “break with the past” (Waters & Grubb, 2004, p. 8) and in direct conflict with their existing norms, values, and beliefs. An example might include a school’s effort to build a culture of using a triangulated system of data analysis with the expectation that it would be evidenced by direct observation of tiered instruction in the classroom.

Triangulation efforts often involve student input, teacher assessment across multiple data sources, reliance on technology-laden systems for the identification of supports and resources for learning, and the willingness to embrace personalized learning.

Further, this type of data analysis is often conducted collaboratively with other teachers. Many teachers describe themselves as not being tech-savvy, or not having the knowledge or skills to personalize the learning for all students. In fact, teachers who simply do not think this approach is best because it challenges much of what they know about and believe in relative to teaching and learning may feel challenged to be open to change and the consideration of new teaching and learning paradigms.

A willingness to depart from everything a team member knows and understands about a particular topic is difficult and challenging to arrive at. To address this second-order change reaction, “a supportive and facilitative approach is necessary” (Waters & Grubb, 2004, p. 8). The focus of a facilitative and supportive approach is to provide personal development and learning about something new for the teacher.

This means providing professional development and the opportunity to make meaning of the new idea by practicing it; often this is accomplished with a coach who

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Building Great Mental Health Professional–Teacher Teams

models the new concept and provides peer feedback as the teacher practices. Another essential consideration is pacing, allowing sufficient time to embrace and become comfortable with the new idea. This approach takes more time for the team but ensures meaningful input and sustainable team outcomes as the change agenda is more deeply understood. How do individual team members and the team as a whole deal with change, both simple and complex? First and foremost, team members must understand their individual and collective responses to change will vary based on the change concept. In other words, a team member may consider some things first-order change, while others view it as second-order change. And when new change is considered, the reaction is different among team members. You should expect to have both first- and second-order responses to most all change. If the team is prepared for this, they can plan the appropriate supports to facilitate change (for example, coaching, professional development, or peer observation). Also essential is understanding the pace of change. Some change agendas may move at a quickened pace and others not.

The team should develop consensus around the pace of change and revisit it often to ensure the pace is appropriate. Finally, sound decision-making pedagogy is important. Whether change is simple or complex, a predictable way decisions are made to address change should be agreed upon. More on decision making may be found in Agreed-On Decision-Making Process (page 11).

Cultural Values Cultural values can enrich team effectiveness—and serve as a limitation if not addressed. Considering the team, culture might be thought of as “patterns of behavior,” while the team’s values “are more closely related to our attitudes, ideals, and beliefs” (Wittwer, 2018). Values are influenced by culture, and the challenge with attitudes, ideals, and beliefs is that they are hidden elements of cultural values, unlike visible elements such as day-to-day practices, language usage, and etiquette.

Management scholar Alessia Contu (2012) notes that “cultural diversity in teams is on the increase” (p. 137). Cultural diversity has been addressed through a variety of dimensions, including how power is shared, individualism or collectivism, and masculinity or feminism (Hofstede, Hofstede, & Minkiv, 2010). Diversity can help inform team participation and must be appreciated and understood among team members or it may serve as a source of tension. As team trust deepens, and a willingness grows among team members to be vulnerable, which often comes through truthful disclosure, the team should discuss both the hidden and visible elements of cultural values. One representative cultural value is collectivism (versus individualism). Team members who are from a collectivist culture are more likely to “share, collaborate, and depend on others for results” (Contu, 2012, p. 137), while members from an individualistic culture may value the benefits of teamwork less and be more resistant, at least initially, to participation. As discussed earlier, individualism is more

Introduction

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likely to influence a working-group mentality, which minimizes interdependence, while collectivism is more likely to influence a collaborative team. We argue that independence is necessary, but collaboration is essential for a team to operate effectively. The balance between the two will vary by situational context and the topics a team is dealing with. Take time to embrace team member differences and ask, “Do we value individual and collectivist thought as a team?” As the team deliberates, think of a cultural continuum that ranges from toxic to healthy. It is likely your collective discussion will not lead to one extreme or the other, but rather to somewhere in between. If trust and vulnerability infuse the discussion, moving toward consensus sets the tone for a team’s cultural value.

Focus on Performance and Success Many teams wander into a predominant culture of a problem-based focus, reacting to day-to-day issues and absent of strategic and solution-based orientations.

These teams lack a predictable inquiry cycle focused on proactively supporting and addressing known problems. This limitation is often expressed as “We’re spinning our wheels,” or “This could have been handled in an email.” When team members do not understand the end goal, the long- or short-term strategy, or the desired outcome, participation may be viewed as meaningless and futile. To the greatest extent possible, take time to have an agenda, whether written or expressed verbally, and connect issues back to the larger vision, mission, and goals of the school and team.

The Need for Systematic Implementation of This Book’s Content Teaching is no longer only about academics but is also about finding ways to support students’ psychosocial well-being; it has become about teaching the whole child. Mental health professionals and teachers who have worked toward personal or professional improvement understand the benefits of implementing change systematically. This involves understanding first- and second-order change, as well as anticipating the pace of change, in hopes of creating predictable, repeatable processes (discussed in Change, page 15). For example, if a mental health professional–teacher team prioritizes increased implementation of RTI’s Tier 2 interventions with fidelity as a next-step imperative, the team might consider several steps as part of a systematic approach. The team can accomplish some steps, such as identifying which students need additional supports but do not qualify for more intense services, more easily than the detail-oriented work of implementing numerous steps for student success.

These Tier 2 interventions frequently involve groups of students focused on improving social skills, self-management, and academic supports. Developing the systems and associated practices for the groups’ interventions can prove challenging and often

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Building Great Mental Health Professional–Teacher Teams

requires specific expertise. However, the difficulty of implementation does not relieve the team from the responsibility of completing the more difficult step. Picking select steps while disregarding others will not yield the student success improvements that the team so desires.

Thus, this book intends to provide mental health professionals and teachers with a systematic approach to supporting student success. This book cannot provide a thorough implementation plan for all aspects of each included element. Approaches such as becoming a trauma-informed school or implementing restorative practices are multifaceted, time-intensive efforts that can require specific training. This book’s goal is to introduce fundamentals and key principles so that the mental health professional– teacher team can begin to plan its work.

While you might perceive the recommendations in some chapters as being easier to accomplish than others, it is impossible to form an effective team while disregarding some chapters and embracing others. If a team is further along on some student success measures than others, we recommend using these chapters to affirm its ongoing teamwork before continuing with the remaining chapters. To give a sense of the book’s scope, we provide you here with brief chapter outlines based on the questions we hope to answer. § Chapter 1: What interventions and strategies best support students in generational and situational poverty? Here, the team will examine the different effects of adverse effects, including poverty, on student development and offer strategies and interventions to mitigate the effects. § Chapter 2: What is the role of mindfulness interventions and strategies in the classroom for students and teachers? Here, the team will explore self-regulation, social-emotional learning, and the benefits of mindfulness activities. § Chapter 3: How does a growth mindset provide students the ability to direct their cognitive attention toward strengths, demonstrate continuous effort, learn from mistakes, and persist despite difficulty?

The team will investigate growth mindset, classroom strategies, and fostering resilience. § Chapter 4: Do trauma-informed discipline practices provide direct benefits for teachers to establish positive classroom and school climates and foster a sense of overall school belonging and connectedness? In this chapter, the team will detail risk factors and effects of childhood trauma, fundamentals of trauma-informed practices, and interventions to support students.

