Jessica O’Muireadaigh, Special Education Consultant-APS
Shannon Kishel, School Psychologist- APS
smkishel@aps.k12.co.us
Adria Young, School Social Worker- APS
alyoung@aps.k12.co.us
Why address social-emotional learning?
 Research shows that when you have high-quality social emotional learning
programs, it improves kids' pro-social behavior; it reduces their conduct
problems; it promotes academic engagement, connection to teachers,
academic achievement; and an improved ability to function in schools.
 Up to one in five American youngsters — about 7 million to 12 million, have
mental health disorders, and only 21 percent receive treatment.
 Quality SEL instruction in which students learn to process, integrate, and
selectively apply skills can result in positive outcomes including:
 promotion of mental wellness and prevention of mental health issues;
 school connectedness;
 reduction in student absenteeism and reduction in suspensions;
 improved academic outcomes
Adoption of Standards: Illinois State Standards
 The standards describe the content and skills for students in grades K - 12 for social
and emotional learning. Each standard includes five benchmark levels that describe
what students should know and be able to do in early elementary (grades K - 3), late
elementary (grades 4 - 5), middle/junior high (grades 6-8), early high school
(grades 9-10), and late high school (grades 11-12).
 Sample standard - Develop self-awareness and self-management skills to achieve
school and life success.
--> Identify and manage one's emotions and behavior.
 Describe how various situations make you feel.
 Describe your physical responses to strong emotions.
 Recognize that feelings change throughout the day.
 Demonstrate patience in a variety of situations.
 Demonstrate a range of emotions through facial expressions and body language.
 Practice self talk to calm yourself.
Why Screen for Behavioral Difficulties?
 Indicators of problem behaviors are evident in preschoolers and
elementary age students
 Students showing internalizing behavior are missed with other
approaches
 Early intervention matters
 Schools are the only place we have universal access
 Recommended by the President’s New Freedom Commission and
Special Education Task Force, Surgeon General, Safe Schools/Healthy
Students as evidenced-based practice
NH CEBIS [Systematic Screening for Behavior Disorders PowerPoint Slides]
Aren’t ODRs Sufficient as a Screen?
• Office discipline referrals typically involve acting out,
noncompliance, and disruption, which are known as
externalizing types of behaviors
• Thus, students with less disruptive, more internalizing
behavior problems such as extreme shyness,
withdrawal, and depression, who are equally in need of
supports and intervention, are often not identified
NH CEBIS [Systematic Screening for Behavior Disorders PowerPoint Slides]
A Systematic Screening Process for
Behavioral Difficulties
 Use a multistage, multigated screening process to identify students
at-risk for developing ongoing behavior concerns that takes into
consideration teacher judgments and uses national norms to assess
the level of risk
 At each stage, the level of risk is determined
 Those with an elevated risk who may require additional assessment
or services continue to the next stage
 Those who don’t have an elevated risk “exit” the system
NH CEBIS [Systematic Screening for Behavior Disorders PowerPoint Slides]
Multiple Gate Screening
 Stage 1 involves teacher nomination and rank ordering
of students along two dimensions of behavior –
internalizing and externalizing.
 Stage 2 requires that teachers complete the BASC-2
Behavioral Emotional Screening System for their top
three students in each dimension of behavior.
 Students whose extremely elevated scores exceed the
established cut off receive interventions.
SSBD Stage One: Externalizing
 Externalizing refers to all behavior problems that are
directed outwardly, but the student, toward the external
social environment.
 Externalizing behavior problems usually involve behavioral
excesses (i.e., too much behavior) and are considered
inappropriate by teachers and personnel.
 Examples include: displaying aggression towards objects or
persons, defying the teachers, being out of seat, not
complying with teacher instructions, arguing, having
tantrums, being hyperactive, and disturbing others.
Externalizing Dimensions
SSBD Stage One: Internalizing
 Internalizing refers to all behavior problems that are
directed inwardly (i.e., away from the external social
environment) and that represent problems with self.
Internalizing behaviors are often self-imposed and
frequently involve behavioral deficits and patterns of social
avoidance.
 Examples include: having low or restricted activity levels,
not talking with other children, timid and/or unassertive,
avoiding or withdrawing from social situations, acting in a
fearful manner, and being unresponsive to social initiations
by others.
Internalizing Dimensions
Stage 2: Administration of the Behavior and
Emotional Screening System (BASC-2)
 Administer the BASC-2 BESS Teacher Form Level
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Child/Adolescent (K-12) to the top 3 internalizing and
externalizing students per classroom.
27 Questions – 5-10 minutes
Each item rated Never, Sometimes, Often, and Almost
Always
Rater must be familiar with student – Daily contact for
6 weeks.
Mark every item with best estimate.
Three Tiered System of Intervention in
Social Emotional Pilot Schools
 Tier 1 (Universal): Caring School Communities
 Tier 2 (Targeted): I Can Problem Solve and Social
Skills Improvement System
 Tier 3 (Individual): Skillstreaming
Caring School Communities
 All students participate as part of a universal intervention including multiple
classroom lessons a week led by teachers
 Nationally recognized, research-based curriculum strengthens students’
connectedness to school
 Classroom meetings give students a voice
 Cross-age buddies program creates caring relationships between older and
younger students
 Homeside activities teach students about the experiences and perspectives of
other families and cultures
 Schoolwide activities link students, parents, the school, and the community-at-
large
I Can Problem Solve (ICPS)Tier 2 Intervention
 Social skills building program for children Preschool-
Intermediate Elementary Grades.
 A total of 59 lessons, each with an easy-to-follow script,
guide children’s learning of essential ICPS vocabulary and
concepts and problem-solving skills (alternative solutions,
consequences, solution-consequence pairs).
 Lessons speak to children on their own level, using games,
stories, puppets, illustrations, and role-plays.
 This curriculum has an underlying goal of teaching
children HOW to think, not WHAT to think.
ICPS Benefits
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Building students’ self-confidence
Building listening skills
Increasing empathy for others (sharing and caring)
Building independence
Students learn how to generate solutions to real life
social situations
Students learn how to engage in positive social
interactions among peers
Social Skills Improvement System: Tier 2
 In depth social skills intervention for 20 key social
skills including:
 Communication
 Cooperation
 Assertion
 Responsibility
 Empathy
 Engagement
 Self-control
Skillstreaming: Tier 3
 Evidence-based strategy to teach children social skills
for those who display aggression, withdrawal, or other
problem behaviors
 Sixty explicit skills taught using modeling, role-
playing, performance feedback, and generalization.
 Examples include skills for making friends, dealing
with feelings, alternatives to aggression, dealing with
stress, and surviving the classroom.
How will we recognize success?
 Adaptive and Maladaptive Behavior Index was given
before the Tier 2 interventions took place. It was again
given the last week of the intervention.
 Success goals were set for students to increase their
scores by 5 points by the end of the intervention.
Adaptive Behavior Index
Initial Outcomes
 After only 10-15 weeks of intervention, around 50% of
students showed significant behavioral improvement
based on pre and post assessments.
 Multiple students expressed feeling a connection to
others (students and teachers)
 Teachers commented on the benefit of groups for
students.
 Wraparound process is being developed for the 20132014 school year.
Learning how to become emotionally
literate is one of the best investments
that human beings can make for
themselves, their children, and the
future.
-Ayman Sawaf