Addressing Mental Health Barriers to Learning Through Educator-Initiated Programs

Addressing Mental Health Barriers to Learning Through Educator-Initiated

Programs

Carl E. Paternite, Ph.D.Center for School-Based Mental Health Programs

Department of PsychologyMiami University (Ohio)

http://www.units.muohio.edu/csbmhp

Presented at the 7th National Conference on Advancing School-Based Mental Health Programs, Philadelphia, PA,

September 21st, 2002

Addressing Mental Health Barriers to Learning Through Educator-Initiated Programs

Instructional Objectives For Presentation:

Offer a "case study" of program development.

Increase participant awareness of the importance of educators in school-based mental health programming.

Increase participant knowledge of effective approaches to enhance educator – mental health professional collaboration.

Increase knowledge of ways to infuse "mental health education" into the school milieu.

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Addressing Mental Health Barriers to Learning Through Educator-Initiated Programs

Themes Addressed in Presentation:

Program development.

Interdisciplinary collaboration and partnership.

Prevention.

Research, training and education.

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Mental Health Needs of Youth and Available Services

20-38% of children and adolescents need mental health intervention.

One-sixth to one-third of these youth actually receive any service, and, of those who do, less than half receive adequate treatment.

For the small percentage of youth who do receive service, most actually receive it within a school setting.

These realities raise questions about the mental health field’s over-reliance on clinic-based treatment, and have reinforced the importance of alternative models for mental health service — especially expanded school-based programs.

Expanded School-Based Mental Health Programs

National movement to place effective mental health programs in schools.

To promote the academic, behavioral, social, emotional, and contextual/systems well-being of youth, and to reduce “mental health” barriers to school success.

Programs incorporate primary prevention and mental health promotion, secondary prevention, and intensive intervention.

Intent is to contribute to building capacity for a comprehensive, multifaceted, and integrated system of support and care.

Potential of Schools as Key Points of Engagement

Opportunities to engage youth where they are.

Unique opportunities for intensive, multifaceted approaches and are essential contexts for prevention and research activity.

Center for School-Based Mental Health Programs (at Miami University)

Ohio Mental Health Network for School Success• Six affiliate organizations working together in regional and

state-wide activities.

Butler County School-Based Mental Health Program• School-based mental health promotion, prevention,

intervention, and applied research activities.

Addressing Barriers to Learning Program• Annual conferences to initiate and sustain local, school-

based projects that reduce mental health barriers to learning and enhance the development of healthy school communities.


Behavioral Health Advisor• Mental health newsletter for elementary and secondary

school educators, focusing on issues related to child mental health and school success.

Evaluation of Alternative Education/ Discipline Programs

• Ongoing formative evaluation of 11 alternative programs in Butler County,OH.

Partnerships for Success Academy (with the Ohio State University Center for Learning Excellence)

• Technical assistance to 15 counties engaged in efforts to build capacity to prevent and respond effectively to youth problem behaviors while promoting positive development.


Funding

Butler County Mental Health Board The Health Foundation of Greater Cincinnati Ohio Department of Mental Health The Center for Learning Excellence Butler County Family and Children First Council Talawanda School District Miami University cost sharing

School-Based Mental Health PartnershipsMany individuals have been instrumental to our school-based mental health partnerships since 1998. To name just a few:

University-Based (3 universities, 5 academic divisions, 6 departments)

Faculty/Staff: Carl E. Paternite, Karen Schilling, Julie Rubin, Denise Fox-Barber, Amy Wilms, Betty Yung, David Andrews, Al Neff, Diana Leigh, Alex Thomas, Randy Flora, Doris Bergen, Valerie A. Ubbes, Raymond Witte, Joan Fopma-Loy …