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§ Chapter 5: How will restorative practices—an approach to justice that can replace punitive measures—effectively address conflict and behavioral issues through strengthened relationships? The team will investigate the rationale for restorative practices, fundamentals of restorative practices, and the importance of educators’ mindset and disposition in this chapter. § Chapter 6: How can the team best support challenging students in relation to their behavior and emotional regulation? The team will examine how student dysregulation impacts them, power struggles in the classroom, and a team approach to supporting struggling students. What strategies are available to make it easier for teachers to implement classroom interventions with integrity and fidelity? This chapter will detail a six-step problem-solving mode, implementation science, and academic and behavioral interventions. § Chapter 7: What are the best questions you can ask students as a means of helping them solve behavioral, social, personal, and academic issues? The team will explore the rationale for solutionfocused brief therapy (SFBT), the theory’s fundamentals, and its application in the school setting. § Chapter 8: How can difficult topics be addressed using a with approach instead of a what approach, and why is this important?

This chapter takes the team through an investigation of optimal learning conditions and the effects of implicit bias. § Chapter 9: Why is self-care essential to well-being and what best practices can I implement? The team will examine compassion fatigue, risks for compassion fatigue, and support strategies for its members. § Chapter 10: What is the future of the mental health professional– teacher team? This chapter helps the team assess its effectiveness and offers future implications.

Each chapter also includes a professional development activity to help teams instill the concepts each chapter covers and to improve the group’s ability to work together. In addition to activities that directly support the team, some activities may be implemented and have impact at the individual (student or adult), classroom, or schoolwide levels. Each activity includes a time frame, list of any needed materials, a step-by-step process, and a description of the results the team should expect to gain from participating in the activity. The activities should add value and meaning to each chapter topic given the unique contexts of each team while strengthening overall team effectiveness.

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Building Great Mental Health Professional–Teacher Teams

Teams must allow for vulnerability to maximize the professional development activities’ benefits. Vulnerability is too often associated with negative emotions people like to avoid, such as weakness, fear, and loss of control. In efforts to be invulnerable, we often avoid or suppress discussions that reveal our imperfections, shortcomings, lack of knowledge, and feelings in general. However, avoiding vulnerability has the negative effect of communicating that we are not authentic, truthful, trusting, or approachable. Focus on the concept that great strength lies in vulnerability. The willingness to participate fully in the activities shared in this book builds individual and team trust, encourages truthful disclosure, places a high value on differences, promotes an openness to risk, and strengthens the professional relationships among team members necessary to function effectively. These benefits are difficult to achieve in the absence of a willingness to be vulnerable. Visit go.SolutionTree.com/behavior to access reproducible versions of these activities.

Professional Development Activity on Getting to Know Each Other This introductory professional development activity helps members practice engaging as a team by getting to know each other from both professional and individual team member perspectives. This activity is best pursued as a team, as one outcome is getting to know each other better. We call this activity Great Teams Ask Great Questions.

Time Frame The team should allow thirty to sixty minutes for this activity.

Materials This activity requires a facilitator, a flip chart or butcher paper, and a pen, pencil, or marker for every participant.

Process The team itself should participate in this activity. One team member should volunteer as facilitator. That person should direct participants through the following steps.

1. Ask participants to reflect on the following questions and individually list on the flip chart or butcher paper the answers they are comfortable sharing later in the activity. Participants might also keep their own notes with their individual responses to inform discussions.

Introduction

21

“Why did you become a teacher or mental health professional?”

“What is your biggest hope for your mental health professional– teacher team?”

“Think of an effective team you have worked with in your personal life or in your professional life. What elements made the team effective?”

2. Solicit responses to the questions from team members and develop a viewable response list on flip chart or butcher paper by combining on a single sheet or displaying individual responses in close proximity.

3. Discuss commonalities, differences, surprising disclosures, what team members learned about each other, and how these things may strengthen the team. The team should also decide what next steps are appropriate based on clear differences or surprising disclosures that emerged from the activity. More discussion and dialogue may be necessary.

Results Participating in this activity builds the team’s capacity to better understand each other and encourages the expression of vulnerability through truthful disclosure.

Summary Mental health professionals and teachers must find the means to work effectively as a collaborative team in a challenging and change-oriented educational environment— an environment that is characterized by the need for continuous improvement and a laser-like focus on student success. Traditional team efforts often occur in classroom or office silos as the teacher or mental health professional individually address the needs of a student. Collaborative teaming implies the teacher and mental health professional value each other’s distinctive gifts and talents, working closely together (that is, in the classroom together, or in close communication with each other) with a whole-child focus. Effective teacher-mental health professional teams are typically underscored by trust and transparency, focused on results, collaborative, value diversity and divergent thought, have an agreed-on decision-making processes, and are committed to continuous improvement. A strong sense of urgency to address the whole child, often raised to the level of a student crisis, further amplifies the team’s need to work together effectively and collaboratively. The COVID-19 pandemic’s impact on schooling further amplified the urgency to address social, emotional, physical, and academic needs influenced by students who have been isolated and physically separated from peers and educators for many months (Walker, 2020).

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However, teams must also embrace the idea that some level of role and responsibility overlap will occur and must be comfortable with the predictable tension that manifests from role and responsibility overlap. This book aims to make the case for a strong mental health professional–teacher team and provides the necessary cornerstones for the team to function effectively. We also hope this book will support aspiring preservice mental health professionals and teachers build the requisite skills needed for success prior to serving in these noble professions.

Chapter 6

The burden of students’ mental health concerns in the classroom is heavy. One in five children experiences some form of childhood maltreatment, such as physical, sexual, or emotional abuse, or physical or emotional neglect (Danese & Baldwin, 2017). Almost 25 percent of students have a significant mental health disorder that can impact academic achievement. Thus, in a classroom of sixteen students, four students are likely to have a mental health disorder (Paulus, Ohmann, & Popow, 2016).

Further, 70 to 80 percent of students with a mental health disorder do not have access to sustainable mental health services (Paulus, Ohmann, & Popow, 2016)— unless those students are an ethnic minority from low-income families, in which case they are even less likely to have access to the help they need (Ijadi-Maghsoodi et al., 2018). A lack of services and skill development, and educators’ lack of knowledge about a student’s disorder, can lead to poor emotional regulation skills that often manifest as behavior issues in the classroom and power struggles with authority.

Now, consider the fact that average student-to-teacher ratios are mostly high—15:1 in the United States and Australia, and 16:2 in Canada (Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development, 2020). Given these large ratios, mental health professionals must work together with teachers to effectively and efficiently meet students’ needs. Knowing that teachers are often one of the first adults a student will seek advice from, it is imperative that teachers have collaborative relationships with their mental health professional colleagues—the individuals trained to support dysregulated students. Through collaboration, mental health professionals, who are there to provide supports, interventions, and referrals, can better identify and help students who need assistance. They can also provide support to those teachers working with challenging students. In the end, all parties benefit from a strong team.

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Dysregulated Students Typically, people are able to regulate their emotions in response to interactions with others. If a student is dysregulated, that person is unable to control his or her emotions. All teachers and mental health professionals monitor their school environment, as well as the thoughts, emotions, and interactions of school-community stakeholders they interact with. Students with consistent emotional dysregulation need additional supports in the classroom and often out of the classroom. The following sections enable that by discussing reasons for and physiology of dysregulation, what some dysregulation looks like, the results of unaddressed dysregulation in students, and dysregulation in educators.

