Improving School Climate by Supporting Implementation of Evidence Based Practices in High Schools Presented by: Christina Jordan, School Climate Specialist, Sheppard Pratt Health System Kalisha Miller, Assistant Principal Dundalk High School, Baltimore County, MD Patti Hershfeldt, Director of Training and T.A., Maryland Safe and Supportive School Initiative Presented by: Christina Jordan, School Climate Specialist, Sheppard Pratt Health System Kalisha Miller, Assistant Principal Dundalk High School, Baltimore County, MD Patti Hershfeldt, Director of Training and T.A., Maryland Safe and Supportive School Initiative

The National Community of Practice on Collaborative School Behavioral Health The focus of this CoP is to collaboratively work to create a shared agenda across education, mental health and families to promote success for all students To Learn More Please Visit:

Practice Group Co-Sponsors of Today’s Webinar Connecting School Mental Health with Juvenile Justice and Dropout Prevention. This group promotes the active exchange of ideas and collaboration between school employed and community employed mental health providers, educators, and families. This exchange is to support the social, emotional and mental health and the academic success of all children and adolescents. By working together in a collaborative and creative manner, school, family, and community resources can better serve the educational and social/emotional needs of all students and assist in ensuring good mental health. This practice group is focused on successful strategies and practical examples of how to develop and implement a culture of collaboration across multiple initiatives, programs, and providers working in schools. Connecting School Mental Health and Positive Behavior Supports. This group is a conduit for families, researchers, administrators, and practitioners to find common interests and practices related to school mental health (SMH) and Positive Behavior Supports (PBS). PBS approaches are designed to prevent problem behaviors by proactively altering the environment before problems begin and concurrently teaching appropriate behavior. School-wide positive behavior support systems support all students along a continuum of need based on the three-tiered PBS prevention model. SMH can be thought of as a framework of approaches that promote children’s mental health by emphasizing prevention programming, positive youth development and school-wide approaches. These approaches call for collaboration among mental health providers, educators, families, related service providers and school administrators in order to meet the mental health needs of all students. By working collaboratively, this practice group seeks to clarify the relationship between PBS and SMH in order to promote seamless practice at the local level. Quality and Evidence-Based Practice. This group’s mission is to (a) share information across individuals and groups interested in improving the quality of school mental health (SMH) programs and services and (b) discuss, promote, and disseminate evidence based practices in SMH. The practice group strives to bridge the research-practice and practice-research gaps in the field. In addition, the practice group seeks to understand and identify the best student- and program-level evaluation strategies.

Federal Grant CFDA #: Q184Y Improving School Climate by Supporting Implementation of Evidence-Based Practices in High Schools

POLLING QUESTION 1 Are you working with high school implementation of social-emotional, behavioral, and/or mental health related Evidence-Based Practices? Yes No

Maryland Safe and Supportive Schools (MDS3) 6 Research and evaluation “sustainable system to measure ” Administration “disseminate outcomes to stakeholders” Implementation “develop capacity in schools to improve” Partner with U of MD- CSMH to gain support for integration of SMH.

MDS3 Goals 1) Assess school climate, student engagement, and the school environment 2) Implement evidence-based programs (EBPs) to meet student needs, based on survey 3) Improve conditions for learning 4) Reduce school violence and substance use, and improve student engagement and the school environment to support student learning.

THE MDS3 Initiative expanded Partnerships MDS3MSDEJHUSPHS U of MD CSMH Natl. PBIS TA Center Community Stakeholders LMB, Faith based, DJJ, DCF, Community Mental Health, Law Enforcement… Local School Systems

MDS3 School Climate Model: School Climate Engagement Check and Connect Culturally Responsive Teaching Relationships Respect for Diversity School Participation Safety Olweus Bully Prevention Botvin Life Skills Emotional Safety Physical Safety Substance Use Environment Check in Check Out + Academic Support CBITS & Mental Health Awareness Physical Environment Academic Environment Wellness Disciplinary Environment Kristen Harper, Office of Safe and Healthy Students, United States Department of Education

MDS3 Evaluation of School Climate MDS3 School Climate Survey School-wide Evaluation Tool (SET)/ Individual Student Systems Evaluation Tool (ISSET) School Site Visits

Organizational/Systems Change OR The Development of Effective, Productive, Collaborative Systems that create optimal Conditions for Learning Systems Change Coach (Facilitator/ Communicator) Support to Leadership Skill Coach for Practitioners Coaching Functions