Psychology interns and graduate assistants: Lynne Knobloch, Becky Hutchison, Sally Phillips, Leslie Baer, Linda Gal, Derek Oliver, Mike Imhoff, Julie Cathey, Liz Morey, Chris Dyszelski, Chris Mauro, Nancy Pike, Jessica Donn, Sandra Kirchner, LaTasha Mack, Ann-Marie Bixler, Jari Santana-Wynn, Jeanene Robinson, Gloria Oliver, Francesca Dalumpines, Jamie Williamson, Jill Thomas, Jennifer Malinosky, Jason Kibby, Julia Pemberton, Ann Marie Lundberg, Marc McLaughlin, Robin Graff-Reed …

Community-Based

John Staup, Kay Rietz, Saundra Jenkins, Barbara Perez, Susan Smith, Valerie Robinson, Jolynn Hurwitz, Kate Keller, Terri Johnston, Charlie Johnston, Kathy Oberlin, Ellen Anderson, Noelle Duval, Linda Maxwell, Greg Foster, Teresa Jullian-Goebel, Suzanne Robinson, Terre Garner, Bryan Brown, Greg Rausch, Carolyn Jones, David Turner …

School-Based

Teacher consultants: Sherie Davis, Marilyn Elzey, Tom Orlow, Teresa Abrams, Sarah Buck, Jim Carter, Julie Churchman, Amy Gibson, Joy Boyle, Chris Carroll, Mary Hessling, Joan Parks, Joanne Williamson, Jaimie Pribble, Pam Termeer, Pat Stephens, Patricia Scholl, Martha Slamer, David Wood, Susan Meyer, Monna Even, Ginny Paternite, Connie Short, Terri Hoffmann, Karen Shearer …

Guidance counselors, school psychologists, school nurses, and administrators: Marianne Marconi, Sandy Greenberg, Tom O’Reilly, Roberta Perlin, Betsy Esber, MaryBeth Bergeron, Greg Rausch, Ann Schmitt, Alice Bonar, Stephanie Johnson, Marcia Schlichter, Susan Cobb, Phil Cagwin, Bob Bierly, Martha Angello, Bill Miller, Bob Phelps, Dan Milz, Dave Isaacs, Mark Mortine, Rhonda Bohannon, Clint Moore, Cathy Keener, Mary Jane Roberts, Jean Eagle, Alice Eby, Kathy Jonas, David Greenburg, Candice McIntosh, Sharon Lytle, Terri Fitton, Steve Swankhaus, Melissa Kessler, Mary Jacobs ..

Action-Project Teams: Fourteen 2-4 person teams from ten schools in five school districts, each with a university faculty/graduate student liaison.


Overarching Goals

Build collaborative university-school district relationships to address the mental health needs of children and adolescents through multifaceted programming.

Promote mental health and school success for youth through:

Primary prevention and mental health education

Early direct intervention for identified at-risk children and adolescents, and treatment for those with severe/ chronic mental health problems

Action research, training, and consultation

The Ohio Mental Health Network for School Success

Mission

To help Ohio’s school districts, community-based agencies, and families work together to achieve improved educational and developmental outcomes for all children — especially those at emotional or behavioral risk and those with mental health problems, including pupils participating in alternative education programs.


Action Agenda

Create awareness about the gap between children’s mental health needs and “treatment” resources, and encourage improved and expanded services.

Encourage mental health agencies and school districts to adopt mission statements that address the importance of partnerships.

Conduct surveys of mental health agencies and school districts to better define the mental health needs of children and to gather information about promising practices.


Action Agenda (continued) Provide technical assistance to mental health agencies and

school districts, to support adoption of evidence-based and promising practices, including improvement and expansion of school-based mental health services.

Develop a guide for education and mental health professionals and families, for the development of productive partnerships.

Assist in identification of sources of financial support for school-based mental health initiatives.

Assist university-based professional preparation programs in psychology, social work, public health, and education, in developing inter-professional strategies and practices for addressing the mental health needs of school-age children.

Educators as Key Members of the Mental Health Team

Schools should not be held responsible for meeting every need of every student.

However, schools must meet the challenge when the need directly affects learning and school success. (Carnegie Council Task Force on Education of Young Adolescents, 1989)

There is clear and compelling evidence that there are strong positive associations between mental health and school success.

