Chalkbeat

Still healing: How NYC students are navigating post-COVID school

2025-05-29T11:40:00+00:00

Sign up for Chalkbeat New York’s free daily newsletter to get essential news about NYC’s public schools delivered to your inbox.

It’s been five years since COVID shut down New York City schools. How are kids faring with the aftermath? How do they talk about the pandemic – or not?

The fallout is often framed around “learning loss” or dips in test scores, but what about some of the social impacts, like the quiet shifts in students’ personalities or the mounting mental health struggles many are still confronting?

Producers Mateo Tang O’Reilly, from Central Park East High School, and Katelyn Melville, from the Brooklyn Institute for Liberal Arts, explore the ripple effects that continue to weigh on young people’s lives, such as “school refusal,” which is when severe anxiety or other mental health issues prevent students from attending class.

Chalkbeat’s Amy Zimmer discusses how the prolonged isolation exacerbated school refusal, highlighting the challenges schools face in getting kids back into the classroom. Anika Merkin, a Chalkbeat Student Voices Fellow, shares her personal experience as someone whose struggles with obsessive-compulsive disorder, or OCD, led to school refusal, and how she managed to do the hard work in therapy to turn things around. Her story serves as a reminder to hold onto empathy and grace for the students whose lives continue to be profoundly touched by the pandemic.

P.S. Weekly is available on major podcast platforms, including Apple Podcasts and Spotify. Reach us at PSWeekly@chalkbeat.org.

P.S. Weekly is a collaboration between Chalkbeat and The Bell, made possible by generous support from The Pinkerton Foundation.

Listen for new P.S. Weekly episodes Thursdays this spring.

Read the transcript below

Speaker 1: Um, when I think of COVID, I think about me being alone in my room and logging on to remote learning,

Speaker 2: Loneliness, confusion and isolation,

Speaker 3: Isolation, staying at home and pandemic, you know, leading to millions of casualties all over the world,

Speaker 4: Depression, because that’s really what it brought.

Mateo: Welcome back to P.S. weekly, the sound of the New York City School System. Five years ago, COVID arrived in New York City and shut everything down, including the schools. How do you think that COVID, like, affected you personally?

Speaker 1: Speaker: I feel like it made me pretty much closer to myself, because I was alone all the like, most of the time, but it made it harder to develop connections outside.

Speaker 2: I feel like it changed my personality a lot, like I went from like, being like, very like, extroverted to a lot more introverted.

Speaker 3: I sit at home a lot. I ate a lot of food, which led to me gaining a lot of weight.

Speaker 4: COVID really turned me into a loner, because I was isolated from everybody else.

Speaker 5: I used to be a spelling bee champion in the fifth grade, and now I can’t spell at all.

Mateo: I’m Mateo Tang O’Reilly,

Katelyn: And I’m Katelyn Melville.

Mateo: So what do you think when you think of COVID, or, like, how do you think we can report this topic?

Katelyn: When I think of COVID, I think about how hard it is to talk about COVID. I kind of run into the same things over and over again. I think about online school. I think about like, day long facetimes. I think about being on TikTok all day, like my brain rotting away, you know, I kind of had no life and anything having to do with school, it just kind of felt like an afterthought, like I was attending my classes, but I was sleeping through my classes, and school was just kind of in the background, because it didn’t seem like something tangible. It was just like my computer, you know. And when it comes to reporting about COVID, I just kind of end up in the same place over and over, like, COVID happened, okay?

Mateo: I feel like I definitely resonate with that, I think, with discussions regarding it, or like headlines in the news, it’s always the same thing. Like COVID is making these literacy rates go down. Or, like, all of the teachers are like, oh, I know you guys are dumb because you went through COVID, like, it’s always the same thing.

Katelyn: Oh my god!

Mateo: It’s the same thing.

Katelyn: No, you’re right.

Mateo: And I feel like, uh, because of that, there isn’t really a lot of opportunity for students to, like, actually talk about how they felt during that time, or, you know, share, share their experiences. I think for me, COVID was a time where I found out a lot more about myself, because, you know, I had all that time to myself, and I think that changed my personality and how I presented myself to people. And, you know, you don’t really see that type of story in like the news or like you don’t hear that when you talk about it, it’s just always you know that they’re dumb.

Mateo: So, so we asked ourselves, maybe it’s not about rehashing the pandemic, but exploring the ways we’re still living in its ripple effects/

Katelyn: Right! Well, I actually had the chance to interview Amy Zimmer, New York Bureau Chief for Chalkbeat, and she’s kind of an expert on this and has been writing about the mental health impacts of COVID for years.

Katelyn: Do you think it’s still worth talking about COVID, although it was so long ago?

Amy: Absolutely, yeah, it was five years ago, right? There are still going to be long term impacts on students, right? There were students who lost parents or other relatives there. There are students whose families were destabilized financially, job loss, housing loss, like there’s just so many things that were related to the pandemic and also anxiety, depression, suicidal ideation, like all of those issues we’ve seen data that shows like those issues are going up, right? And some of it might be pandemic related. It’s also complicated, just because, like, social media and phone use, all that is also like, at the same time happening. So I don’t think we can just move on. I mean, I’m curious your thoughts.

Katelyn: Yeah,

Amy: Well, how old? Can I ask you? Like, how old were you? What grade were you in?

Katelyn: I was in seventh grade. It was weird, because, actually, my birthday is March 20. Oh, wow, yeah. So I was planning my birthday, and I was seeing on the news, like, Oh, COVID. But I was like, Dude, that’s not gonna happen to us. Like, it’s fine. And then, like, school closed, any other thing, like a two week break, but that break changed my life. I feel like my brain, like, suffered from it, you know, because I wasn’t really paying attention in school at all. I would sleep through all my classes. I was on, like, FaceTime with my friends all day, and like we weren’t really doing anything. It just felt like I was in a limbo. And now, when I talk about COVID, I think about, like, how not talking to people for so long, like, socially stunted me. I think about how it made me feel so, like, disconnected from my peers at a time where I already was, like, I mean, I was like, one of like, three black girls in a school with mostly white kids, yeah, and I’m living with my grandma, you know, we don’t want anything to happen. And, you know, like everybody in my house got COVID. They shipped me upstate one time. Like, you know, it was chaos, but now when I look back, I can only think of, like, socially, how it impacted me,

Amy: Yeah, and right? And so that’s, that’s the thing, like, and seventh grade is this, like, formative time? Yeah, right. And of course, that’s going to impact you. And I’ve talked to teachers who have said they have seen that, right? They have seen high school kids who are still acting like middle schoolers. It’s really hard, and there was just so much uncertainty. I feel like, in hindsight, everyone looks back and says, Oh, this was a mistake. We shouldn’t have closed schools, but when people were living through it, that just there were so many unknowns.

Katelyn: It was scary!

Amy: It was scary, it was really hard, and there was no blueprint

Katelyn: In 2022, Amy wrote about a specific mental health phenomenon she started seeing known as school refusal, which refers to students who are unable to continue attending school for mental health reasons, like depression or anxiety.

Katelyn: So what made you want to start reporting about that, like what sparked the idea?

Amy: Yeah, so besides being a journalist covering the New York City public school system. I am a parent of public school kids, and I’m in a lot of parent groups, email list serves, and those sorts of things. And a lot of parents were talking about this. And there was this woman who is a special education schools consultant, and she was posting in the group that she was hearing a lot about it. So she was taking a survey of parents whose kids were exhibiting school refusal, which is, you know, a really extreme avoidance to school, such that, like, they basically are not attending regularly at all. And so I reached out to her at some point and asked her about her survey, and she told me some of the findings, and I realized, well, this is like, a real serious issue that needs more attention.

Katelyn: So okay, so can you tell me about, like, the reaction that you got when the article dropped?

Amy: Yeah, actually, it was really moving, because I had a lot of parents write to me after that first article, telling me that their children are going through this, and they felt so alone and unsupported, and they didn’t know that other kids and other families were experiencing this. And so the interesting thing is, you know, chronic absenteeism, school refusal, like those things existed before. It’s just that I think that the pandemic highlighted these issues and exacerbated these issues. So let’s take one at a time.

Amy: So first chronic absenteeism before the pandemic in New York City, the average rate was about a quarter of students were chronically absent, and that is defined as missing 10% of school per year. So that’s about a month of school. And then the pandemic happened, and here we are, five years later, and the chronic absenteeism rate is about 35% so it’s nearly 10 points higher, which is pretty significant.

Amy: And then school refusal, in particular, when you’re home, like, let’s say after a break, it’s always harder to go back to school the next day, even every, every weekend, right? Like Sunday comes along, and like, Sunday is difficult because you have to go back on Monday. And so for students who are exhibiting school refusal, like those, breaks are always harder. And so, like you think about the pandemic, we had a prolonged period where kids were home from school. And even when schools reopened, they might have reopened partially. So again, just kids were home so much more. And you know, what therapists have told me is that, like, you know, the anxiety is, it’s just more pronounced when you’re at school. So if you’re home, you’re not feeling it, and then you just want to stay home because of anxiety or other mental health related reasons. So we don’t have the data yet, and there was a lawsuit recently here in the city for saying, like, New York City schools aren’t addressing school refusal, in particular for students with disabilities, and that, like, there needs to be a system wide response, which there’s not, it’s school to school, and that the city needs to keep some kind of track of how many kids who are chronically absent are chronically absent because of mental health related reasons.

Katelyn: Yeah, exactly. So. Did you find that some schools were more prepared or empathetic in responding to post COVID School refusal than others? And what do you think determined that preparedness.

Amy: Absolutely and so what I’ve heard from families is that, you know, there were some families who their schools were just willing to work with them and follow the gold standard for kids who were refusing school. I mean, like exposure therapy, right? And so if you have a kid who hasn’t come to school for weeks, the most important thing is just like, to get them to go past the school building, then to get them to go into the lobby, then maybe to get them to go into the social worker or guidance counselor’s office and work from there, maybe get them to go to their favorite class of the day, right? And gradually build. And that’s hard work, right? It’s hard to come up a plan with a plan like that. Schools just don’t have unlimited time and resources and personnel. So it, I think it is really hard work. But like some schools, I’ve heard from parents do it, but then there are some schools, you know, I’ve talked to parents who just felt completely dismissed. And one mom said when her son wasn’t attending, the teacher dismissed him as just having cabin fever. And some schools will say to families, well, why don’t you just, like, homeschool your kid, as opposed.

Katelyn: That’s so hard!

Amy: It’s so–yeah!

Katelyn: That’s so hard.

Amy: Again. It’s like, but this is the thing. It’s like, super uneven in terms of the response to families. It really is school dependent. I have talked to families who their kids have had school refusal, and the schools then call Child Protective Services for educational neglect. Instead of saying, hey, we know that you’re struggling, and we want to help support you, they just call ACS on the family that has happened the–but the bigger problem is, like the whole system for mental health for young people is sort of, it’s not that it’s even broken. It’s like barely existing. And so schools have become the de facto mental health centers for a lot of kids. And you know, we were talking about inequities, the, a lot of kids do need support outside of school, and that whole system is really broken, right? They’re not enough therapists, and then who can afford it? You know? They’re just a lot of issues with that as well.

Mateo: That was Amy Zimmer from Chalkbeat coming up. We’re going to further explore something Amy mentioned school refusal, that’s after the break.

Amy: We hope you enjoy listening to P.S. Weekly as much as we enjoy making it. I’m Amy Zimmer with Chalkbeat New York. We spend a lot of time planning each episode, setting up and conducting interviews, cutting the tape, writing scripts. It’s a long process and totally worth it. But here’s the thing, we don’t have a bunch of money or millions of followers, so we’re counting on you loyal listener to help us get the word out. Take a few seconds and send this link wherever you’re listening to three friends so they too can enjoy P.S. Weekly. Thanks for your support.

Mateo: Welcome back to P.S. Weekly, where Katelyn and I are talking about the after effects of COVID on students. I’m Mateo,

Katelyn: And I’m Katelyn.

Mateo: Well before the break, Amy Zimmer from Chalkbeat brought up a term that I’ve never heard of before, school refusal.

Katelyn: Anika Merkin is a Chalkbeat Student Voices fellow, and she wrote about her experience with school refusal after COVID.

Mateo: So I think for a lot of people who haven’t experienced it themselves, it’s difficult for them to understand what school refusal is really like. So what do you wish more people would like understand about it? What do you want them to know?

Anika: I think that when you hear the term school refusal and what most people would initially imagine is pretty negative. I think a lot of people might think that it’s because a student is lazy, or a student doesn’t want to do well in school, or they’re unmotivated, or they don’t care about school, kind of a lot of things like that. And I think that’s really not what school refusal is. It has to do with, like severe mental health issues that you’re dealing with within yourself. And I just wish it wasn’t viewed so negatively, and it wasn’t so stigmatized, because it was definitely something I was like embarrassed about.

Mateo: I see, are you okay with talking about how your school refusal initially started?

Anika: Yeah, so I, I transferred to Brooklyn prospect. Few weeks into the school year, and things were pretty good for a few weeks, and then I got sick, probably in like, late September, early October, and I was sick for like one or two days, but when I missed those two days, I, like, had missed some schoolwork, and I had some stuff piling up, and so going into school the next day felt more difficult. And so in my mind, I was like, well, I’ll just avoid it, which is not the way to go. And then it kind of became a routine for me, where at least once a week I was not going into school because I was having panic attacks in the morning, or I would have a hard time just like getting up and feeling motivated to go to school, and also being anxious can be really exhausting, and so having to kind of be on all day and interacting with people and making new friends and retaining friendships and working hard in school, it was all just a lot for me to handle at the time.

Anika: I think the first, like big chunk of school I missed was after Thanksgiving, because my school gives us an entire week for Thanksgiving, and so I had a week off for Thanksgiving, and then the entire next week, I didn’t go into school at all, and like the two days before Thanksgiving break, I also hadn’t gone into school. And so that was the first big chunk where my parents were like, Okay, this is not sustainable. This is not okay. And it’s like it wasn’t an issue that was getting better, it was just getting worse. And then I had winter break. When I came to school after winter break, it was all this prep for midterms and all of this. There was all this emphasis on grades and how this can’t be revised, and this goes into your GPA and all of this stuff. And so the whole week before midterms, I didn’t go into school. And when midterms started, I was planning on going in to take my midterms, and I thought it would be easier, because I wouldn’t have to, like, sit through the whole day. I wouldn’t really have to interact with people. It wouldn’t really be a full school day. But when I when you’re not in school for so long,it just becomes that much harder to go back. And so when I had to go back, and it was like, all this pressure in this midterm, it was my first time taking it, and it was like, one and done. You can’t mess this up. You can’t redo this. And this is going to affect the rest of your high school career and then your college career. And I would go down this rabbit hole. And so I did not make it to any of my midterms that week, and after that, I never went in again, because, like I said, it’s like all the it’s everything building up and getting more difficult each day than I missed.

Anika: And kids had also started to text me and ask me where I was and why I was always missing school, and I never really knew what to say, because it was like, What am I supposed to say? Like, I’m, I’m afraid to come to school, like, I don’t know why. So, yeah, that’s kind of how

how that started.

Mateo: So when you were diagnosed with OCD, did anything suddenly make more sense to you in retrospect?

Anika: Oh yes. So many things it was like, at like, when I first heard it like, Oh, you have OCD, I was like, What? No way, because I kind of thought OCD was like, oh, super perfect and organized. And this is kind of like, what my mom thought, too. She was like, she doesn’t have OCD her room is a mess. And they were like, well, it’s not really what it is. And so once they started kind of telling me about all of these different symptoms of OCD and how it can show up in different ways, I was like, Oh, my God, I’m not crazy. Like, this is a real thing. They were giving me tangible books that I could read about, and it was professionals who were writing about this disorder.

Anika: And I was like, wow, like, this is a real thing, and I’m not insane, I’m not lazy, I’m not dramatic. So it was like, very I think it was very validating, and it also just like, a lot of things made sense, both from what was happening at the time and just things from my like, childhood habits I’ve always had that you wouldn’t typically associate with OCD just because they’re not the stereotypical traits. But it was things where I was like, Oh, that correlates with OCD compulsions, and this makes so much sense now, even though it was like, it’s hard to hear you have a disorder that, like, is not going to go away. You’re stuck with it. For life, like it’s not something you can get rid of. That’s a hard thing to hear, but I think more than that, it’s validating, and it’s not my fault. It’s only like the only thing I can do is learn how to cope with that.

Mateo: After being diagnosed with OCD, Annika was enrolled into the Anxiety Institute, which is an intensive outpatient program with offices along the east coast.

Anika: So the Anxiety Institute was an outpatient program, which meant that I, it wasn’t residential. So it wasn’t like, I think a lot of people, they hear like rehab, that’s referred to as inpatient. And so it’s, you’re living in a facility. You eat there, you sleep there, whereas outpatient is, I sleep at home, I eat at home. I’m home on the weekends, but every single day, I was at a facility where they treated us with different types of therapy, so cognitive behavioral therapy, exposure therapy, group therapy, art therapy, fitness therapy, it was just kind of a wide range of things to help us move past our struggles.

Anika: And when it was first suggested. I think both my parents and I were like, That’s really serious. That’s not something she needs. Because, like I said, this is not something that I’ve ever experienced, that I or that I had ever experienced before this. And so it was kind of like, well, she’s so high functioning normally, and she’s like, she’s never had an issue with this. Putting her in a program feels so serious and like jumping to conclusions, which also like delayed me going into treatment, and what was happening to me was very serious, but it was just so out of character for me that I think it was hard for both my parents and I to realize it was something I needed. But yeah, eventually, when they were kind of like, we’re out of options, and it’s not getting better, they decided to enroll me.

Mateo: All right, what would you say to your freshman yourself, who was like panicking about school,

Anika: I think I would just tell her that she’s okay, not she’s gonna be okay, like she is okay. And I think I would also tell her that avoidance is not the answer. And I’m not sure I would listen to myself, because I think a lot of people did tell me, you know, avoiding is only going to make things worse. But yeah, I would tell myself, don’t take harsh experiences or difficult experiences and struggles as something that has to put your life on pause.

Mateo: That was Annika Merkin, a Chalkbeat student voices fellow. So if there’s one thing we’re hearing loud and clear, it’s that COVID didn’t end when schools reopened or when the masks came off.

Katelyn: Yeah, I mean, the pandemic aftershock is definitely still in classrooms in ways that are super real but kind of invisible. I mean, take anxiety OCD or school refusal, like we saw with Annika. I mean, it’s kind of crazy that we didn’t even know what school refusal was. I mean, look at what Amy asked us.

Amy: I am curious. You know, speaking about school refusal, is that a term that you had ever heard of before?

Katelyn: No, when me and Mateo, like, first read the article, we didn’t like when we just read the title, we were like, school refusal. Like, what is that?

Mateo: Yeah, I thought it was like getting rejected from the school like, school refusal. Like, I was so confused.

Mateo: These conversations in schools should include topics like school refusal and other issues that actually affected students post COVID. Our schools are acting like it’s all behind us, pressing us students to just get back to normal without really seeing what we’re still carrying with us. It’s super dangerous, because when we don’t acknowledge what’s really happening, we risk leaving kids behind.

Katelyn: And I think what’s equally important is to have students lead these conversations. There’s such a lack of student representation in serious, reflective discussions regarding the impact of COVID on students,

Mateo: And there isn’t really a space for us to have honest conversations regarding how we feel about what happened. Even with my friends, when the topic of COVID comes up, we kind of just agree that it wasn’t the best time for us and then brush it aside. Our hope with this episode to have students continue the COVID conversation in a way that means something, to reintroduce empathy into the way that we deal with the fallout.

Mateo: Because moving forward isn’t about forgetting, it’s about holding space for the things we still need to heal.

Katelyn: P.S. Weekly is a collaboration between The Bell and Chalkbeat made possible by generous support from the Pinkerton Foundation, the Summerfield foundation and FJC

Mateo: Producers for this episode were me, Mateo Tang O’Reiley.

Katelyn: and me Katelyn Melville.

Mateo: Our executive producer for the show is Ave Carrillo and the executive editors are Amy Zimmer and Taylor McGraw.

Katelyn: Additional production and reporting support was provided by Mira Gordon, Sabrina DuQuesnay and our friends at Chalkbeat. Our engagement editor is Carolina Hidalgo.

Mateo: This episode was made using Hindenburg Pro, music is from the Blue Dot Sessions, and the jingle you heard at the beginning of the episode was created by Erica Huang

Katelyn: And a very special thanks to our mentor, Alina Kulman.

We make transcripts available for our episodes as soon as possible. They are not fully edited for grammar or spelling.

‘Pandemic, politics, parents’: She loved teaching, but after COVID lockdowns, she broke up with it

2025-03-27T12:00:00+00:00

During the pandemic, Chalkbeat published dozens of essays that spoke to the tumult of COVID-era teaching. Lindsay Klemas wrote about teaching on Zoom while caring for a toddler. Canwen Xu recounted what it was like to be a first-year educator at the height of COVID. Walt Stallings wrote about the particular vulnerability of substitutes during school closures, and George Farmer discussed the challenge of building parent-teacher relationships from a distance.

In one memorable Chalkbeat essay, Katie Kraushaar, now Katie Hicks, wrote that the pandemic revealed that “to teach is to martyr.” When educators returned to classrooms after lockdowns, many of them struggled, Hicks said. “Schools are relying on the mental well-being of teachers,” she wrote, “and there’s not enough to go around.”

Two months later, Hicks — then a middle school English teacher in St. Louis — announced on Twitter, now X, that she had reached a tipping point. Her exit after 12 years in the field was part of a broader exodus of teachers following COVID school closures. Several states experienced record teacher turnover, and some schools reported unprecedented mid-year exits.

Hicks said while she still loved her students and her colleagues, she hated what school had become. “I could blame the pandemic, politics, parents or some other word that starts with the letter P,” she wrote on Twitter. “But it doesn’t really matter. I needed to break up with teaching.”

These days, Hicks lives in Florida and works in health care advocacy. Despite her career change, “who I am as an educator shows up every single day: in how I am raising my son, in my current profession outside of education, in how I treat and interact with other people,” she told Chalkbeat. In an interview coinciding with the fifth anniversary of the COVID school closures, Hicks reflected on what communities have come to expect from teachers, how educators showed up for each other during pandemic schooling, and what school leaders can do to support teachers who are facing burnout.

Why did you become a teacher, and what kept you in the classroom for 12 years?

When I was in high school, I took an advanced literature course. A lot of my classmates came to me for help understanding some of the pieces we read, as well as feedback on their writing. I realized I really enjoyed breaking apart literature and explaining it in ways that people understood, so I decided to pursue education as my major.

Love kept me in the classroom for a dozen years. I loved my subject — English Language Arts — and I loved working with middle schoolers. I also loved the unpredictability and everythingness of teaching: No two days were the same. Teaching allowed me to reinvent myself and try new things, as well as the freedom to put my own personal spin on how I taught standard information. It was an avenue of self-expression for me.

How did COVID change what was expected of teachers?

Teachers have always had to wear many different hats: graphic designer, therapist, childhood development expert, etc. COVID increased those hats tenfold. I was responsible for checking on children who had ghosted and hadn’t logged in for weeks to our virtual classes, and I was left to worry whether their absence was due to simply not wanting to attend or if something more traumatic had happened to them or their family.

I had to quickly learn how to make online learning engaging — and it’s very different from in-person teaching. I couldn’t rely on body language, movement, or any other shared experiences to capture my students’ attention. I had to use memes and videos and pray that my persona translated across Zoom. When the 2020-2021 school year started, I had never met my students in person. They only knew me as a two-dimensional video of a person surrounded by the tiny Zoom box. Building rapport required a whole new playbook, but true relationships felt impossible.

How did those changing expectations affect your daily reality?

At the beginning of the pivot to virtual school, teachers showed up. We’re scrappy by nature, innovators who can make a lesson plan out of a few pieces of paper, glue, and a little magic. The pandemic was a challenge: How can we make school feel like a safe space? How can we create community without being together physically?

At first, I, like most of my fellow educators, rose to the challenge. When I realized that independent reading goals were all but moot for students who didn’t have access to fresh, engaging books, I organized a fundraiser to buy a book for each child in my English classroom. I worked with a local bookstore and surveyed my students so that I could efficiently play book matchmaker.

When our school hosted a drive-thru school supplies pick-up, I was able to meet some of my students in real life. I remember lowering my mask briefly to flash a smile as I handed their specially chosen book to them. The smiles I received back were definitely a high point. Things felt manageable then.

But it didn’t last. As we transitioned back to in-person learning, my morale — along with many of my colleagues — began to deteriorate. Our immense efforts during virtual school were quickly forgotten by the public, replaced with scathing criticism. We weren’t being stringent enough on the mask mandates. Or we were reprimanding them for not wearing their masks. We were juggling how to make in-person learning with social distancing rules work while simultaneously preparing engaging lessons for our students who chose to stay virtual for the duration of the 2020-2021 school year.

Every day, I got home from school and lay in my bed to rest my eyes and try to turn my brain off. But the laundry list of what I felt like I should be doing kept growing longer and longer, and the media’s portrayal of teachers didn’t help.

In 2022, you wrote in Chalkbeat that “schools are relying on the mental well-being of teachers, and there’s not enough to go around.” Why do you think the COVID era was so detrimental to teachers’ mental health?

I think COVID showed the cracks in our educational system in a big way.

There was a lot of surface-level support for teachers at the beginning of the pandemic — lots of social media graphics shouting their love for educators and discounts from fast food chains. Very similar to the “normal times” Teacher Appreciation Week, which is typically a lackluster affair for teachers where we’re reminded that we’re about as valuable as a coupon for an ice cream cone.

The best way I can put it: Imagine putting on a performance every single day for a room that is supposedly full of people, but you can’t see them at all. They’re shadowed. You can’t hear their reactions. You have no idea if what you’re saying makes any sense or resonates. That’s what teaching felt like during the pandemic, performing for a black sea of Zoom boxes with their cameras turned off. And it still felt that way when we were back in person: No one was truly “turning their camera on.”

How did teachers show up for each other during this time?

We took turns bearing the load for each other. We shared our snazzy slide decks with each other. When we found a new online tool that worked with virtual teaching, we didn’t gatekeep and instead shared our logins. Though it was easy to forget that teachers also were navigating the impacts of COVID on their personal lives, we recognized the struggle in each other and worked to take things off of the plate of someone who had to quarantine for 14 days due to a family member testing positive. We reminded each other to take breaks, take deep breaths, and take our time trying to figure it all out.

Was there a moment when you realized that it was time to break up with teaching? What emotions came with that decision?

When I first became a teacher, I swore up and down I would not be one of those tired, burned-out teachers who popped in a movie, kicked back, and checked out. I’m proud to say I never got even close to that point, but post-pandemic, there were moments when I understood how and why teachers ended up there. And it wasn’t because they were bad teachers. They were tired.

It felt wiser and better to me to leave before I became truly jaded and disconnected from my why, the reason I stayed in teaching so long. I believed that I made a difference. I believed that what I was doing mattered.

The last day before I left my school for good, my students and fellow teachers threw me a goodbye luau. I wore a silk lei, a grass skirt, and a silly hat. I took pictures with my students and hugged them goodbye. They wished me luck “on the island.” (I was moving to the U.S. Virgin Islands at the time.) I felt that glimmer of making a difference in that last moment before I hung up my teaching hat, and for a second, I wondered if I was making a mistake.

What advice would you give to school leaders who want to support the stretched-thin teachers in their schools?

My best advice is to think big. Look at the systemic issues and seek systemic change, not band-aid fixes that temporarily buoy teachers.

Know that this is much, much harder than putting chocolate on our desks or hiring a massage therapist to sit in the staff room for a day. Self-care is not the answer. I would argue that championing ways for teachers to practice self-care puts the onus back on us to fix a broken system by reducing the real, systemic issues down to simply needing to take a few deep breaths.

We need leaders who are committed to change, even when it’s hard and unpopular. And we need leaders who have been teachers and who understand the unique challenges associated with standing in front of a classroom.

Gabrielle Birkner is the features editor and fellowship director at Chalkbeat. Email her at gbirkner@chalkbeat.org.