SYSTEMS PRACTICES DATA Supporting Staff Behavior Supporting Decision Making Supporting Student Behavior OUTCOMES A Problem-Solving Approach to School Climate

COACHING for Outcomes  Link to School Improvement Plan, state initiatives, district initiatives  Community goals/initiatives  Consider context of the school  Schools with high staff turnover  Transient, military, or urban populations  Rural or isolated school settings with limited access to outside resources  Community/parent involvment  Other key stakeholders

COACHING considering Systems  Administrative buy-in  Shared responsibility  Pull out hidden resources  Training and SUPPORT  Coordination: working smarter not harder  Professional development and problem- solving  Framework: What does this building need?

NEED #1 NEED # 2 NEED # 3

POLLING QUESTION 2 In what ways does your organization use data to guide social-emotional learning goals and school-wide behavioral supports? (Open ended)

Coaching using Data  Data crosswalks  Telling the story  Zoom out and zoom in  Share the data!!!!

Data Tools: Crosswalk Climate Survey Data Site Visit Data SET (School- wide Evaluation Tool) Data ISSET (Individual Student Systems Eval. Tool) Data School Data (Attendance rates, graduation rates, discipline referrals) SAFETY ENGAGEMENT ENVIRONMENT

Coaching practices to support students  Increase protective factors  Teach and practice skills  Change norms and attitudes  Increase natural supports  Consider special populations  Use student voice

OWL LEADERSHIP ACADEMY ACTIVITY Modeling behavior Connecting with staff, peers, community Engaging in healthy leadership activity Connecting with peers Making academics relevant Building autonomy, belonging, competence

Dundalk High School

Dundalk High School Profile Total Enrollment: 1,228 Graduation Rate: 71%

Dundalk High School Profile Mobility Rates Entry: 19% Withdrawal: 23.5%

Dundalk High School Teachers

POLLING QUESTION 3 In your building/district/center, how involved is the community in supporting schools, students, and staff toward improving school climate and dropout prevention efforts? The community is very strong and has goals in mind, resources available, and an action plan The community supports the concept of improving school climate and reducing dropout prevention, but needs some guidance to become more involved The community is not currently very involved in partnering with schools

Our Challenges Transient student population Staff turnover Very involved (and busy) staff New federal, state, and district initiatives Construction and moving to new building

Our Strengths Administrative support Committed staff!!!! Responsive staff Responsive student body

School climate and dropout prevention efforts Safety: Student well-being Engagement: Relationships/connectedness; parent and community involvement Environment: We notice you, we want you to be here, to learn, to succeed, have support

School-wide (Universal) Supports Positive Behavioral Interventions and Supports: Clear expectations and stable environment; positive staff-student interactions; teaches and reinforces skills for success Olweus Bullying Prevention Program: Increases student and staff knowledge awareness about bullying prevention; teaches adults and youth skills to prevent and intervene in bullying situations; aims to change attitudes/norms in school and community; utilizes student voice; encourages community involvement Botvin LifeSkills Training Program: Students practice and receive feedback on problem-solving and decision-making skill; students discuss healthy vs. unhealthy attitudes and decisions; program increases knowledge of health risk behaviors

Targeted Supports Majority of staff involved (Mentoring: Check and Connect and CICO, AVID) Early screening and identification (Mentoring, LifeSkills) Use of existing tools and county data (Mentoring, Life Skills, AVID, AdvancePath) Use evidence-based practices (CnC, CICO, Life Skills) Provide training and continued TA to staff

Owl Leadership Academy (CICO)

Intensive Individualized interventions Whatever is needed Layer supports Continue targeted supports and add individualized interventions Early intervention Keep all staff involved and use natural supports

What students are saying Being in the program helps me stay motivated and get good grades. When I finish High School I want to go to a four year college. Before, I didn’t know how to control my anger. Now I know to take a break before I talk if I am really mad.. My mentor helps me think of different solutions to a problem and pick the right one.

The way we do things… Care for the kids! Constant screening and monitoring Shared responsibility/ shared ownership Kudos from administration to staff Aligned with other initiatives Monitoring of new information Spread the wealth!

Sustainability/ Building Capacity  District TA  Shared responsibility in the building  Staff culture of “this is how do do things”  Coordination and school manuals  Continued staff development