“Children whose emotional, behavioral, or social difficulties are not addressed have a diminished capacity to learn and benefit from the school environment. In addition, children who develop disruptive behavior patterns can have a negative influence on the social and academic environment for other children.” (Rones & Hoagwood, 2000, p.236)

Contemporary school reform—and the associated high-stakes testing (including recently signed federal legislation)—has not incorporated the Carnegie Council imperative. That is, recent reform has not adequately incorporated a focus on addressing barriers to development, learning, and teaching.

Educators as Key Members of the Mental

Health Team

Common Messages Across Initiatives

It is important to build on the common goals of expanded school-based mental health programs and existing community and school initiatives. For example, in Ohio:

• “Comprehensive Strategy”• “Partnerships for Success”• “Alternative Education Challenge Grant Program”

All share a common core focus on barriers to development, learning, and teaching.

Identification of the common message across initiatives is extremely important for reducing the chances that what is being introduced by any one initiative will be marginalized by proponents of narrowly-focused school reform.

Creating and Maintaining Ongoing, Empowering

Dialogue with Educators

Multi-level, formal and informal dialogue with policy makers, formulators, enforcers, and implementers.

Programs for school board members and administrators.

Newsletter for teachers. Website resources. Extensive “contact time” with educators in their school

buildings. “Joining” the school community. Key opinion leaders.

Assessing and Responding To Educator-Identified Needs and

Concerns

Careful, detailed, local needs assessments from the perspective of educators, and a commitment to be responsive to identified needs.

Results used in advocacy efforts and as guideposts for ongoing work.

Prioritizing Promotion of Healthy Development and Problem Prevention

School-based models should capitalize on schools’ unique opportunities to provide mental health-promoting activities.

Recommended strategies for violence and drop-out prevention, including those for which the central role of educators is evident, can be promoted actively within an expanded school-based mental health program.


For violence prevention, these include:

Structured social skill development programs. Mentoring. Programs that foster school engagement,

participation, and bonding. Promotion of developmental assets. A variety of approaches that engage parents

and families.


For drop-out prevention, these include:

Early intervention. Mentoring and tutoring. Service learning. Conflict resolution and violence prevention

curricula and training for students/staff. Alternative schooling.

Teacher Consultants

Teacher consultants develop and implement special projects related to school-based mental health enhancement.

Teacher consultants serve as liaisons to the schools in efforts to promote school-based mental health programming.

Teacher consultants serve as informal advisers/mentors to school staff on matters related to social-emotional

adjustment and learning needs of children and school/climate issues.

Incentives For Teacher Consultants

Leadership opportunity

Training opportunity

Academic credit

Stipends (“supplemental contracts”)

Empowerment

Demystification

Addressing Barriers to Learning: Annual Conference and Action Projects

Program

Goal

Conduct annual conferences, to help initiate planned local public school-based projects that reduce mental health-related barriers to learning and enhance the development of healthy school communities.

Objectives of Addressing Barriers to Learning Program

Demonstrate, produce and assess school-based mental health practices (classroom-based, classroom-linked) that address barriers to desired academic outcomes and personal and social skill development.

Put into continuing practice that which participants learn in conference activities and projects.

Increase the effectiveness of school district collaboration and system support for school-based mental health practices.

Disseminate findings.

Resources for Addressing Barriers to Learning Program

Researchers and practitioners whose work on the conference theme evidences quality and the potential for successful application locally.

Web-site support.

Resource packets.

Small grants to support action projects.

Ongoing consultation with action teams with graduate students/faculty.