With an ally in the White House, Moms for Liberty renews its fight against a longtime target

2025-02-27T23:07:38+00:00

Sign up for Chalkbeat Tennessee’s free newsletter to keep up with statewide education policy and Memphis-Shelby County Schools.

In a small recording studio near Nashville, Tennessee, conservative activist Kelly Schenkoske urged an online audience of parents to scour school district websites for contracts that mention social and emotional learning.

“Social-emotional learning is far more than just kindness,” Schenkoske said. “It is a bait and switch.”

The bait, according to Schenkoske and other panelists at the recent Moms for Liberty training event, is small shifts in the school day to introduce students to lessons about virtuous qualities like empathy and compassion.

The switch, they said, is to make children sympathetic to what they see as progressive ideas, ranging from open borders and acceptance of homosexuality to gun control, action against climate change, and redistribution of wealth.

“You send your child with your value system, your own beliefs, and now they’re getting the government’s value system installed into them,” warned Schenkoske, who hosts a podcast from her California home about education and parent rights.

The two-hour training session was the first installment in Moms for Liberty U, an online course meant to drive conservative parent activism in the group’s continuing effort to sway local and national education agendas.

That it focused on social and emotional learning illustrates the staying power of conservatives’ concerns about schools’ role in addressing student well-being. These concerns stretch back years, even as research on SEL shows wide-ranging benefits for students.

Now Moms for Liberty has an ally in the White House, with President Donald Trump painting schools as centers of radical indoctrination and signing executive orders that seek to stamp out teaching about systemic racism and policies supportive of transgender youth.

The group’s future trainings will cover critical race theory, restorative justice, sex education, library content, Marxism, and more — topics that are under scrutiny by the new administration and more prominent in public conversation.

Tiffany Justice, a Florida mom, activist, and former school board member who co-founded Moms for Liberty, sees SEL at the root of everything. She hopes the administration soon will call it out by name too.

“It’s very hard to focus on learning math if we’re all talking about, you know, Johnny’s dog that died.”
Tiffany Justice, co-founder, Moms for Liberty

Parents who agree with the Trump administration can “take those executive orders, that messaging, and really make it come alive throughout the entire country,” Justice told Chalkbeat.

SEL use grew in schools after the pandemic

Social and emotional learning is an educational approach introduced in the 1960s to teach life skills designed to help children manage stress, treat others with respect and empathy, work cooperatively, and recognize and regulate their emotions.

The use of SEL tools has increased as educators seek to help students rebound academically and emotionally from disruptions to schooling and children’s daily lives after the COVID pandemic emerged in early 2020.

About 83% of principals reported last year that their schools use an SEL curriculum or program, compared with 73% in the 2021-22 school year and 46% in 2017-18, based on a nationally representative survey by RAND Corp. and the Collaborative for Academic, Social, and Emotional Learning, or CASEL.

A cafeteria mural at a Tennessee school promotes kindness, a tenet of programs that emphasize social and emotional learning. The educational approach was introduced in the 1960s to teach life skills designed to help children manage stress, treat others with respect and empathy, work cooperatively, and recognize and regulate their emotions.

Educators say the pandemic deeply affected students’ mental health, contributing to higher rates of depression and anxiety. And national studies highlight an urgent need to provide kids with tailor-made interventions. An infusion of federal aid for education during the pandemic helped to fuel the growth in SEL adoption.

The programs vary in quality. But a large analysis of studies on SEL published in 2023 found a wide range of positive effects, including better academic performance, homework completion, and attendance, a major area of concern nationwide since the pandemic.

Though teachers sometimes complain that SEL is one more thing piled on their very full plates and could distract from pure academics, the analysis also found that programs led by teachers had more positive effects than those led by counselors or outsiders.

“It’s frustrating to see the science and impacts in schools and then to see the noise around the banning of SEL,” said Christina Cipriano, an associate professor at Yale University and lead author of the meta-analysis, which synthesized more than 400 studies over 13 years that collectively included half a million children.

Cipriano recalled a trip to Washington, D.C., to talk with policymakers about using science to make decisions, including about social and emotional learning. One Republican congressional staffer told her that their constituents would love everything about her work — except the name.

“You have a Control-F problem,” the staffer said, referring to the computer keyboard command that lets someone easily find a term in documents such as school district contracts to purchase SEL products and services.

Polls back that up. Large numbers of parents support the idea that schools should teach interpersonal skills and self-regulation, but far fewer react positively to the term “social and emotional learning.”

Another SEL backlash brews

Justice, now a visiting fellow at the Heritage Foundation, a conservative think tank with close ties to the Trump administration, described social and emotional learning as a “Trojan horse” that opens students to ways of thinking that run counter to what parents teach at home. For example, an emphasis on kindness might lead a student to feel pressure to use a transgender classmate’s preferred pronouns, she said, when that makes the first student uncomfortable and runs counter to their parents’ values.

That’s why Moms for Liberty U started its parent training series with a focus on social and emotional learning.

“We had to start here, because this is what opens the child up to the indoctrination,” Justice said. “It’s the programming mechanism that allows for gender ideology to come in, for critical race theory to come in.”

The training session, which was taped early this year, describes SEL as being tucked into dozens of programs and tools in common use in schools, from teacher-parent messaging platforms to programs designed to make recess a more positive experience. Panelists named surveys on youth well-being as another example of SEL.

Moms for Liberty co-founder Tiffany Justice (far right) moderates a panel discussion during the organization's new national training program for parents on monthly education topics. The first session, recorded near Nashville, featured (from left) author Alex Newman, parent activist Kelly Schenkoske, and psychology professor Jennifer Kom.

Alex Neuman, a conservative author who appeared on the inaugural training panel, said the ultimate goal of SEL is “de-Christianizing education,” something he traces back to Horace Mann, the 19th century social reformer considered one of the fathers of public education.

Panelist Jennifer Kom, a psychology professor at Bethany Lutheran College in Minnesota, said SEL forces teachers to be therapists and leads children to disclose personal matters that can lead to bullying.

Their arguments were enough to convince Tennessee mom Genevieve Pahos to take her activism a step further.

Pahos was part of a small live audience at the taping. A Moms for Liberty chapter leader in Williamson County, south of Nashville, she already had heard many of the arguments against SEL, but she said the session inspired her to start filing more public records requests about SEL programs in her local districts.

“I learned a lot from some of the speakers,” she said, “about how to find out what’s really happening in our schools.”

Speaking to Chalkbeat after the training session, Justice said schools should stick to academics.

“Kids are sad sometimes; it’s OK to be sad sometimes,” she said. “But we need to help children be resilient and find their way through (sadness) by finding interest in life and success in school and giving them the confidence that they get from mastery of skills in the classroom.”

Put another way: “It ends up having kids marinating in their feelings all day. It’s very hard to focus on learning math if we’re all talking about, you know, Johnny’s dog that died.”

Researcher: Schools should include families in SEL programming

Even supporters of social and emotional learning are sometimes fuzzy on what SEL is and isn’t, Cipriano said, which can make it hard to have productive conversations across different viewpoints.

SEL is not therapy or a mental health intervention, she said. But done well, it might mean fewer children need mental health support down the road, just as teaching reading properly to all students might mean fewer students need special education services.

Building resilience — so that students can focus on academics even when bad things are happening around them — is one goal of SEL.

School leaders should think about what problems they want to solve and how they’ll support teachers, Cipriano said, not just adopt a social and emotional learning curriculum because it seems like the thing to do.

She’s working on a public database that she hopes will help school communities make better decisions about which curriculum or products to invest in. Users will be able to see what outcomes were generated by certain programs and the types of communities where these programs have been tried.

She sees lots of room for improvement — better teacher training, more rigorous reviews of existing curriculum, and better communication with parents.

“It seems to me that we have a real opportunity to engage families at the outset of implementation so they’re aware of what’s happening in the schools,” she said. “When you talk to parents and families about the strategies involved in social and emotional learning, you’d be hard pressed to find someone who doesn’t want their child to be a good friend or have less test anxiety.”

Marta Aldrich is a senior correspondent and covers the statehouse for Chalkbeat Tennessee. Contact her at maldrich@chalkbeat.org.

Erica Meltzer is Chalkbeat’s national editor based in Colorado. Contact Erica at emeltzer@chalkbeat.org.

Student mental health needs are growing. Indiana school counselors are overworked. Will the legislature help?

2024-11-25T12:00:00+00:00

Sign up for Chalkbeat Indiana’s free daily newsletter to keep up with Indianapolis Public Schools, Marion County’s township districts, and statewide education news.

Doreen Waldbieser, a school counselor in Vigo County, stepped to the microphone Nov. 8 at a Department of Education hearing on diplomas and began alphabetically listing her counseling duties:

Attend active shooter training. Analyze transcripts. Answer emails and phone calls.

Change schedules. Conduct screenings. Connect students to assistance.

She didn’t get past the M’s before her speaking time ran out.

Her point to policymakers was that even before the state’s new graduation requirements take effect, Indiana’s school counselors are already stretched too thin.

A new report on the profession in Indiana found that many counselors agree.

Student mental health needs are consistently higher since the pandemic and school counselors say they have less time to spend with students, according to the 2024-25 Indiana School Counselor Survey. To blame, they said, are growing lists of tasks like test and attendance monitoring and higher-than-average caseloads — Indiana has one counselor for every 351 students, higher than the recommended ratio of 1-to-250.

As lawmakers prepare to meet for the 2025 legislative session, they’re poised to again consider a proposal requiring counselors spend at least 60% of their time working with students. Other suggestions from counselors include putting the nationally recommended ratio into law, or funding more pipeline programs for teachers to earn counseling degrees. In a budget year, lawmakers could consider funding proposals, but already face a laundry list of K-12 education priorities.

Senate Bill 141, sponsored by Oldenburg Republican Sen. Jean Leising in 2024, set a threshold of 60% and then 85% the year after, but the bill didn’t make it through the House. Leising said she intends to bring the proposal forward again next year.

Counselors in the survey said it’s critical that their roles and responsibilities are defined so that they are not “on call for just about anything that needs to be done.”

“Administrators are protective of teacher time and focus on teaching students, but no one is protective of the school counselor role,” one counselor said. “We are expected to be masters of all areas and it just isn’t possible.”

More counselor tasks means less time with students

Today’s high schoolers were in middle school when the pandemic closed school buildings, and they spent a pivotal time in their development in isolation, said Ryan Preci, board chair for the Indiana School Counselors Association and high school counselor coordinator with Indianapolis Public Schools.

The result is an ongoing increase in student mental health needs as noted in the last several years of the counseling survey. This year, more than half of all counselors said that students’ social-emotional needs are higher this school year than last.

“COVID did increase mental health needs but it also shone a light on what was always there,” Preci said.

Simultaneously, counselors’ perception that they have enough time to meet with students has dropped to its lowest level since the survey began in 2011.

On average, counselors this year spent around 69% of their time providing a mix of direct services, like meeting face-to-face with students, and indirect counseling services, like parent and teacher conferences. Another 16% was spent on program management, and 15% was spent on non-counseling duties, which include test proctoring and arrival and dismissal duties.

Preci said counselors’ focus should be in three domains: Academics, social-emotional support, and college and career readiness. National recommendations say counselors should spend around 80% of their time on direct and indirect counseling services.

The upcoming changes to Indiana’s graduation requirements could place even more clerical work on counselors’ plates, Waldbieser, the Vigo schools counselor, told the state education board.

With three new proposed diploma seals, each with two levels, counselors will be responsible for individualizing graduation plans, along with verifying students’ work hours and college-level courses, and facilitating the Armed Services Vocational Aptitude Battery (ASVAB) test.

It’s not yet clear what other changes lawmakers may make. A bill last year would have allowed chaplains to work as school counselors in public schools, providing only secular guidance unless the student’s parent gave permission for nonsecular guidance. The proposal was dropped in Indiana, but has passed in states like Texas.

School leaders’ support for counselors has grown significantly, according to the report, after hitting a low in 2021-22.

Preci said he’d like to see lawmakers put the recommended counselor-to-student ratio into law. Also helpful would be more programs to help teachers earn master’s degrees in counseling in order to make the switch from teaching to counseling.

“We need to fully fund public education in order to do that, in order to provide those services,” Preci said.

Aleksandra Appleton covers Indiana education policy and writes about K-12 schools across the state. Contact her at aappleton@chalkbeat.org.

My dad loved all living things. I hope he is watching Animal Planet in heaven.

2024-06-03T12:00:00+00:00

The writer of this essay is a 2023-24 Student Voices Fellow at Chalkbeat. Click to learn more about our high school fellowship program.

On the morning of my dad’s funeral in 2021, we saw a mourning dove on our Queens fire escape. This was fitting, not only because the bird symbolizes hope and rebirth but because my dad loved birds and animals of all kinds. He even had a special connection to a mourning dove who, years earlier, made its home on that very fire escape.

My dad, Shamsuddin, loved watching Animal Planet. Every morning before work and on weekends when he was off, he would sit with steaming hot coffee, his eyes glued to the screen. He worked long hours and woke up early to catch a train to Brooklyn. It seemed like the only time he could relax was when he was watching Animal Planet.

Shamima Ahmed

He was a nature guy, always planting and learning about the earth. His love for nature started when he was growing up in Bangladesh. My dad was from a big family and spent a lot of time outside, gardening and taking care of his family’s chickens and cows. Years later, after he immigrated to the U.S, he turned our small fire escape into a garden where he grew habanero peppers and greens. He nurtured his plants much the same way nurtured the people he loved.

He had such a love of life that it’s still hard to believe he’s gone.

I am one of the roughly 8,600 New York City children who, as of 2022, had lost a parent or caregiver to COVID. Nationally, more than 200,000 kids experienced such a loss; worldwide, that number exceeds 10 million. Without even knowing the other kids, I know it affected their lives, their school work, and their relationships. We are all still grieving. The need for support is immense. Nearly 7,000 New York City teens signed up for free online therapy through the city since it opened in November. There are surely students grieving various losses among them.

What helps me grieve my dad is remembering his kindness.

My dad was a simple man. His small corner in our hallway closet held his slacks and his button-down shirts, which he would wear either to work or to relax. He didn’t buy much for himself so that my mother, my two older siblings, and I could enjoy the luxury of getting clothes we wanted or needed.

He only really needed his family and his coffee. Yet looking at him you would think he’s the richest guy in the world because there was always a smile on his face, no matter how he felt or what was on his mind. I miss my dad’s smile. It was welcoming and comforting.

A young Shamima Ahmed celebrates Eid with her father, c. 2009

My dad would make me coffee to have with the Parle G. sugar biscuits that he would buy in bulk just for me. Coffee and biscuits in hand, we would sit together and watch Animal Planet. Our favorite show was “River Monsters,” where a guy named Jeremy Wade makes underwater discoveries across the globe. Whenever it wasn’t on, my dad would make me put it on YouTube so he could rewatch old episodes.

He had an unquenchable thirst for learning. There would be times he would tap me while I was sitting near him and tell me about some fish on the screen because he found it so interesting. Other times, he’d make me call my mom in from the kitchen to see. He didn’t keep his passions to himself. He loved sharing knowledge and gifts.

Whether it was surprising my mom with new plates for the kitchen or cooking our family the biggest and most expensive fish he could find in the supermarket, my dad was always giving. If he knew that my siblings, my mom, or I liked something, he would buy that item in bulk the next day if he could. His presence was so admirable that it makes his absence absolutely soul-crushing.

Animals must have sensed his compassion. One day, around three or four years before my dad died, a mourning dove made a nest on our fire escape. My dad helped the bird make a better nest for the eggs inside and kept checking up on it. Then one day, the bird flew away, and we never saw it again. But on the morning of my dad’s funeral, a mourning dove — maybe even the same one — came back. It cooed on my fire escape while the sun shone through the window. Ever since then, when my family and I see a mourning dove, we think it’s my dad. It’s his way of keeping his love alive.

I hope my dad can get Animal Planet in heaven. I hope he is catching up on the episodes of “River Monsters” and thinking of his family.

Shamima Ahmed is a senior at Central Park East High School and a 2023-24 Chalkbeat Student Voices fellow. She will be attending Babson College in the fall, and hopes to earn a degree in business with concentrations in entrepreneurship and business analytics. She aspires to be a business owner and start a clothing brand that focuses on inclusivity and equity.

In face of student mental health crisis, City Council wants to expand peer-to-peer support

2024-03-12T23:08:01+00:00

Sign up for Chalkbeat New York’s free daily newsletter to keep up with NYC’s public schools.

To help address the city’s ongoing youth mental health crisis, New York City Council members are looking to expand student support groups and tap peer-to-peer connections.

Council Speaker Adrienne Adams will announce three new proposals during her State of the City address on Wednesday, directing the city to increase support for peer mental health programs in schools.

The proposals come as recent years have seen an uptick in students grappling with severe mental health challenges, both locally and across the country. For many students, the pandemic upended day-to-day life, isolating them from their peers, and in many cases causing financial or personal loss within their families. Educators have continued to report lingering behavioral concerns years after students returned to the classroom.

The share of New York City students who reported suicidal ideation had jumped to nearly 16% in 2021, while about 9% of local high school students reported they had attempted suicide that year. That was up from about 12% a decade prior.

If enacted, the new proposals would require the city’s Department of Health and Mental Hygiene to work with community-based organizations to develop a toolkit for those seeking to start clubs that promote student mental health, while also mandating the city to develop and offer peer-to-peer mental health training for public schools and students, according to a spokesperson for Adams.

The proposals would also create a pilot program for social work students from CUNY programs to support mental health clubs in schools that need professional or clinical supervision.

Peer-to-peer support models have gained traction at schools both locally and nationwide. Mental health clubs and other peer support programs can help raise awareness of mental health issues at school, while reducing stigma around seeking help, advocates and experts have said.

City and state officials have tried for years to address mental health concerns. In 2023, the city launched a free virtual therapy program for teenagers ages 13-17, and in February, it joined the hundreds of other municipalities and school systems that have filed lawsuits against major social media companies, alleging their practices have fueled the nation’s youth mental health crisis.

City Council members are also considering a bill that would require the city’s Education Department to warn middle and high school students about the dangers of social media each school year.

Still, despite these efforts, the city’s schools could lose hundreds of social workers when federal relief funds dry up later this year.

At a town hall in District 28 in Queens on Monday, schools Chancellor David Banks pointed to mental health as one of the key issues facing students across the five boroughs.

“Our kids went through a lot during the pandemic,” he said. “As they have re-entered school and tried to find a sense of normalcy… It has been a harder transition for some kids than others, and we are constantly faced with those challenges.”

Meanwhile, in Albany, Gov. Kathy Hochul has referred to mental health as “the defining challenge of our time.” Earlier this year, Hochul proposed expanding state funding for youth-driven peer support programs in schools, among other mental health policy initiatives.

In a statement Tuesday, a spokesperson for the city’s Health Department said “the city has made mental health a priority” and the department looked forward to “future discussions about how to continue improving care in the city.”

Officials from the city’s Education Department did not immediately return a request for comment on the proposals.

Julian Shen-Berro is a reporter covering New York City. Contact him at jshen-berro@chalkbeat.org.

‘Miss, I have anxiety’: Denver school mental health providers fighting to save pandemic-era program

2024-01-25T00:55:42+00:00

Sign up for Chalkbeat Colorado’s free daily newsletter to get the latest reporting from us, plus curated news from other Colorado outlets, delivered to your inbox.

When 50 students at Denver’s George Washington High School were flagged on a survey as having “extremely elevated risk” for mental health struggles, social worker Sarah Hartman was able to check in with all 50 and offer them services.

That’s a rarity given the bulging caseloads of most school social workers and psychologists, Hartman and others said — and it was only possible because Hartman is part of a pilot program launched in 2021 that originally added mental health providers to 10 Denver schools.

The program was aimed at helping the majority of students who don’t regularly see a school psychologist or social worker. Those providers are busy serving students with disabilities who are legally entitled to services, and they often don’t have time to help other students struggling with depression, grief, and the trauma of growing up during COVID.

Out of the 50 students to whom Hartman offered mental health services, only five said no.

“Kids would be like, ‘Miss, I have anxiety,’” Hartman said in an interview. “When you ask them if they want help, they want help.”

But that help could soon go away.

The pilot program is funded with temporary federal pandemic relief dollars known as ESSER. Because of a merger with an existing Denver Public Schools program focused on substance abuse prevention, the program has expanded to 31 schools at a cost of $3.4 million this year.

But the ESSER money is set to expire this fall, though federal officials recently announced a potential extension if districts spend it on certain efforts such as tutoring. Facing a likely funding cliff, the mental health providers are fighting to keep a program they see as fulfilling what had been an empty promise from DPS to do better on mental health.

Meanwhile, the district is evaluating whether it can afford to do so. A spokesperson said in a statement that the district “is examining the benefits / impact of programming for student outcomes, as well as feasibility to sustain programming as is.”

“How fair is it to identify a concern but then not have the resources to address the concern?” Joe Waldon, a social worker in the program at Hill Campus of Arts and Sciences, asked the school board Monday. “This is a huge ethical dilemma for me.”

A cadre of providers in what DPS calls the prevention and therapeutic specialists, or PTS, program pleaded with board members this week to find sustainable funding once ESSER expires. They shared with them a spreadsheet of more than 100 supportive comments they’d solicited from other school psychologists and social workers, teachers, parents, and students.

“She helped me calm down when I was angry,” one second grade student wrote of the provider at their school, according to the spreadsheet, which was also shared with Chalkbeat. “She taught me to let my emotions out whenever I need to by crying it out, and that it is okay.”

A fourth grade student wrote that the provider at their school taught them about “safe touch and who is allowed to see private parts.” A fifth grader wrote that they spoke to the provider about their mom’s abusive boyfriends and addiction to drugs and alcohol. “She helped me work through all of those memories and experiences,” the student wrote.

A student at East High School wrote that if not for the counseling support they received, “I don’t know how much I would (have been) able to attend classes last year because of my anxiety.”

Maria Hite, a PTS social worker at North High School, has a box of fidget toys and a mini Zen garden in her softly lit office, where students can trace a tiny rake through the sand as they talk.

Hite and the PTS team at North “have supported students in a way that our school-based mental health team do not have capacity for,” an educator at the school wrote, adding that the traditional psychologists and social workers “are already drowning as it is.”

District statistics show that in the 2021-22 and 2022-23 school years, the PTS providers did one-on-one therapy with 415 students and group therapy with 783 students. More than 80% of those students were Black or Latino, and 83% came from low-income families — percentages that are higher than the district averages.

The providers also taught suicide prevention lessons to more than 2,400 students, and lessons on dealing with stress and anxiety or the dangers of vaping, drinking, and using drugs, to more than 17,000 students. If a student gets caught with drugs on campus, the PTS providers can provide counseling and intervention as an alternative to out-of-school suspension.

School psychologists and social workers are in high demand in DPS, and the PTS providers are not worried about finding jobs if the program ends. But they are worried that they will once again be pulled into the paperwork-heavy and crisis-heavy work of serving students with high needs and disabilities, and that the students they serve now will fall through the cracks.

Said Waldon: “How do you tell a child, ‘I don’t have time?’”

Melanie Asmar is the bureau chief for Chalkbeat Colorado. Contact Melanie at masmar@chalkbeat.org.

Colorado bill to make free youth therapy permanent moves forward

2024-01-24T23:42:41+00:00

A pandemic-era program that provides free therapy sessions to Colorado children and teens moved a little closer Wednesday to becoming permanent, easily clearing its first legislative hurdle.

The bill to make the 2-year-old I Matter program permanent passed 7-2 in the Senate Health and Human Services Committee and will now go to the Senate Appropriations Committee.

Supporters of the bill say I Matter has made mental health counseling easy to access for thousands of Colorado students who’ve struggled with unprecedented levels of depression and anxiety in the wake of the pandemic.

The program provides six free telehealth or in-person counseling sessions to students in elementary through high school. Students 12 and over can sign up for the therapy sessions by filling out a simple online form. Children under 12 can use the service, but need to fill out a form with a parent. Currently, the annual cost of I Matter is $6 million, but state officials expect it could cost $11 million next year as use increases.

If the bill under consideration doesn’t pass, I Matter will expire this summer.

During Wednesday’s hearing, one mother, Laura Love, told the story of her 14-year-old son Sam, who died by suicide last May.

After his death, she went through his phone and discovered he’d recommended I Matter to three friends who’d been facing their own mental health struggles in the month before he died.

“This program even got the attention of a teenage boy who had a hard time sitting still long enough to finish his homework,” she said. “He shared it with friends who were hurting.”

Love urged lawmakers to support I Matter’s continuation.

“While I can’t bring Sam back, I can help give a voice to so many other kids who are just as incredible as our Sam,” she said.

Since I Matter launched in the fall of 2021, nearly 11,000 children and teens have used the program, according to data from Colorado’s Behavioral Health Administration.

Sen. Dafna Michaelson Jenet, a Commerce City Democrat and a co-sponsor of the original I Matter bill and the bill to make it permanent, rattled off the number of kids who’ve used I Matter in various counties since the program’s inception: 1,386 in Denver, 1,417 in El Paso, 1,250 in Jefferson, 581 in Weld, and 299 in Eagle.

“We’re reaching our people,” she said. “This has proven to help our students and I would like to see it continue.”

Several doctors and mental health advocates testified in favor of the bill, describing it as one user-friendly option that can help youth cope during tough times. A few Colorado residents spoke against the program Wednesday, arguing that allowing children 12 and over to use it on their own damages parent-child relationships.

A 2019 law — not the original I Matter law — lowered the age that adolescents can seek mental health therapy without parental consent from 15 to 12.

Anne Frank, a Denver pediatrician, spoke in support of continuing I Matter, saying it can help teens who might otherwise fall through the cracks because they have no health insurance or face other barriers to mental health care.

She described a teenage patient with depression whose parent works a lot and is mostly on his own from morning till night.

“This teen is really, really hard-working and was seeking treatment that would fit his life,” she said. “I Matter was easy and he put it in his phone the day I saw him.”

He got therapy through the program and felt better when Frank followed up, she said.

Riley Haleen, a recent college graduate and a program associate for the Colorado chapter of the National Alliance on Mental Illness, said she wished a program like I Matter had been around when she was a teenager. With no money for therapy at the time, she had only her sister to lean on when her stepfather died and her mother battled cancer.

“We were each other’s therapy,” she said. “As sweet as that sounds, we needed professional help.”

She urged lawmakers to keep the program going.

“Students are using it,” she said. “I see the posters in coffee shops and beam with pride when I think about its impact.”

If you are in crisis, please call, text or chat with the Suicide and Crisis Lifeline at 988, or contact Colorado’s Crisis Line at 1-844-493-8255 or by texting TALK to 38255.

Correction: Due to incorrect information from the Colorado Behavioral Health Administration, an earlier version of this story incorrectly stated that more than 14,000 children and teens have used I Matter since its inception. Nearly 11,000 youth have used the program.

Ann Schimke is a senior reporter at Chalkbeat, covering early childhood issues and early literacy. Contact Ann at aschimke@chalkbeat.org.

Mental health, literacy, college access: Hochul’s 2024 education agenda

2024-01-09T20:11:06+00:00

Sign up for Chalkbeat New York’s free daily newsletter to keep up with NYC’s public schools.

Improving student mental health services, urging school districts to adopt new literacy curriculums, and expanding access to the state’s public colleges and universities are among the education initiatives that New York Gov. Kathy Hochul hopes to accomplish this year.

Hochul outlined her priorities for the year on Tuesday during her annual State of the State address — a speech that governors deliver each January. She pointed to a series of key policy proposals, including those that could impact children across the state, while emphasizing the need to strengthen public safety and mental health services in particular.

But some critical education issues were absent from the more than 200 initiatives outlined by state officials on Tuesday. Hochul noted her plans for addressing “the toughest fiscal issues” facing the state — including providing care for the influx of asylum-seeking and other migrant families — would come when she presents her budget proposal next week.

Here are the education policy highlights from Hochul’s State of the State address:

More school-based clinics and limits on social media

On Tuesday, Hochul referred to mental health as “the defining challenge of our time,” blaming pandemic isolation and the “toxic algorithms that govern social media” for fueling a crisis among the state’s young people.

