The Ten Step
Action Planning Guide
for Quality Improvement in School
Mental Health
Nancy A. Lever, Ph.D.1, Sharon H. Stephan, Ph.D.1, &
Laura Hurwitz, LCSW2
1Center
for School Mental Health
University of Maryland, Baltimore
2
National Assembly on School-Based Health Care
Washington, DC
Step One
Identify a team of at least three stakeholders to assess the
quality of mental health services and programming within your
school. Designate one person as team leader. Potential
members could include:
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Educator
Family Member/Advocate
Guidance Counselor
Health Provider
Positive Behavior Supports (PBS) Team Leader
School Administrator
School Psychologist
School Social Worker
School-Based Community Mental Health Provider
Student Support Team Leader
Step Two
Have individuals independently complete
an assessment of school mental health
services.
Take a moment to review ratings and to
consider what you identified as strengths
and weaknesses in your school’s mental
health programs and services.
Step Three
Set up a 45-60 minute planning meeting
in which the team will discuss the
findings from the survey and develop an
action plan for the school year.
Step Four
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As a team, review the results of the
assessment. Consider the following:
Which indicators were rated the highest
and the lowest?
Were there any patterns or clustering of
scores?
In which indicators was there the most
and least agreement in ratings?
Step Five
Develop a consensus around which indicators
to focus on during the school year. Select one
to three by considering these questions:
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What are the most pressing mental health issues
within your school?
Which indicators are in most need of improvement?
Which of these can you realistically impact during
the school year?
Which indicators best fit with other school priorities?
Step Six
Develop an action plan that outlines at
least three action steps/strategies that will
help your school improve around the
selected quality indicators.
Be specific--Identify whom, what, when,
and how within your plan.
Step Seven
If your selected quality indicators do not
address family and/or youth engagement,
develop an action plan around enhancing
family and youth involvement at your
school. Be creative and seek input from
youth and families.
Step Eight
Consider what may prevent you from
getting this important work done.
Discuss as a group strategies that could
help you to overcome these barriers.
Step Nine
Agree as a team how to:
 follow-up with one another on progress
(e.g., monthly meetings, email
communication, discussions)
 incorporate quality improvement activities
into other teams and committees at the
school.
Step Ten
Evaluate your progress regularly by:
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re-administering the assessment
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comparing your scores – Consider:
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Where were there improvements or decline?
To what do you attribute the changes?
In which areas is there still need for
improvement?
modifying the action plan
Congratulations on your
team effort!