From: mhsection-l-bounces@lists.ucla.edu on behalf of SMHP [smhp@ucla.edu]
Sent: Monday, December 18, 2006 12:01 PM
To: Mental Health Practitioners
Subject: [mhsection-l] Mental Health in Schools Practitioner Listserv(12/18/06)

Attachments: ATT6494711.txt
Mental Health in Schools Practitioner Listserv (12/18/06)


LOOKING FORWARD TO 2007 – Because next week ends the calendar year (and there will be no Practitioner Listserv sent out that week), we want to take this opportunity to thank all of you for all you do day-in and day-out to enhance the well being of the nation's young people.

We wish happiness and peace for everyone in the coming year.


TODAY'S CONTENTS:
>Follow up from colleagues
>>Dropouts and pushouts – What does it take to make a difference in the number of students who dropout?

>For Your information
>>"Children in Vulnerable Families: Facts and Figures"

>>"Pupil-led meetings boost turnout"
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Please forward this message to anyone you think might be interested.

For those who have been forwarded this and want to be part of the weekly exchange, send an email to smhp@ucla.edu indicating "Sign me up for the MH Practitioner Listserv."
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Follow up from colleagues:

>Dropouts and pushouts – What does it take to make a difference in the number of students who dropout?  
(1) From a colleague in Iowa: "We interviewed 65 youth who dropped out of school. I think their comments give a really good picture of barriers these youth experience."

In answering "What are some of the things that made you drop out of school?", the most frequent responses were:
> missed too many days
> got too far behind, could not catch up, not worth it
> feeling that teachers didn't care about me

In answering "What would have made you want to stay in school?", the most frequent responses were:
>teachers who cared
>courses I was interested in
>friends at school"

(2) Another colleague stated: "I have found some students who dropped out to be the kind who tend to catastrophize situations. Unintended negative comments suddenly become massive insults. So you have a student who has not been doing well for years, but some teacher takes her/him under wing and starts to make baby steps of improvement. Right about the time the student begins to tentatively believe there may be some hope, somebody (teacher, parent, peer) says something negative that pops that balloon. And you never see the student again. I don't know how we can immunize these students against adults who firmly believe that a scolding can be motivating, but I thought it was worth mentioning."

(3) And another indicated: "I have been a school social worker for 17 years, and am the parent of two children with ADHD. When I read the strategies on drop out, these three really stood out to me as absolutely critical and yet so challenging to really effectively implement in the school system:

> Create school environments that are inviting, safe, and supportive.
> Help students to address problems that interfere with learning.
> Help students build positive relationships at school.

For students with special needs, especially invisible disabilities like ADHD and emotional disabilities, too often there is little true understanding or willingness on the part of teachers about how they really have to adapt their teaching and the individualized student support needed in order to create success. When teachers are overwhelmed in the classroom, they have little time for the difficult behaviors that can arise from these students. They misinterpret the behavior as intentional, rather than based in a disability.

Parents without a lot of education and understanding about their child's invisible disabilities are at a tremendous disadvantage when it comes to trying to get the school to meet the needs of their children. Too often, these kids are simply seen as trouble makers with low motivation. They are often shamed or penalized for their invisible disability, rather than understood. And parents are ashamed of their child's difficulties, and so avoid being involved with the school that they believe does not like their child.

Even when teachers readily admit that they are frustrated and things aren't working, too often they are not given the support and training to make a difference, or allowed to just transfer the student to a teacher with more successful experience with these students. I see these kids sinking in my work every day. And I see their parents averting their eyes from all of the judgement they receive. My own children would have been sunk a long time ago were it not for vigilant advocacy on our part as parents, which sometimes feels almost adversarial with the school. We've been told in a 504 meeting that "This is a teacher driven process, NOT a parent driven process." ie (thanks but no thanks for your opinions on what your child needs). And we both have Masters Degrees in mental health fields, speak the language of education, and try very hard to be respectful and positive with the schools. But we have also had some incredibly wonderful successes with specific teachers that were hand chosen to work well with our children, really strive to understand their needs, bond with them, and gratefully welcome our ideas and input.