“When schools closed during the pandemic, kids turned to social media to stay connected with friends and families,” she said. “But a darkness lives on those platforms.”

Hochul’s proposed initiatives would take a two-pronged approach to addressing student mental health — bolstering access to resources at schools, while seeking to limit the potential negative impacts of social media.

The governor wants to make on-site mental health clinics available to any school that desires one. The clinics offer students a place to receive services from mental health professionals. The proposal would build on past efforts by her administration to increase the availability of such clinics. In November, Hochul announced more than $5 million had been awarded to support 137 school-based mental health clinics across the state, including more than 80 at high-needs schools.

Hochul has also called for expanded funding for youth-driven peer support programs, as well as intensive care programs that support students who need daily treatment.

State officials, including Hochul, have also pushed for legislation that would impose restrictions on how social media companies interact with minors. Under two proposed bills, social media companies would be unable to offer algorithmically devised “addictive” content to minors by default, while giving parents the ability to block access to the sites between certain hours, and limiting the companies’ ability to collect and sell the personal data of minors.

Guaranteed college admissions for top students

To expand access to higher education across the state, Hochul has proposed automatically admitting top-performing high school students to the state’s public colleges and universities.

Under the proposal, students graduating in the top 10% of their high schools would be guaranteed admission to one or more selective colleges in the State University of New York system. A similar proposed program at City University of New York campuses would further expand access.

Other higher education priorities included increasing completion rates of federal financial aid applications, broadening outreach around food stamp benefits at public colleges, and driving up voter participation on college campuses.

A reading curriculum shakeup

During her Tuesday speech, Hochul referred to her recently announced plan to change how students across the state learn to read. The governor hopes to move schools toward embracing the “science of reading,” an established body of research about how children learn to read.

As part of her plan, the state will support programs that emphasize phonics lessons, which explicitly teach the relationships between sounds and letters and are backed by research.

Hochul has also proposed investing $10 million to partner with the state’s teachers union, training 20,000 educators and expanding efforts from the city and state university systems to help educators learn about the science of reading.

New York City has already adopted its own sweeping literacy curriculum mandate that is largely in line with Hochul’s proposal. Curriculum overhauls can be difficult to enact, and it remains unclear whether the governor’s proposal will prompt significant changes statewide.

Swimming safety, food insecurity, and other initiatives

Outside of the classroom, Hochul has also prioritized programs that seek to support families and young people across the state — including efforts to prevent drownings, tackle food insecurity, and expand access to child care.

State officials said drownings have reached record highs in recent years, becoming one of the leading causes of death among children. Racial disparities have persisted in drowning deaths, with Black children experiencing drowning death rates roughly three times higher than their white peers, according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

To address this, the state will provide funding to renovate and construct pools in high-need neighborhoods, build “pop-up pools” during the summer months, and offer reimbursements to municipalities for costs related to hiring and staffing lifeguards, among other initiatives.

The city has also aimed to expand access to swimming facilities and programs, with a “floating pool” set to open next year.

The state has also opted into a federal meals program that provides families who usually receive free meals at school with funds to help cover food costs during the summer. That program is estimated to provide more than $200 million in federal benefits to about 2 million children in the state, officials said.

Hochul also called for continued investments in child care programs, noting the state will continue to use underutilized federal pandemic funds to provide grants to help such programs retain and hire staff.

Julian Shen-Berro is a reporter covering New York City. Contact him at jshen-berro@chalkbeat.org.

NYC launches free online therapy for teens

2023-11-15T23:58:01+00:00

New York City teens now have access to free online therapy through a city program that launched Wednesday, officials said.

City teens, ages 13-17, can text, call, or video chat with licensed therapists through the online platform Talkspace without providing payment, insurance information, or referrals, officials said.

The teen telehealth initiative, which Mayor Eric Adams has billed as the largest of its kind in the country, was months in the making. The idea was first announced in March as part of the city’s blueprint for addressing a surge in mental health challenges since the pandemic started.

Among the sobering statistics officials pointed to: The share of city students who reported suicidal ideation jumped to nearly 16% from about 12% over the past decade. About 9% of city high school students reported they attempted suicide during 2021, according to a Health Department survey.

“There’s something that has happened to the COVID babies and the COVID children that we are not going to ignore,” Adams said at a press conference Wednesday announcing the launch of the program.

“Our young people are on their telephone, they use the internet, they use social media,” he continued. “We have to really find ways of turning that device into a positive instead of trying to push back on the natural flow of how young people utilize their social media platforms.”

The contract with Talkspace will cost the city an estimated $26 million, Politico first reported.

Teens can register for the program, called NYC Teenspace, as of Wednesday. The sign-up page asks students for a birthday and address before going through a series of questions about their current mental health. Parental consent is required, according to the platform’s creators.

Besides talking with licensed therapists by text, phone, or video chat, students can also take self-guided courses. Texting is unlimited, but live sessions are limited to once a month, according to the company. A Health Department spokesperson said kids will see the same therapist for each session.

For kids in acute crisis, Teenspace providers will refer them to psychiatric care or an in–person counselor, officials said.

Talkspace CEO Jon Cohen said texting has been particularly helpful.

“We have learned that when people face something stressful, messaging is a powerful tool at their fingertips,” he said.

Virtual therapy has become a popular tool at many educational institutions, but city officials have acknowledged that the evidence base for the practice is still thin.

City Health Department Commissioner Ashwin Vasan, who came up with the idea for the initiative, said he hopes it will evolve based on feedback from teens.

“I just want to talk to the young people for a moment,” he said during Wednesday’s press conference. “Your voice will help guide and shape this resource. If you use it, and you like it, tell your friends. If you use it, and you don’t like it, tell us. We’ll fix it.”

Dr. Jessica Chock-Goldman, a school social worker at Bard High School Early College in Manhattan, said there’s a severe shortage of therapists for city teens, especially those from low-income families without private health insurance. Any effort to expand access is a good idea, she said. But she noted that this service “can’t replace regular therapy,” given the infrequency of the video sessions.

Before she starts referring students, she wants more information, including how many of the therapists are Black and Latino.

Cohen said approximately 35% of Talkspace providers who will work with New York City students identify as BIPOC. Roughly 84% of New York City’s students are Black, Latino, Asian-American, Native American, or multiracial.

The Health Department didn’t provide a specific goal for how many students the agency hopes will participate. “We aim to provide services to as many teens as possible across the city,” a spokesperson said.

Officials from the health and education departments said schools will receive materials to help publicize the initiative.

Chock-Goldman said she heard about the program for the first time Wednesday through the Education Department’s Instagram page.

“It’s great to have resources, but we just need new details about the new resources,” she said.

Michael Elsen-Rooney is a reporter for Chalkbeat New York, covering NYC public schools. Contact Michael at melsen-rooney@chalkbeat.org.

Michigan schools have added more than 1,300 mental health professionals since 2018 with more funding

2023-10-12T21:39:19+00:00

Michigan added more than 1,300 mental health professionals to its schools in the last five years, according to state records.

During a national shortage of mental health professionals who serve youth and an ongoing child and adolescent mental health crisis exacerbated by the pandemic, Michigan schools hired an additional 1,316 staff to address student’s mental well-being, including counselors, social workers, and psychologists. The hirings occurred from the 2018-19 school year through 2022-23.

“Providing these services during the school day leads to early identification and intervention, better access to care, better academic outcomes, a more positive school climate and safety, better psychosocial outcomes, and better engagement with students, families, and educators,” State Superintendent Michael Rice said in a statement.

Of the additional staff, 772 were social workers, 406 were counselors, 44 were nurses, 43 were school psychologists, and 33 were behavioral analysts and assistants.

The hirings began to address a big shortage of student mental-health resources in Michigan, which lags behind almost every other state in the ratio of students to counselors.

The American School Counselor Association recommends a ratio of 250 students per counselor. Nationally, the average ratio was 408 students per counselor in 2021-22.

Michigan had the second-highest student-to-counselor ratio in the nation in 2019-20: 671-to-1. That improved to 615-to-1 in 2021-22, according to an analysis by ASCA, the third-highest in the U.S.

In 2015-16, 41% of Michigan students did not have access to a school counselor, an analysis by Education Trust Midwest found.

In recent years, legislators have aimed to help more students access counselors and other mental health professionals. The Michigan school aid budget allocated $150 million in 2023 to improve mental health and $328 million for 2024.

The 2021 budget provided a one-time investment of $240 million specifically to add more school staff to address student mental health.

“This work is critical for meeting children where they are,” said Rice. “These helping professionals are essential for contributing to the success of Michigan’s children and their future and support our work to build a comprehensive school-based mental health system statewide.”

Jill Ball, assistant superintendent for instructional services at Tuscola Intermediate School District, said in a statement that state funds for mental health services have allowed the district to hire more providers in the past year.

“Our providers have been focused on helping students handle the mental health issues that are prohibiting them from participating in the school community,” she said. “These include gaining coping skills and strategies, as well as the ability to recognize their needs and advocate for them.”

Hannah Dellinger is a reporter for Chalkbeat Detroit covering K-12 education. Contact Hannah at hdellinger@chalkbeat.org.

Many schools went all in to fight chronic absenteeism. Why are kids still missing so much class?

2023-09-28T11:00:00+00:00

Sign up for Chalkbeat’s free weekly newsletter to get essential education news delivered to your inbox.

Last year, Santa Fe schools put in a lot of work to try to get students to show up to school consistently. It was a priority after chronic absenteeism doubled during the 2021-22 school year, compared to before the pandemic.

The New Mexico district hired two additional attendance coaches, for a total of five, to help every school form a team focused on boosting attendance. Those staffers got extra pay and training. And schools used COVID relief funds to reward students who improved their attendance with incentives like a pop-up science exhibit hosted by a local children’s museum.

But despite those efforts, the share of students who missed 10% or more of their school year, the threshold New Mexico and most other states use to define chronic absenteeism, didn’t budge. Just over half were chronically absent — the same as the prior year.

“We know we still have work to do,” said Crystal Ybarra, the district’s chief equity, diversity, and engagement officer, who is overseeing the attendance initiative. “We’re still trying to figure out the steps post-pandemic. Everybody wants to see a quick fix, and that’s just not how initiatives work.”

What happened in Santa Fe highlights multiple challenges schools nationwide are encountering as they try to drive down stubbornly high absence rates. Students’ mindsets about attending school in person every day have shifted, staff say. Families are more likely to keep sick kids home. In some places, more families are experiencing economic hardships and housing instability.

Emerging state data, compiled by Chalkbeat, suggests that the stunning rise in students missing school did not come close to returning to pre-pandemic levels last school year.

Chronic absenteeism worsened in at least 40 states during the 2021-22 school year, according to data compiled by Thomas Dee, a Stanford University education professor, in partnership with the Associated Press. The needle hasn’t moved much in the handful of states that have released data for last school year so far.

In New Mexico, for example, chronic absenteeism shot up to 40% two school years ago and remained at 39% last year, compared to 18% the year before the pandemic. Similar trends have emerged in Connecticut, Massachusetts, Ohio, and Virginia.

“The consequences of kids being sporadically in school and not fully engaging take a while to really shift,” said Hedy Chang, the executive director of Attendance Works, a nonprofit that focuses on raising school attendance. “It’s definitely not something that happens overnight, and may take longer than we would like.”

Illnesses other than COVID, such as RSV, as well as confusion over when to send sick children to school, likely played a role, school staff and attendance experts said. Many families got in the habit of keeping kids home if they had any symptom of illness. When Los Angeles Unified school officials talked with 9,000 families last year as part of an effort to reduce chronic absenteeism, non-COVID illness was one of the three major themes that came up.

“We went from this place of requiring students to be out for certain symptoms that they might have in the 2021-22 school year,” Ybarra said, “to trying to navigate what was appropriate and what wasn’t this past school year.”

Elevated mental health struggles also likely contributed. Some students feel a lingering disconnect from their school and peers. School refusal seems to have intensified following the pandemic, some parents and educators say. In Santa Fe, many students who missed class or asked to transfer to the GED program last year reported feeling anxious about coming to school, Ybarra said.

Now that more schools provide devices to every student and post assignments online, some students have also come to believe that they can take a few days off and still stay on top of their work.

Greg Moody, a school official in Florida’s Orange County district who oversees attendance, said the ability to do assignments remotely had contributed to a “shift in mindset” about the importance of showing up to class every day. In his district, chronic absenteeism nearly doubled from 21% the year before the pandemic to 40% in the 2021-22 school year.

Amana Levi, who helps Orange County schools address truancy issues, said parents report a variety of reasons their kids stay home. But last year she frequently heard: “Well, my child needed a day off.” Sometimes that stemmed from a mental health issue, she said, and sometimes it didn’t.

In response, Levi is hosting an online training for parents that will talk about why attendance matters — for academic and other reasons — and what parents can do if they get a letter saying their child has missed a lot of school.

“It’s important that we impress upon parents: We get it, we’re all here, we’re all experiencing similar types of things,” Levi said. But her message is: “You’ve got to come to school. We are here to help as much as we can.”

Schools seek more input on attendance struggles

Schools that started attendance initiatives last year that haven’t gotten the results they wanted should try to figure out why that may be, Chang of Attendance Works said. Staff can look at how many students were directly affected by such efforts, and talk with students and families about what worked and what didn’t.

In Santa Fe, Ybarra is hoping to build on some of the positive changes in school culture that she observed last year, while making adjustments to the district’s overall strategy.

Attendance coaches realized that they previously hadn’t taught many staff members to reach out to students about attendance. So this year, they trained entire schools to do it.

With the help of a $500,000 state grant, Santa Fe is sending home letters to recognize students for good attendance and remind families to return after longer school breaks. The district also hired an organization to train high school teams to watch ninth grade attendance — a challenging transition year for many teens — and will pay staff extra to make home visits to freshmen.

School staff are prioritizing chronically absent kids for evaluations to see if they need extra academic help, or support for a disability. The goal is to “try to make them more successful so they feel like they can return,” Ybarra said. In the past, those students were often overlooked.

And last month, school officials met with students from two schools struggling with attendance to listen to some of the barriers that keep them from going to school regularly and what has been helpful to get them back on track.

Students reported getting sick, lacking transportation to school, having family problems, facing mental health issues, and caring for siblings. One middle schooler pointed to the benefits of having a day to do catch-up work when they returned from a long period of absence.

“I didn’t feel so behind when I went back into the classroom,” the student told school staff.

Orange County schools tried something similar this summer by paying a dozen social workers to call the families of students who missed 20 or more days of school last year.

The goal was to figure out what had kept students from attending and offer support “so we could start with a fresh slate,” said Juliane Cross, a senior administrator in the district’s social services department.

Social workers heard many of those families were moving around a lot, struggling to afford stable housing — a common issue in the Orlando area that has intensified in recent years. Other parents worked nights and couldn’t wake their kids up in time for class.

Social workers connected families to housing resources and made sure they knew about the federal program that offers help to students experiencing homelessness. It’s an initiative Cross hopes to repeat.

“Several of the parents were just like ‘Wow, thank you for calling,’ as if they were really surprised that this effort was made to just check on them and try to address that attendance situation,” she said. “They appreciated having that interaction.”

Kalyn Belsha is a senior national education reporter based in Chicago. Contact her at kbelsha@chalkbeat.org.

The pandemic is over. But American schools still aren’t the same.

2023-09-20T20:17:22+00:00

Sign up for Chalkbeat’s free weekly newsletter to get essential education news delivered to your inbox.

On a recent Friday at Gary Comer Middle School in Chicago, you had to squint to see signs of the pandemic that upended American education just a few years ago.

Only a handful of students wore face masks, and even then, some put them on to cover up pimples, staff said. The hand sanitizer stations outside every classroom mostly went unused, and some were empty. Students stopped to hug in the hallway and ate lunch side by side in the cafeteria.

“I don’t think it’s a big deal as much as it was before,” said 12-year-old Evelyn Harris, an eighth grader at Comer, whose lasting memory of pandemic schooling is that online classes were easier, so she got better grades. “The pandemic didn’t really affect me in a big way.”

Students are released from classes to attend a club sign-up event at Comer Middle School.

But inside Nikhil Bhatia’s classroom, the evidence was on the whiteboard, where the math teacher was shading in slices of a pie to illustrate how to find a common denominator. That day, his seventh graders were working to add and subtract fractions — a skill students usually learn in fourth grade.

Maybe you learned this before, Bhatia began. “Or, during the pandemic, you might have been on Zoom,” — a few students laughed as he dragged out the words — “put your screen on black, went to go play a couple video games. Snap if that sounds familiar?”

Clicking fingers filled the room. “That’s OK!” Bhatia responded. “That’s why we’re going to do the review.”

As the new school year begins at Comer and elsewhere, many students and educators say school is feeling more normal than it has in over three years. COVID health precautions have all but vanished. There’s less social awkwardness. Students say they’re over the novelty of seeing their classmates in person.

But beneath the surface, profound pandemic-era consequences persist. More students are missing school, and educators are scrambling to keep kids engaged in class. Many students remain behind academically, leaving teachers like Bhatia to fill in gaps even while trying to move students forward. Rebuilding students’ shaken confidence in their abilities is especially important right now.

“It’s OK that you don’t know this,” Bhatia tells his students. “It’s normal right now.”

Hands are raised as Nikhil Bhatia teaches a math lesson at Comer Middle School.

Nationally, many students remain far behind in math and reading where they would have been if not for the pandemic. There have been especially steep learning drops at schools that taught virtually for most of the 2020-21 school year, as schools did across Chicago and within the Noble charter network, which includes Comer. It’s an issue that’s even more pressing for older students, who have less time to fill in those holes.

At Comer, 28% of eighth graders met or exceeded Illinois math standards the year before the pandemic, not far off from the state’s average of 33%. But by spring 2022, that had fallen to just 2%, compared with 23% for the state.

In reading, meanwhile, 9% of Comer eighth graders met or exceeded state standards pre-pandemic, and that dipped to 4% in spring 2022, when the state’s average was 30%.

The school made gains they’re proud of last school year, with 10% of eighth graders hitting the state’s bar for math and 22% hitting it for reading, though school leaders say they know there is still work to be done.

“If you don’t have some foundational skills and basic skills, it will be almost impossible to keep up with the curriculum as the kids get older,” said Mary Avalos, a research professor of teaching and learning at the University of Miami, who has studied how COVID affected middle school teachers. “That’s a big issue that needs to be addressed.”

How teachers are addressing pandemic learning gaps

Most of Bhatia’s students missed key skills in fourth and fifth grades — the years that school was remote, then interrupted by waves of COVID — but they mastered more advanced concepts in sixth grade last year.

That’s left Bhatia, like many teachers across the country, with the tricky task of coming up with mini lessons to fill in those elementary gaps, without spending so much time on prior concepts that students fall behind in middle school.

Ja’liyah Pope, 12, listens during a math lesson in Nikhil Bhatia’s class at Comer Middle School.

On a day like Friday, that meant to get students ready to add negative fractions, a seventh grade skill, Bhatia first had to teach a short lesson on adding fractions, a fourth grade skill. At first, some students mistakenly thought they should use the technique for dividing fractions they learned last year.

“They’ll say: ‘Oh is this keep, change, flip’?” Bhatia said. “The gap isn’t exactly what you would expect it to be.”

This kind of teaching happened “once in a while” pre-pandemic, Bhatia said, but “now it’s like day by day I have to be really critical in thinking about: ‘OK what might be the gap that surfaces today?’”

Aubria Myers, who teaches sixth grade English at Comer, sees ways the familiar rhythms of school are just now returning, four months after federal health officials declared an official end to the COVID-19 emergency.

“This year, for me, feels the most normal,” Myers said. Students are saying: “Oh wait, what’s the homework again, can I get another copy?” she said. Last year when she mentioned homework, “they were like: ‘What is that?’”

On that recent Friday, Myers led an activity in her multicultural literature class that would have been impossible two years ago when students had to stay seated in pods of color-coded desks.

Her sixth graders huddled close to one another as they tried to hop across the classroom, an exercise designed to give her fidgety students a chance to move around, while exemplifying the communication and teamwork skills that would be at the center of Seedfolks, the novel they were about to read in class.

Still, Myers had chosen the book, with its short chapters and lines full of metaphors and irony, to meet the needs of this crop of sixth graders, who spent all of third grade learning online. Many, Myers knows, never logged on. They have shorter attention spans and doubts about their reading skills but love class discussions, she said.

“They remember that time in their life when they were stuck talking to only people in their house,” Myers said. “They’re in class wanting to engage with each other.”

Aubria Myers teaches an English lesson at Comer Middle School.

Myers has tried to prevent her students from getting discouraged by their learning gaps. At the start of this school year, for example, she’s pointing out spelling and punctuation errors, but not docking points yet. She wants to make sure her students first have time to learn some of the key skills they missed in earlier grades.

“We have kids who don’t understand how to put a period somewhere in your sentence, or how to put spaces between their words,” Myers said. “I see these very beautifully strung together ideas, these really well thought-out explanations, but they’re missing some of those key mechanics.”

Student mental health and engagement still top of mind

Comer has responded to students’ post-pandemic needs in other ways, too. The school expanded its team of social workers and other staff who work with students to resolve conflicts and address mental health needs, a trend that’s been observed nationwide.

The school has long felt the effects of neighborhood gun violence and student trauma, but staff say having more adults focused on those issues has helped students open up and seek help. Now, more students are requesting verbal mediations to head off physical fights, staff say.

“If you follow us through the building, you’ll see,” said Stephanie Williams, a former reading teacher who now directs Comer’s social and emotional learning team. “Kids will seek you out, or find you, and let you know: ‘Hey, I need this.’”

On left, a student plays chess during a club sign-up event at Comer Middle School. On right, students start their English class with Aubria Myers by reading.

And this is the second year the school has scheduled all core classes earlier in the week, so that students can spend part of Friday practicing math and reading skills on the computer, and the rest of the day taking two special electives. It’s a strategy meant to keep students engaged — and showing up to school.

The school offers classes that pique students’ interests, such as the history of hip hop, hair braiding, and creative writing. Brandon Hall, a seventh grader at Comer, blended his first smoothie in a “foodies” class and bonded with his basketball coach through chess. He came to see similarities between making plays on the court and moving pawns across the board.

“I learned a lot from him,” he said.

On “Freedom Fridays,” attendance is higher and student conflicts are rarer, school officials say. That’s been important as the school, like many others, has seen higher chronic absenteeism rates over the last two years. At Comer, 1 in 3 sixth graders missed 18 or more days of school last year. Before the pandemic, that number sat closer to 1 in 5.

The approach runs counter to the calls some education experts have made for schools to double down on academics and add more instructional time — not take it away.

A recent report by the Center on Reinventing Public Education, for example, spells out the numerous ways students are still struggling, and calls for “a greater urgency to address learning gaps before students graduate.” Harvard education researcher Thomas Kane noted that few districts have lengthened the school day or year and warned that, “The academic recovery effort following the pandemic has been undersized from the beginning.”

But JuDonne Hemingway, the principal of Comer, said devoting time to enrichment activities during the school day is worth it to ensure all students have access to them. These classes, she added, are helping students develop interests they may pursue in college or as part of a career.

“They’re not just random experiences for kids,” Hemingway said. “We think they are just as important as any traditional academic class.”

Kalyn Belsha is a senior national education reporter based in Chicago. Contact her at kbelsha@chalkbeat.org.

These NYC teens overcame school refusal and made it to graduation

2023-08-02T10:00:00+00:00

Sign up for Chalkbeat New York’s free daily newsletter to keep up with NYC’s public schools.

Catherine had watched for years as her once high-achieving son’s relationship with school deteriorated.

Michael’s depression, anxiety, and ADHD made the transition to high school painful. Then the pandemic hit, and he spent his sophomore year at home in pajamas.

When schools fully reopened his junior year, Michael refused to return, and he was later hospitalized for attempting suicide. After that alarming episode, a psychiatrist gave Catherine pointed advice: drive your son to his Queens school every day, even just to see the building, or he may never go back.

“It scared me,” said Catherine.

Despite her son’s resistance, she made Michael get into their beat-up Hyundai Sonata and drive the 2.5 miles past the campus nearly every day for weeks. Eventually, he was able to step inside the school building and attend for longer stretches during summer school, with its less demanding schedule.

Then, remarkably, he returned full time for senior year.

Michael played chess with new friends. He went on the senior trip to a camp in Connecticut. He went to prom. While his attendance wasn’t perfect, he was a full-fledged member of the senior class, a development his mom credits to sticking with therapy and medications and eventually getting the accommodations he needed from his school.

In a moment that once felt next to impossible, Michael got his diploma last month and will head to community college in the fall. (Names in this story have been changed to middle names or pseudonyms to protect students’ privacy.)

Several families like Michael’s who overcame serious aversions to attending class — often referred to as school refusal — and made it to graduation told Chalkbeat they had to be determined and vigilant, navigating school mental health systems that are struggling to address worsening student needs since the pandemic without enough resources or updated guidance to meet this unprecedented moment.

Even before the pandemic, about 2 to 5% of children nationwide avoided school. Now, several social workers told Chalkbeat they are dealing with more extreme cases of school refusal than ever before, fueled in part by an alarming rise in suicidal ideation among city teens and contributing to a chronic absenteeism rate in New York City that hit 41% in the 2021-22 school year.

The consequences of missing so much school can be devastating. One longitudinal study estimated that a quarter of students who were chronically absent — defined as missing at least 10% of days — ultimately dropped out.

Meanwhile, the youth mental health system is bending under the pressure, with a shortage of hospital beds for youth in crisis and waitlists for therapists, especially for Medicaid patients, that are monthslong.

This means families rely on schools even more. But New York City’s school social workers and guidance counselors are often strained, with an average of one social worker per 456 students and one guidance counselor per 277 students, according to an analysis. National guidance recommends one school counselor and one social worker for every 250 students. For children with more extreme needs, the recommended ratio is one social worker to 50 students.

Balancing high caseloads and sometimes multiple schools make it hard to follow time-consuming best practices to treat school refusal, such as individualized transition plans with gradual exposure to school. And schools may miss early warning signs altogether.

Several social workers also told Chalkbeat that they do not have dedicated supervisors to regularly advise them on difficult cases, a common practice in clinical settings that could help prevent burnout, especially for newly minted staffers.

“I always go to a trusted colleague to run through a case during a time of crisis, just to bounce ideas off of,” said Dr. Jessica Chock-Goldman, a social worker at Bard Early College High School in Manhattan and adjunct professor at New York University’s Silver School of Social Work. “If students who are newly out of their masters program, and do not have the training and background in how to properly assess a child for suicidal ideation or any high risk cases, how can we put full trust in this clinician?”

Myka, 17, returned to their Queens home for senior year after spending junior year at a residential therapeutic program in Utah.

Education Department officials confirmed that social workers have no direct supervisors, but said they have access to teams outside of their school in the superintendent and central offices for additional support. Central staffers host office hours with small groups and case conferencing sessions to discuss best practices and challenging cases, officials said, but they declined to provide how often these are held.

Officials also point out that every school has access to a mental health professional — though the fate of 500 social workers hired with federal relief dollars remains a question after that money dries up next year. Schools are focusing on breathing and mindfulness, and the health department plans to roll out teletherapy for high school students this year.

“We’re also working to improve attendance across our school system and ensure that every single student feels safe, seen, and welcomed every day in their school buildings and communities, and engaged in their classroom learning,” education department spokesperson Jenna Lyle said in an email.

In more than a decade working in schools, Chock-Goldman said she’s never seen the level of student need that she has in the past two years, and she’s worried schools are unprepared. “Kids spend more waking hours at school than any other place,” she said. “We’re the ones doing the work.”

Schools lack training to work with intense needs, some say

Michael’s freshman year guidance counselor was “well-intentioned,” but had little training or experience with school refusal, said his mom, a social worker herself. He started to avoid school that first year of high school, months before the pandemic, and exhibited signs that went unnoticed in elementary school.

His family transferred him in the middle of freshman year to a smaller Queens high school with a strong advisory program. Soon after, classes went remote, and Michael’s mental health spiraled. During his junior year, after Michael spent about a week in the hospital, the school social worker tried to connect the family with a day treatment program. Waitlists were too long.

