Flying Under the Radar: Utilizing School Mental Health Screening to Identify Students who are Experiencing Social, Emotional and Behavioral Difficulties
First Presenter's Institution
Capital School District
First Presenter's Brief Biography
Jocelyn Brown is a Supervisor of Equity, Wellness and Culture in the Capital School District. In this unique role, Dr. Brown works closely with instructional and school based mental health staff to support the effective implementation of MTSS to ensure the academic, social, emotional, behavioral and mental health needs of youth are met. Previously, Dr. Brown has served in the role of teacher, school counselor at the elementary, middle and high school levels, K-12 Supervisor of Guidance and High School Principal. Dr. Brown holds a Master’s Degree in Marriage and Family Therapy from the University of Southern California, and an Ed. D. in K-12 School Administration from Seton Hall University. As an educator and Licensed Professional Counselor of Mental Health, Dr. Brown is committed to ensuring access, equity and progress for all youth through systems change and advocacy.
Second Presenter's Institution
Prevention and Behavioral Health Services
Second Presenter’s Email Address
sonia.songui@capital.k12.de.us
Second Presenter's Brief Biography
Sonia Songui is a Licensed Professional Counselor with 15 years of experience in mental health. She currently serves as a Community Project Manager for Project Aware in the Capital School District. A graduate of Montclair State University with a master’s degree in Counseling Guidance and Human Services, Sonia served as a Behavioral Health Consultant and Coordinator for the Behavioral Health Services Program in Kent and New Castle Counties of Delaware. The Project Aware program supports the integration of mental health services for students throughout the state in 30 public schools. An advocate of providing access to mental health support and emotional wellness for adults and children, Ms. Songui has spent the last 20 years providing clinical consultation services through various projects and organizations including Dover Behavioral Health System and the Delaware’s B.E.S.T. for Young Children and Their Families. Ms. Songui is passionate about providing Delaware youth with the resources to develop healthy strategies to support their mental health and emotional wellbeing.
Document Type
Event
Primary Strand
Mental Health
Relevance to Primary Strand
Using a systematic tool or process to identify students in need of intervention and support is an essential component of a multi-tiered system of support (MTSS). Screening is a strategy that allows multidisciplinary school based teams to detect the onset of behavioral and/or mental health challenges of youth so they can be addressed through targeted strategies before they escalate. When school teams utilize universal screening as part of an MTSS framework, they have the ability to gather valuable data that informs the implementation of evidence-based, early intervention strategies that benefit the individual child, his family, and the entire school community.
Alignment with School Improvement Plan Topics
Climate and Culture
Brief Program Description
This presentation will provide best practices to school-based teams that are considering, preparing for, or that are in the early stages of implementing social, emotional, behavioral universal screening as part of a multi-tiered system of support. Participants will be provided with practical strategies for developing a screening process, identifying a screening tool, engaging in data based decision making, and implementing evidence-based interventions.
Summary
An overview of a multi-tiered system of support (MTSS) will be provided, emphasizing how the critical components of assessment and team-based data decision making can be used to equitably meet the mental health needs of students. This will be followed by a definition of social, emotional, and behavioral (SEB) screening, as well as the purpose and need for screening for mental health in schools.
Once a common understanding of MTSS and SEB screening have been established, presenters will share the process that a Delaware school district followed to develop district wide SEB screening procedures through a lens of equity. Participants will gain an understanding of the importance of topics such as identifying SEB screening objectives, utilizing data to identify a targeted screening population, meaningfully engaging stakeholders, establishing a timeline and implementation plan, and implementing interventions in response to screening data. In addition, participants will learn how to utilize the principles of implementation science to select a universal screening tool that aligns with the unique needs and backgrounds of students as well as the mission and vision of the district. Ethical and legal considerations that teams should consider throughout implementation will be provided. Finally, participants will be provided with access to a variety of resources and implementation tools that they can use to plan their own SEB screening process. Some resources will include links to manuals, graphic organizers and checklists, as well as lists of common screening tools.
The presentation will be engaging and interactive, providing participants with opportunities to respond to surveys, turn and talk to peers, and to share feedback from their own experiences with implementing an SEB screening process. Time will be reserved at the conclusion of the presentation for participants to ask specific questions regarding the screening process.
Evidence
Universal screening is the first step in a multi-tiered system of support to identify students who may be at risk for a specific challenge. According to Jenkins, Hudson, & Johnson (2007), universal screening allows educators to identify students who continue to experience challenges even when exposed to evidence based strategies. Universal screening focused upon specific skills or behaviors (whether it be for academic or behavioral concerns) is typically conducted two to three times per year so that progress and impact of interventions can be measured. The brief assessments, according to Jenkins (2003), focused on targeted skills are highly predictive of future outcomes. The goal of early identification is to increase the likelihood of students who are at-risk for mental health challenges to develop the skills and protective factors necessary to develop resiliency.
Jenkins, J. R. (2003, December). Candidate measures for screening at-risk students. Paper presented at the National Research Center on Learning Disabilities Responsiveness-to-Intervention symposium, Kansas City, MO. Retrieved May 15, 2008, from http://www.nrcld.org/symposium2003/jenkins/index.html
Jenkins, J. R., Hudson, R. F., & Johnson, E. S. (2007). Screening for at-risk readers in a response to intervention framework. School Psychology Review, 36, 582–600.
Learning Objective 1
Participants will be able to define school mental health screening, explain its purpose and ways that it can contribute to the promotion of a comprehensive school mental health system
Learning Objective 2
Participants will be able to identify action steps involved in engaging all stakeholders in the process of implementing universal SEB screening as a component of a comprehensive multi-tiered system of support
Learning Objective 3
Participants will be able to identify strategies for engaging in data based decision making to align evidence based interventions with the needs of students
Learning Objective 4
Participants will be able to identify strategies that promote equity and sustainability
Recommended Citation
Brown, Jocelyn and Songui, Sonia, "Flying Under the Radar: Utilizing School Mental Health Screening to Identify Students who are Experiencing Social, Emotional and Behavioral Difficulties" (2023). Southeast Conference on School Climate. 35.
https://digitalcommons.georgiasouthern.edu/secsc/2023/2023/35
Creative Commons License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 4.0 License.
Flying Under the Radar: Utilizing School Mental Health Screening to Identify Students who are Experiencing Social, Emotional and Behavioral Difficulties
An overview of a multi-tiered system of support (MTSS) will be provided, emphasizing how the critical components of assessment and team-based data decision making can be used to equitably meet the mental health needs of students. This will be followed by a definition of social, emotional, and behavioral (SEB) screening, as well as the purpose and need for screening for mental health in schools.
Once a common understanding of MTSS and SEB screening have been established, presenters will share the process that a Delaware school district followed to develop district wide SEB screening procedures through a lens of equity. Participants will gain an understanding of the importance of topics such as identifying SEB screening objectives, utilizing data to identify a targeted screening population, meaningfully engaging stakeholders, establishing a timeline and implementation plan, and implementing interventions in response to screening data. In addition, participants will learn how to utilize the principles of implementation science to select a universal screening tool that aligns with the unique needs and backgrounds of students as well as the mission and vision of the district. Ethical and legal considerations that teams should consider throughout implementation will be provided. Finally, participants will be provided with access to a variety of resources and implementation tools that they can use to plan their own SEB screening process. Some resources will include links to manuals, graphic organizers and checklists, as well as lists of common screening tools.
The presentation will be engaging and interactive, providing participants with opportunities to respond to surveys, turn and talk to peers, and to share feedback from their own experiences with implementing an SEB screening process. Time will be reserved at the conclusion of the presentation for participants to ask specific questions regarding the screening process.