Reasons for and Physiology of Dysregulation Of course, childhood experiences, both positive and negative, impact brain development (Jensen, 2005). Those cumulative experiences affect the following. § Emotion regulation § Interpretation of others’ behaviors § Reaction to the environment Dysregulation can occur for a variety of reasons. However, for many students, it is related to exposure to trauma. According to Child Trends (2016), more than twothirds of children under the age of seventeen in 2014 were exposed to violence either as a victim or witness. For most individuals, exposure to violence is a traumatic event that can impact them in both the present and the future, and childhood maltreatment increases the likelihood of mental and physical illnesses later in life (Child Trends, 2016). This trauma may impact a student’s ability to regulate emotions, which impacts

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Mental health professionals have been trained to assist students experiencing dysregulation, but they serve as front-line trauma workers on any given school day (Brunzell, Stokes, & Waters, 2016). Teachers are often the first adult students interact with during a day, and that first interaction can set the tone. The mental health professional–teacher team can assist students in regaining emotional regulation while positively impacting the classroom climate. An effective team will be able to reduce power struggles in the classroom and develop coping strategies for students and adults. This chapter outlines the importance and process for mental health professional–teacher teams to adopt a data-driven, effective problem-solving approach when selecting interventions for all students. This chapter discusses implementation science so teams can ensure interventions are implemented with fidelity and consider variables that can impede the implementation.

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behaviors both in the classroom and at home, resulting in dysregulation (Danese & Baldwin, 2017). Emotional regulation is the ability to recognize emotions (positive, negative, or neutral), control the emotions, and react in a socially acceptable manner.

1. Brain stem: This regulates heart rate, respiration, blood flow, and temperature. The brain stem also controls flight, fight, freeze, or faint responses.

2. Limbic system: This connects the brain stem and cerebral cortex. The limbic system comprises the amygdala, which is responsible for emotional regulation and attachment, and the hippocampus, which organizes explicit memory—the function that stores facts, previous experiences, and concepts. These facts, experiences, and concepts can be distorted if an individual is dysregulated.

3. Cerebral cortex: This processes sensory and motor information and organizes experiences. Thoughts and ideas develop in the cortex.

The frontal cortex is part of the cerebral cortex and is responsible for behavior, language, and directed attention, which are essential executive functioning skills.

In his video, “Dr. Dan Siegel’s Hand Model of the Brain,” psychology professor Daniel Siegel (2017; https://bit.ly/3acgIG9) describes the brain and provides a simple explanation of brain functioning for educators so they can better understand students’ behaviors and choices. Glenview Elementary School in Madison, Wisconsin, made a video (https://bit.ly/2ISmGCD) with the “Don’t Flip Your Lid” song about understanding brain functioning and how it impacts emotional regulation. Educators can share these videos with students so they also understand how their brains function. This knowledge can assist students in regulating their emotions.

What Some Dysregulation Looks Like Emotional dysregulation can present in two ways.

1. Externalizing behaviors include verbal insults, hitting, kicking, impulsivity, and being argumentative.

2. Internalizing behaviors, such as negative self-talk, feelings of hopelessness, anxiety, or depression, are not easily observed.

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Familiarity with basic brain functioning helps students and educators understand the connections between traumatic events, emotional regulation, decision making, behavior control, and ultimately learning. Psychologist Louis Cozolino (2013) uses basic brain functioning to understand how students at different developmental levels learn, and he describes three regions of the brain and their basic functioning.

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Most often, the mental health professional–teacher team works with dysregulated students presenting externalizing behaviors because those are easy to recognize.

It is more challenging to observe negative self-talk than argumentative behaviors.

Table 6.1 compares dysregulated behavior with emotionally regulated behaviors and reactions.

Behavior

Regulated

Dysregulated

Emotion regulation

Consistent breathing and in control of emotions.

Agitated and cannot control emotions.

Interpretation of others’ behaviors

Able to interpret others’ behaviors with rational thinking.

Interprets others’ behavior based on flight, fight, or freeze thinking.

Reaction to the environment

Remain focused on tasks with little disruption.

Focused on emotional reaction and no longer focused on tasks.

Results of Unaddressed Dysregulation in Students If poor regulation is consistent over time, it can lead to a comorbid manifestation— multiple signs and symptoms—of both an internalizing disorder (for example, general anxiety disorder) and an externalizing disorder (for example, attention deficit hyperactivity disorder; Cunningham, Mendez, & Sundman-Wheat, 2011). Both can interfere with a student’s ability to function and learn in the classroom. If a student is dysregulated on a regular basis, this can lead to loss of instructional time. For some teachers, this may be up to an hour each day if multiple students cannot regulate their emotions. This has lasting impact on students as they move into adulthood, putting them at a much greater risk for anxiety disorders, mood disorders, disruptive behaviors disorders, and drug use (Althoff, Verhulst, Rettew, Hudziak, & van de Ende, 2011). Some disorders are comorbid with other disorders, meaning the student who is diagnosed with ADHD may also be diagnosed with oppositional defiant disorder (ODD).

Students may be taking medication to reduce the side effects of their disorder, which may leave them feeling dull or sluggish. Students may either accidentally or purposefully miss a day taking their medication, which may change their perception of interactions with peers and adults, significantly disrupting the classroom and creating an unsafe environment for other students.

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Table 6.1: Regulated and Dysregulated Behaviors

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Dysregulation in Educators Unfortunately, emotional dysregulation is not limited to students. Most adults, including teachers and mental health professionals, have experienced strong emotions, stress, and even trauma at some point. It can be easy to lose your emotional regulation when interacting with a dysregulated student, particularly if this occurs in the classroom or a large group setting where other students are impacted. When a teacher is engaged with one or two dysregulated students, it is more difficult for them to effectively monitor or teach the larger group of students (Neuenschwander, Friedman-Krauss, Raver, & Blair, 2017). Almost half of teachers report feeling high stress levels daily (Turner, 2016), and high teacher stress further compounds this challenging issue. The challenge is to manage one’s own emotions when engaging with dysregulated students so the student’s stress level either holds steady or does not escalate to the point of non-engagement. Non-engagement could be in the range of the student screaming or walking out of the classroom to simply sitting and refusing to talk or complete assignments. Physical confrontations should be avoided because generally it escalates a behavior. Watch body language and breathing rate; they can be indicators that you or another person may lose the ability to regulate emotions. Two dysregulated individuals will not make sound decisions! It is important to acknowledge that the mental health professional–teacher team need coping strategies as well.

Chapter 10 (page 207) talks in depth about self-care techniques for educators.

Power Struggles in the Classroom Student-teacher relationships are complex, and power relationships between teachers and students significantly define many classrooms. Being aware of power types and strategies for reducing power struggles can help.

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Clearly, every professional educator’s goal should be to keep students in the classroom to the greatest extent possible. That’s why it’s detrimental that these behaviors frequently result in the student missing out on academic instruction—for example, being sent to an administrator for discipline, suspension, or expulsion. Not only are such punitive actions academically detrimental to the student (see chapters 4 and 5, pages 77 and 103, for alternatives), they also result in the student losing a teacher’s emotional support during challenging moments. Often, that support is stronger with teachers than from other adults, such as administrators, in the school. It is not surprising that students will seek advice about mental health problems from their teachers, or that teachers or school mental health professionals will be the only people at school who know a student is suffering or just how deeply, and that often teachers are their students’ primary sources for help (Ijadi-Maghsoodi et al., 2018).