His family considered various out-of-school learning options, such as a hybrid online and in-person model called Fusion and therapeutic boarding school. They also considered Mount Sinai’s Comprehensive Adolescent Rehabilitation and Education Service, known as CARES, which is a therapy-based school serving teens with severe emotional challenges. Because that program is an alternative school in the city’s District 79, kids earn class credits.

But the number of applicants to CARES, which serves about 50 teens, is often nearly as big as the program itself, said Dr. Kelly Mule, a psychologist at CARES and assistant professor of psychiatry at Mount Sinai’s Icahn School of Medicine.

Michael didn’t want to attend any of these programs. He wanted to return to his Queens high school, but he didn’t know how.

By May of his junior year, as he took classes at home as part of the city’s program for students with medical conditions, Michael was able to walk inside the school building. He could sit with the social worker and work on Google classroom assignments, but he couldn’t make himself walk into the classrooms. He felt too awkward when people asked where he had been, Catherine said.

“Some of the teachers made comments, ‘I don’t even know this kid. Who is this kid?’” she recounted.

At CARES, for instance, teachers are trained on how to respond to kids after prolonged absences and follow their lead on workload, often in partnership with a child’s therapist, Mule said. While time-consuming and not foolproof, these strategies can shorten future absences.

But these best practices are often passed down by more experienced colleagues, she explained. That’s why in clinical settings, staffers with a licensed master of social work, have supervisors they meet with weekly to discuss cases — a resource missing for school social workers. To Mule’s surprise, she has met veteran school social workers who weren’t aware of city-funded programs for youth, such as Children’s Single Point of Access, a centralized system for finding mental health services.

“You can’t expect social workers to sustain their work with no supervision,” Mule said. “They need a seasoned supervisor who can connect them to resources that they have vetted and know work for a specific set of symptoms or needs.”

Mental health approaches can be uneven, even within schools

This past year at Manhattan’s High School for Environmental Studies, 17-year-old Myka was required to attend a guidance counselor’s lecture about suicide prevention and awareness. Myka, who was hospitalized for suicidal ideation in December 2020, the middle of sophomore year, thought making the lecture mandatory was “hilarious” and found the counselor’s delivery cringe-worthy.

Myka, 17, holds a fidget device called an infinity cube in their Queens backyard.

When schools went remote for the pandemic, Myka, who identifies as nonbinary, stopped attending classes online and barely left their room because “it didn’t make sense in my brain to do school at home,” they said. Instead of going back to their Queens high school, they spent several months at a wilderness program in Georgia, and then completed junior year in a residential therapeutic program in Utah.

But come senior year, they felt ready to return to New York City. Though they still suffered from social anxiety, depression, and ADHD symptoms, they had more coping skills and a stronger sense of self-advocacy through therapy and self work. That’s why the counselor’s lecture came as a shock.

“She said that telling someone ‘You’re being selfish’ when they tell you they’ve thought of hurting or seriously harming themselves was an okay way to respond,” Myka said. “It just wasn’t the message that should have been sent, and was a bit of a red flag in my book.”

The school social worker, on the other hand, was a source of comfort, helping figure out which accommodations on their special education plan were needed — and which weren’t. (The school’s principal declined to comment, directing questions to the Education Department.)

Myka didn’t, for instance, need classes with two teachers, a requirement that would have prevented them from taking most of their courses, including their favorite course: AP psychology.

Other accommodations were lifesavers. Myka took breaks during class to walk around or go to the social worker’s office. They were also allowed fidget toys in class, extensions on some assignments, extra time on tests, and specific instructions breaking down big projects into more manageable tasks. And their social worker brokered a meeting with Myka’s English teacher to allow headphones to cancel out class noise, as long as no music was playing.

“I do feel as though I am able to advocate for myself and feel heard, which is something I have received a lot of positive feedback about,” Myka said.

Myka will soon head to a dorm four hours away at SUNY Oneonta, where they plan to study psychology in hopes of becoming a therapist or social worker — inspired by their own experience in mental health treatment centers.

Krystal Folk, 31, a middle school social worker, poses for a portrait in Fort Greene Park in Brooklyn.

Myka’s success story illustrates the difference a great school professional can make, what KIPP charter school social worker Krystal Folk tries to accomplish with her Bronx students.

As a young Black girl growing up in Brooklyn, Folk herself felt like it wasn’t culturally acceptable to get therapy, a mindset she’s trying to change through her own work.

“In our community it’s taken a long time to accept that we need mental health services,” she said. That’s why she considers it extra important that she disclose to her students her own depression and anxiety.

“They say, ‘No Ms. Folk, you’re fine.’ I tell them, ‘I’m clinically diagnosed,’” she said. “I think normalizing that we have feelings and anxieties is important. As corny and cheesy as it sounds, I try to be the person I wish I had at their age.”

Services beyond schools are still needed

For some students, school doesn’t offer the services they need. But after getting help elsewhere, they are driven to return by a passion for learning.

That was the case with Emma, whose mother, Beth, turned to a private therapist for her daughter’s ADHD, extreme anxiety, and suicidal ideation that led to school refusal. Emma attended the famed LaGuardia High School of Music & Art and Performing Arts, where there is one social worker for about 900 students, and one counselor for every 200 kids, according to an analysis. The school’s on-site mental health clinic closed during the pandemic, families said. (The school’s acting principal did not respond for comment.)

Beth credits her daughter’s return to school to dialectical behavior therapy, or DBT, which helps patients learn to confront and change unhealthy behaviors. Emma first had access to the “life changing” therapy in her after-care program following hospitalization when she was a sophomore.

But another factor in her recovery was her drive to succeed at LaGuardia and her love of the school’s drama classes, which drew her to school even as dark times returned junior year, when fights with friends on social media followed her into the classroom.

“She considered pulling out of school,” Beth said. “But she didn’t want to give up on LaGuardia. She just put one foot in front of the other.” Being in the drama program remained a big pull: “To be able to spend half of your day working on your art, whatever your art is, the joy of that never diminished,” her mom said.

Emma is now planning to attend college in upstate New York and hopes to become a director or art designer, said Beth.

Echoing other parents of students who suffered from school refusal, Beth said, “We are cautiously optimistic.”

If you or someone you know is considering self-harm, please dial 988 for the National Suicide & Crisis Lifeline.

Amy Zimmer is the bureau chief for Chalkbeat New York. Contact Amy at azimmer@chalkbeat.org.

School clinics bolster students’ mental health. So why aren’t there more?

2023-06-08T11:00:00+00:00

Her daughter’s anxiety was spiraling out of control and Jaquetta Johnson couldn’t find help.

Last fall, as the Delaware fourth grader’s acute anxiety kept her from concentrating in class, a doctor gave Johnson a list of children’s therapists. But all were fully booked, some with wait times of six months to a year.

Then Johnson heard about a new health clinic inside a school in her daughter’s school district south of Wilmington. Johnson enrolled her daughter, and soon she was receiving counseling.

“When nobody else would see her,” Johnson said, “she was able to get help at school.”

Nationwide, nearly 2,600 health centers operated out of schools in 2017, the most recent year with available data — more than twice the number that existed two decades earlier. Some 6.3 million students in more than 10,000 schools had access to the centers, according to the School-Based Health Alliance.

School-based health centers offer free services — from flu shots and physicals to contraceptive care and talk therapy — that students can access without need of insurance or a trip to the doctor’s office. The vast majority offer behavioral health care, which is increasingly in demand as students’ mental health challenges mount.

“The mental health needs: It’s across districts, it’s across states, it’s across the country,” said Cheri Woodall, health and wellness supervisor in the Colonial School District, where Johnson’s daughter attends school.

Now, as many schools buckle under the weight of those needs and some community providers cannot meet demand, on-campus health clinics are attracting new attention.

Health clinics have operated out of schools for decades. At last count, there were nearly 2,600 school health clinics nationwide.

Last month, Minnesota became the 21st state to fund school clinics, according to the alliance. Many governors, including those in Ohio and Georgia, used COVID recovery money to launch school health centers, and some federal lawmakers want to boost their funding.

But despite the renewed interest in school clinics and the explosion of student needs, they remain under-funded and hard to keep afloat. Many clinics operate at a loss and must be subsidized by hospitals. Financial challenges are a major reason why just 1 in 10 public schools have access to health clinics, even as decades of research show they improve student health and academic outcomes.

“While there’s a lot of research supporting how beneficial it can be to bring this model into schools, there’s still not enough of them across the country,” said Samira Soleimanpour, a senior researcher at the University of California, San Francisco, who studies school clinics.

School clinics spread, bolstered by evidence they work

Delaware established its first school health clinic nearly 40 years ago, partly as a way to curb teen pregnancies. Today, it is the only state to require a health center in every traditional public high school.

But when David Distler became principal of Eisenberg Elementary School in the Colonial School District about a decade ago, none of the state’s elementary schools had a health clinic. Distler believed that students’ untreated medical conditions and trauma contributed to the school’s attendance and discipline problems. So when the district superintendent proposed opening a clinic at Eisenberg, Distler jumped at the idea.

It launched in 2016, becoming Delaware’s first health clinic in a traditional elementary school. Housed in a converted classroom, it features an exam room, a counseling office, and a lab that can run urine, blood, and saliva tests. Nemours Children’s Health, a nonprofit that operates pediatric hospitals and clinics, staffs it with nurse practitioners, social workers, and a psychologist.

The medical assistant at Eisenberg Elementary School’s health clinic checks a student’s blood pressure. The clinic offers physicals, vaccinations, counseling, and other free services to students.

Some team members rotate among the district’s seven other elementary schools, so that students at every campus can access care. Parents simply need to enroll their children in the clinic — no insurance, copays, transportation, or time off work required.

School staffers also refer students. They can recommend counseling sessions for a child who lost a loved one, ask a clinician to intervene when a student’s unmanaged illness is causing frequent absences, or send a student with a sore throat to be tested for strep throat and, if positive, prescribed medication.

“It’s just so nice to have that support here,” said Michelle Rosseel, Eisenberg’s school nurse. “It works beautifully.”

Lorena Sandoval, the clinic’s medical assistant, recalled a student whose family had recently moved to the U.S. The boy needed a physical and immunization shots to start school, but his family lacked insurance and most doctor’s offices were booked solid. The school wellness center was able to see him within days, and soon he was taking classes.

Distler watched attendance and behavior at his 400-student school improve as more children received medical care and counseling. The number of “discipline referrals” for serious misbehavior plummeted from 1,000 annually when he arrived at Eisenberg to around 100 per year now, Distler said, which he attributes partly to the center.

“You’re getting those high-needs kids the help they need,” he said.

Principal David Distler credits the health clinic at Eisenberg Elementary School with helping improve student behavior and attendance.

Researchers have found that school health clinics boost vaccination rates, reduce emergency room and hospital visits, and can lower rates of teen pregnancy and depression. They also appear to improve student grades and attendance, and reduce disparities by making health care more accessible to Black, Hispanic, and students from low-income backgrounds.

In addition to primary care, such as check-ups and asthma management, about 1 in 5 school clinics provide dental care and half offer reproductive health services to teens, including pregnancy and sexually transmitted infections tests, according to a 2021 survey.

Behavioral health is a major focus: 80% of clinics offer support for students struggling with anxiety, substance use, suicidal thoughts, and other mental health challenges.

“For our most vulnerable students, that might be their only care,” said Katy Stinchfield, director of behavioral health programs at the School-Based Health Alliance. “If they don’t get it at school, they don’t get it.”

Many school health clinics operate at a loss and must rely on sponsor organizations to keep them afloat.

Despite support, school clinics struggle to stay afloat

Today, health clinics are as commonplace in Delaware’s public high schools as libraries and cafeterias. Yet funding remains a perennial challenge.

State aid covers about half of the clinics’ annual operating costs, according to a 2021 state task force report. The clinics also bill Medicaid and private insurers, but some students aren’t insured, certain services aren’t covered, and clinics don’t bill for confidential services, such as sexual health care. Also, only about 1 in 5 eligible Delaware students enroll in the clinics, according to a state analysis, limiting the number of billable services provided.

The result is a net loss of $22,000 per year for the average high school clinic and a gaping $300,000 annual deficit for elementary school clinics, which until recently did not receive state aid. The nonprofit hospitals that manage the clinics must make up the difference.

The same scenario plays out in other states, including New York, whose latest budget allocates about $21 million for the state’s more than 250 school-based health centers. The state grants and insurance reimbursements rarely cover a center’s full operating costs, said Dr. Viju Jacob, medical director at Urban Health Plan, a nonprofit that runs 12 school clinics in New York City.

“In my 19-plus years of being in the school-based health center world, I think one year we hit even,” he said. “But the organization believes in the mission, so we continue.”

Congress budgeted $50 million for school health clinics this fiscal year, but only about half are eligible. Advocates have urged Congress to quadruple that amount to $200 million in next fiscal year’s budget, which is currently being negotiated, and extend eligibility to all clinics.

More than 90 members of Congress have joined the call for more funding. Among them is Sen. Tom Carper, a Democrat and former governor of Delaware who has long championed school clinics.

“We’ve been a model, and actually showed that this is not just a good idea, but one that works,” said Carper, who accompanied U.S. Secretary of Education Miguel Cardona on a visit to Eisenberg’s health center last fall.

Tina Kline is raising her grandson, John, a second grader in the Colonial School District in Delaware. A social worker from the school health clinic provided the family with food and clothes.

But the likelihood of a federal funding boost dwindled last month, when leaders of both parties agreed to a debt-ceiling deal that would freeze most domestic spending — meaning schools can’t count on Washington to keep their clinics open.

Delaware officials say they remain committed to school health centers. In 2020, the legislature began funding clinics in elementary schools with the greatest needs.

“It is a key component of public health,” said Leah Jones Woodall, who oversees school clinics for the state’s health and social services department.

The Colonial School District spends $675,000 annually to maintain its elementary school clinics, and recently it secured a $200,000 grant from the county to open its first middle school clinic later this year. Eventually, students will be able to attend schools from kindergarten to graduation where health care is just down the hallway.

The clinics have also expanded their offerings. Last fall, Nemours Children’s Health hired a social worker, Dwane Budheah, who assists families with everything from food to housing — non-medical needs that play a big role in children’s health.

A few months ago, he contacted Tina Kline, who last year began raising her grandson John, a second grader, and his older sister. Kline was struggling to make ends meet on her fixed income, so Budheah accompanied her to the school pantry to load up on food and household items. Later, he brought John a new winter coat, a jacket, jeans, and socks.

“It made me feel good,” Kline said, “that somebody cared enough to help.”

Patrick Wall is a former senior reporter at Chalkbeat.

What happened to the social-emotional screening tool that NYC schools began using last year?

2023-05-25T18:00:00+00:00

Sign up for Chalkbeat New York’s free daily newsletter to keep up with NYC’s public schools.

New York City’s education department plans to ditch a controversial social skills assessment for the coming school year, Chalkbeat has learned.

The tool’s proponents believe it’s a missed opportunity to help shift school culture to become more responsive to children’s social-emotional wellbeing, particularly at a time when needs are high.

In many ways, however, the tool’s rollout was doomed from the start.

Officials knew that students would have increased mental health demands when they returned to classrooms last year. They promised to be ready.

It was December 2020, long before the start of the new school year, when officials released a “mental health and wellbeing plan,” highlighting how schools would use a five-minute assessment to quickly identify significant emotional issues. The results would help flag individuals who needed more intensive interventions and support.

About eight months after that announcement, the city approved a 3-year $18 million contract to Aperture, an education technology company that created a platform to administer what’s known as the Devereux Student Strengths Assessment, or DESSA.

A few months later, in October 2021, education department officials shared the assessment tool with teachers, giving them a short runway to figure out how to utilize it.

The backlash against the DESSA was swift. Teachers feared they didn’t know their students well enough and that their responses could be biased. Many revolted against the directive to administer it, asking parents to opt out. Parents from various ends of the political spectrum refused to have their kids assessed. Some had concerns about privacy and data security, others worried about the questions’ overreach and the time it would take teachers away from building relationships with their children.

Many questioned the cost of the tool — though broken down by school, it came to roughly $3,300 a year for each school.

This year, the education department quietly backed off the initiative, making it optional for schools to administer the DESSA. Many educators told Chalkbeat that their schools ditched it. Education department officials declined to disclose how many schools continue to use it, but confirmed that the citywide DESSA program is expected to be discontinued in the coming school year.

“Broad implementation of the screener was only a temporary initiative,” education department spokesperson Jenna Lyle said in an email. “While the screener will no longer be administered city-wide, the practice has helped schools to understand the importance of identifying students who may be in need of additional support and prioritizing wellness among the entire school community.”

Schools can continue to implement social-emotional screening assessments, if they choose to, and the department is available to assist with that process, she said.

For David Adams, the CEO of Urban Assembly, a network of about two dozen schools across the city that have long incorporated the DESSA, the assessment tool is critical, especially at a time when many kids don’t feel like they have a trusted adult on campus.

Of the sixth through 12th graders across the city who responded to last year’s school survey, more than 1 in 5 did not have at least one adult in the school they could confide in.

The criticism from teachers about not knowing their students well enough to fill out the assessments is precisely the reason that it’s needed, Adams said.

“The tool becomes the intervention,” he said. “A teacher who is paying attention to student interactions will be able to fill it out. A teacher who doesn’t know their students, isn’t collaborative with them… that’s where you’re seeing the opportunity.”

Problems with DESSA rollout

The messaging around the initial announcement of the mental health plan laid some of the groundwork for pushback. Educators and parents worried about overstepping boundaries when it came to evaluating kids’ mental health.

The DESSA, however, is not about identifying mental health issues. It aims to gauge social skills such as decision-making, self-awareness, and taking personal responsibility. Among the 40 questions: During the past four weeks, how often did the child keep trying when unsuccessful? Get things done within a timely fashion? Show good judgment? Offer to help somebody?

It also often took more than five minutes for a teacher to fill out the questions for each student. Teachers were expected to fill it out in the fall and spring to track a student’s social-emotional arc over the year. It often felt like one more burden, teachers said.

Moreover, several educators told Chalkbeat they didn’t know how the results were used and didn’t think that schools got more support for counselors if they ended up flagging students who needed more help.

“Vague promises were made about school-level support that might materialize depending on the results of the DESSA screeners,” said Brittany Kaiser, an art teacher at the Earth School, an elementary school in Manhattan’s East Village. “We were, and are, in desperate need of more guidance counselors and social workers, more funding for other support positions, and trainings on trauma-informed teaching, de-escalation strategies, restorative justice implementation, and conflict resolution strategies.”

That support, however, never materialized, she said.

When the tool was made optional this year, Kaiser’s school dropped it.

Overall, fewer Manhattan schools filled out the DESSA than their counterparts in other boroughs, according to fall 2022 data obtained by Chalkbeat. Roughly 67% of Manhattan schools used the tool in the fall, while about 75% in Brooklyn and Queens did. Schools in Staten Island and the Bronx had the highest rates at 84% and 80%, respectively.

New York City schools are trying to focus more on social-emotional learning. The DESSA was supposed to help.

The education department tried to make it easier to administer the DESSA, giving high schools the option of having students fill out the questionnaire themselves, while elementary and middle schools could allow parents to fill out the questions, according to updated guidance sent to principals earlier this year. Officials also told schools they could tap federal relief funding to pay teachers extra for filling out the tool beyond the school day.

Allowing students and parents to fill out the form dilutes the intent, Adams said. He sees the tool as a way to get teachers to pay closer attention to their students through a “strength-based” framework and give educators a common language on how to discuss those skills.

Adams compared the assessment to an approach that a coach uses for athletes, observing and giving suggestions based on those observations. Rather than a screener, Adams views the DESSA as a “feedback tool.”

“The goal is not ultimately about having people rate kids,” he said. “It’s about every kid having social emotional competence and teachers learning to see and give feedback on that. Feedback drives learning.”

Teachers are often giving feedback on social-emotional skills that’s tied up in grades, Adams said. They might, for instance, conflate mastery of a topic with things like deadlines. The tool provides a way to tease that apart and enable a teacher to discuss the importance of responsibility and turning assignments in on time. Rather than simply taking 10 points off on an assignment, for example, it gives the teacher “the language and the clarity” to talk about certain skills a student needs to be successful.

According to Adams, about 47% of a student’s grade is linked to social-emotional competency scores, and the DESSA, he believes, can help schools address issues, such as goal-setting, which affect academic performance.

Using the tool to change teaching and learning

The Urban Assembly network began incorporating the DESSA years ago, after seeing how nonprofit youth development organizations, such as the Children’s Aid Society, were using it to focus on social-emotional outcomes. The network employs 14 social-emotional learning specialists that fan out to schools to assist them with how to use the DESSA. (Meisha Porter, who was chancellor at the time the city selected the DESSA, had been a principal of an Urban Assembly school — after taking over from current Chancellor David Banks.) But the intensive assistance from the Urban Assembly was never scaled across the system, leaving many schools adrift when it came to incorporating the tool.

“If it feels like an add on…it’s not going to be useful,” said Delia Veve, principal of Manhattan’s Urban Assembly Media High School. “If people are doing it out of compliance and begrudgingly, then it’s about checking a box. What does that accomplish?”

The school goes all in on the tool. Before they administer it for their students, the adults at Veve’s school study the skills on the DESSA, to help them reflect on what they mean and how they might show up, the principal explained. Then, each of the roughly 350 students are assessed twice a year by at least two different adults, including the teacher from advisory, to help address possible biases in responses.

“I recognize that’s a heavy lift,” Veve said, “but it does make that data that much more reliable.”

Her school uses results from the DESSA less for identifying individuals who need more dedicated support and more for identifying trends across the grades to change teaching practices.

The school noticed last year that relationship skills were a bigger area of weakness than previously, which was unsurprising given the prolonged isolation during the pandemic and the continued COVID mitigations last year that prevented a lot of group work. So this year, the school bolstered opportunities for kids to work collaboratively.

Rather than view the responses as an issue where students aren’t demonstrating certain competencies, it reveals where the school might not be creating the space to meet their needs.

It helps her see, Veve said, “Is it a reflection of the kid or is it a reflection of the school?”

Need for a holistic approach to help kids

Without a lot of support, however, many schools floundered with the DESSA. One Bronx administrator explained that her school dropped the DESSA because it felt redundant to what they already had in place. The school prides itself on having a robust team for social-emotional support: It has three guidance counselors and two social workers who help lead weekly advisory groups and small group counseling for its roughly 600 students.

The advisory groups, in particular, focus on social-emotional learning and peer relationships, and they provide insights to the counseling team when issues might arise, said the administrator, who requested anonymity. Whether a school offers an advisory period often comes down to carving out space in the schedule and making tradeoffs, the administrator explained. For them, it meant giving up other electives, like robotics.

If her school’s team didn’t have such a strong counseling infrastructure in place, she might have found the DESSA more helpful, she said. She thought it was worthwhile to figure out a way to measure social-emotional learning metrics, she said.

The ways schools have incorporated the DESSA was uneven, with some schools more focused than others on how to use the tool to identify students who need help, said Kevin Dahill-Fuchel, executive director of Counseling in Schools, which provides counseling services at roughly 70 schools across the city.

Yet, while the tool might not give a parent a definitive answer about how their child is doing, Dahill-Fuchel didn’t think it seemed harmful. But there’s not always a clear plan on what should happen next with the data.

“There’s not a robust accountability system,” Dahill-Fuchel said.

Having such a system is important to shift a school’s culture toward a more supportive environment, he said.

“Where we need to get to ultimately,” Dahill-Fuchel said, “is that schools get held accountable for social skill development and emotional wellbeing in the same way they do for academic progress.”

Amy Zimmer is the bureau chief for Chalkbeat New York. Contact Amy at azimmer@chalkbeat.org.

I never thought my child would need a school social worker, but I’m so glad she’s in our lives

2023-05-19T12:00:00+00:00

Walking my eldest daughter to school in the mornings is one of my favorite things to do. We use this time to talk about her friends and the subjects that excite her, like art and music. When we reach the school and say our goodbyes, I remind her that I love her. I wait in the schoolyard until I see her pass through the doors; sometimes, she turns back to wave again but usually just heads right in.

Fabiola Mejia

The school shooting in Nashville, on the heels of too many other school tragedies in recent memory, has added a sense of foreboding to our morning routine. I find myself praying for her safety as I watch the kids follow one another into the colorful hallways. Despite how well my daughter does academically, there are times I wish I could wait in her schoolyard until the end of the day just to make sure she’s OK.

Having gone through some difficult events in the past few years — from a student threatening her with a weapon at school, to the pandemic shutdowns, to a tragic fire that broke out in front of our home last November and claimed a little girl’s life — it’s no wonder why my 9-year-old daughter developed anxiety.

I knew something was up after she started complaining of stomachaches. When multiple trips to the doctor showed no physical ailment, I wondered if there was something she wasn’t telling me. Was she being picked on at school? Her father and I did our best to reassure her that she could talk to us about anything. She couldn’t put a name to her feelings, but we could see the worry on her face. There were periods of pensive silence and nights when she struggled to sleep.

Nervous about receiving judgment rather than empathy, I didn’t talk about this situation with family or friends. So I was hesitant when the school social worker, Mrs. D, contacted me just before the holidays last year, asking to have regular meetings with my daughter. Filled with wrongheaded ideas about what a school social worker does, I worried that I had failed my daughter. The possibility filled me with shame.

At the same time, I was relieved to have someone supporting my daughter — and our family. I choked up during our initial phone call as I explained the traumatic events my daughter had experienced, including her twin sisters’ multiple hospitalizations for respiratory issues in the last year. I told Mrs. D that I felt guilty that I could not protect her from things over which I had no control.

Mrs. D listened to me patiently, never once interrupting to tell me she had to go or that she didn’t want to hear our life story. I could hear the empathy and grace in her voice as she told me that I had a lovely daughter who was doing her best in school and just needed a little help coping with her fears. We agreed that Mrs. D would meet weekly with my daughter and would be in touch if she saw any red flags. As our call wrapped up, she made sure to ask me to take care of myself, telling me to call her if we needed anything.

Before working with Mrs. D, I thought school social workers were only for families experiencing homelessness, abuse, or in need of major interventions. Social workers do so much more. For our family, Mrs. D was a lifeline — helping us navigate scary and painful moments.

For a time, my daughter refused to leave the house without a mask, even after the mask mandate had been lifted and her father and I told her she could go to school without one. She became fearful of passing on any germs that might cause her little sisters to get feverish. Mrs. D. worked with her to overcome this fear, informing her that some germs are necessary to strengthen our immune systems. Gradually, my daughter went a few minutes to a few hours without a mask at school. Now, she no longer panics if she forgets to wear one.

I’m grateful that I put aside my notions about what it meant to work with a school social worker. I’ve learned the valuable services that school social workers can offer students and families — those in crisis, yes, but also those like ours who just need a little extra support.

There were periods of pensive silence and nights when she struggled to sleep.

My daughter is slowly starting to enjoy school again and has gotten better at expressing her emotions. She has learned some coping mechanisms for when she feels anxious; they range from simple breathing exercises to writing down her fears and tossing the paper in the trash as a way to release the fears from her mind. It’s reassuring to hear her say that she looks forward to her one-on-one and small group sessions with Mrs. D.

Mrs. D has also identified school activities that might interest my daughter and walked me through getting a referral for counseling services. Most importantly, though, she has reminded me that it’s OK for parents to seek out support. In doing so, we demonstrate to our kids that there’s power, not shame, in asking for the help we need.

Fabiola Mejia is a freelance writer and HR coordinator from Boston who enjoys traveling, reading, and gardening. When she’s not at her desk, she’s either experimenting with new recipes in the kitchen or taking walks with her family.

Las escuelas de Cherry Creek quieren ayudar a los niños de primaria en proceso de duelo

2023-05-02T17:00:00+00:00

Read in English.

Por años después de que Oliver Dean perdiera a su padre a los 5 años por cáncer, había cosas que le desencadenaban depresión.

Pero Oliver contaba con algunas ventajas: Tenía una madre que trabajaba en su escuela, un orientador escolar accesible y un psicólogo especializado en duelo infantil. Juntos, le ayudaron a sobrellevar recuerdos abrumadores y el dolor incapacitante.

