Presentation to school board members about what policies and practices should be implemented and which should be eliminated to foster mentally healthy students PK-12.
11. Research supports these beliefs
10
The ability to recognize and manage emotions and establish and maintain
positive relationships impacts both readiness to learn and the ability to
benefit from learning opportunities. In 2011, a team of researchers conducted a
comprehensive meta analysis of school based universal social emotional
interventions which included 213 schools and 270,034 students ranging from
kindergarten through high school.
On average, the researchers found that students receiving social emotional
interventions improved significantly compared to those not receiving an
intervention. Social emotional skills, social behaviors, and academic performance
increased, attitudes towards self and others were more positive, conduct problems
were reduced, and emotional distress lessened.
Farrington, Roderick, Allensworth, Nagaoka, Keyes, Johnson, & Beechum. (2012). Teaching adolescents to become learners: The role of
noncognitive factors in shaping school performance. A critical literature review. Chicago, IL: University of Chicago Consortium on Chicago
School Research.
Durlak et al. (2011). The impact of enhancing students’ social and emotional learning: A metaanalysis of school based universal interventions.
Child Development, 872 (1).
15. Institution % Accepted Brigade Numbers
Left on the
Battlefield
Stanford 4.69 43,997 41,934
Harvard 5.2 39,044 37,014
Princeton 6.46 29,313 27,429
Brown 9 32,390 29,475
Columbia 6.04 36,292 33,970
Yale 6.27 31,455 29,483
MIT 7.81 19,020 17,535
Penn 9.4 38,918 35,260
14
Put another way, for the schools cited about, at least 3 out of 4 applicants are rejected. Yes,
rejected. Willard Dix provides a body count of what he calls “cannon fodder,” the unsuccessful
applicants: “Let's look at a few numbers from the current admission season (College class of
2020) to see how many students fell during "The Charge of the Bright Brigade":
I didn't even bother to include Dartmouth or Cornell with their comparatively generous double-
digit acceptance rates (10.5% and 14%, respectively). It's clear that applying to these
institutions is a losing proposition.”
https://www.forbes.com/sites/willarddix/2016/05/24/rethinking-the-meaning-of-colleges-low-
acceptance-rates/#13d9f4801dd0
16. • Student schedules
• Grading and ranking
• Student and STAFF workload
• School climate and culture
• Access to support services and programs
• Recruitment, retention, and evaluation of
administrators and teachers
• Information flow to stakeholders
• Technology use during school hours
• More …. 15
Stressors we can control
24. • Performance Arms Race
• Grading practices
• APs
• Homework
• Prisoners of Time
• Start time
• Zero period
• Block
• Passing time
• Disincentivizing attendance
• Punishment and Threats
23
What we can stop or do
less of … High School
29. • Performance Arms Race
• Grading practices: eliminate weighting, zeros, inconsistencies
• APs: “warning labels,” open access but restricting amount
• Homework: weekly/daily limit, project stacking monitoring
• Prisoner of Time
• Start time: move it back
• Zero period: dump it
• Block: adopt one
• Advisory/flex: offer it
• Passing periods: lengthen
• Disincentivizing attendance
• Punishment: rewards e.g. finals, passes, …
• Notices: empathy, support
28
Summarizing what we can stop or
do less of …High School
30. • Enhance connectedness and
belonging
• Infuse JOY
• Reading and writing workshop
model
• Grade level competency in reading
and mathematics by third grade
• Recess 29
What we can start or
do more of …
Elementary School
32. VIGILANCE: Students of our Students
• Shadowing
31
• Surveying
• My teacher knows if something
is bothering me
• My teacher really tries to
understand how students feel
about things
• My teacher makes me feel
he/she really cares about me
• My teacher gives me
meaningful and timely feedback
on my work
While 96% of teachers agreed/strongly
agreed that there is a caring adult at school,
just 78% of students (HS only) and 61% of
parents concurred.
http://shadowastudent.org/how-it-works
34. VIGILANCE: Stop, Look, Listen
33
• Stop
• Focusing on adult issues
• Rationalizing their behavioral
changes as mood swings
• Talking and look and listen more
• Look
• Signs of sleep deprivation
• Disengaging in favorite activities
• Into their social media
• Listen
• To what is not being said
• To you child’s peers
• To your own gut