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Power Types Scholars Kathryn F. Cochran, Lori A. Reinsvold, and Chelsie A. Hess (2016) note five types of power in the classroom in which both the teacher and students have control and influence. Table 6.2 shows examples.

Table 6.2: Five Types of Power Example

Power Source or Result

Conventional power

Raising one’s hand to speak

Students have the power to speak.

Organizational power

Cleaning up after art class

Student chose to clean up.

Individual power

Completing assignments

Students use I statements.

Group power

Group work products

Students complete their projects.

Subject matter power

Student uses content terminology

Student shows subject competency.

Source: Adapted from Cochran et al., 2016.

Power struggles between students and teachers can occur across all five power types.

Ultimately, the teacher has position power (that is, of authority) in the classroom, but many teachers empower or share power with students to increase their levels of engagement and content understanding.

Conventional and individual power are frequently the driving forces behind student and teacher struggles. Such power struggles usually emanate from a student being defiant, noncompliant, or disruptive in class. Some students may exhibit attentionseeking behaviors, others are seeking power, and some may be searching for their role in the classroom among their peers. Although it may not be obvious why a student chooses certain behaviors, be aware that his or her behavior is meeting some individual need in the moment (Smith-Adcock & Tucker, 2017). Because of factors such as basic brain functioning, the student’s developmental level, and trauma’s impact, the student may or may not be able to respond in the moment in the manner the teacher would like.

Strategies for Reducing Power Struggles The mental health professional–teacher team can take a proactive approach to reducing power struggles at the beginning and throughout the year. The following

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Power

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Consistency Students generally like consistency and predictability. Having the same set of rules and expectations when working with students to the greatest extent possible will reinforce behavior expectations. Prior to students starting school, the mental health professional–teacher team should discuss how disruptive or disrespectful behavior will be handled in the classroom setting.

The teacher can also be proactive by thinking through the upcoming class session and looking for potentially conflict-inducing situations. This often occurs during transitions. The team can track data to identify when and how power struggles occur with the goal of mitigating them.

Privacy Educational consultant Allen Mendler (2012) suggests stating the following to students at the beginning of the year and periodically as needed: There [may] be consequences given for disruptive behavior this year. However, the consequences will almost always be shared privately, and I will almost never discuss one person’s consequence with any other person in this class. As a result, although it may look as if I am ignoring inappropriate behavior, consequences are usually shared later for two reasons: I am not going to give up our learning time, and I am not interested in embarrassing or being embarrassed by anyone in front of everyone else.

This could be shared by the teacher in class and by the mental health professional when he or she is in the classroom setting as well. This sets a positive tone for the class and the teacher stating that he or she does not want to embarrass any student and models respect for one another. The teacher expressing that he or she does not want to be embarrassed shows that teachers have feelings as well and are willing to share a degree of vulnerability.

Classroom Norms The teacher could also invite students to select classroom norms and rules, so that establishing classroom structure is a shared experience. The classroom expectations

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strategies benefit the classroom climate and as such can support dysregulated students. Each student will present disruptions differently and what works with one student will not work with another. The team can work to implement classroom practices designed to meet individual student needs without disrupting the whole class: consistency, privacy, classroom norms, positive teacher–student relationships, behavior separated from a student, awareness of tone of voice and body language, addressed needs, sensory spaces, and last words.

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Positive Teacher-Student Relationships Research consistently validates that relationships underscored with mutual respect, a degree of vulnerability, and a disinclination to rely on position power with students positively impacts academic achievement (Camp, 2011). The relationship between a student and teacher can enhance the student’s academic achievement and his or her social and emotional health (Toste, Heath, Connor, & Peng, 2015). § At the elementary level, teachers can be an essential source of security and stability for students. Most elementary teachers have the same students for the majority of the day, and it is easy to understand why that relationship is extremely important. Students are more successful academically when they have the same teacher throughout the day who was able to provide continuous emotional support (Barshay, 2018). § At the middle school and high school levels, students typically have a variety of teachers, and research still supports the positive impact on both academic achievement and overall school engagement, such as academic success, participation, enjoyment, and aspirations, when students have positive teacher relationships (Martin & Collie, 2019).

Behavior Separated From Student There will be times when students must be removed from the classroom due to their behavior. Exclusion should always be an intervention of last resort. When a student’s behavior is reaching the point that exclusion is a consideration, remember to focus on the behavior and not the student. A dysregulated student is not capable of rational thought in that moment, as they are not able to utilize higher thought processes and instead are relying on fight, flight, or freeze thinking. The student is still an individual worthy of respect and not fully defined by their behavior. For example, there is great difference in considering the student is angry versus an angry student. Similarly, considering a student with bully behavior is different than considering a bully. Reacting to and considering the behavior versus the student does much

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need to be practiced and reviewed often, especially after breaks longer than two to three days. At the elementary level, this might be reminding students to raise their hands and wait for the teacher to call their names. At the middle school, this might mean students are expected to not interrupt others. At the high school, it might be telling students to keep their phones in their pockets during class. Setting norms is very common in the mental health professional’s office. Often, there will be signs reminding students about the limits of confidentiality and inclusive practices, such as a rainbow conveying it is a safe space. When conducting small groups, the facilitator will have students participating in the group set the group norms.

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I and you statements are explored and examples are provided in chapter 7 (page 157). The mental health professional–teacher team can provide professional development for the whole staff and coaching for teachers on effective application in the classroom.

Awareness of Tone of Voice and Body Language The educator’s tone of voice can also serve to escalate or de-escalate a dysregulated student (Jones, 2018). Modulating your tone can be challenging when a student is yelling or acting out. Power struggles and intense classroom disruptions are stressful situations, which can occasionally lead to the teacher or mental health professional losing control of his or her own emotions. However, yelling, sarcasm, and frustration escalate a situation and incite a student to rebel further against authority (Jones, 2018). Teachers model how to handle conflict when a student engages them in a power struggle. In those situations, deep breathing or belly breathing techniques (page 49) or counting to ten can help the teacher or mental health professional remain calm.

Body language conveys messages to students as well. A teacher may step closer to a student who is chatting and off topic. Squatting down to speak to a student at the student’s desk conveys respect. Abruptly entering a student’s space may be perceived as threatening if the student is dysregulated.

Addressed Needs It is important for teachers to remember that a student’s behavior is meeting a goal for him or her at that moment. In this moment, the student needs some control in the situation. Providing two options for such students instead of one will often re-engage them because they have a degree of control. As adults, we recognize that students have choices, but often they do not feel like they do. Chapter 1 mentioned the EATS mnemonic (page 39) that can help the mental health professional–teacher team identify the needs behind the misbehavior.

For students who are not disruptive but who are disengaged or not participating, reframing your request and providing additional context as to why this conflict is important can sometimes re-engage the student. For example, the teacher might say, “I know chemistry may not seem important now, but it will be helpful when

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to support a healthier relationship between the teacher and student by minimizing blame and creating capacity for the student to be accountable for the behavior rather than feeling like they are perceived as a bad person. Reliance on I statements (“I observed a pencil was missing”) when dealing with challenging students and minimizing you statements (“You took my pencil”) is a great way to move focus from the student to the behavior. This also encourages students to take ownership of their action and feelings by not blaming others.