Conference Themes for Addressing Barriers to

Learning Program

2000 — Nonviolent Schools: Building Programs That Work Consultants: Betty Yung and Jeremy Shapiro

2001 — School, Family, and Community Partnerships Consultants: Marc Atkins and Scott Rankin

2002 — School, Family, and Community Partnerships Consultants: Program faculty

Addressing Barriers To Learning

School, Family, and Community Partnerships

Second Annual ConferenceMarch 22 & 24, 2001

Marcum Conference CenterMiami University

Oxford, Ohio

Institute for Educational Renewal BasedAt Miami University

Miami University Center for School-Based Mental Health

Addressing Barriers To Learning:School, Family, and Community

Partnerships

Conference Advisory Committee:Randy Flora Institute for Educational Renewal, MUJoan Fopma-Loy Department of Nursing, MUSusan Mosley-Howard Associate Dean, EAP, MUCarl E. Paternite Department of Psychology, MURoberta Perlin Talawanda City SchoolsAlex Thomas Dept. of Educational Psychology, MUValerie Ubbes Dept. of Physical Education, MURaymond Witte Dept. of Educational Psychology, MUEvaluator:Doris Bergen Dept. of Educational Psychology, MU

Contacts:

Randy Flora [email protected] (513)529-6926203 McGuffey Hall Oxford, OH 45056

Carl E. [email protected] (513)529-2416Paternite Dept. of Psychology,

Benton Hall Oxford, OH 45056

Many thanks to the members of the Conference Advisory Committee for your time and effort. Additional thanks to our

funding providers, The Graduate School of Miami University and the Butler County Mental Health Board, for their support.

Thursday, March 22, 20015:00 p.m.- 8:40 p.m.

PROGRAM

5:00 Reception - Highlights of 2000-2001 Programs

5:15 Welcome and IntroductionsCarl E. Paternite, Miami University Center for School-Based Mental Health Programs

5:30 School, Family, and Community Partnerships Addressing Barriers to Learning - Research and Practical ApplicationsMarc Atkins, University of Illinois - Chicago

6:00 Dinner

6:40 Under Pressure!Lakota East High School Students with Advisors, Richard Schmaltz and Lisa Schmaltz

7:30 School, Family, and Community PartnershipsScott Rankin, Fairfax School, Hamilton County MRDD

8:00 Imagining School, Family, and Community Partnerships: Drawing the PicturesMarc Atkins and Scott Rankin

8:35 Saturday AgendaCarl E. Paternite Randy Flora, Institute for Educational Renewal, Miami University

8:40 Evaluation and AdjournmentJulia Pemberton

Saturday, March 24, 20017:45 a.m.– 4:00 p.m.

PROGRAM

7:45 Continental Breakfast8:15 Setting the Focus on Today’s Work

Carl E. Paternite8:30 Conversation with Consultants. A. Research-based Strategies Addressing Barriers

to Learning in School Communities - Marc Atkins B. Empowering Families and Engaging Community Agencies for Healthy, Achieving Children - Scott Rankin9:15 Break9:30 Conversation with Consultants Continued10:15 Break10:30 Consultants’ Synthesis From Morning Session

Marc Atkins and Scott Rankin10:45 Team Work with Technical Assistance: Clarifying

Goals, Objectives, and Strategies for School Projects

11:45 Lunch12:45 Review and Refocus

Marc Atkins and Scott Rankin1:30 Team Work with Technical Assistance: Refining

Project Strategies and Resource Needs Resource Needs

2:15 Break2:30 Assessment: Suggestions for Consideration

Doris Bergen, Dept. of Educational Psychology, Miami University Julia Pemberton2:45 Team Work with Technical Assistance: Planning

Assessment Strategies for Team Projects3:15 Budget Procedures

Randy Flora and Julia Pemberton3:30 Next Steps

Carl E. Paternite and Randy Flora3:45 Evaluation and Adjournment

Julia Pemberton

Addressing Barriers To Learning

School, Family, and Community Partnerships

Second Annual ConferenceMarch 20 & 21, 2002

Marcum Conference CenterMiami University

Oxford, Ohio

Institute for Educational Renewal Basedat Miami University

Miami University Center for School-Based Mental Health

Addressing Barriers To Learning:School, Family, and Community

Partnerships

Conference Advisory Committee:Randy Flora Institute for Educational Renewal, MUJoan Fopma-Loy Department of Nursing, MUSusan Mosley-Howard Associate Dean, EAP, MUCarl E. Paternite Department of Psychology, MURoberta Perlin Talawanda City SchoolsAlex Thomas Dept. of Educational Psychology, MUValerie Ubbes Dept. of Physical Education, MURaymond Witte Dept. of Educational Psychology, MUEvaluator:Doris Bergen Dept. of Educational Psychology, MU