Desde que comenzó la pandemia, más niños han sufrido la pérdida de un padre o cuidador, pero muy pocos de ellos tienen acceso a este tipo de apoyo.

El año pasado, el Distrito Escolar de Cherry Creek empezó un programa piloto con la organización sin fines de lucro Judi’s House en Aurora, dedicada a la atención al duelo, para ofrecerles terapia de grupo a los estudiantes de primaria. La Cherry Creek Schools Foundation está financiando el programa piloto.

Este año el programa atiende a 20 estudiantes en dos escuelas.

“Creo que hay mucha más necesidad, sin duda”, dijo Steve Nederveld, director de salud mental del Distrito Escolar de Cherry Creek. “Hubo escuelas que nos pidieron específicamente este tipo de programa”.

Dean conoce esa necesidad.

Un día en tercer grado, leer un libro sobre una niña que padecía alopecia (una enfermedad que provoca la caída del cabello) llenó la mente de Dean con dolorosos recuerdos sobre su padre calvo y sobre cómo no lo recordaba con pelo.

A menudo, los maestros sabían avisarle a Dean cuando un tema en clase podría recordarle su pérdida. Ese día, Dean no esperaba que le invadiera una oleada de dolor. Pero como había estado aprendiendo cómo manejar sus emociones, reconoció lo que sentía y decidió salir del salón de clases.

Ahora a los 19 años, Dean dice que tuvo suerte de contar con ese apoyo, en parte organizado de antemano por su papá, un trabajador social. Él sabe que la mayoría de los niños no son tan afortunados.

“Mucha más gente de lo que se espera pierde a un ser querido antes de cumplir los 18 años”, dijo Dean. “No conoces las circunstancias de todo el mundo. La gente que se siente identificada es mucha más de la que esperas”.

La necesidad de atención al duelo está creciendo

Si el ensayo de Cherry Creek demuestra que ayuda a los niños, los líderes dicen que les gustaría que pudiera convertirse en parte regular de los programas de Judi’s House para las escuelas. Para ello se necesitarían más datos que demuestren que el programa funciona, así como una forma de pagarlo, ya que el grupo no les cobra a las escuelas por el servicio.

Por años, la organización sin fines de lucro se ha enfocado en las escuelas intermedias, donde considera que sus limitados fondos pueden tener mayor impacto. Pero los líderes de otras escuelas conocían el programa y pidieron también servicios similares a su nivel, dijo Nederveld.

Es difícil obtener cifras firmes, pero las personas que trabajan en las escuelas dicen que cada vez hay más estudiantes que estudiantes que sufren pérdidas. Nederveld dijo que parte de ello está relacionado con el COVID, pero los estudiantes también están sufriendo las consecuencias de muertes por suicidio, sobredosis de drogas y violencia armada.

Un modelo desarrollado por Judi’s House calcula el número de niños que sufrirán la muerte de uno de sus padres o hermanos antes de los 18 años. En 2018, esa cifra fue de 1 de cada 18 niños en Colorado. En 2022, subió a 1 de cada 14 niños.

Eso representa más o menos un 7% de la población de niños.

Las escuelas consideran beneficioso ayudar a los estudiantes a superar el duelo

Judi’s House está operando sus grupos de terapia de duelo en la primaria Village East Community de Cherry Creek, donde casi un 70% de los estudiantes califican para comidas con subsidio (una medida de la pobreza) y en Rolling Hills, donde califica alrededor de un 15% de los estudiantes.

En otoño, el personal se comunicó con familias de estudiantes que sabían que habían perdido a un familiar cercano. Si la familia estaba de acuerdo, el personal clínico de Judi’s House entrevistaba al estudiante para ver cómo le estaba afectando el duelo y asegurar que el grupo podía beneficiarle. Los maestros también llenaron cuestionarios sobre el comportamiento de sus estudiantes en clase.

Luego los estudiantes se asignaron a uno de los dos grupos dependiendo de su edad.

Los lideres del distrito y de la escuela dicen que el hecho de que el grupo funcione en la escuela, durante el día escolar y de forma gratuita, ayuda a las familias que pudieran enfrentar barreras al tratar de conseguir esos servicios fuera de las escuelas.

Karen Arrowsmith, psicóloga de Rolling Hills, dijo que a mitad del programa de 10 semanas para estudiantes de tercero a quinto grado, los maestros informaron de que los estudiantes están entusiasmados.

“Ellos esperan con gusto participar en el grupo, están empezando a compartir más, y están checando para verificar que la reunión del grupo todavía va a ocurrir esa semana”, dijo Arrowsmith.

La meta es ayudar que poco a poco a los estudiantes entiendan mejor sus sentimientos y procesen sus emociones. Luego los estudiantes aprenden varias estrategias para sobrellevar el duelo.

“Cuando muere alguien cercano a un niño, su mundo se tambalea”, dijo Arrowsmith. “Yo diría que vemos una variedad de emociones: confusión, tristeza, coraje, preocupación. Los niños me dicen que es difícil dormir. Concentrarse en las tareas escolares puede ser difícil”

Para el grupo más joven, un curso de seis semanas les ayuda a definir y entender sus sentimientos y aprender estrategias para sobrellevarlos.

“La manera en que un niño entiende el mundo puede quedar destrozada o alterada”, dijo Emily Napier, la trabajadora social clínica licenciada y gerente de atención comunitaria de Judi’s House que dirige el programa piloto. “Es muy doloroso. Eso puede manifestarse en cambios de comportamiento. Es de ayuda que las escuelas puedan decir no queremos castigar a estos niños por este comportamiento, pero también necesitamos que ellos puedan funcionar y aprender.”

La mamá de Oliver Dean, Lisa Dean, dice que cuando Oliver estaba creciendo ella veía cómo su dolor se manifestaba de diferentes maneras. Los cambios, como el final del año escolar, eran difíciles. Los maestros notaron que estaba teniendo dificultades en su bar mitzvah, y ella se dio cuenta de que la razón era que echaba de menos a su papá.

“El duelo no es un acontecimiento, es un viaje que cambia con el tiempo dependiendo de la madurez del niño”, dijo Lisa.

Napier dijo que los grupos son una “poderosa oportunidad para que los niños se sientan vistos”.

“Especialmente con los niños pequeños, a veces como sociedad subestimamos el dolor que sienten, pero los niños pequeños sufren tanto como nosotros”, dijo Napier.

Oliver, que ahora está en la universidad, desea que más escuelas estuvieran preparadas para ayudar a los estudiantes que sufren la muerte de un familiar cercano.

“Vivimos en una sociedad que no quiere hablar de la muerte. Pero para las personas que están en duelo, es más difícil no ver que otra persona lo entiende”, dijo. “No es justo dejar a los estudiantes solos con la expectativa de que se desempeñen al máximo nivel, incluso cuando ya han pasado por tanto. A veces hay cosas en la vida que son más importantes”.

Yesenia Robles es reportera de Chalkbeat Colorado y cubre temas sobre los distritos escolares K-12 y la educación multilingüe. Para comunicarte con Yesenia, escríbele a yrobles@chalkbeat.org.

Page 2 of JH Services 2022 Double Sided (1)

Contributed to DocumentCloud by Yesenia Robles (Chalkbeat) • View document or read text

Others had social workers but struggled to meet the needs of non-English speaking families. Studies show counseling is twice as effective if it’s in the language of the person seeking it.

DOE offers comprehensive translation services by phone that allowed social worker Jessica Chock-Goldman, who worked at Stuyvesant High School until July 2021, to communicate with non-English speaking parents about getting support for their children. But speaking through a translator makes it harder to talk about sensitive topics, like grief. “I remember in the beginning, we had so many kids who lost parents” to COVID, Chock-Goldman said, but she found it difficult to help them.

Typically, she arranges for clinicians with a shared ethnicity to talk with parent groups about ways their kids can work through stigmas related to mental health.

“A lot of these families, in their country of origin for the parents, therapy is not the norm,” she said.

Carolina Nudo, the former social worker at Yarely’s school, has seen the benefits of language-specific counseling firsthand. At Children’s Lab School, more than half of the nearly 450 students are Latino and around a quarter are learning English. Nudo speaks Spanish and was able to communicate with Yarely’s family directly, including her mother Culcay, whose primary language is Spanish.

Yarely remembers learning breathing exercises during counseling sessions and being encouraged to do something that she loved as a way to feel better. She enjoys painting, so she recreated a beach sunset that she once watched with her father.

But Yarely missed some counseling sessions and her grades dropped while her mother worked at a new job for nearly 12 hours a day to make up for her late husband’s income. “I hardly paid attention,” Culcay said.

For grieving children from undocumented families, it can be harder to get help, said Jeanette Rodriguez, a counselor through a partner organization at I.S. 145 in Jackson Heights, where more than 90 percent of students are Hispanic. At least five of her students lost a parent or caregiver to COVID, she said. Undocumented parents may not know how to access health insurance, for instance, and can be too afraid to enroll their children in public services, for fear that the information might be shared with authorities.

“We tell them, ‘When you come here, you’re protected,’” Rodriguez said of undocumented parents. “We want them to feel safe.”

‘Grief is not a behavioral problem’

Though some families we spoke with had positive encounters with their schools, others say they encountered obstacles that left them feeling stigmatized for seeking grief support.

Veronica Fletcher lost her husband, Joseph Trevor Fletcher, an MTA worker and immigrant from Grenada, to COVID in April 2020. When her three children returned to their Brooklyn public schools for in-person learning more than a year later, they each demonstrated signs of trouble.

Veronica Fletcher holds a portrait of her late husband, Joseph Trevor Fletcher.

Her oldest, Joshua, then 16, became hyper-focused on his studies, determined to graduate high school early. His brother, Ziggy, then 13, had nearly failed a class soon after their father’s death, and continued to be sad and distracted in school. And Maddie, then 9, seemed increasingly lonely. Frequently, she visited the schoolyard’s “buddy bench” to signal that she wanted company.

In October 2021, just weeks into the new academic year, Fletcher received a phone call from her younger children’s school, P.S. 207 in southeast Brooklyn, where COVID deaths have ranked among the highest in the city. She learned that Maddie had started crying during recess and, hours later, was still inconsolable. The teacher advised her to wait until pick-up to see her daughter, which struck Fletcher as insensitive. “When she came in the car, I just held her,” said Fletcher. “Her body was just racking with sobs.”

The school counselor referred Fletcher to a nonprofit that offers bereavement support and held a virtual meeting with Maddie in fall 2020. But for the sessions to continue, Fletcher said she was asked to submit a letter stating that her children needed “at-risk” support. Concerned that could harm her children’s school records, Fletcher said she was reluctant to do it.

In April 2022, she wrote to P.S. 207 Principal Neil McNeill, again asking about bereavement support. “Please, let me know what programs are in place at either the school or with DOE for my grieving children,” she wrote in the April 14 email. “If full grown adults often have difficulty with grieving a lost parent, imagine how much more traumatic it is for children to do so in a pandemic.”

In response, McNeill reminded Fletcher that she had effectively declined “at-risk grief counseling.” He invited her to tell him if the children wanted to speak with the school counselor or needed to walk out of their classrooms for a break. “We are here to support the kids in any way that we can,” he wrote. (The DOE declined to make McNeill available for an interview or respond to questions about the policy.)

But Fletcher’s position wouldn’t change. “Grief is not a behavioral problem,” she said, explaining why she objected to submitting an official request. “It’s not a mental illness.”

Fletcher had similar concerns when she heard about a new multimillion-dollar screening tool being used to evaluate children for mental health needs, known as the Devereux Student Strengths Assessment or DESSA.

Launched in 2021, the social-emotional assessment consisted of teachers filling out an online questionnaire using a five-measure scale from “never” to “very frequently” to rate a child’s behavior in roughly 40 scenarios. The questions include things like: “During the last four weeks, how often did the child carry himself/herself with confidence?” and “How often did the child show good judgment?”

But teachers and parents say these types of questions can fail to identify students who are experiencing the unique struggle of grieving a family loss. Instead, the COVID Collaborative recommends screenings designed specifically to find children who are bereaved.

De Blasio noted that the DESSA screener was always meant to be only one step in the process. “There was not an assumption that a single universal screener would answer all questions, but it would be the beginning of identifying who needed further evaluation,” he said.

Former schools Chancellor Porter defends the DESSA, noting that she chose it, in part, because it emphasized positive traits like confidence and self-esteem rather than negative behaviors. But she said that schools could have used more support in implementing it. “It was a lot that had to happen,” she said.

New administration slashes school budgets

Since Eric Adams took over as mayor in January 2022 and appointed David Banks as education chancellor, the two have said little about how the new administration will address the city’s COVID-grieving schoolchildren. The Department of Education declined to make Banks available for an interview for this story.

In September, Adams and Banks announced that 110 social workers would be reassigned from the early childhood division to the city’s public schools, a DOE spokesperson said. It is unclear what, if any, impact the move will have on schools in the neighborhoods hit hardest by COVID-19.

Last fall, Yarely started fifth grade. She enjoys math, she said — it reminds her of how her father used to help her with homework.

Culcay said her daughter’s academic performance is still not at the level it was at before her husband died. And since social worker Nudo has retired, Yarely stopped receiving any counseling in school. “I only tell her the stuff,” Yarely said.

But she has grown to accept her father’s death — something Culcay credits the school with helping her realize.

In February 2021, Yarely and one of her father’s cousins traveled back to Ecuador with her father’s ashes. Recently, Yarely has learned to cook rice with sausage and eggs and fold her laundry while her mother is at work. People comment on how mature she’s become, Culcay said. “I say, ‘Yes because [her] father is no longer there and it’s just me.’”

Veronica Fletcher says her children are beginning to adjust to life without their father. She moved to Georgia in August. When the new school learned that their father had died, the counselor recommended a weekend-long grief camp, which her kids all attended in October. “I had to move to another state for someone to offer my children an opportunity that I asked for in New York.”

Fletcher still feels disappointed by the lack of support she received from the city’s school system. “They are children who have suffered loss. They get through it with support,” she said, “and the support should not be absent in a place where they spend most of their day.”

Liz Donovan and Fazil Khan produced this story as reporters, respectively, for City Limits and Columbia Journalism Investigations, an investigative reporting unit at the Columbia Journalism School. It was produced in partnership with THE CITY and Type Investigations, two nonprofit newsrooms that provided reporting, editing, fact-checking and other support.

Type Investigations freelance reporter Muriel Alarcón and CJI reporting fellow Chris Riotta contributed reporting. Research by Columbia Journalism School’s Shannon Rose Geary, Shelby Jouppi, Amanda Torres and Jessica Vadillo and THE CITY’s intern Emi Tuyetnhi Tran. Translation by freelance journalist Lila Hassan and City Limits reporter Daniel Parra. Fact-checking by Paco Alvarez and Ethan Corey for Type Investigations.

THE CITY’s MISSING THEM project is supported, in part, by the Brown Institute for Media Innovation at Columbia Journalism School.

Hochul’s 2023 education agenda: high-dosage tutoring, college access, student mental health

2023-01-10T18:14:53+00:00

Improving access to student mental health services, boosting school funding, and creating high-dosage tutoring programs figure prominently in New York Gov. Kathy Hochul’s education agenda, according to her annual State of the State address on Tuesday.

Hochul’s speech — which governors use to signal their priorities for the coming year — outlined issues she’s shown interest in before, such as improving college access.

Her proposals, which come two months after significant drops on national reading and math exams, also show a deeper commitment to addressing how the pandemic impacted students both academically and mentally.

Still, her proposals don’t include some items that advocates were hoping to address this year in Albany, including hiring shortages, which Hochul prioritized last year.

Here are highlights from Hochul’s education policy proposals:

Hochul keeps pledge to fully fund Foundation Aid

As part of her budget proposal, Hochul confirmed that she will include a $2.7 billion increase in school funding for districts across New York under the Foundation Aid formula, which sends more money to high-needs districts.

Last year, state lawmakers had promised to spend billions of more dollars over three years to fully fund the long-debated formula, which accounts for most of the dollars that schools receive from the state.

This upcoming budget will represent the final phase-in of that money, and Hochul’s commitment to spend an additional $2.7 billion matches the funding request from the state’s Board of Regents, as well as a coalition of education-focused organizations called the Educational Conference Board.

High inflation rates ballooned the cost for this year from a $1.9 billion increase to $2.7 billion — raising concerns among some advocates about whether Hochul would stick to her word as the country is at risk for a recession.

“This historic level of financial support for New York public schools will reverberate for generations to come, broadening access to opportunity and enabling New York to build the education system of the future,” said Hochul’s book of policy proposals.

Several education organizations applauded Hochul’s plan. In a statement, Alliance for Quality Education, a school funding advocacy group, called it a “historic milestone for New York State’s public schools.”

Plans to make student mental health needs more accessible

As part of a broader effort to address mental health needs, Hochul has proposed to make school-based services more accessible to students and less expensive to open and run such programs in the first place.

Student mental health needs have been a large focus for educators and advocates since the onset of the pandemic. While many New York City schools offer some level of help to those with behavioral or mental health needs, educators and families report that the needs outpace what’s available, and many students are unable to access those resources.

More than one-third of New York City public schools have none of the six mental health programs that the education department touts on its website, according to an audit conducted last year by State Comptroller Thomas DiNapoli.

Hochul wants to increase the rate at which school-based clinics and other wraparound services are reimbursed by Medicaid, hoping that this will encourage providers to open more such clinics. She would also create annual grants that would help cover the costs of creating school-based services. Her proposal did not include more specific details, including how much money would be available for the grants.

Hochul also wants to introduce legislation that would require private insurance to pay the Medicaid rate for school-based services that students receive, since those insurance companies typically pay below the Medicaid rate, according to a spokesperson for the governor.

Charles Dedrick, executive director of the state Council of School Superintendents, applauded the proposal and described it as a “comprehensive plan” to expand and provide coverage for these services.

Hochul wants to invest in high-dosage tutoring

In order to address the academic effects of the pandemic, Hochul plans to invest $250 million of Foundation Aid money for districts to create high-impact tutoring programs, where students are tutored multiple times a week.

Mirroring national trends, New York saw steep drops in fourth grade math and reading scores, as well as eighth grade math, on the National Assessment of Educational Progress exams, given for the first time last year since 2019.

Districts would use the money to establish the programs on their own or in partnership with an outside provider. These programs would specifically tutor students in grades 3-8 on reading and math.

Officials did not immediately respond to say how the money would be distributed or how much New York City would receive.

Researchers have found that students can do better in school when they’re tutored frequently in small groups. The endeavor is expensive, but an investment from the state could inject a boost to create such programs in New York City and elsewhere. Hochul’s policy book says that such programs “deliver increased instructional time and customized student learning, and establish meaningful relationships between tutors and students.”

One possible model in New York City is a CUNY-run tutoring program, where 800 of the school’s students studying to become teachers are working with struggling readers in first and second grade.

Creating a pipeline to higher education and the workforce

Hochul pitched a slew of proposals aimed to get more students into college and the workforce.

Under her plan, New York’s graduating high school seniors would receive admission to their local SUNY community college. Additionally, students who aren’t admitted to their SUNY school of choice would automatically be considered for admission at another SUNY campus.

She’s proposing to spend $20 million in grants for districts to create college-level courses in high school, through which students can earn college credit. The money would also go toward technology-focused programs – both in school districts and colleges – with the goal of preparing more students for such careers after graduation.

Priority for the grant money will be given to programs in high-needs school districts, as well as districts that plan to create programs focused on computer science and computer and software engineering pathways “with an eye toward the technology jobs of the present and future,” according to the proposal book.

Reema Amin is a reporter covering New York City schools with a focus on state policy and English language learners. Contact Reema at ramin@chalkbeat.org.

New data shows fewer students per counselor at nation’s schools, but caseloads remain high

2023-01-09T12:00:00+00:00

The ratio of students to counselors in the nation’s public schools has reached its lowest point in at least 36 years, spurred both by an influx of new counselors and a nationwide decline in student enrollment, according to new data.

The dual trends left schools with an average of 408 students for every counselor last school year, according to the American School Counselor Association’s analysis of federal data. That’s lower than the 424 to 1 ratio pre-pandemic, but still significantly higher than the 250 to 1 recommended by the counselors group.

“While not the optimal ratio, it’s still good news,” said Jill Cook, executive director of ASCA.

Lower average caseloads can mean counselors have more time to spend with each student, fulfilling an especially important role as students struggle mentally and academically in the wake of the pandemic. But experts caution that the pattern remains uneven across states and that focusing too heavily on national or statewide statistics can obscure stark disparities between districts and the true accessibility of counselors at individual schools.

The national data comes even as efforts to hire school psychologists and counselors have stumbled across the country, with many large school districts failing to add new counselors. As of last fall, many counseling positions remained unfilled.

Still, between the 2019-20 and 2021-22 school years, the nation’s public schools saw the number of counselors jump by more than 1,200, while student populations dropped by nearly 1.4 million. Research has shown that a smaller ratio can help boost some students’ academic performance while reducing disciplinary infractions.

Cook attributed the increased number of school counselors to a heightened awareness of their importance during the pandemic and a flood of federal relief funds that helped bolster mental health support.

She pointed to several states that have made significant strides in recent years, like California and Illinois. In the past year, Illinois saw its total number of counselors increase by more than 700 — offsetting an initial loss of around 400 counselors in the first full pandemic school year.

But with relief funds set to expire in the coming years and future enrollment trends uncertain, Cook said it’s unclear whether the decreased ratios can be sustained.

“At some point the federal funding won’t be there,” Cook said. Counselors hired during the pandemic are saying, “‘Will this position still be here in three, or four, or five years?’”

Mandy Savitz-Romer, who researches school counseling at Harvard’s Graduate School of Education, cautioned against reading too much into the state and national figures.

“When we talk to the states about these caseloads, they’re frustrated by the fact that people tend to use them to make policy decisions, when they are not accurately representing student access to counselors,” she said. “That’s the key issue — having a low caseload does not mean students have access to counselors. Those counselors in a state with a low caseload could spend the majority of their time proctoring tests.”

Understanding students’ access to counselors requires looking at how much time school counselors spend engaging with students and the level of support and commitment for counseling from each school, Savitz-Romer said, among other factors.

Still, there’s some information that can be gleaned from the numbers.

“These caseloads are beginning to tell us that if a student is fighting with 600 other students for time with a counselor, they’re not going to have their needs met — and quite honestly, that’s true with 400, too,” she said. “The real question is: What are we committed to providing to our students at this moment when there is such a crisis going on? These caseloads don’t suggest that we’re really committed to addressing it.”

As the nation sees some progress on the overall ratio, for some states, the needle is moving in the opposite direction.

Between the 2019-20 and 2021-22 school years, Tennessee saw its ratio rise from 301 to 1 to 458 to 1, as the state lost more than 1,100 counselors and 18,000 students, the federal figures show. New York lost nearly 2,000 counselors as well as more than 144,000 students, raising the average number of students per counselor from 361 to 460.

Meanwhile, Indiana had the nation’s highest ratio of students to counselors at 694 to 1, after losing nearly 700 counselors during the pandemic.

A spokesperson for the Indiana Department of Education declined to comment on the loss of counselors. Spokespeople for the New York State Education Department and the Tennessee Department of Education did not respond to requests for comment by the time of publication.

Losses in those states and others may be prompted by nationwide staffing shortages, more social workers being hired by schools, budget cuts, as well as school counselors who choose to leave due to the immense pressure that comes with the position, Savitz-Romer said. School counselors are also forced to juggle additional administrative duties, adding stress when already stretched thin.

“They’re realizing that their job is impossible, and when someone’s job is impossible, it leads to higher levels of burnout,” Savitz-Romer said.

In Tennessee, Amy Baltimore, advocacy director for the Tennessee School Counselors Association, blamed a myriad of issues, including fewer students pursuing training to become a school counselor.

“But it’s also because our role is just not protected in Tennessee,” she said. “School counselors get pulled into all kinds of other roles than what aligns with their training, whether it’s truancy or master scheduling or many other needs. These are helping professionals whose general nature is to help others — they’re ‘yes’ people. But eventually they get burned out and move on to other things.”

Counselors must also act as “stewards of student trauma,” a role made exponentially more difficult amid the pandemic’s toll on student mental health, Savitz-Romer said.

“We’re seeing counselors leaving roles because their own mental health is being compromised,” she said.

That was the case for Anna Sutter, a former school counselor at a public school district in Indianapolis, Indiana.

During her five years in the field, she routinely skipped lunches, lost sleep, and worked upwards of 12-hour days. One morning, she woke up “an anxious mess” at 3:30 a.m. and immediately headed to her office to get an early start — because once the students arrived on campus, it was “crisis central.”

“The boat was sinking and on fire,” she said, adding that many of the more than 600 students in her caseload were grappling with mental health crises, fights, failing grades, pandemic losses, and more. With so many urgent concerns, students with other needs — like post-secondary guidance or raising a C to a B — had a harder time finding support, Sutter added.

“I wish I could have helped students who weren’t in crisis, but still needed me,” she said.

Marta Aldrich contributed reporting.

Julian Shen-Berro is a reporter covering national issues. Contact him at jshen-berro@chalkbeat.org.

Education issues to watch in Albany: School funding, mental health, future of mayoral control

2023-01-03T16:30:16+00:00

As districts continue to recover from the academic and social-emotional impacts of the pandemic, New York state lawmakers will be pressed to address several issues facing schools during the new legislative session.

Inflation has driven up the cost of finishing the long-awaited process of fully funding Foundation Aid, the state’s main school aid formula. As the country faces the risk of a recession, advocates worry about whether lawmakers will fulfill their promise to finish funding the formula.

Advocates also say they will push for solutions to issues that have become more pressing during the pandemic, including hiring challenges and student mental health, while others will continue a yearslong push for the state to raise the charter school cap.

Here are some of the education issues that may come up in the new legislative session, which is set to start Wednesday:

Inflation adds pressure to cost of funding schools

Last year, state lawmakers promised to spend billions of more dollars to fully fund Foundation Aid, which accounts for the bulk of financial support that school districts receive from the state. They agreed to fund the formula over three years, with the final phase-in scheduled for the 2023-24 fiscal year.

However, high inflation rates have pushed the projected cost for the final phase-in of the money from a $1.9 billion increase to about $2.7 billion.

Gov. Kathy Hochul, who agreed to fulfill the formula last year as part of a legal settlement, has declined to say whether she will include this final, larger payment in next year’s budget. Both advocates and lawmakers say they’re concerned, but they haven’t yet heard any reneging on Hochul’s promise.

“There is a very high level of commitment on the part of my fellow legislators to see that this Foundation Aid promise is completely followed through on and fulfilled,” said Sen. John Liu, a Queens Democrat who oversees the Senate’s New York City education committee. “It should be the governor’s self-imposed mandate as well.”

Separately, state policymakers are also asking for $1 million to hire researchers who will review and create models to update the 15-year-old Foundation Aid formula. State officials and advocates contend the formula needs an update because it has outdated measures, such as for calculating student poverty, which is currently based in part on 2000 Census data.

“Let’s get recommendations from experts to make it more equitable,” said Jasmine Gripper, executive director of Alliance for Quality Education.

Will Hochul try to lift the cap on charter schools?

One question is whether the governor will actively seek to lift the cap on how many charter schools can open in New York. After silence on the issue on the campaign trail, Hochul said she supported lifting the cap when asked about it during a gubernatorial debate with Republican opponent Lee Zeldin.

Under the cap, 460 charter schools are allowed to operate in New York, including 290 in New York City, which was reached in 2019. Overall, enrollment has grown in New York City’s charter sector while enrollment has dropped in traditional public schools. But the picture is more complicated: Nearly 60% of individual charter schools have enrolled fewer students during the pandemic.

Hochul’s office declined to say whether she will push to lift the cap this year. Some charter advocates, who have pushed for it for years, are hoping she does.

In a statement after the election, James Merriman, CEO of the New York City Charter Center, said the organization was looking forward to “supporting her efforts to lift the cap.”

Hochul’s campaign received at least $70,000 in campaign donations across two pro-charter political action committees. However, she also received more than $186,000 across the city, state, and national teachers unions, which generally oppose the expansion of charter schools.