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you take cosmetology courses next year.” This can positively foster the relationship as well, especially if the teacher can connect with individual students’ interests or career plans.

Sensory Spaces

The Last Word One of the biggest errors educators make with students is needing to have the last word. Mental health professionals discuss this regularly when dealing individually or with groups of students who are involved in some type of conflict. That is a standard conflict resolution technique, yet teachers rarely model this in the school setting.

Choose your battles carefully and determine when to engage in power struggles with students. The only clear time to engage in a power struggle with a student is when the safety of others is compromised.

Also, determine with your team what situations call for mental health professionals or administrators to intervene before a decision is made to remove a student from the classroom. Such decisions may be in the form of a school policy or simply part of the culture’s unwritten rules in the building. In collaborating on such decisions, the effective mental health professional–teacher team can decrease the number of students who are removed from the classroom. Identifying strategies for dealing with dysregulated students, as we will do in the upcoming section, will help meet the goal of keeping students in class.

Teamwork Regarding Students Who Are Struggling Considering that teachers often spend more time with students than with other adults in the school, they have the advantage of developing deeper helping

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Some classrooms have a sensory space where students can choose to go or be redirected by the teacher, giving them an opportunity to regulate their emotions. Sensory spaces may include stress balls, adult and child coloring books, tactile objects such as marbles and pipe cleaners, or a rocking chair to assist the student in calming down.

Watch “Peace Corner: Creating Safe Space for Reflection” (https://bit.ly/2DTggjQ) for more on sensory spaces. Some schools have sensory rooms where students can go to calm down. For sensory spaces, only a small portion of the student population will make use of these spaces. Regardless, all students need to be taught how and why sensory spaces are used and how they benefit students. If space is limited, sensory fidgets—small items such as squeeze balls—are also effective. This video (https://bit .ly/30Ldy9m) highlights fidgets, notes whether they are appropriate for the classroom, and says if they are quiet (McCabe, 2018). There are also links to purchase them.

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relationships. Teachers also understand what behaviors are typical for their students as well as students’ general affect. Mental health professionals tend to work more closely with individual students or small groups of students. In addition, teachers greatly outnumber mental health professionals in schools. Table 6.3 indicates recommended and current ratios based on each mental health profession.

Recommended Ratio: Student-to-Professional

Actual Ratio: Student-to-Professional

500–700:1 (NASP, 2017)

1,381:1 (NASP, 2017)

Counselor

250:1 (NASP, 2017)

482:1 (Bray, 2017)

School Social Worker

250:1 (NASW, 2018)

No data available

Role School Psychologist

Source: Adapted from Bray, 2017; National Association of School Psychologists, 2017b; National Association of Social Workers, 2018.

Mental health professionals are trained to teach strategies for a variety of challenges. However, given the high ratios of students to mental health professionals, it is unlikely every student with challenges will interact with mental health professionals to receive these supports. A strong mental health professional–teacher team will be able to meet students’ needs in classrooms and even schoolwide by working collaboratively. Members can focus on sharing information, determining skills to teach classwide, solving problems effectively, implementing tiers in RTI, determining a course of action, and modifying and implementing interventions.

Sharing Information By virtue of their professional roles and responsibilities, mental health professionals often know more personal and family-related information. Members of effective mental health professional–teacher teams communicate frequently relative to the students they are concerned about, yielding a deeper understanding of the students overall. Both the teacher and mental health professional understand that there may be circumstances where only limited information can be shared. For example, a parent shares that her son has irritable bowel syndrome and will need to leave the classroom when necessary. The parent is concerned about her son being made fun of and requests the information be kept confidential. The mental health professional may share that the student has some health issues and will need to have freedom to

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Table 6.3: Recommended and Actual Student-to-Professional Ratio

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use the restroom when needed. The mental health professional honored the parent’s request and shared appropriately with the teacher.

Determining Skills to Teach Classwide The mental health professional–teacher team can utilize data and work collaboratively to determine what priority skills need to be developed and strategies to best use. Office referrals for discipline issues are a logical starting point. Surveying teachers regarding the behaviors they see in class can also be very beneficial, as many teachers handle many issues in the classroom and only send students to the office as a last resort. Long term, teams may find it useful from a preventative standpoint to review suspension data. Utilizing a behavior checklist can also provide data. The team can create a checklist for students they are concerned about. The teacher will complete the checklist weekly, noting any specific interventions they implemented, and bring that data to the team. During the meeting, the team would look for patterns of positive and negative behaviors and determine which interventions worked and which were ineffective. In an ideal world, the team would meet weekly. Unfortunately, time can become an issue.

This process can look different at different developmental levels. Teachers and mental health professionals generally have greater collaboration at the elementary level by virtue of the students’ developmental level and cognitive functioning; also, most identification for special education services occurs at this level. Most elementary schools have an MTSS team, RTI team, or student assistance team. This team meets on a regular basis. At the middle and high school levels, the mental health professional–teacher team would determine a schedule that is conducive to both.

Most middle schools have more flexibility than high schools due to the nature of how they are organized.

Mental health professionals can also provide interventions and train teachers on other specific strategies. A prime example is deep breathing, which can be an effective strategy for students when they feel angry or anxious, or struggle with a variety of other emotions. That is not a difficult strategy to learn and it could be practiced in a faculty or department meeting.

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Likewise, a student may share personal information with a teacher, such as when the student is experiencing increased anxiety, and request the teacher not share with others. If the teacher is concerned about the student’s ability to handle the issues, he or she may request that the school counselor touch base with the student and share he or she is concerned. A strong relationship and effective communication between the mental health professional and teacher are important to all students, especially those who are dysregulated or engage in power struggles with adults.

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Solving Problems Effectively The mental health professional–teacher team should utilize a problem-solving approach when trying to determine the most potentially effective intervention for a student. When a team works with teachers, they should consider the following components (Burns, Kanive, & Karich, 2014).

§ Include all intervention experts, students, and families in the intervention planning. § Include teachers so they understand the problem. § Collect baseline behavior or other applicable data. § Create an evidence-based research plan. § Assess consistently to ensure the intervention is implemented with fidelity. § Follow up with all key stakeholders.

In order to ensure adherence to these recommendations, the team will have to choose a problem-solving model to help guide their actions. The problem-solving model in figure 6.1 (page 144) has a balance of key considerations for any team that will fit most situations the team faces.

When the mental health professional–teacher team is defining a concern regarding a student’s behavior or lack of skills, team members need access to good data to understand students’ instructional, mental, and behavioral health needs. Many educators do a great job with academic screeners, but screening students’ behavior and social-emotional functioning could present significant challenges. For instance, consider a first-grade teacher who asks her team for assistance with a student that she describes as noncompliant, aggressive, and distracting to other students. As part of the mental health professional–teacher team consultation process, a systematic observation of the student and his peers is conducted. The data reveal that the student’s behaviors were little different from other students in the classroom. As such, an individual intervention for the student was not the recommended strategy; rather, a classroom strategy was the most appropriate next step. In many cases, it is extremely easy to assume that the cause of a problem has a singular origin when it may have several. Looks can be deceiving, and a team approach can best reveal the one or more sources to an issue, given the team’s ability to collect multiple types of data to accurately define and solve the problem. The mental health professional–teacher team might consider the behavior data in table 6.4 (page 145).

