Effective Practice in an Ever-shifting Landscape: A Multidisciplinary Approach to Behavioral and Mental Health Support in Schools

Abstract

Federal data indicate little improvement in outcome for students with, or at risk for, emotional and behavior disorders (EBD) since the early 1980s. For these students, there is a chronic shortage of trained teachers, most of whom have less than five years of experience. Students and their teachers are inextricably linked. Research highlights the need for multi-disciplinary and multi-modal approaches to change outcomes for these students, effectiveness coming mostly from multi-component interventions. This article presents such a multi-modal approach, created by a multi-disciplinary team. This multi-component intervention is designed to change outcomes for both these students and their teachers. Described is a comprehensive educational, applied behavior analytic, and mental health support system, embedded in a school district. Preliminary outcome data of this comprehensive student and staff support system (CSSS) indicate positive student academic, behavioral and mental health outcomes, and positive staff training and coaching outcomes, to ensure sustainability of the system.

Keywords:

• INTERDISCIPLINARY SUPPORT
• MULTICOMPONENT INTERVENTION
• COACHING
• EMOTIONAL/BEHAVIORAL DISORDERS
• SCHOOL BEHAVIOR ANALYSIS