Contacts:

Randy Flora [email protected] (513)529-6926203 McGuffey Hall Oxford, OH 45056

Carl E. [email protected] (513)529-2416Paternite Dept. of Psychology,

Benton Hall Oxford, OH 45056

Many thanks to the members of the Conference Advisory Committee for your time and effort. Additional thanks to our

funding providers, The Graduate School of Miami University and the Butler County Mental Health Board, for their support.

Wednesday, March 20, 20025:15 p.m.- 8:00 p.m.

PROGRAM

Session #1 Goals

• Participants understand and support the purpose of the Addressing Barriers to Learning initiative.

• Participants become aware of successful and promising school-based projects.

• Participants strengthen their commitments to support their respective school-based projects.

5:15 Reception - Highlights of 2001-2002 Programs

5:45 Welcome and Networking DinnerCarl E. Paternite, Miami University Center forSchool-Based Mental Health Programs

7:00 Under Pressure!Lakota East High School Students with Advisor, Sue Bateman

7:30 Under Pressure!Question and Answer Session with Under Pressure!

Thursday, March 21, 20028:15 a.m.- 3:00 p.m.

PROGRAM

Session #2 Goals

• School-based teams refine goal statements to include outcome and process goals that include criteria/indicators for determining success.• Participants plan implementation strategies appropriate to the goals and criteria/indicators for determining success.• Participants understand their responsibilities for implementation, budget management, evaluation, and reporting.• Faculty consultants and graduate students are assigned to, and understand their consultation responsibilities for, each team for 2002-2003.

8:15 Continental Breakfast8:45 Today’s Agenda

Carl E. Paternite, Department of Psychology, MU9:00 Assessing Progress: Suggestions for Consideration

Doris Bergen, Department of Educational Psychology, MU9:30 Focusing Projects on Desired Conditions and

Outcomes: Knowing What You WantAlex Thomas, Department of Educational Psychology, MU

10:00 Work Session with Consultants11:00 Choosing Strategies that Earn Desired Outcomes

Ray Witte, Department of Educational Psychology, MU11:30 Lunch12:30 Work Session with Consultants1:15 Question and Answer Session

Whole Group1:45 Cross-team Conversation

Teams are paired up to describe their projects and receive constructive input on their projects

2:30 Budget Procedures and Next StepsCarl E. Paternite

2:45 Evaluation and AdjournmentJulia Pemberton, Graduate Assistant, Institute for Ed. Renewal

Addressing Barriers to Learning: Evaluation of 2002

Training Conference

Mean ratings for each training component(scale: 1 = low/no usefulness; 5 = very useful)

Evening Session (25-26 respondents)

Highlights of 2001-02 Projects 4.0 Networking dinner 4.4 Youth group performance 4.8

Full-day Session (30-32 respondents)

Assessing progress 3.6 Desired conditions and outcomes 4.1 Work session with consultants #1 4.5 Strategies that earn desired outcomes 4.0 Work session with consultants #2 4.5

Addressing Barriers to Learning: Current Elementary School

Action Projects

School-wide project focused on increasing students’ positive social skills, using monthly themes and activities (open house nights, assemblies, community speakers). Parent involvement in planning and implementation is emphasized.

School-wide project focused on “trait of the month” themes (e.g., responsibility, caring) and activities (community service projects, fund raising for needy families, school-based counseling groups, after school activities, peer mediation program).

School-wide attendance enhancement program, through improved monitoring, enhanced parental involvement with an after school/evening tutoring program linked to family dinner/activity events, and an attendance reward program.

School-wide outreach program to families (“The Road Show”) taking school informational meetings into neighborhoods and communities, to overcome obstacle of the geographically large catchment area and to increase family sense of engagement with the school.