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§ Maintain administrative buy-in and dedication to the problemsolving process.

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1. Define the problem.

What is occurring in terms of the student’s behavior?

2. Determine the root causes of the problem.

3. Develop alternative solutions.

What can be done to resolve or support the student?

4. Select a solution.

Out of the solutions identified, which one is the best one to implement?

5. Implement the solution.

Who will be responsible for implementing the intervention?

How often will be the intervention implemented?

6. Evaluate the outcome.

Was the intervention effective?

Source: Adapted from Shapiro, 2004.

Figure 6.1: Six-step problem-solving model.

The team can help create a data-driven school culture that improves its use. A team ensures that the schools understands that all decisions should be based on data.

Solutions selected must be informed by the data collected, and the monitoring or any modifications imposed should be informed by the data (Skalski & Romero, 2011).

Figure 6.2 (page 146) can be used a guide to ensure that teachers and other school members make decisions based on the data.

When teachers are addressing individual or classwide problems, the mental health professional–teacher team should consider interventions that require the least time, energy, and resources to implement as well as intervention procedures that are

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What could be causing the student’s behavior?

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Table 6.4: Behavior Data to Consider Source

When It Might Be Helpful If a team wants to determine assignment completion for a group of students

Attendance and tardy records

If a school notices they have a significant number of students frequently absent; review of attendance records helps determine a baseline before implementing an intervention

Incentive point system

If a school using a points-based incentive system wants to determine if a schoolwide intervention is effective

Behavior grading records or daily report cards

If a team needs to measure the frequency of specific misbehaviors for students referred for intervention support

Discipline referrals to the office

If a school wants to analyze the frequency of physical peer altercations, and when, where, and with whom they most frequently occur

Detention or suspension referrals

If the team wants to determine the number of students who were suspended more than five times in the last academic year so these students can be referred for a cognitive-behavior intervention program

Source: Adapted from Sprick, Booher, & Garrison, 2009.

acceptable and satisfying relative to the problem-solving goals. For instance, if the team knows the teacher currently uses a classwide incentive point system, the team should attempt to make the most parsimonious modification to address the targeted concerns. This will require the team to be familiar with Tier 1 interventions that depend on the least amount of paperwork and administration (Sprick et al., 2009).

It is important to note that the intervention selected should directly align with the concern that requires a remedy.

When considering behavior interventions, the team must remember that there are four functions of behavior: (1) access to attention, (2) escape from a situation, (3) desire for a tangible item or activity, and (4) self-stimulation via movement or action (Cosgrave, n.d.). Understanding these four functions is important in deciding which intervention strategy will be most appropriate and effective. If the function of a student’s behavior is attention seeking, for instance, then the intervention selected must meet the student’s need for attention. An intervention or strategy for escape will not solve the problem. For instance, a student frequently leaves his seat and walks to the teacher’s desk without permission to get her assistance with a task.

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Grade books

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Building Great Mental Health Professional–Teacher Teams

What behavior needs to be targeted for change?

Define in measurable and observable terms.

What data will be collected?

For how long and how often will data be collected?

When will the mental health professional– teacher team rehearse the intervention?

Who will be responsible for implementing the intervention or program?

When will the team meet to analyze the data collected?

Figure 6.2: Data-based decisions.

Visit go.SolutionTree.com/behavior for a free reproducible version of this figure.

As a result, the intervention selected teaches the student to raise his hand when needing help from the teacher. This is why good operational definitions, which provides a clear understanding of what the team is measuring or observing, are fundamental to the team’s work.

Implementing Tiers in RTI Ideally, coping strategies for intense emotional reactions could be taught to the whole class in the classroom by the teacher as part of Tier 1 instruction and reinforced by mental health professionals for small groups and individual interventions for students the teacher identifies as needing additional support in Tier 2 or Tier 3.

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Who will be responsible for collecting the behavior and intervention data?

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Ideally, teams will develop a plan to consistently train students in coping strategies rather than only providing episodic instruction. Some of the basic coping strategies that educators can implement in the classroom can be taught at any tier but should not disrupt teaching and learning. Determining a coping strategy depends on the students’ emotional needs. For example, a teacher may have a classroom with many anxious students prior to taking a standardized test. Some coping strategies for anxiety the teacher could use include belly breathing, deep breathing (see chapter 2, page 49, for steps), squeezing a stress ball, counting to ten slowly, or dropping their shoulders and rolling their heads. All of these will calm the body, allow more blood flow, and lead to more rational and focused thinking. Another example is teaching the 5-4-3-2-1 technique. In this technique, the teachers ask students to close their eyes and to think of five things they can see, four things they can touch, three things they can hear, two things they can smell, and one thing they can taste. This technique can be useful anytime a student is feeling strong emotions such as anxiety or fear.

These coping strategies will also work for mental health professionals and teachers who are working in small groups or with individual students.

©2021 by Solution Tree Press. All rights reserved.

There are a variety of coping techniques that could be implemented at each of the tiers. As a tiered example, a teacher could teach peer conflict-resolution strategies to the class as part of Tier 1 instruction. (Visit go.SolutionTree.com/behavior for live links to elementary-level and secondary-level videos.) The teacher could monitor the class’s response to the coping strategies and identify any students who need additional support. In this example, that may be between four and seven students who are still unable to manage peer conflict. The school counselor could invite students identified as needing extra support to a group for further skill development, as Tier 2 instruction. This could be between five and eight group sessions where students practice skills for conflict resolution. During the group session, the facilitator could monitor student progress. This could be in the form of a pre- or post-test, observing the students practicing and implementing the skills, feedback from classroom teacher, or discipline referral for peer conflict. If a student has not been successful in the classroom (Tier 1) or in a group (Tier 2), then they may need a Tier 3 intervention. If a student would be best supported individually, the team decides which individual is most appropriate to provide that support. This would be the student and one team member that would meet on a regular basis for individual skill development. The effective mental health professional–teacher team works collaboratively to ensure students are receiving the appropriate level of support depending on the coping strategies they need to acquire. Students’ age and cognitive functioning determine how the team assesses what skills the student needs to acquire. Tiered interventions are also discussed in chapter 4 (page 77).

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Building Great Mental Health Professional–Teacher Teams

Determining a Course of Action

Modifying and Implementing Interventions There will be times when a team will have to consider adjusting or changing interventions or strategies for students. One concept that is vital to the team’s work is implementation science, which refers to the modification and integration of interventions and the program of changing patterns, which is guided by the progress monitoring data collected (Lyon, n.d.). The interventions must be grounded in data and research but also translate well into a real-world setting (Moore et al., 2018). In other words, the team selects a research-based intervention but also has to develop and sustain an implementation strategy. The ultimate goal is to improve the quality and effectiveness of interventions by using such strategies as active training, consultation, leadership training, and system incentives (Lyon, n.d.).

School psychologists Susan G. Forman and colleagues (2013) identify the following four stages of implementation science.

1. Dissemination: The mental health professionals share information with the teacher regarding the intervention or strategy.