Liu said he doesn’t expect her to touch the issue, noting that she simply replied “yes,” to the debate question of whether she supports lifting the cap, which is different from actively pursuing the issue.

Even if she does, it’s not likely she’ll find considerable support in the legislature, as the issue has not gained traction in recent years.

Schools continue to struggle with hiring and student mental health

Some advocates are hoping for solutions to the hiring challenges that many schools are facing.

Bob Lowry, deputy director for advocacy and communication at the state’s Council of School Superintendents, said it has been one of the biggest issues that school leaders have reported to his organization during the pandemic. The issue came up during a recent state Assembly hearing and has plagued districts nationally, too.

“We hear from districts, ‘We’d like to hire more mental health professionals to help, but we can’t find people,’” Lowry said.

Lawmakers have floated a tax incentive for school employees as one way to attract people to school districts, NY1 reported. Lowry pointed to “useful steps” that have already taken place, such as the state education department ending the controversial edTPA certification exam that was previously required of teaching candidates in New York. Separately, Hochul successfully proposed lifting the cap on how much retired school staffers could earn without losing their pensions if they returned to schools, but Lowry noted that law is only in effect for this school year.

“It’s a huge issue — [we’re] not completely sure what to do about it, but continuing the exemption for retirees to work without losing pension benefits is kind of a simple straightforward step to take,” Lowry said.

School leaders also continue to report big challenges in dealing with student mental health, Lowry said, and they’re hoping for more targeted funding to address those concerns.

Federal relief money likely helped districts address some of these issues, but these funds will sunset next year. It’s possible that increases in Foundation Aid can also help. Last year’s budget included $100 million over two years that would be available to school districts as grants to address mental health issues in schools. State officials plan to award those funds through a competitive process they will launch this year, according to a spokesperson for the state education department.

“We don’t see the mental health issues diminishing any time soon,” Lowry said. “We think there will be a need for continuing, targeted funding for schools to help with mental health concerns.”

State looks to compare NYC’s mayoral control to other districts

Last legislative session, lawmakers extended New York City’s mayoral control system of schools — where the mayor effectively has control over policy decisions instead of a school board — by another two years.

This year, Liu said lawmakers will begin looking at how other school governance systems across the nation operate and compare that to “20 years of [mayoral] control experience in New York City and see how to best bring schools forward.”

Liu declined to share more details, including whether there would be public hearings or some sort of formal review. But his comments indicate that lawmakers are interested in potential changes to the city’s governance system when they must again decide in 2024 whether to extend mayoral control.

Their decision this year to extend mayoral control by two years — half of what Mayor Eric Adams and Hochul requested – came with tweaks meant to add more parent representation to the system.

“This year, we have a little bit more breathing space,” Liu said.

Reema Amin is a reporter covering New York City schools with a focus on state policy and English language learners. Contact Reema at ramin@chalkbeat.org.

13 Chalkbeat stories that defined 2022

2022-12-21T19:15:00+00:00

This was the year when many of the pandemic-era challenges facing America’s schools went from acute to chronic.

Classrooms fully reopened, but attendance and enrollment have yet to fully rebound. Tutoring and mental health programs got off the ground, but staffers remained in short supply. Students began making academic progress, but new national data underscored how far they’d fallen behind. Each step toward recovery, moment of joy, and successful lesson came with a reminder of the pandemic’s ongoing fallout.

Meanwhile, the nation’s conflicts continued to envelop schools. Republican lawmakers and local activists redoubled their efforts to restrict what students can learn about racism and LGBTQ issues. And shootings erupted on and off school grounds, cementing gun violence’s new status as the leading cause of death for America’s young people.

Below are 13 stories from Chalkbeat reporters across the country that documented those forces in action and explained what it all meant for America’s schools:

February 3: Schools got $190 billion in COVID relief from the feds. What’s happened to it?

This year, schools were figuring out how exactly they were going to use the biggest chunk of their billions in federal COVID relief. Tutors? Building renovations? Both? Matt Barnum explained the state of play — and how to find your district’s plans for yourself.

“The idea that schools aren’t spending it quickly partly reflects a monthslong lag in the data, not local officials dragging their feet. And the best evidence available suggests that schools are making seemingly reasonable purchases: buying masks, computers, and air filters, while adding summer school programs, tutoring, counselors, and teachers. But district plans vary widely in quality, and there are more than 13,000 school districts across the country. Zoom out further, and, so far, information at the state and national levels is limited, incomplete, or nonexistent, making it difficult to closely monitor this unprecedented infusion of federal cash.”

March 11: Iowa scrapped teacher training on equity. Students of color felt the sting of that decision.

Volta Adovor was one of several high school students asked to help shape a conference for Iowa’s teachers focused on racial equity in 2021 put on by the state education department. Once Iowa’s legislature began considering a bill that would restrict how teachers talk about racism, it all ground to a halt, as Kalyn Belsha reported.

“The deferred conference stands as just one illustration of the nation’s about-face on centering race and equity in teachers’ work over the last year. For the students, though, the fallout has been both local and personal. After state officials asked them to share their time and experiences as students of color, the apparently open-ended postponement has left some feeling doubly dismissed. ‘We wanted to give solutions,’ Adovor said. ‘It was just us talking about things that we cared about.’”

March 19: As schools try to recover, COVID’s toll lingers: ‘We haven’t seen fine, ever’

This story, by Kalyn Belsha, Melanie Asmar, and Lori Higgins reporting from Tulsa, Denver, and Detroit, captured the exhaustion of last spring, when schools were inching toward “normal” but nothing came easily.

“When the virus seemed like it was under control, the omicron wave of cases brought half-empty classrooms or temporary returns to virtual learning. It’s been a year of survival and triage for teachers, school leaders, students, and their families. Now a shift is underway. Mask mandates have largely lifted, and more Americans say they are ready to leave the pandemic in the rearview mirror. But teachers like [Ana] Barros are still grappling daily with issues that COVID has left in its wake, most of which defy easy solutions. ‘I really feel scared to say that we’ve turned a corner,’ she said. ‘The things that we were struggling with, even outside of COVID, are just still there.’”

April 12: ‘Am I not allowed to mention myself?’ Schools grapple with new restrictions on teaching about gender and sexuality

As laws restricting how teachers can talk about gender and LGBTQ issues took effect, Kalyn Belsha chronicled the effects on classrooms in Tennessee and beyond.

“A history teacher skipped over PowerPoint slides about the fight for gay rights during a lesson on the civil rights movement. Another English teacher hinted that Oscar Wilde was, ‘you know,’ instead of saying he was gay while teaching ‘The Picture of Dorian Gray.’ Queer symbolism throughout the text went unmentioned. To 17-year-old Aneshka, who asked that their last name be withheld, these were all indications that a new law requiring teachers to notify parents about lessons on gender and sexuality had had an effect at their eastern Tennessee high school.”

June 7: Student voices on Uvalde: Our leaders ‘are just not going to protect us’

After 19 children and two adults were shot and killed at Robb Elementary School in Uvalde, Texas, in May, we turned space over to students to reflect. Meleena Salgado, then a junior at John Hancock College Preparatory High School in Chicago, wrote about the moment she heard what had happened.

I was feeding my dogs, and my dad rushed in and said a school had been shot up. My heart just sank. I was frustrated that there was another one. I hate to use that term because there were people who were lost. But I was just like, come on. No matter how many are hurt, [politicians] are just going to say, ‘Oh wow, what a tragedy,’ and then we’ll find out about the next one. I’ve been worried about a school shooting since I was little. The oldest fear I have about being shot up at school is when I was, maybe, in third grade. I was in the bathroom alone and heard this really loud bang, and I thought, ‘Oh, God, maybe this is it.’ (That bang turned out to be someone dropping a textbook in the hallway.)

Aug. 1: As fewer kids enroll, big cities face a small schools crisis

Mila Koumpilova, Matt Barnum, and the Associated Press’ Collin Binkley looked at one consequence of the enrollment declines many cities experienced during the pandemic — more tiny schools — and the pain ahead for communities that will be forced to reckon with their cost.

Chalmers [School of Excellence] lost almost a third of its enrollment during the pandemic, shrinking to 215 students. In Chicago, COVID-19 worsened declines that preceded the virus: Predominantly Black neighborhoods like Chalmers’ North Lawndale, long plagued by disinvestment, have seen an exodus of families over the past decade. The number of small schools like Chalmers is growing in many American cities as public school enrollment declines. More than 1 in 5 New York City elementary schools had fewer than 300 students last school year. In Los Angeles, that figure was over 1 in 4. In Chicago it has grown to nearly 1 in 3, and in Boston it’s approaching 1 in 2, according to a Chalkbeat/AP analysis.

Oct. 24: Nation’s report card: Massive drop in math scores, slide in reading linked to COVID disruption

Matt Barnum dove into one of the biggest stories of the year: scores on national exams that offered the most authoritative accounting yet of learning lost because of the pandemic.

Students in fourth and eighth grade saw unprecedented declines in math and significant dips in reading achievement between 2019 and 2022, according to the results of national exams given last school year and released Monday. The declines were broad-based — affecting students in every state and every region of the country. ‘The results point out and confirm that this is a pretty massive hit to student achievement in our country,’ said Scott Marion, a testing expert and member of the board that oversees the tests.

Nov. 2: A look inside Colorado’s yearslong push to change how schools teach reading

This year saw more schools, school districts, and entire states take a hard look at their reading curriculums and push for changes aligned with the “science of reading.” Colorado was among the most forceful in requiring districts to make changes, and Ann Schimke has followed the story closely.

Peter and his classmates were learning a rule about the English language that they applied over and over that day — when reading and writing ‘hope,’ ‘cute,’ ‘tape,’ and ‘slide.’ Such lessons reflect both a districtwide and statewide shift in how children are taught to read in Colorado. Gone by the wayside are reading programs that encourage children to figure out what a jumble of letters says by looking at the picture or using other clues to guess the word — a debunked strategy still used in some popular reading curriculums. Now, there’s a greater emphasis on teaching the relationships between sounds and letters in a direct and carefully sequenced way.

Nov. 7: Not ‘present,’ and paying a steep cost: How pandemic recovery in Detroit and across Michigan hinges on getting kids to class

Districts across the U.S saw chronic absenteeism spike last school year, and the numbers have prompted a variety of campaigns to boost attendance. Detroit’s challenge is especially acute: Two-thirds of the city’s students missed at least 10% of last school year. The issue extends beyond education, as Koby Levin, Ethan Bakuli, and Kae Petrin explain.

Absences seldom boil down to a decision to skip school, experts say. Interviews with parents and researchers show that families generally understand the importance of regular attendance and do their best to get their children to class. Instead, absences often result from painful but rational choices between a family’s basic well-being and attending school. Problems with housing, health, work, or transportation can quickly spiral into a crisis for a family that lacks money or a social support system.

Nov. 9: Hope, healing, and the return of an annual camping trip for Brooklyn high-schoolers

A multi-day hike outside New York City this fall was much more than a field trip for one group of high-schoolers, as Michael Elsen-Rooney wrote. It was a return to tradition and a chance for students to grow as leaders after several trauma-heavy years.

Surrounded by her classmates on a bright October morning in the woods of Fishkill, New York, Diana Ramirez had no trouble making herself heard. The 14-year-old enthusiastically initiated chants and cheerfully shouted instructions to her peers during team-building activities on a multi-day camping trip organized by their Brooklyn public high school. Speaking up hasn’t always been so easy for the high school freshman — especially during the past several years overshadowed by the pandemic.

Nov. 17: Schools across the U.S. have turned to Paper’s online tutoring. Some worry it’s falling short.

Virtual tutoring has grown in popularity as schools look for ways to help students catch up and struggle to staff up in-person programs. Kalyn Belsha took a look at one popular program, Paper, and found low usage rates and concerns it wasn’t helping the students who needed it most.

The district spent $913,000 in COVID relief funds for Paper to provide its middle and high school students with access to 24/7, on-demand tutoring. But Columbus quietly cut ties with the company in September because too few students were using the tool. District records obtained by Chalkbeat show that less than 8% of students with access logged on last school year. Half of those students used it just once. In some schools, not a single student logged on.

Nov. 18: School psychologist, counselor hiring lags nationwide even as student mental health needs soar

As students struggle, many schools have talked about the ways they are adding mental health support for students. But this fall, many still hadn’t managed to add counselors or psychologists, despite an influx of federal relief money, Patrick Wall, Kalyn Belsha, and the Associated Press’ Annie Ma documented.

Among 18 of the country’s largest school districts, 12 started this school year with fewer counselors or psychologists than they had in fall 2019, according to an analysis by Chalkbeat. As a result, many school mental health professionals have caseloads that far exceed recommended limits, according to experts and advocates, and students must wait for urgently needed help. ‘They have so many students that they’re dealing with,’ said Mira Ugwuadu, 17. ‘I personally don’t want to blame them. But I also deserve care and support, too.’

Dec. 9: How one Chicago school social worker is grappling with COVID’s toll on students

Chicago has doubled the number of social workers in schools. But each of them is still juggling hundreds of students’ needs, as Mauricio Peña documented, at a moment when students are struggling with academics and behavior.

In the bathroom, [Mary] Difino took another deep breath, then headed back to her office. There she tidied up and fixed her desk. She grabbed her soccer bag from that morning’s Piccolo girls soccer team practice and a binder full of drills and activities. Her role as coach for second, third, and fourth grade students is a reprieve from her frenetic duties during school hours. She thought about what was needed to calm the fights and help her students: a restorative justice coordinator, smaller class sizes, perhaps another social worker. But as Difino left for home that night, that wish list seemed far away — and she just felt exhausted.

As school gets back to normal, things are better — and worse

2022-12-20T12:00:00+00:00

“Things are better this year, right?” I am asked again and again. The short answer, from this high school administrator, is yes and no, depending on which aspect we choose to focus on.

On the surface, things are mostly back to normal. We’re not in masks or tracking COVID cases or on a hybrid learning schedule. We’re having assemblies, sporting events, band concerts, and school dances. Hallway shenanigans are back. We had a senior prank last year. A couple of boys rounded up some local ducks and let them loose in the main hall.

I wasn’t even annoyed. It was nice to have the pranks back.

Brandon McCoy

This school year, I haven’t taken a single angry phone call from a parent about COVID restrictions (too loose or too rigid) and haven’t sat on a committee to determine the safest way to keep schools open. I haven’t heard the phrase, “We’re building the airplane in the air,” in many months. These are all victories in my mind and indications that the worst is behind us.

There are, however, some unfortunate realities that are far more prevalent now in a post-COVID high school world. The two primary culprits I see regularly are student apathy and a lack of perseverance. When students learned in a virtual setting, either fully or partially, the “school muscles” that they had been developing since kindergarten, didn’t get much exercise. The routine — one that so many students relied on to thrive — was broken.

I found that the kids who learned online only during the 2020-21 school year struggled the most with readjustment to campus life. Learning largely in isolation, some overwhelmed students fell behind; some gave up on their studies altogether. We are now trying desperately to catch them up academically, but we are starting to have difficult conversations with families about graduation being a semester or year later than expected for some learners.

We are also reminding our students how to exercise those “school muscles.” But apathy, which shows up mostly in the form of school days missed and assignments not completed, can be difficult to counteract. The overriding sentiment seems to be, “Why does any of this matter?” It’s especially prevalent among underclassmen, who were in middle school during the height of COVID learning. As such, they missed some vital developmental skills — grit, time management, self-advocacy, social communication, and even just how to handle their bodies — that the middle school experience provides.

The overriding sentiment seems to be, ‘Why does any of this matter?’

Juniors and seniors seem to have adjusted better. Juniors, after all, had made it through most of eighth grade, and seniors were already high school freshmen by the time schools shut down in March 2020. They are missing fewer pieces in the “this is how we do school” toolbox. The older kids also seem wiser than in years past. They’ve been through a lot.

We are, of course, experiencing our share of low lows this semester. We’ve seen students facing severe mental health crises, including those too anxious to come to school and those who have run away from home. We are hearing from parents struggling with how to help their children. Through a partnership with a local organization, we are offering free, on-campus therapy for students. And our days as administrators are booked solid with students who are still relearning how to “do” school.

Through it all, though, our teachers continue to show up with compassion and tenacity. But unlike in the spring of 2020, when parents — trying in vain to guide their students through virtual learning — heaped praise upon them, educators today are working under a dark cloud. Recent years have brought loud outside voices weighing in on everything from how we teach about race and gender to which books are in the school library.

There is more trepidation in teaching today than I have seen in my 15 years as an educator. But there is resolve, too. We went through COVID. We can do this.

As for the ubiquitous questions about whether things are better this year: On a day-to-day basis, they really do feel better. COVID took away social interactions and ate away at our school culture. We’ve reclaimed that culture; we’re in the process of catching students up on the academics they missed, all the while sharpening the school skills they need to be successful. There are victories each day.

Dr. Brandon McCoy is a high school administrator in Kansas City, Missouri, where he lives with his wife and three children. He writes about life, and public education at The Worst Kids Always Become Principals.

Republicans agree on youth mental health crisis, but are split on solutions

2022-12-09T12:00:00+00:00

Republicans generally agree that the pandemic left students’ mental health in tatters. But when it comes to addressing the crisis, the accord crumbles.

In Congress, some Republican lawmakers are working on a bipartisan youth mental health bill and a few voted for a major school safety and mental health act. But the vast majority voted against the act and another recent mental health bill. At the state level, some Republican legislators and governors have quietly supported school mental health services. But others have loudly called for bans on social-emotional learning and new restrictions on school counselors.

The party’s ambivalence owes partly to wariness about government spending, but it also reflects how students’ mental health has become embroiled in recent political debates around gun control, pandemic school closures, and parents’ rights. To conservatives who accuse teachers and librarians of imposing liberal views on students, school counselors are suspect too.

Some critics say schools should focus on academics and, as one Texas group put it, “Leave mental health and parenting to parents.” Many in the GOP appear to share that view: Just 44% of Republicans who voted in the midterms said it was very important for schools to provide more mental health services, compared with 82% of Democrats, according to a November survey.

The fissures cast doubt on whether Republicans, who in the midterms won control of the House of Representatives but not the Senate, will prioritize student mental health — especially as the sense of urgency created by the pandemic and the deadly school shooting in Uvalde, Texas begins to fade. With many on the right already opposed to the amount of federal aid that schools received during the pandemic, some advocates worry the recent surge of funding for school mental health services will slow to a trickle.

“We’re less likely to see that type of continued investment,” said Anne Hyslop, director of policy development at the advocacy group All4Ed and a former Education Department official during the Obama administration. “Especially with the House now being controlled by Republicans, it’s going to be harder.”

GOP ties mental health to school reopening, shootings

As young people’s mental health deteriorated during the pandemic, both parties seized on the issue.

To Democrats and their union allies, the crisis confirmed their long-held view that schools need more resources. President Biden called for doubling the number of school psychologists and counselors, while Democratic governors from California to Wisconsin unveiled plans to ramp up mental health spending.

By contrast, Republicans saw students’ mental distress mainly as evidence of the harm caused by school closures. In March 2021, House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy said remote learning had caused rates of anxiety and depression to soar.

“The immediate solution,” he said, “is to work together to reopen every school in America now.”

As schools reopened, Republicans became less outspoken about student mental health. Few GOP candidates mentioned the issue during this year’s gubernatorial races, and the House Republicans’ recently unveiled policy agenda makes no mention of it.

When Republicans did sound the alarm this year about mental health, many did so in the context of mass shootings, despite research challenging that linkage.

Ahead of the midterm elections, Republican candidates for governor in Arkansas, Florida, Iowa, and Nebraska all touted mental health support as a way to make schools safer without restricting access to guns. After a gunman killed 19 children and two teachers at a Uvalde elementary school this May, Texas Gov. Greg Abbott blamed mental illness even as he acknowledged the shooter had no known diagnoses.

In June, just weeks after the Uvalde massacre, Congress passed the Bipartisan Safer Communities Act, which includes some gun-control measures and $1 billion to help schools hire more mental health staffers. While the majority of Republicans opposed the bill, 14 GOP members in the House and 15 in the Senate voted yes, as did every Democrat.

Jennifer Snow, policy and advocacy director for the National Alliance on Mental Illness, said even that limited cooperation was significant.

“We have so few bipartisan issues nowadays,” she said. “Of course that’s not going to fix everything, but we know that those resources are so desperately needed.”

Mental health gets pulled into culture wars

If mental health has occasionally united the parties, it’s just as often served as culture war fodder.

Conservative critics say educators sneak in lessons on racial justice under the guise of social-emotional learning, or SEL, which is meant to teach students how to manage their emotions and interact with others. Critics also oppose school counselors talking to students about their gender identity or sexuality without informing parents.

“Modern school counselors are zealous social justice meddlers bent on replacing parents,” said a recent post on a website run by The Charlemagne Institute, an influential conservative think tank. The parent group No Left Turn in Education includes school counselor and psychologist associations on its list of organizations “poisoning” children’s minds.

The critiques have had real consequences. In a recent survey, nearly 40% of high school principals said parents or community members have challenged SEL programs. Lawmakers in Oklahoma moved to ban SEL, and the Florida education department rejected dozens of math textbooks that officials said featured SEL or other “divisive concepts.”

Alabama passed a law forcing counselors to tell parents when students discuss their gender or sexuality, while a new Arizona law gives parents access to their children’s school counseling records. In Connecticut a local school board blocked a state-funded mental health clinic from opening inside a high school this year due to concerns that it could undermine parents’ authority.

Max Eden, a research fellow at the American Enterprise Institute, a conservative think tank, said much of the recent controversy centers around transgender and nonbinary students. Most mental health experts and advocacy groups, including the American School Counselor Association, say schools should affirm students’ gender identity and allow them to use the corresponding pronouns and bathrooms.

“The social-affirmation model” is “different than the concept of mental health held by a lot of people on the right,” Eden said, adding that his “tentative prediction” is “the gender identity debate will blow up the consensus around mental health.”

Republicans in Congress also have taken up the issue. Last year they introduced a Parents Bill of Rights that says families must agree before students are screened for mental health issues. In September, more than 200 House Republicans voted against a bill that would fund school mental health services. Some cited Democrats’ refusal to add an amendment requiring parental consent for any school services.

“At every turn, the Left is attempting to undermine the rights of parents,” said Rep. Virginia Foxx, a North Carolina Republican, in a press release.

Some on the right have also raised privacy concerns about school counseling and surveys, while others say the focus on mental health and social-emotional learning distracts from schools’ core academic mission.

“We need to return to more traditional foundational education,” wrote two leaders of a county Republican party in Alabama, “based on the teaching of facts, not feelings and attitudes.”

States search for middle ground

Some states have sought a middle ground that appeases conservative critics and promotes student wellness.

During the pandemic, 38 states enacted more than 90 laws meant to strengthen mental health services in schools, according to an analysis by the National Academy for State Health Policy. Several of the states also passed restrictions on counseling or social-emotional learning.

Alabama now funds mental health coordinators in nearly every school district, while also requiring schools to get parents’ consent for counseling. In Florida, Gov. Ron DeSantis expanded school mental health funding while also trying to purge SEL from textbooks.

In Utah, two Republican state lawmakers — Sen. Daniel Thatcher and Rep. Steve Eliason — have championed the issue of student mental health, sponsoring bills to fund school counseling and create a mental health curriculum. Thatcher also proposed a three-digit crisis hotline, which former Utah Sen. Orrin Hatch and Rep. Chris Stewart brought to Congress, resulting in the country’s new 988 Suicide & Crisis Lifeline.

A slide from a presentation titled “Sinister SEL” presented by Utah parent-activist Lisa Logan.

Yet some mental health efforts still have faced opposition. Last year, members of the group Utah Parents United denounced a school district’s SEL program, leading officials to scrap it. In a presentation titled “Sinister SEL,” group member Lisa Logan said the goal of such programs is to indoctrinate children, which she compared to the Nazis’ Hitler Youth program.

“We see this now, this Marxist-Leninist ideology being pumped into the soft heads of our kids through social-emotional learning,” she said, in a video of the presentation.

In an interview, the group’s cofounder and public relations director, Corinne Johnson, said Logan is an adviser who is not on the group’s board. Johnson called the Nazi reference “shocking” and said she would not make that comparison.

SEL programs can teach children interpersonal skills but should not promote specific ideologies, Johnson said. She added that the group isn’t against schools providing some mental health services, as long as they include parents.

“We know our children best,” she said, “and we have the innate right to be involved in any decisions that are made.”

In Park City, Superintendent Jill Gildea said her school district hasn’t gotten much pushback against their SEL work, though a few people have raised concerns about schools “overstepping” into parents’ territory. But the lessons are never political, and the only goal is to make students feel safe and supported, Gildea said.

“That’s kind of what we all want for all the kids,” she said.

Patrick Wall is a senior reporter covering national education issues. Contact him at pwall@chalkbeat.org.

How one Chicago school social worker is grappling with COVID’s toll on students

2022-12-09T12:00:00+00:00

Inside a staff bathroom at Piccolo Elementary School on Chicago’s West Side, Mary Difino wiped away tears and tried to catch her breath. It had been a long day in another stressful week.

A spate of fights and a string of cyberbullying incidents among students two months into the school year had taken a toll on Difino — the school’s only social worker.

In the last six years, she has juggled caseloads across two separate schools, participated in an 11-day teachers strike, and navigated a pandemic that upended schools for 18 months.

Still, Difino had harbored hopes that COVID-related disruptions had passed, and things might be getting back to normal. After all, this was supposed to be the year Chicago Public Schools — and its 322,000 students and 39,300 staff — recovered from the upheaval of the pandemic. This would be “one of the strongest years ever” in the district’s history, CEO Pedro Martinez said on the first day of school this fall.

At first, Difino felt that might be the case. Even her students described school as “more chill” with “less drama.”

But she soon realized her students’ trauma was deep-rooted.

Students were behind academically. Behavior problems were going up. Staff shortages at the school that serves Latino and Black students continued to stretch an already depleted workforce.

It felt, Difino said, “just as hard as last year.”

She was maneuvering between crises and helping the behavior team come up with school-wide plans to address some of the fighting and bullying. Plus, she still had to keep up with her regular caseload and small group counseling sessions.

Difino’s job as a school social worker is like “four jobs combined into one,” she says. She’s also responsible for supporting students with disabilities — and managing the paperwork that goes with their Individualized Education Programs or 504 plans — which includes doing diagnostic assessments and meeting with parents and other school staff.

In the bathroom, Difino took another deep breath, then headed back to her office. There she tidied up and fixed her desk. She grabbed her soccer bag from that morning’s Piccolo girls soccer team practice and a binder full of drills and activities. Her role as coach for second, third, and fourth grade students is a reprieve from her frenetic duties during school hours.

She thought about what was needed to calm the fights and help her students: a restorative justice coordinator, smaller class sizes, perhaps another social worker.

But as Difino left for home that night, that wish list seemed far away — and she just felt exhausted.

Chicago doubles number of school social workers

The week before students returned to Piccolo in August, Difino recruited her boyfriend to help set up her office.

They adjusted furniture, arranged plants, and decorated the walls with posters plastered with encouraging phrases such as “We rise by lifting others” and “Be the change you wish to see in the world.”

It would be Difino’s second year full-time at Piccolo, rather than bouncing between two separate schools. It is something she and other social workers in the district have long wanted: to be able to settle in and focus on one group of students in one community.

Mary Difino has advocated for smaller classes sizes, more staff, more programming, and affordable housing for student in Chicago Public Schools.

Difino often felt misunderstood as a young person, and gravitated to social work after years of working with at-risk students. She wanted to help kids who might not have the words to say what they’re feeling or what they need. Kids having a rough time at home. Kids needing a little extra support.

“I just thought it was purely wonderful there is a job that existed purely for those students,” she said.

When Difinio started her career in 2018, Chicago Public Schools had 337 social workers. Now, there are 618.

Until 2019-20, Difino juggled a caseload of about 100 students across two West Side elementary schools — Piccolo and Chalmers. It was, she says, a nearly impossible task.

That, in part, motivated Difinio to become more involved with the Chicago Teachers Union.