So I believe that efforts have to be made to put these highest risk kids with the most successful, well organized and NURTURING teachers, beginning early on in Elementary School. Ensure a good fit each school year so that caring relationships are consistently established between these students and their teacher. When these kids get to middle and high school level, be sure that they have a designated faculty advocate who knows them and supports them, and the student and parent FEELS this advocate cares about their success. See the parents as experts on their child's needs, and treat them as such. Respect their concerns, invite their ideas, speak in their language and make sure that they are included in planning for creative, individualized strategies. Avoid meetings where the parents are overwhelmed with multiple "expert professionals" who talk about their child and use language that is confusing and intimidating. Avoid penalizing and shaming classroom behavior management strategies. Have support staff and administrators work closely with these teachers, so that the teachers feel supported and they are able to try multiple ideas for their student's success. It takes enormous flexibility and willingness on the part of teachers and schools to genuinely create success for kids with invisible but very real disabilities."
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For Your Information:

(1) "Children in Vulnerable Families: Facts and Figures"
From: Urban Institute, December 2006 http://www.urban.org/publications/901016.html

Excerpt – "...The portion of poor children -- those in households at or below the federal poverty level -- with "limitations" has fluctuated from 22 to 27 percent between 1998 and 2003. The number of affected poor children has ranged from 15.8 million to 19.9 million. Limitations include any type of constraint in normal physical activities due to health conditions and impairments, difficulty seeing, difficulty hearing, diagnosed learning disabilities, and circumstances requiring help with bathing or showering. The share of nonpoor children with limitations fluctuated between 17 and 19 percent during these years, or 11.9-13.6 million young people.

The number of children receiving support through the Supplemental Security Income program, which provides monthly payments to families of blind and disabled children, has increased steadily over the past 30 years. In 2004, 993,000 blind and disabled children were receiving SSI payments. This represents a marked increase since 1975, when 107,000 children were receiving these payments. Also, the share of SSI recipients who are children increased from 2.5 percent in 1997 to 14 percent in 2004.

The number of children receiving services under the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA) has increased substantially in recent years. The number of infants and toddlers getting help grew from 165,000 in 1994..., whereas 600,000 children obtained assistance in 2000-01. For those age 6 through 21, the number receiving services rose from 4,500,000 in the 1991-92 school year to 5,800,000 by 2000-01.

The share of low-income children living with a parent with symptoms of poor mental health remained relatively stable between 1997 and 2002, fluctuating between 24 and 26 percent (affecting between 17.5 and 18.8 million children). For children in higher-income families, this share ranged from 10 to 11 percent..."

(2) "Pupil-led meetings boost turnout"
Excerpt from The Baltimore Sun, December 10, 2006
(As schools plan for mid year conferences, this is something they might consider.)

"In years past, Ray Joyce, 11, avoided attending parent-teacher conferences. He did not particularly cherish the idea of sitting quietly in the background as his teacher and his mother talked about his progress and problems.

But this year, the Corkran Middle School sixth-grader did more than just attend the conference. He led it.

Corkran is one of eight Anne Arundel County middle schools experimenting with pupil-led conferences, a fresh twist on the traditional parent-teacher meetings.

Teachers watch from the sidelines while the pupils tell their parents what they have done in school, the grades they are getting and the improvements they can make. Pupils put together a portfolio of work from every class to show to their parents. ...

"It gives them a sense of ownership about their work," Corkran Principal Deborah Montgomery said. "You can have a teacher present the work and tell the parent why she thinks the student is not doing well. But if you have the child presenting his or her own work, they can really offer a fresh perspective about why they got the grade they did." ...

Teachers and principals said pupil-led conferences are less confrontational.

"This was a better way for many of our parents, because they did not feel like they were sitting in front of a panel hearing bad news about their child. The more traditional parent-teacher conferences were more intimidating in that way," said Raymond Bibeault, principal of Brooklyn Park Middle, the first local school to pilot pupil-led conferences last year. ..."
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Send in your ideas, requests, comments, and experiences relevant to providing mental health in schools to ltaylor@ucla.edu

Note: Responses come only to the Center for Mental Health in Schools at UCLA for possible inclusion in the next weeks message.  We also post a broad range of issues and responses to the Net Exchange on our website at http://smhp.psych.ucla.edu

LOOK FOR YOUR NEXT PRACTITIONER LISTSERV DURING THE FIRST WEEK IN JANUARY.
                

School Mental Health Project/
Center for Mental Health in Schools
UCLA Dept. of Psychology
Los Angeles, CA  90095-1563
(310) 825-3634 / Toll Free: (866) 846-4843 / Fax: (310) 206-8716
Email: smhp@ucla.edu 
Web: http://smhp.psych.ucla.edu

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