School-wide project focused on positive social skills, with emphasis on recess programming.

Addressing Barriers to Learning: Current Elementary

School Action Projects (cont’d)

A violence reduction program, focused on development of resource materials and use of psychoeducational training in coping skills and strategies for at risk students.

School-wide family engagement project emphasizing literacy, through school-based reading night dinner programs with storytellers and opportunities for families to read together.

School-wide parent involvement and support program focused on attention to needs of families, efforts to increase positive attitudes toward learning, and enhancement of social skills of students, using community picnics and “Parents on Board” parenting classes.

School-wide program focused on understanding and appreciating difference, tolerance, and conflict resolution skills, using curricula from the Center for Peace Education.

Addressing Barriers to Learning: Current High School

Action Projects

Mentoring program focused on academic and personal success of students, including a strong community service component.

Alternative high school service learning program incorporating intensive involvement with a senior citizens center and tutoring in an elementary school.

Addressing Barriers to Learning: Training in the

Project Evaluation Process

1. Determine goals and objectives.

2. Determine data needed to measure desired outcomes.

3. Select measurement methods.

4. Outline data collection plan.

5. Collect data.

6. Compile, analyze, interpret, and report results.

7. Refine project based on findings.

Note: Dr. Doris Bergen (Miami University Center for Human Development, Learning, andTeaching) has provided ongoing technical assistance on the evaluation process.

Addressing Barriers to Learning:Levels of Evaluation

Evaluation expected on two or more of the four levels:

Level 1 -- Records on planned activities.

Level 2 -- Self-report data from participant groups on knowledge,

attitudes, behaviors.

Level 3 -- Outcome data on student effects (attendance, office

referrals, grades…).

Level 4 -- Systematic observational data on behavior change

related to objectives of project.

Note: Dr. Doris Bergen (Miami University Center for Human Development, Learning, andTeaching) has provided ongoing technical assistance on the evaluation process.

Addressing Barriers to Learning: Linking Project Objectives to Evaluation

“The Road Show”

Objectives: Increase family involvement with school Increase student attendance Decrease discipline referrals

Evaluation Plan: Number of positive/negative calls to school “Road show” attendance rates and parent survey Attendance at parent conferences Student attendance rates Student discipline referrals

Closing Observations Clearly, intellectual, social, and emotional education go

hand-in-hand, and all are linked to creating safe schools, building healthy character, and achieving academic success:

The proper aim of education is to promote significant learning. Significant learning entails development. Development means successively asking broader and deeper questions of the relationship between oneself and the world. This is as true for first graders as it is for graduate students, for fledgling artists as graying accountants. A good education ought to help people become more perceptive to and more discriminating about the world: seeing, feeling, and understanding more, yet sorting the pertinent from the peripheral with ever finer touch, increasingly able to integrate what they see and to make meaning of it in ways that enhance their ability to go on growing. To imagine otherwise, to act as though learning were simply a matter of stacking facts on top of one another, makes as much sense as thinking one can learn a language by memorizing a dictionary. Ideas only come to life when they root in the mind of a learner. (Daloz, 1999, p. 243)

Closing Observations

The need for increased attention to mental health promotion on behalf of youth, is quite clear:

We have a burgeoning field of developmental psychopathology but have a more diffuse body of research on the pathways whereby children and adolescents become motivated, directed, socially competent, compassionate, and psychologically vigorous adults. Corresponding to that, we have numerous research-based programs for youth aimed at curbing drug use, violence, suicide, teen pregnancy, and other problem behaviors, but lack a rigorous applied psychology of how to promote youth development.

The place for such a field is apparent to anyone who has had contact with a cross section of American adolescents. (Larson, 2000, p. 170)

Closing Observations

Certainly, educators are key partners in efforts to intervene with children in need and to promote development.

In fact, through their day-to-day interactions with students, educators are the linchpins of school-based efforts to encourage healthy psychological development of youth.

Documents

Addressing Mental Health Barriers to Learning Through Educator-Initiated Programs