In her second year with the district, teachers went on strike for 11 days — and ended up winning provisions to increase the number of social workers and other key school staff. Under the contract between the district and the teachers union, every school must have a social worker by 2024.

Difino remembers the 2019 strike as a huge win, but it came at the cost of being villainized by some media and members of the public.

Federal COVID relief funds have since helped the district bolster its social and emotional staffing. Nationally, some school districts have struggled to hire these positions. In Chicago, 28 social worker positions remained unfilled district wide as of last month, according to the district staffing data.

The doubling of social workers in the district means there’s now one for roughly every 520 students — a huge improvement, but still short of what’s recommended by the National Association of Social Workers.

That organization says schools should staff one social worker for every 250 students. At schools where students are experiencing high levels of trauma, the recommended ratio falls to one social worker for every 50 students.

Even though Difino’s caseload has gone down, she still feels stretched — many days having to quickly pivot from one-on-one meetings with a student or small group sessions to deal with the fallout of a fight or another crisis. It often disrupts a consistent schedule for students in her caseload, she said.

Amid the pandemic that exacerbated pre-existing traumas and disparities, she questioned the district’s way of allocating funds for school social worker staffing positions, especially on the South and West sides — communities that were hard hit by COVID and experience higher levels of gun violence and disinvestment.

Social workers are assigned to schools based on the number of students with special education needs, population, and size. The district said it prioritized schools with the greatest needs.

Currently, every school has a social worker assigned to it. But they’re not all full-time. Only 392 schools have at least one full-time social worker, according to the district.

Federal funds also helped hire additional support, including counselors. According to Chicago Public Schools, 117 schools now have two counselors.

The district said in an emailed statement that it also aims to meet the social-emotional learning needs of students through additional crisis support, programs with wraparound services such as Choose to Change and Back to Our Future, and partnerships for supplemental mental health support with community groups and hospitals such as Ann & Robert H. Lurie Children’s Hospital.

But Difino wasn’t thinking about abstracts and funding philosophies when she set up her classroom.

School social worker Mary Difino spent the week leading up to the new academic year decorating her room to create a calm, welcoming space for students.

She recalled students disoriented by unpredictable quarantines, countless fights, and behavioral problems. And she remembered accompanying a few students to the hospital and frequently staying long after dismissal to manage family crises.

“The lack of consistency was really hard” for students, their families and school staff, Difino said. “Last year, we had to learn all over how to be in school, with new routines, and precautions.”

The previous 18 months of remote and hybrid instruction presented other challenges for social workers trying to address very specific goals for students with Individualized Education Programs.

Instead of focusing on school work or academic and social goals, students often preferred to talk about the impacts of quarantines and remote learning. They just wanted someone to listen, she remembered.

On the first school day in late August, Difino arrived 40 minutes before the bell to put the final touches to her room. She greeted students in the halls and walked some kids to class while others stopped by her room to check whether they would be meeting this year.

She left campus that day feeling that this would be a more manageable year than the two years that preceded it.

That sense of optimism would not last long.

Student mental health needs multiply

The return to school has been shaping up as another challenging year across the nation, said Christy McCoy, the president of the School Social Work Association of America.

“The residual impact of the last couple of years with the pandemic, all the disruptions in schools, the increase of racialized violence — and community violence,” left lingering trauma that has sparked behavioral issues among students, McCoy said.

Some students are exhibiting more aggressive external behavior including bullying and fighting in middle schools and high schools, and internal behaviors with some children struggling to focus and pay attention in class, she added.

“We have youth that are really struggling with engaging and knowing how to do school again,” McCoy said. “When you think of all the gaps of learning that have happened in the last couple of years, youth are really struggling.”

In a statement, Chicago Public Schools said it had prioritized mental health, social-emotional learning, and support services amid the pandemic that “had a disproportionate impact on our communities of color.”

“We recognize that our students continue to struggle with the impact of the pandemic as well as ongoing trauma in their lives,” the district said in an email.

Jackie King-Papadopoulos, another social worker with the district, put it more simply: At this moment, every school has high needs.

“I think that every student that is in Chicago Public Schools, every teacher, every adult that is in Chicago Public Schools is adjusting to life in this pseudo-post-pandemic world,” said King-Papadopoulos, who works at Morton School of Excellence in East Garfield Park.

Last year, King-Papadopoulos started the year at an elementary school in Austin before she was transferred to another school in Uptown. Amid higher expectations, teachers were trying to help students catch up academically while also dealing with challenging behavioral concerns, she recalled.

“Whenever you have that much of a struggle with academics, the social and emotional part is going to really be impacted as well,” King-Papadopoulos noted.

The pandemic has had a varied impact on students. The youngest children are learning to be around other kids, while middle school children are relearning how to be in a classroom, she said. Others are just not coming to school at all, adding to the social worker’s concerns about chronic absenteeism.

At Morton, King-Papadopoulos noted there is still some carryover of fighting among middle school students, but she has heard from teachers and staff that the students who struggled the most with disruptive behavior last year are doing much better this year.

“I think that everybody has made some positive strides in terms of how they’re coping with things,” King-Papadopoulos said. “I do think that everybody’s kind of breathing a sigh of relief that’s so far this year, feels about as normal as they think that it possibly can.”

King-Papadopoulos has been able to meet her caseload, handle new referrals, hold small group interventions, visit classrooms, support teachers, and is part of the behavioral health team.

But it is sometimes a juggling act, she acknowledged. “I also feel like everybody feels like the situation is very tenuous.”

Social workers confront fights, bullying, paperwork

At Piccolo Elementary, the honeymoon phase of the new school year quickly ended.

Difino scrambled to respond to big fights and bullying. She zagged between mediating conflict resolution and connecting parents with resources. She accompanied a student experiencing a mental health crisis to the emergency room.

And the physical fights didn’t let up — some even involved family members during school dismissal. In mid-September, there were four brawls in one day, involving about 16 students, she recalled.

It took an “all-hands-on-deck” approach — by Difino, the principal, school counselor, and other Piccolo staff — to untangle which students were involved, come up with potential restorative approaches and consequences, work out a safety plan, and fill out paperwork to document the fights.

“I don’t think any of us will really understand the effect that quarantine and COVID had on us,” she said later, “but I think that behaviors become habits really quick.”

On days like that, Difino said, school social workers are forced to make tough decisions of whether to scrap some responsibilities to handle a crisis or not respond to a crisis within 24 hours as required.

Piccolo Elementary school leaders, students, and community leaders gathered in mid-October to cut the ribbon on a new playground for students at the Humboldt Park campus.

In Difino’s five years at Piccolo, she has seen the school add more programming for students before, during, and after school. She credited the principal with bringing in six community partners to do art therapy, sports programs, and providing supplemental counseling, as well as implementing initiatives that center the voice of students.

On paper, Difino’s school is considered adequately staffed by district standards. According to district staffing data, Piccolo has a dean of students, a school counselor, at-risk student coordinator, and a few security staff. It also partners with Becoming a Man, or BAM, to offer counseling and social emotional services to Latino and Black boys.

Still, Difino said it still doesn’t feel like enough to address the persistent behavioral concerns.

“There’s just not enough manpower in the building to do all of that when there is such a high frequency of fights and police-involved incidents — on top of your regular responsibilities,” she said. She advocates for smaller class sizes, more staff to help mediate conflicts, and more affordable housing for students and their families.

“It’s like every school is seen as a spreadsheet,” she said, “not as humans with unique needs, or communities with unique needs.”

On one early December day, as the school year trundled to winter break, Difino pivoted from helping a student in crisis for a few hours to meeting with a mother and her child for an annual IEP assessment. For about an hour, they discussed the previous year’s goals and made new objectives for the rest of the year.

Difino spent the next few hours in her office, filling out forms and writing up paperwork.

Piccolo students are grappling with so much outside of the school walls — too many guns, not enough food, no stable places to call home, said Difino. Those pressures often translate into classroom disruptions or academic struggles.

“When kids have big behaviors, it’s really easy to not see them as a kid anymore,” Difino said. “Usually when they have difficult behaviors, they don’t have the words to say what they’re feeling or going through.”

After the holidays, she hopes to get back to a consistent schedule for her small groups and build on the progress she is seeing in her students.

She envisions tailoring activities around their specific needs and interests. Maybe talking about basketball. Or incorporating play-based learning with Legos.

She still believes in what she does and, she says, no matter the obstacles — the lack of support from the district, the cascading responsibilities — she will find a way to do her job.

Purely for the students.

Mauricio Peña is a reporter for Chalkbeat Chicago covering K-12 schools. Contact Mauricio at mpena@chalkbeat.org.

Struggling during COVID, I helped my school develop a class about mental health

2022-12-01T13:00:00+00:00

I went to 19 funerals during the first year of COVID. When I wasn’t saying goodbye to people I cared about, I was in front of a screen that was my connection to school and friends for a year and a half.

I was used to greeting my friends and teachers with an enthusiastic “Hiiiii” and taking part in lively class discussions — experiences I couldn’t replicate on a computer. During online school, I struggled with grief and depression, and a general sense of being overwhelmed. I was trying to learn while dealing with spotty internet and helping my three younger god-siblings with their studies. During this time, I turned to a longtime hobby: journaling. It helped me get in touch with myself and work through what was being thrown at me.

As I was jotting down some ideas in my notebook one morning, a question came to mind: When will we ever talk about mental health here? At the height of COVID, with so many of us suffering in isolation, it was definitely needed.

I was already in the process of starting a wellness council, a club where students could share their struggles and hear about what others are going through. If we could start this club, why not a class about mental health built into the school day?

My research began online. I read studies about the benefits of social and emotional learning and thought about its real-world application. I watched lectures on YouTube about the importance of lessons on mental health. I even spoke with curriculum developers. Personal struggles, together with this research, underscored the need for a mental health class at my Newark high school.

Dr. Shaniqua Fitzgerald teaches Health and Wellness.

So I scheduled a meeting with my principal, Mr. Michael Mann, and began to work on a presentation that included testimonials from current and former students and staff. I had sent out surveys to students — freshmen through seniors — asking them about their mental health needs. They said a class that focused on student mental health would not only reduce the stigma surrounding mental health, but would also help foster social and leadership skills, self-awareness, and caring connections with those around them.

My principal seemed surprised at how passionately I advocated for this class, and he offered his wholehearted support. Next, I reached out to Ms. Julie Jackson, one of the co-CEOs of Uncommon Schools. (My school, North Star Academy Washington Park High School in Newark, is part of the Uncommon Schools charter network.) Soon, I was sitting down with one of the most powerful people in my school’s network. Ms. Jackson started the meeting by praising my efforts, and she assured me that it would be a casual conversation. Turns out, she was onboard, too.

Next, I created a working group made up of educators and North Star students. Our goal: To start a class where students could learn about the causes and symptoms of mental health challenges, and how to advocate for themselves and their peers.

Students tell me how this outlet helps them find their inner voice and relieve stress, making them less likely to experience burnout.

The summer between my freshman and sophomore years, I worked on lesson plans and brainstormed ideas for final projects. A lesson I’m especially proud of is about consent. Here’s one of the assignments: “Over the next week, please log two situations in which you were asked to give permission to someone else for something and at least three situations in which you asked someone else for permission to do something.” This lesson centers on the three R’s of consent: Rights, Respect, and Responsibility. Another lesson asks students about the evolution of their ideas about mental health, and a third helps students understand the difference between sex and gender.

The result of all this planning is a real-life class called Health and Wellness.

Health and Wellness students left notes of praise for Dr. Shaniqua Fitzgerald.

Because the class was piloted during COVID’s peak, it started off virtual so attendance and class participation initially lagged. However, since last school year, the class has been in person. Dr. Shaniqua Fitzgerald, who now teaches Health and Wellness, welcomes students into her cozy corner classroom with a wide smile. The smell of cocoa butter fills the entire room. It’s warm and serene inside. Just walking by on my way to class, I often hear students excitedly screaming out different answers whenever Dr. Fitzgerald poses a question.

Students tell me how this outlet helps them find their inner voice and relieve stress, making them less likely to experience burnout. They say they have a better sense of autonomy and agency thanks to lessons on sexual health. (Now, Dr. Fitzgerald and I are talking about bringing this class to other schools in the charter network.)

During remote learning, struggling with grief and depression, I wanted to develop something that would help me feel better and empower others. I’m proud of what Health and Wellness has become, a class that destigmatizes difficult conversations, and fosters knowledge, openness, empathy, and care.

Dashawn Sheffield is a senior at North Star Academy Washington Park High School. He aims to educate students and faculty on the symptoms of mental health issues, and promote school-based mental health support.

New Jersey school counselors say student mental health needs have ‘increased tremendously’

2022-11-22T21:00:33+00:00

An expectation to “return to normal” this school year has exacerbated student anxiety, depression, and other mental health needs that were already on the rise after the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic, school counselors said during a virtual panel organized by the Latino Mental Health Association of New Jersey.

Counselors and other mental health professionals who are part of the state’s school-based youth services program — which contracts nonprofits to provide those services in host schools — gathered virtually on Thursday to discuss their efforts and struggles to re-engage students two years after the pandemic began.

Though anxiety and depression have spiked among their students, counselors are finding hope in being in-person with their students, less stigma in school around seeking help, and sharing resources and tips with their colleagues.

Many students, they say, are finding it challenging this school year to follow basic rules and expectations, such as wearing a uniform all day, showing up to class on time, and completing assignments. Behind those behaviors are students grappling with anxiety, chronic stress, and depression.

In 2020 and 2021, students experienced “fight or flight mode” as schools switched to remote learning for 18 months, said Giselle Fontalvo, a school counselor in Passaic Public Schools who led the virtual meeting. Then, the 2021-22 school year became “all about survival” as in-person learning returned with masks and COVID testing in the face of an ongoing pandemic, she added.

But this school year, with limited accommodations and no remote learning option, students are experiencing a shock as they face yet another transition – a “return to normal” – and it’s affecting their mental well-being, Fontalvo said.

“You need to be in school on time every day and you can’t get up five minutes before school starts to log on to a computer,” Fontalvo said. “There’s this sense of shock when students face consequences for consistently showing up late, like, ‘What do you mean I have detention? I didn’t get detention last year.’”

Student mental health needs ‘rapidly increasing’

The pressure for students to perform well academically and socially in school this year has intensified their mental health needs more than at any point during the pandemic, said Nivioska Bruce, the associate vice president of clinical interventions in schools for Care Plus NJ, during the virtual meeting.

Her clinical intervention teams lead “school clearance assessments” on students to evaluate their level of risk to themselves or others before they’re sent to emergency psychiatric services at a hospital, she said.

In the first three months of school, her team has already “seen so many students” go to emergency rooms for having high-risk levels, Bruce said.

“We’re just realizing the level of intensity that they’re presenting with has been something that we haven’t seen,” she said. “Their mental health needs have increased tremendously. All of the stress from the last two years turned into chronic stress, creating this inability to regulate and utilize healthy coping skills. And now, these levels of anxiety and depression are just rapidly increasing.”

Jennesis Quintana, a school-based youth services counselor with the Mental Health Clinic of Passaic, has seen her students struggling with keeping on their uniforms and lanyards that hold student identification cards and completing assignments.

“A lot of them say it’s hard for them to go to sleep at night, and when they wake up they’re drained and can’t get out of bed or make it in on time,” Quintana said at the virtual meeting.

She said she can recognize when her students are going through depression as it often shows up in their appearance, something she would have missed in a virtual setting. They’ll come to school with poor hygiene and a lack of appetite, on top of the sleep deprivation, she said.

“Those factors then impact how they overall perform, how they function throughout the day, and how they interact with one another,” Quintana said.

But, the counselors said, there’s room for hope.

“The students are opening up more and more,” Quintana said. “You can see what they’re not saying through their body language and interactions and you have direct access when they’re having a breakdown.”

In a phone call on Monday, Fontalvo told Chalkbeat that she feels lucky to work in a district that’s predominantly Latinx and Hispanic, where students can see themselves reflected in her.

“When my English language learners come to see me, they say, ‘Oh, thank God, you speak Spanish,’” she said. “The rest of the day, they’re working on acclimating to the school environment and speaking in English, but with that one conversation in Spanish, they get to have a little relief and feel comfortable.”

There’s also “power in being in the moment” with a student when they’re having trouble regulating intense emotions, Fontalvo said.

“You can help them navigate those feelings of anxiety by simply validating their experience and guiding them with helpful steps to take,” she said. “We can say, ‘OK, you’re right, it is a lot. But we still have to work on this and the goal is still to be a great student. How about we take these two minutes to freak out, and then we’ll work on our to-do list together.’”

In the last two years, an open dialogue about mental health in schools has reduced the stigma of visiting a school counselor or psychologist for help, the counselors said.

“The access to immediate, consistent support and care is the best part of being in schools,” Bruce said at the virtual meeting. “We know that school-based mental health for many of the students and families that come through, this may be the first time they have access to this type of service, but it’s in a place that’s familiar and safe and free of stigma.”

When talking with her students about their needs and what would help them address the pressure they feel, Quintana said she learned that they would like to start their day with a “mental health break.”

“When they haven’t had a good night’s rest, or they just had a fight with a parent, to come in and have a test or project or presentation waiting for them can be overwhelming,” Quintana said to her fellow school-based counselors at the virtual meeting.“Maybe we can incorporate the first 15-20 minutes of the day as a break for them to catch their breath and then start the day.”

Azara Santiago Rivera, president of the Latino Mental Health Association of New Jersey, said in a phone call with Chalkbeat on Friday that she aims to continue holding these meetings for school counselors to share their experiences and resources, especially those that work in predominantly Latinx communities and communities of color.

“At a time when we’re seeing a rise in serious mental health needs for students, we’re also seeing a shortage of mental health professionals,” Santiago Rivera said. “This is the time to share ideas, resources, and strategies with each other and create a safe space for our professionals.”

Catherine Carrera is the bureau chief for Chalkbeat Newark, covering the city’s K-12 schools with a focus on English language learners. Contact Catherine at ccarrera@chalkbeat.org.

School psychologist, counselor hiring lags nationwide even as student mental health needs soar

2022-11-18T12:00:00+00:00

This story is a partnership with The Associated Press.

Mira Ugwuadu felt anxious and depressed when she returned to her high school in Cobb County, Georgia, last fall after months of remote learning, so she sought help. But her school counselor kept rescheduling their meetings because she had so many students to see.

“I felt helpless and alone,” the 12th grader later said.

Despite an influx of COVID-19 relief money, school districts across the country have struggled to staff up to address students’ mental health needs that have only grown since the pandemic hit.

Among 18 of the country’s largest school districts, 12 started this school year with fewer counselors or psychologists than they had in fall 2019, according to an analysis by Chalkbeat. As a result, many school mental health professionals have caseloads that far exceed recommended limits, according to experts and advocates, and students must wait for urgently needed help.

Some of the extra need for support has been absorbed by social workers — their ranks have grown by nearly 50% since before the pandemic, federal data shows — but they have different training from other mental health professionals and many other duties, including helping families. Districts included in the analysis, which serve a combined 3 million students, started the year with nearly 1,000 unfilled mental health positions.

Hiring challenges are largely to blame, but some school systems have invested relief money in other priorities. The Cobb County district, for one, has not added any new counselors.

“They have so many students that they’re dealing with,” said Mira, 17. “I personally don’t want to blame them. But I also deserve care and support, too.”

A spokesperson for Cobb County Public Schools said school counselor positions are based on a state funding formula, and the district strongly supports more funding.

The Chalkbeat analysis is based on school staffing and vacancy data obtained through open records requests. The 31 largest districts in the U.S. were surveyed, but some did not track or provide data.

Some school systems used federal relief money to add mental health staff, but others did not because they worried about affording them once the aid runs out. Districts have limited time to spend the nearly $190 billion allocated for recovery.

“Here’s this conundrum that we’re in,” said Christy McCoy, the president of the School Social Work Association of America. “It’s like we are trying to put a Band-Aid on something that needs a more comprehensive and integrated approach.”

Hiring challenges for psychologists, counselors

Many of the schools that have wanted to hire more mental health workers simply can’t find them. School psychologist positions have been particularly hard to fill.

Chicago, for example, added 32 school psychologist positions since fall 2019 but ended up with just one additional psychologist on staff this fall. Dozens of positions couldn’t be filled.

Schools in Hillsborough County, Florida eliminated dozens of unfilled psychologist positions, leaving schools with 33 fewer psychologists this fall than pre-pandemic. Houston schools also cut more than a dozen psychologist roles it couldn’t fill before the pandemic. Instead, the district used the money to pay outside providers and hire psychologist interns.

With their extended training, school psychologists are relied upon to provide intensive one-on-one counseling and help determine whether students are at risk for suicide.

In Maryland, a shortage of psychologists at Montgomery County Public Schools has kept the short-staffed department focused on crisis intervention and providing legally mandated services like special education assessments, said Christina Connolly-Chester, director of psychological services. That has meant they cannot keep up with other, less urgent counseling services.

“If that psychologist has more schools because there are vacancies and they’re not able to spend as much time in their assigned schools, then things like counseling go away,” she said.

The district sought to hire staff to address increased student needs such as anxiety, depression and struggles with conflict management, but still had 30 vacant psychologist positions, a district official said this month.

Even before the pandemic, some schools struggled to find psychologists. New practitioners have not been entering the field fast enough, and others have been switching to telehealth or private practices with higher pay and often better working conditions.

“We can’t afford to pay professionals enough to make it a desirable position,” said Sharon Hoover, a psychologist who co-directs the National Center for School Mental Health at the University of Maryland.

Counselor staffing has been a challenge for some districts, too, with nine of the large districts down counselors this year, while another nine saw increases.

Where hiring has been toughest, schools have turned to alternatives. In Hawaii, which had 31 vacant counselor positions and 20 vacant psychologist roles at the start of the year, the state has trained educators to spot signs that a student is in distress — an increasingly common practice — and pays a private company to provide tele-mental health services.

To help with student counseling, the state also employs about 300 behavioral health specialists — a position created before the pandemic partly in response to a longstanding school psychologist shortage, said Annie Kalama, the department official who oversees student support services.

“We’re trying to attack it from every angle,” she said.

It isn’t just hiring challenges that have led to smaller-than-expected staffing increases. Some school systems spent most of their federal aid on more lasting investments, such as technology or building repairs. And many opted not to add new mental health workers at all.

In the Chalkbeat analysis, half of the 18 large districts budgeted for fewer counselor or psychologist positions this school year than they did in fall 2019.

In April, just 4 in 10 districts reported hiring new staffers to address students’ mental health needs, according to a national survey.

“For all the talk about mental health, the actual money they’re spending on it is not that high,” said Phyllis Jordan, associate director of FutureEd, a think tank at Georgetown University that tracks school spending. School districts only planned to spend about 2% of the largest round of federal COVID aid on mental health hiring, according to the group’s analysis of more than 5,000 district spending plans.

Schools have added social workers

One bright spot in the school mental health landscape, though, is the increase in social workers.

Montgomery County in Maryland, Gwinnett County in Georgia, and Orange, Broward, and Palm Beach counties in Florida all started the year with dozens more social workers than they had in fall 2019. Chicago added the most — nearly 150 additional social workers — in part due to staffing promises in the latest teachers union contract.

The Chalkbeat analysis echoes national data collected by the White House that show the number of school social workers was up 48% this fall compared with before the pandemic, while the number of school counselors was up a more modest 12% and the count of school psychologists inched up 4%.

In Houston, staffing increases meant nearly every school started this fall with a counselor or social worker.

Newly hired social worker Natalie Rincon is able to meet one-on-one with students who are in crisis and teach other students calming strategies, such as tracing their hand with a finger while breathing.

Still, need often outstrips capacity at Rincon’s school, where many students are refugees or recent immigrants coping with trauma. She often has to prioritize helping students with urgent issues, leaving less time to check in on others.

Natalie Rincon, a social worker, has seen the benefits of having a fuller mental health team at her Houston elementary school.

“I want to be able to meet with a kindergartner just to talk about how they’re feeling,” Rincon said. “Those are the kind of things that I think slip through the cracks.”

And in some schools, the social worker doesn’t have any backup.

As the sole mental health professional at a charter school in Buffalo, New York, social worker Danielle Dylik provides counseling to more than 40 students most weeks. She also assists with discipline issues and is setting up a food pantry and clothes bank for families.

But as just one person, she knows she can’t help every student who needs it.

“There’s just not enough hours in the school day,” she said.

Patrick Wall is a senior reporter covering national education issues. Contact him at pwall@chalkbeat.org.

Kalyn Belsha is a national education reporter based in Chicago. Contact her at kbelsha@chalkbeat.org.

Annie Ma is a reporter for The Associated Press.

The Comeback: Memphis students and teachers share stories of resilience after pandemic

2022-11-14T22:46:06+00:00

Shreya Ganesh had been struggling with motivation as a Memphis high school freshman when one day, the district superintendent tweeted that all students were getting a half day off.

It was spring 2020, right before spring break and right as the COVID pandemic was beginning to take the nation and world hostage. Memphis-Shelby County Schools would eventually announce that in-person learning was over for the school year.

“And I didn’t even know what to do with myself,” said Shreya, now a senior at White Station High School, at a Chalkbeat and New Memphis-hosted storytelling night. “OK, I thought, this is just a really, really long spring break.”

Shreya said that the pandemic disruption and online learning, while incredibly challenging, helped her take a mental break from a taxing school schedule and forced her to ask herself, “What do I really want to do?” The time she spent doing schoolwork alongside her sister, a college student also learning from home, heavily influenced new passions and goals. And Shreya said she developed more intentional friendships, even if she couldn’t see her peers in person. After a year of online learning, she returned to in-person classes as a junior.

“My first day of junior year, I felt like I was finally stepping into the shoes I’d been making for the last two years,” Shreya said, adding that she finally got to connect with friends she had made during online learning, and that her anxiety around tests and college had plummeted during the pandemic. “I’m really proud of how I grew during all of this. This is my comeback story.”

Right before the school year began, Chalkbeat Tennessee partnered with New Memphis for an evening of stories from students and educators. New Memphis also announced its news class of Educators of Excellence.

You can watch the stories, including Shreya’s, in full below. Special thanks to additional event partners, Spillit, and the Daily Memphian.

Storytellers hit on the theme of “The Comeback,” which is what the last school year was supposed to be as students returned to classrooms after months of remote or hybrid learning, disconnection, and uncertainty. And for many schools, it was a comeback year for a while, as schools returned to in-person and vaccines were widely available. But as Shreya’s story illustrates, students and teachers are forever changed — in some good and in many incredibly challenging ways.

Watch Shreya’s story in full below, as well as stories from four other Memphis educators and students.

Shreya Ganesh, senior at White Station High School and Bank of America student leader

Curley Harris, dean of students at Promise Academy Spring Hill

Natalie Nixon, senior at Houston High School and student leader with BRIDGES

Athumuni (Arthur) Niyokwizigigwa, sophomore at Central High School and student leader with the Refugee Empowerment Program

Josh Czupryk, director of academic operations at University Schools

Caroline Bauman is the community engagement manager at Chalkbeat.

‘Unsafe, unwelcoming’: LGBTQ students report facing hostility at school

2022-10-25T11:00:00+00:00

Patricia Reeves and her husband have tried to make school safe for their child.

They pushed administrators at one school to stop students from bullying Milo, who is nonbinary, and withdrew Milo from a different school after a teacher refused to use the correct pronouns. Inside their West Texas home, the parents do their best to replenish their child’s self esteem and resilience — to “build up our little soldier,” as Reeves put it.

But try as they might, they can’t completely shield Milo from the difficulty, even the danger, of being different at school.

“As long as you’re a fierce mom, you can get out in front of it,” Reeves said. “But the damage is already done.”

The damage is extensive: Most LGBTQ students feel unsafe at school and struggle with mental health, according to two new reports based on large-scale student surveys.

Reported rates of depression, hopelessness, and suicidal thoughts were far higher among LGBTQ students than their peers last school year, and highest among transgender and nonbinary youth, according to a survey of students in 20 states by the nonprofit YouthTruth. Released Monday, the survey also found that girls’ mental health is worse than boys’.