2. Adoption: The team decides to implement the intervention or strategy.

3. Initial implementation: The intervention or strategy is first implemented.

4. Maintenance: The intervention or strategy is maintained over time.

With these stages in mind, members make team considerations, watch for discrepancies between planning and delivery, and apply the core components model.

Team Considerations While implementation science has primarily focused on large-scale interventions, the principles can easily apply to individual students. However, children and adults are complex and dynamic; at times, the team must consider particular variables in designing intervention strategies. A teacher’s capacity and readiness to incorporate certain interventions into his or her daily schedule should always be assessed.

Therefore, the mental health professionals provide effective training and support, including information regarding the selected interventions, ensuring the team models

©2021 by Solution Tree Press. All rights reserved.

Ideally, the team determines prior to the academic year’s start what actions lead to which consequences, and what the progression of consequences will be. An example of an effective progression could be proximity to teacher and a nonverbal cue, followed by a verbal warning, followed by a one-minute break, followed by parental contact. Make sure that classroom expectations and rules are clearly and explicitly stated multiple times at the beginning of a school year. Chapter 4 (page 77) will be beneficial when planning for the school year.

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the intervention implementation, and offering ample time for the teacher to practice with team guidance when an intervention might need to be adapted (Moore et al., 2018). The mental health professional–teacher team should consider the following recommendations (Moir, 2018).

§ A mental health professional team member must make sure teachers are ready to implement the intervention with fidelity by providing adequate training. § The team must determine that the school has the infrastructure and capacity to support the implementation of the intervention.

For instance, a principal wants to implement a social skills program that will occur every morning. The team selected a program with recommended sixty-minute sessions, but the principal has informed the team that the daily session must occur within a thirty-minute timeframe. Therefore, the team will have to modify the intervention to fit the school schedule. § The team must determine who will monitor the effectiveness of the intervention and ensure the it is being implemented with fidelity. § The team should always promote effective practice and raise awareness of implementation science. They must be willing to set a high bar and never waver on the fact that all decisions need to be grounded in data and research.

One caveat is adaptation, which should only occur for components of the intervention that are not considered vital to its effectiveness. Elements deemed essential should not be modified (Lyon, n.d).

Discrepancies Between Planning and Delivery Many mental health professional–teacher team members have struggled to implement classroom interventions. Mental health professionals often team with teachers to assist them with intervention planning. In many cases, selecting the most effective intervention to support an individual student or an entire classroom presents a challenge. For instance, a mental health professional–teacher team implemented a CICO behavior intervention (page 45) for a student; in this case, a Tier 2 intervention in which the student received points throughout the day for meeting behavior expectations. The team met so that they could identify the target prosocial behaviors and goal outcomes for this student. After collecting three weeks of data, however, the

©2021 by Solution Tree Press. All rights reserved.

§ The team should ensure that members’ perspective and opinions are valued and ensure any intervention or program selected is grounded the data collected and the research.

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Building Great Mental Health Professional–Teacher Teams

team decided to change target behaviors in the classroom because of the additional time the intervention was taking from direct instruction. In doing so, the fidelity of the intervention was compromised. As the team discussed the implications for the change, it was revealed that such a decision competes with intervention integrity and may not achieve the desired outcome of decreased unwanted behaviors.

Actual implementation system

Intervention as planned

Implementation system as planned Intervention as delivered

Source: Adapted from Chen, 1998, 2015.

Figure 6.3: Plan and delivery discrepancy.

When there is a need to make adjustments or modifications to an intervention, the mental health professional–teacher team must document the change and the rationale; this demonstrates that the team used all data available and had meaningful dialogue regarding the context of the school and the needs. For instance, the team

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Monitoring implementation of an intervention allows team members to know what actually occurred and to provide feedback on quality control (Greenberg, Domitrovich, Graczyk, & Zins, 2005). This will require the team to include in their intervention implementation a plan for monitoring the effectiveness of the intervention. The team will have to determine who will be responsible for monitoring the intervention, how the intervention will be evaluated, and how often will the monitoring take place. Additionally, the team would do teachers and students a disservice if it only passively disseminated information without providing adequate support. For example, how helpful would it be to attend a workshop on conducting and developing FBAs and BIPs, but only receive information, instead of the presenter modeling how to conduct and develop the assessments and plans or providing opportunities to practice creating FBAs and BIPs? Based on Chen’s (1998, 2015) seminal research, discrepancies can occur between how the intervention is planned and how it is delivered, as detailed in figure 6.3.

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The factors listed in table 6.5 can cause a discrepancy between the intervention implementation plan and how is it actually implemented. We encourage teams to address these barriers to implementation as they will vary greatly based on situational context, and overcoming them will vary with the individual gifts and talents possessed by team members. Additionally, while mental health professional–teacher teams appreciate selecting evidence-based interventions and strategies, implementation challenges exist in the absence of performance feedback and reinforcement (Martens & McIntyre, 2009).

Table 6.5: Causes for Discrepancy Between Plans and Implementation Classroom Level • Implementer characteristics and behaviors • Poor classroom climate • Peer relations • Absence of student incentive to change • Insufficient ongoing support • Low-quality materials • Lack of time, resources, or proper guidance or training to implement the intervention effectively

Source: Greenberg et al., 2005.

School Level

District Level

• Administrative stability

• Administrative stability

• Administrative leadership and support

• Administrative leadership and support

• Awareness of student needs

• Awareness of student needs

• School climate and goals

• District goals and their communication with schools

• Poor overall school climate • Implementers are overwhelmed

©2021 by Solution Tree Press. All rights reserved.

determines there is a group of students who could benefit from the CBITS (page 95) to address their trauma needs. The team decides it is best to remove the program’s exposure component because there are not enough mental health workers in the school to support students who may be overwhelmed from having to relive their trauma. Another example is the team deciding that, based on the data, the sixth graders in the building could benefit from a universal social skills program. The team decides on a program. On reviewing the students’ reading data, the team learns that 80 percent of the students are reading below grade level. Therefore, the team decides to use a Second Step kit for third graders instead of for sixth graders. This demonstrates that a problem-solving process was applied when making the modifications; the changes were not random.

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Building Great Mental Health Professional–Teacher Teams

Core Components Model

Consider the following aspects of the core components model when supporting individual teachers (Fixsen, Blase, Naoom, & Wallace, 2009). § Consultation and coaching needs § Preservice and in-service training and coaching to supplement previously acquired and new training and coaching needs § Decision support data systems (which allows teams to modify evidence-based interventions to meet the needs of real-world settings, such as classrooms) § Staff performance assessment and feedback Implementation frameworks such as the core components model can allow the mental health professional–teacher team to see there are critical links between the research supporting selected intervention and the need to consider real-world settings. We want to ensure that when we have to make adaptions, we do so without jeopardizing the best outcomes for students and teachers. It should be stressed that coaching is the most essential component of the intervention implementation process, where a member of the team demonstrates the implementation of the intervention and observes the teacher implementing the intervention in order to provide feedback (Burns, Riley-Tillman, & Rathvon, 2017).

For instance, consider a teacher who wants to implement a social-emotional skills game, which is an approach to the management of classroom behaviors that rewards students for displaying appropriate on-task behaviors during instructional times. A member of the mental health professional–teacher team meets with the teacher to determine if she feels she has the capacity to implement the game with fidelity. She expresses enthusiasm about the potential for the game’s effectiveness in managing classroom behavior but shares that she needs support with the actual implementation procedures. As such, the procedures are reviewed and reflected on and any

©2021 by Solution Tree Press. All rights reserved.

There are many implementation science models the team can consider. A common one is the core components model, which helps with intervention design and evaluation. The model helps the team to consider the critical aspects, activities, and functions of intervention programs selected to ensure the best outcomes possible. This model can allow the team to think about the motivation of teachers, the training and coaching needed for teachers and staff to implement the intervention program with fidelity, the allocation and investment of time and resources needed to implement the intervention program, and how the interventions align with school policy and guidance (Moir, 2018). The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services offers a research brief (https://bit.ly/3cfeIOv) with more information about this model.

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When monitoring the quality of the implementation, mental health professional– teacher teams should measure the teacher’s skills and satisfaction, as well as provide emotional and practical support (Greenberg et al., 2005). The coaching process requires time, and though new behaviors and skills are not learned instantaneously, they do emerge over time with a team commitment.

Professional Development Activity on Tiered Interventions This activity will foster skills that allow team members to effectively develop and implement tiered interventions. Visit go.SolutionTree.com/behavior to access a free reproducible version of this activity.

Appropriate Participants The mental health professional–teacher team could complete this activity together as a team or complete the exercise independently. The mental health professional– teacher team could guide an MTSS team, RTI team, or student assistance team through this exercise.

Time Frame Allow forty-five to sixty minutes to complete this activity.

Materials Participants will need either a pen or pencil and a copy of figure 6.4 (page 154).

Process Participants will select a social-emotional skill that students in their school need to work on and complete figure 6.4. It is important to identify the behavior they want to address, the specific skill they want students to learn, how the intervention will

©2021 by Solution Tree Press. All rights reserved.

adaptations that might be necessary are also discussed and planned. The teacher says there are certain students who might impede the success of the game, so the team adapts the program to place those students in their own individual teams. Discipline data has not been collected, so anecdotal observations are used to identify target behaviors. The team thinks about an appropriate day and time to introduce the game to the students. Prior to introducing the game to students, they discuss how to most effectively provide directions to students. The team cofacilitates the introduction to students, and for two months, the team members enter the classroom to offer support and immediate performance feedback.

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Building Great Mental Health Professional–Teacher Teams

Behavior addressed in tiered support plan:

Date:

Skill to develop:

Tier Support Tier 1

Intervention

Learning Assessment

Reflections

Assessment:

Documentation:

Tier 2

Assessment:

Documentation:

Tier 3

Assessment:

Documentation:

Figure 6.4: Professional development activity on tiered interventions.

Visit go.SolutionTree.com/behavior for a free reproducible version of this figure.

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Goals and time frame:

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be assessed, what documentation is necessary, and reflections on why the intervention was selected prior to implementation. This will help with implementing skill development with fidelity and reminding the team of their thought process prior to implementation. Selecting an overall goal with a specific time frame will hold team members accountable for providing appropriate support for all students.

Participating in this activity will help the mental health professional–teacher team develop a thoughtful approach to developing a tiered system of support for students.

Noting assessment, any necessary documentation and their thought process will help the team be more efficient.

Summary Teaching and learning can be challenging given the many pressures students face and the increased responsibilities and accountability teachers carry relative to students’ academic, social, and emotional needs. This chapter focused on student challenges related to behavior and relationships. By cultivating authentic relationships with students, the team can reduce the number of power struggles and dysregulation in the classroom allowing for more instructional time. A deeper understanding of brain functioning allows the mental health professional–teacher team to interpret student behaviors more fully and thereby provide more appropriate interventions.

Research supports the importance of students remaining in the classroom not only for academic reasons but for also psychosocial well-being. Effective teams work collaboratively and maintain high levels of communication to meet both the needs in the classroom as well as individual students. Students needing individual support often struggle with emotional regulation and appropriate classroom behavior.

The mental health professional–teacher team can develop proactive strategies to address disruptive behaviors in the classroom and decreasing disruptive power struggles between dysregulated students and teachers. The goal is for all students to remain in the classroom for academic instruction. The team needs a consistent process for addressing students’ behavior in the classroom, assisting them in calming down, and if necessary, determining and effectively proceeding if they need to be removed from the classroom, either for the safety of the individual student or the safety of others. A six-step problem-solving model was included in the chapter to assist team members.

By teaching students coping strategies, they will be more equipped to self-regulate their emotions.

©2021 by Solution Tree Press. All rights reserved.

Results

MENTAL HEALTH PROFESSIONAL–

TEACHER

teams

A Systematic Approach to Social-Emotional Learning for Students and Educators

Social-emotional health and well-being are at the forefront of educators’ minds, and for good reason. Professional educators confront the realities of high poverty, pervasive trauma, and mental health disorders daily. Building Great Mental Health Professional–Teacher Teams: A Systematic Approach to Social-Emotional Learning for Students and Educators harnesses the power of teams so that teachers and school mental health professionals can combine their expertise to support complex student needs. Authors Tonya C. Balch, Brandie M. Oliver, Chavez Phelps, and Bradley V. Balch facilitate true team collaboration and examine how all educators, including school counselors, psychologists, and social workers, can work together for maximum positive impact. Providing practical advice for strategic planning and a professional development activity for every chapter, this book informs readers how to navigate team tensions and achieve a school culture that fosters respect, involvement, and growth for everyone.

Readers will: • Incorporate social-emotional learning into everyday classroom practice • Learn how to build resilience and a growth mindset in students • Acquire strategies for helping dysregulated students and implementing interventions

• Recognize compassion fatigue in themselves and others, and implement prevention strategies

—Deb Lecklider

Professor and Director of the Experiential Program for Preparing School Principals, Butler University “This authentic, practical, powerful book will change the way you think about, interact with, and support students and families. For educators, school counselors, school psychologists, and administrators who are passionate about empowering and advocating for students and building capacity to positively impact student success, this resource will resonate deeply. Packed with evidence-based practices, practical interventions, professional development activities, and a plethora of resources, this is a true gem!”

—Julie Taylor

Ohio School Counselor of the Year; School Counselor, Starr Elementary School, Oregon, Ohio “As the leader of the classroom, how do you support this student’s emotional needs while maintaining an academic focus for the rest of your students? If you are a mental health professional— that is, a school counselor, school psychologist, or school social worker— how does a wraparound team support students in their holistic education?

In this book, Tonya C. Balch, Brandie M. Oliver, Chavez Phelps, and Bradley V. Balch provide answers to these essential questions.”

ISBN 978-1-951075-11-8 90000

Visit go.SolutionTree.com/behavior to download the free reproducibles in this book.

9 781951 075118

SolutionTree.com

building great

MENTAL HEALTH PROFESSIONAL–

TEACHER

teams

A Systematic Approach to SocialEmotional Learning for Students and Educators

—Erin Stalbaum

Director, Transformation Zone, Kokomo School Corporation, Kokomo, Indiana; Educational Consultant

Balch  Oliver Phelps  Balch

• Discover ways to include trauma-informed and restorative practices in classrooms, in offices, and schoolwide

“The book is amazing and much needed. The authors brilliantly capture a must-read for anyone interested in the well-being of their students and educators by creating a systematic, collaborative team approach.”

Building Great Mental Health Professional–Teacher Teams

building great

tonya c. balch  brandie m. oliver chavez phelps  bradley v. balch foreword by erin stalbaum