Another recent report helps explain LGBTQ students’ distress: The vast majority experienced harassment or assault during in-person school, and many heard school employees use homophobic language, according to a national survey of LGBTQ students conducted in 2021 and released this month by GLSEN, a group that promotes safe and inclusive schools.

“Most LGBTQ students are going to schools that are unsafe, unwelcoming, and not affirming,” said Caitlin Clark, a senior research associate at GLSEN who co-authored the report.

The reports highlight how the youth mental health crisis, like the COVID-19 pandemic, has ravaged marginalized groups more than others. They also suggest that the national campaign to bolster young people’s mental health could fail LGBTQ students if it ignores the sources of their pain, including mistreatment at school and social stigmatization made worse, advocates say, by the recent surge in anti-LGBTQ laws.

In her support group for parents of gender-nonconforming children, Reeves hears about what happens when vulnerable young people are subjected to such hostility.

“Every single one of our little ones has some sort of mental health challenge,” she said, “because of not being fully accepted.”

Worse mental health outcomes for girls and LGBTQ students

Already on the decline for at least a decade, young people’s mental health spiraled downward during the pandemic so rapidly that medical groups declared a “national emergency.”

But warnings of a widespread crisis can obscure a consistent trend in the data: LGBTQ students and girls are struggling more than their peers.

More than 80% of high school students who identify as transgender or nonbinary and nearly 70% of girls cited depression, stress, or anxiety as obstacles to learning last school year, compared with 40% of boys who reported such struggles, according to the YouthTruth survey, which was taken by more than 220,000 students during the 2021-22 school year but is not nationally representative. And from elementary to high school, boys were more likely than girls and nonbinary students to report feeling happy.

The survey also showed that roughly a third of LGBTQ high school students had seriously considered attempting suicide over the past year — four times the share of non-LGBTQ students who said they had considered it.

Similar trends have emerged in surveys conducted by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention during the pandemic and over the preceding decade: High school students who are female or LGBTQ are the most likely to report poor mental health and suicidal thinking.

Those students “all were doing worse prior to the pandemic,” said Kathleen Ethier, director of the CDC’s Division of Adolescent and School Health, which conducted a nationally representative student survey in 2021. “What we saw in this data was really a continuation of that.”

LGBTQ students find limited support at school

Tati Martínez Alvarez wishes their school had a club for LGBTQ students, “a place where we could come together without fearing judgment.”

But despite students’ demands for such a club, their small public high school in South Texas does not offer one, said Tati, who is in the 11th grade. Even though many students identify as LGBTQ, Tati said the school does little to acknowledge their community, much less embrace it.

“I don’t see that happening,” they said. “Maybe in like 20 years.”

Tati’s experience is the norm nationwide, according to the GLSEN survey, which polled more than 22,000 students in grades 6-12 who identify as LGBTQ. The students are based in all 50 states, as well as Washington D.C. and several U.S. territories.

Just 35% of respondents said their school had an active Gay Straight Alliance or similar club during the 2020-21 academic year. Less than 30% said their classes include any LGBTQ-related topics, and only 8% said their schools had policies supporting transgender and nonbinary students.

Instead of support, many LGBTQ students face hostility at school, according to the survey.

More than 80% of respondents who attended in-person school at some point in 2020-21 experienced harassment or assault based on personal characteristics, including sexual orientation, gender expression, or race or ethnicity. Nearly 60% of students reported hearing teachers or other school staff make homophobic remarks, and more than 70% heard staff make negative comments about gender expression.

Such intolerance is sadly common in schools, said Dr. Morissa Ladinsky, a pediatrician in Alabama who provides gender-affirming care to transgender young people.

“While some have faced bullying from students (which most don’t report for fear of reprisal or not being taken seriously), many experience intimidation and even straight up bullying from the adults in their school,” she wrote in an email, adding that the constant threat of mistreatment can lead to “anxiety, depression and academic underachievement.”

LGBTQ students who are victimized at school are more likely than their peers to be absent, earn low grades, and suffer from low self-esteem and depression, the GLSEN survey found.

“When you don’t see yourself represented” at school, Tati said, you “can feel very confused, very anxious, very depressed, because there’s nowhere to turn.”

Anti-LGBTQ laws add to anxiety

In many states, LGBTQ students cannot turn to elected officials for support.

Instead, some Republican politicians have sought to restrict the rights of LGBTQ students and prohibit school practices designed to support those students.

At least 18 states have passed laws barring transgender students from sports teams or school bathrooms that match their gender identity. Last month, Virginia Gov. Glenn Youngkin’s administration proposed new restrictions on transgender students, including a requirement that teachers use the pronouns associated with students’ sex assigned at birth rather than their preferred pronouns.

Other states have sought to limit classroom discussions about gender and sexuality, which is the focus of a new national bill that Congressional Republicans introduced last week. Meanwhile, some school districts have quietly removed books with LGBTQ content and ordered teachers to take down LGBTQ pride flags.

The new policies are making life harder for many students, advocates say.

In Alabama, which passed several anti-LGBTQ laws this year, Dr. Ladinsky said some of her transgender patients have stopped using the restroom during the school day because of restrictions on which facilities they can use. She also heard from teachers who disbanded their LGBTQ clubs, presumably due to pressure from administrators. (In April, Dr. Ladinsky joined a legal challenge against a new Alabama law that would criminalize gender-affirming medical care for minors. A judge has temporarily stopped the law from taking effect.)

Some students see efforts to restrict LGBTQ rights as a personal attack, said Tati, the Texas high schooler.

“It just spreads the message that they genuinely don’t see you as a person,” they said. “They just see you as something that they need to get rid of.”

Protecting LGBTQ students

The new reports show the urgent need to make schools safer for LGBTQ students, advocates said.

Schools can establish LGBTQ clubs, enforce anti-bullying policies that explicitly protect LGBTQ students, provide staff training on inclusive practices, and give transgender students access to facilities that match their gender identity, experts said, though laws in some states might restrict such policies.

Kathleen Ethier, the CDC official, said policies that make schools more welcoming for LGBTQ students have been shown to also benefit their peers.

“Something about creating an inclusive school” and removing “anti-LGBTQ toxicity,” she said, “makes the school better for everyone.”

There are many ways to make schools safer and improve students’ mental health, said Tati, who has championed the issue as a youth advisor to the Intercultural Development Research Association, a Texas-based nonprofit that promotes educational equity. The challenge is convincing adults to take action.

“People don’t realize that the culture isn’t going to change,” Tati said, “unless everyone makes an effort.”

Patrick Wall is a senior reporter covering national education issues. Contact him at pwall@chalkbeat.org.

Are efforts to support student mental health working? Help Chalkbeat investigate.

2022-10-05T19:25:52+00:00

A historic campaign is underway to support students’ mental health. But is it working?

As the pandemic has frayed students’ nerves, worsened rates of anxiety and depression, and fueled a rise in behavior issues, schools have raced to offer support. They’ve tried to hire more psychologists and social workers, paid private agencies to provide counseling, assessed students’ social-emotional skills, offered training to students and parents on how to manage difficult emotions, set up rooms where students can relax and meditate, and even brought in therapy dogs.

The rapid expansion of services has been bankrolled by the nearly $190 billion in federal COVID relief money for schools. A new federal law to address gun violence will send even more money to schools, including $280 million in mental health grants.

Most large urban districts say they intend to use some of the COVID aid on social-emotional and mental health support for students, according to a review of 100 district plans by the Center on Reinventing Public Education.

But while it’s clear that schools are ramping up support for students, it’s much less clear how well those efforts are working. Have schools been able to hire enough mental health professionals? Has new training enabled teachers to spot students who need extra help? Are students applying the lessons on emotional regulation? Is anyone using those new wellness rooms?

Chalkbeat is exploring how the campaign to support students’ mental health is playing out in schools — but we need your help. Please take the survey below and tell us what’s happening in your school and how well it seems to be working.

Loading…

If you are having trouble viewing this form, go here.

Caring for a beloved class pet taught me to care for myself, too

2022-10-05T17:00:00+00:00

When I started middle school, there were a lot of things I didn’t like. I didn’t like the teachers. I didn’t like the building. Honestly, I didn’t even like the girl I saw in the mirror. She was quiet, self-conscious, and afraid of not fitting in.

But I loved our class pets. There were snakes, a rabbit, a hedgehog, a tortoise, and a bearded dragon; we even had hissing Madagascar cockroaches. One day in seventh grade, our science teacher, Mr. Franks, introduced us to a new pet, a guinea pig. She was donated by a student who couldn’t take care of her anymore.

“The new guinea pig,” as everyone called her, was skinny, five months old, and had beautiful, long, brown fur with one, singular hair that stuck up straight. We bonded right away. I’ve always wanted a pet of my own but my apartment building doesn’t allow pets. I was happy to give her the love she deserved.

Israa Belbaita

At first, when I petted her, she flinched away from me. I tried again, and she started cooing. She was shy, like I was, and had to get used to people. I made a list of names for her and landed on Hershey, for her brown fur.

Then, I learned that the student who gave her away had already named her Bebe, after the clothing brand. I thought that since I was the one taking care of her now, I should get to give her a new, more fitting name. After all, I was the one cleaning her cage. I was the one who gave her her first bath in the girls’ bathroom sink. I had scratches all over me, but I was happy to see Hershey so clean. I was the one who used my allowance money to buy her fresh vegetables and fruits.

Her favorite fruit was raspberries. The first time I gave her one, I heard a new coo, like cat’s purr. Soon, Hershey wasn’t so skinny anymore.

Although Mr. Franks never officially renamed her Hershey, over time, everyone began calling her that, and she became the pet I wasn’t able to have at home.

I filled my diary with entries about her progress. She loved her cage and scurrying into the pink castle inside. She was becoming more social and enjoyed being carried around upright, her stomach on mine. When she needed more food or her nails clipped, I spoke up on her behalf to Mr. Franks.

Once, my algebra teacher said that Hershey looked like a dirty street rat. If someone had said something like that to me, I would’ve probably ignored them. But I clapped back on Hershey’s behalf. Speaking up for Hershey made me more comfortable speaking up for myself.

Meanwhile, because I had Hershey’s company to look forward to every day, I was more motivated at school. I knew that if my grades slipped or if I came to school late too many times, I’d lose the privilege of taking care of Hershey. I even spent more time with my friends and began to make new ones. Even though I still didn’t like the teachers or how small and gloomy the building was, I began to realize that I wouldn’t be stuck in middle school forever. As long as I focused on myself and Hershey, I would be OK.

Then, spring break rolled around and someone needed to take Hershey home with them. I thought my mom would say no, but I begged and pleaded for a whole week until, finally, she said, “This will be the only time, Israa. You know the rules.” I nodded and emailed Mr. Franks.

When I brought Hershey home, I covered her until we entered my apartment, then I took her out of her cage. She cooed happily in my arms, cocking her head from side to side, as I asked my mom, “Mama, do you want to hold her?” Before my mom could respond, I put Hershey in her hands. Hershey didn’t fuss or coo in discomfort like she usually does when someone new holds her.

From then on, when my mom got home from work, she said hello to Hershey before anyone else in the house. My mom loved Hershey so much that we brought her back during long weekends and school breaks. Even when I graduated middle school, I begged my younger brother to ask Mr. Franks if he could bring Hershey back to our house, and he did.

When the COVID-19 pandemic happened, I was a high school freshman, and my brother was in seventh grade. My first thought was of Hershey. It turned out that the school had found families to take all the pets before my brother got the chance to ask for Hershey. So, we didn’t have her during quarantine, even though she was what I needed most during that lonely time. I tried to stop myself from thinking that Hershey was feeling the same loneliness that I was.

I filled my diary with entries about her progress. She loved her cage and scurrying into the pink castle inside.

My dad was extremely afraid of COVID-19 early in the pandemic. I was allowed outside infrequently, to minimize my chances of getting sick. I felt trapped in my home. My skin was dry and pale and, besides school work, I was running out of ways to keep myself occupied.

Near the end of the school year, I received good news. Hershey needed someone to take care of her for the summer. I wrote to Mr. Franks asking if we could take her. Suddenly, I was in my dad’s Suburban with Hershey. As I sat in the passenger seat listening to her coo, I was so happy that I almost asked my dad if I could sit with her in the hatchback trunk.

When I got home, I realized that Hershey was doing worse than I was. Her hair was shedding and she had low energy, which can indicate depression in guinea pigs. She was dirty, almost as skinny as she was the first time I met her, and her nails were so overgrown that they curled back into her skin.

Right away, I cleaned her cage, cleaned her, clipped her nails, and brushed her hair. She didn’t resist any of it. In the past, Hershey had hated the feeling of water on her and would never let me touch her feet. But now, it was like she knew she needed the help. I fed her fresh vegetables. Who knows how long it had been since she’d had raspberries? “It’s OK, Hershey, you are home now,” I whispered.

After just a couple of hours, Hershey looked so much better that she convinced me to give myself the same care. I began cooking healthy foods for myself instead of the pasta and pizza I had been eating. Even though I wasn’t going anywhere, I did my hair and dressed like I was going to school. I didn’t feel better in just a couple of hours, but, over time, I began to feel like myself again.

After her self-care day, Hershey scurried back into her pink castle, like always, but now, her butt stuck out of the entrance.

My Hershey was growing up. Of course, her pink castle was too small. She’d had it since she was 5 months old and now she was almost 2! I got her a new, bigger castle, white and translucent, but she refused to go inside. She sat outside the entrance of the castle and stared at it. I tried putting them both in her cage at the same time, then taking the pink one out, but she wouldn’t budge.

I didn’t blame her. Hershey struggled with change, like many of us do. She would rather have her butt stick out of her familiar castle than have the proper space she needed in a new one.

Similarly, I knew that I had a lot to say and wanted to be heard, but I’d become comfortable hiding in my own little, pink castle that I had grown too big to fit into.

Over the past two years, I’ve joined organizations such as Yvote, where New York City youth come together to promote collective, civic action. I’ve also decided to pursue a career in journalism, where I can fill pages far beyond my diary with entries about the progress of the world around me, and where I can speak up for myself and others.

I haven’t seen Hershey since the summer of 2020, when my brother graduated from middle school. I want to tell her, “I miss you, Hershey, and I’ll always be grateful to you. Thank you for reflecting back parts of me and teaching me to treat myself with compassion and patience. Thank you for helping me grow out of my pink castle and into the person I want to be in the world.” Now, when I look in the mirror, I see a strong and outspoken young woman.

Israa Belbaita is a rising senior at NYC iSchool. Israa moved from Morocco at a young age and now resides in Queens. Her dream is to be a journalist … or, maybe, a lawyer.

A version of this piece was originally published by Youth Communication. It is reprinted here with permission.

NYC: What’s the No. 1 thing you’d like your school to provide this year?

2022-09-01T18:25:44+00:00

New York City public schools plan to welcome back roughly 900,000 students next week, marking the start of yet another critical year.

Many children continue to feel the academic and emotional toll from prolonged classroom closures and interruptions during the coronavirus pandemic. And the nation’s largest school system as a whole is continuing to grapple with declining enrollment, though it is also seeing an influx of thousands of asylum seekers, who may need intensive support.

Chalkbeat wants to hear from students, parents, and educators: What are you looking forward to this year? Are you concerned about the city’s budget cuts affecting your school? Do you think your school is offering enough mental health support?

This summer’s battle over school funding cuts, along with an ongoing lawsuit challenging the education department’s budget process, made planning more complicated for many principals — though perhaps not as difficult as the previous two years when they had to reconfigure so much of what teaching and learning looked like because of COVID guidance. Schools will drop most of the city’s COVID mitigations this year, ditching the daily health screeners and onsite PCR testing, along with previously dropped layers such as masking and quarantines.

The city is still planning to spend more than $1 billion in stimulus funding this year, but it remains to be seen how much of that will go directly to help students with tutoring programs or other ways to catch them up academically and socially. The education department already said it plans to scale back special education recovery services this fall.

In response to the plummeting math and reading scores — especially for the lowest performing students — from the National Assessment of Educational Progress, whose test is known as “the nation’s report card,” U.S. Secretary of Education Miguel Cardona said that schools should use their federal aid “even more effectively and expeditiously.” He cited strategies like high-dosage tutoring, after-school programs, and hiring more staff.

Meanwhile, budget cuts forced many New York City schools to excess educators, sending them to find positions elsewhere in the system.

Having trouble viewing this form? Go here.

Staffing, attendance, behavior: 7 big issues facing schools this year

2022-08-18T19:24:19+00:00

After surviving two school years “completely veiled in the pandemic,” teacher Kathryn Vaughn says this year is off to a different start.

Her stress levels are down. COVID protocols are relaxed. Teachers are feeling hopeful.

“It feels a little lighter this year,” said Vaughn, who teaches elementary school art in Tennessee. “It really feels like we’re just kind of back to business as usual.”

Many students and educators are returning to classrooms this fall with a sense of cautious optimism. But there are still many open questions after last year’s staffing shortages, student absences, and mental health and behavioral challenges interfered with academic recovery efforts.

Here are seven big issues facing schools:

How will schools handle staffing challenges?

Some schools are stepping up efforts to boost student attendance this year.

First, some reassuring news: Despite what you might have heard, there isn’t evidence of an unprecedented teacher shortage nor an exodus of teachers fleeing the profession.

Yet some schools are struggling to staff up — partly for reasons that predate the pandemic. High-poverty schools have long had trouble recruiting and retaining teachers, and the supply of new educators has dwindled over the past decade as fewer people enroll in teacher-prep programs.

But the pandemic also has created new complications. Many districts used federal relief funds to add more positions, including tutors and extra substitutes, creating huge demand for a limited pool of workers. Schools also must compete with other employers for lower-wage workers, such as bus drivers and custodians, spurring some districts to hike their pay and offer bonuses.

Those hiring pressures are bearing down on Paterson Public Schools, a high-needs district in New Jersey. Some 130 teaching positions remain unfilled, or nearly 6% of the total teaching force, about three weeks before students return, said Luis Rojas, Jr., the district official who oversees human resources. While some vacancies are expected, Rojas said the number has surged as teachers take advantage of the tight labor market.

“They understand the demand,” he said, “and folks are jumping around from school district to school district trying to move up the salary ladder and get as much money as they can.”

The causes of the staffing crunch are ultimately less important than the effect on students. Schools that can’t find enough teachers might have to raise class sizes, hire less qualified candidates, assign teachers to subjects in which they have limited training, or rely on long-term substitutes — all of which can get in the way of learning.

“I would tell you that one is too many,” Rojas said, “when you have a vacancy.”

Will student attendance improve?

Chronic absenteeism rates rose last year, as quarantines and COVID infections kept students home for long stretches.

This year, the CDC is no longer recommending that students quarantine after an exposure. Many think that will help stabilize attendance, though it’s possible other factors could persist, such as lingering student disengagement.

In Los Angeles, about half of all students were chronically absent last year. Even without quarantines, 30% of students were chronically absent, up from 19% before the pandemic.

“That is just not acceptable,” Superintendent Alberto Carvalho said last week as he announced a new campaign to boost attendance by visiting student homes.

In Detroit, 77% of students were chronically absent last year, up from 62% the year before the pandemic began. There, the spike was especially concerning because the district has long worked to raise attendance. Now, officials are stepping up efforts to get kids to school.

Lisa Blackwell, a district attendance agent, is part of that. This summer, she’s been knocking on doors to talk up her elementary school’s new before- and after-school care options, and explaining to parents the COVID precautions her school is taking. She’s also planning incentives to reward students, like bringing an ice cream truck to school.

“I want to focus more so on getting the kids excited to go to school,” Blackwell said. “Maybe that will push parents a little bit more to say: ‘Well, my kid is very excited to be at school, so I as a parent, I’m held accountable to make sure they get there.’”

Can schools meet students’ mental health needs?

Inside classrooms across the country last year, the crisis in young people’s mental health was all too evident. After many months of social isolation and learning by laptop, some students were prone to outbursts, meltdowns, and squabbles.

“These kids are very anxious,” said Aaron Grossman, a fifth grade teacher in Reno, Nevada. “The uptick in behavior is very real.”

The distinct but overlapping challenges of worsening student behavior and mental health were fueled by the pandemic — and the stress, financial hardships, and trauma it caused. Federal survey data from this spring confirmed the twin crises: 70% of public school leaders reported an increase in students seeking mental health services during the pandemic, and 56% said disruptive student misconduct had become more common.

Efforts to address both issues have achieved mixed results. Some schools responded to student misbehavior by leaning into restorative practices, which aim for healing over punishment, but others issued more suspensions than usual. Many schools used federal aid to hire more counselors, social workers, and school psychologists, but not always as many were needed. In an April survey, just over half of school leaders said their schools could provide mental health services to all students who require them.

Nance Roy, the chief clinical officer of The Jed Foundation, which focuses on youth mental health and suicide prevention, says schools should encourage students to reach out for help and connect them with service providers.

“It’s developing a culture of care and compassion in schools,” she said, “where there’s no wrong door to walk through for support.”

What will public school enrollment look like?

U.S. public school enrollment held steady last fall, according to federal data released this week. That came after student head counts dropped 2.8% in the fall of 2020, following years of national enrollment growth.

Last year saw a spike in preschool and kindergarten enrollment, both of which dropped sharply when many districts turned to virtual schooling. The return of full-time in-person learning, declining COVID safety concerns, and additional family outreach likely helped boost those grades. But enrollment continues to fall among students in other elementary and middle school grades, a trend that could spell trouble for some districts as the extra funding from federal COVID relief packages dries up.

The issue weighs especially heavily on school leaders in big cities where the share of small schools has ballooned. Now, some are considering school closures, which can create schools that are less expensive to run and have a wider range of programs, but will mean more disruption for students who’ve faced a lot of it in recent years.

“There are really awful tradeoffs,” Shanthi Gonzales, a former school board member in Oakland, California, told Chalkbeat this summer.

Can schools get extra academic help to students who need it most?

Many schools are offering tutoring and other kinds of academic interventions, but it doesn’t always reach the students who need the most help.

The road to academic recovery is coming into focus as data rolls in. So far, elementary school students seem to be recovering more quickly than middle schoolers, but students of all ages are still significantly behind where they would normally be on reading and math tests.

Katrina Abe, a math teacher in Houston, has seen that. Last year, her eighth graders needed extra help with seventh grade topics like interpreting graphs and understanding rates of change. Those concepts are harder to grasp virtually and without working in groups, which happened if students learned online or missed a lot of class the prior year.

This year’s class is noticeably behind last year’s, she said, likely because half of them had three different math teachers in seventh grade. To help, Abe is planning small-group instruction every day and more turn-and-talk time so students can problem solve together. She’s also going to review some fifth and sixth grade standards.

“We’re going to just take that slow, depending on their level,” she said.

Many schools are offering tutoring and other kinds of academic support, but data on which recovery efforts are working is limited. More than half of public schools said they provided high-dosage tutoring in a recent federal survey — a highly effective strategy — but schools often have trouble staffing and scheduling that support. Some districts have turned to virtual tutoring, but it often doesn’t reach students who need help the most.

Meanwhile, educators are keeping their eyes on the larger crop of teens who are behind in credits needed to graduate.

Will schools ramp up COVID relief spending?

Schools have an unprecedented pot of federal money to spend, but many are still struggling to put it to use. There’s a few reasons for that. In some states, money got stuck in red tape and arrived late. Elsewhere, schools are having a hard time finding staff to fill new positions, or hiring contractors to make building repairs.

Some districts that have been slow to spend say they’re planning to ramp up spending over time. Indianapolis Public Schools, for example, had spent only 10% of its federal COVID aid as of late June, mostly to avoid staff cuts and buy PPE. But the district says it has budgeted all the money, including to tutor more students.

Still, this aid doesn’t always feel like new money. New York City recently gave schools the OK to use $100 million in federal aid that was previously set aside for academic recovery to pay teachers, after announcing $215 million in school budget cuts.

This money also has been difficult to track: School district spending plans vary widely in quality and there’s often limited data at the state and federal levels.

But some trends are apparent. When FutureEd, a Georgetown University think tank, looked at spending plans for some 5,000 school districts in June, it found a quarter of federal funds were budgeted for staff, and another quarter were earmarked for academic recovery. Just under a quarter was set aside for facilities and operations, mostly to upgrade heating, ventilation and cooling systems.

How will the culture wars shape what students learn?

America’s latest culture wars are being waged inside schools.

Seventeen states now ban lessons on racism or sexism, six states restrict teaching about sexuality and gender identity, and 18 states don’t allow transgender students to play on sports teams that match their gender.

Peyton, a 12th grader who is part of a support group for Black queer youth in Alabama, said the laws send a clear message to LGBTQ students.

“It’s just enforcing that you’re not normal and society does not want you here,” they said.

In addition to making some students feel less safe, the laws are limiting what they learn.

Some teachers have curtailed class discussions about the oppression of Black people and Native Americans, and some schools are restricting students’ access to books by or about people of color and LGBTQ Americans.

The Biden administration has proposed new rules to protect LGBTQ students, but conservative states are expected to challenge those rules in court. Meanwhile, school districts that run afoul of the new state laws already are facing consequences, and more attacks are likely: Florida’s new law allows parents to file complaints or even sue if they believe their children are taught banned topics.

But for every lesson that is challenged, many more will never be taught as schools seek to avoid sanctions and controversy. In a new survey, 1 in 4 teachers nationally — and nearly 1 in 3 teachers in states with curriculum restrictions — said higher-ups told them to steer clear of contentious topics in the classroom.

As Andrew Kirk, a high school teacher in Texas, told Chalkbeat: “This chilling effect is already happening.”

Jessica Blake contributed reporting.

Kalyn Belsha is a national education reporter based in Chicago. Contact her at kbelsha@chalkbeat.org.

Patrick Wall is a senior reporter covering national education issues. Contact him at pwall@chalkbeat.org.

Teachers head back to school with optimism and some worry

2022-08-17T18:33:45+00:00

As Nick Altman heads back to school, he’s trying to think of the year ahead as a regular year.

A radio and TV teacher at Huntington North High School just outside Fort Wayne, Indiana, Altman is learning students’ names and getting settled in. Hopefully, he said, “We can just move forward.”

In the back of his mind, though, concern lingers. Last year, “There was some excitement going into the school year that maybe, ‘Hey! This could be a normal year,’ and then shortly after we got in, there were quite a few COVID infections, even amongst staff. And it kind of took the wind out of our sails,” Altman recalled.

“I’m feeling more confident that this year will be a little bit more normal, but there is a degree of cautious optimism.”

After years of exhaustion and disruption thanks to the pandemic, many educators like Altman say they’re going into this year with a little hope.

In many parts of the U.S., school will work differently than it has since COVID arrived. Few districts are enforcing a mask mandate, and recently updated federal guidelines did away with the quarantine recommendations that led to cascading student and staff absences. At many schools, there’s a new emphasis on rebuilding a sense of community.

Some educators say that after so much struggle, this year has to be different.

But having experienced whiplash from earlier changes to COVID protocols, and the letdown of last year’s hopes for a comeback, many are still cautious. COVID is still around, and so are many of the other challenges facing educators and their students.

“Last spring, because [schools] got to do prom and graduations and field days and things like that, we’re hearing a lot of hope,” said Amy Lopez, assistant professor of psychiatry at Colorado University and director of Colorado Educator Support. Still, she said, “I think there’s a lot of hopelessness about the profession as a whole.”

Big and small changes

Some educators are trying to step into this school year focusing on the little joys.

Aaron Grossman, a fifth grade teacher at George Westergard Elementary School in Reno, Nevada, anticipates a good school year ahead. He said subtle changes are giving him hope.

“Teaching through a mask, when you’re trying to project like that throughout the school day — it’s hard. I mean, it quite literally is physically taxing. So I don’t have to do that this year,” Grossman said. “You realize, oh, this begins to feel like several years ago.”

“Some of the things I’m hearing are excitement to head back into the classroom, some of the normalcy of getting to know a new batch of kids.”

Aaron Griffin, a middle school principal in Frenchtown, a small community just outside of Missoula, Montana, echoed those thoughts.

“Last year, when we had our first school dance after three years of not having a school dance, I think the teachers were more excited than the students,” Griffin said. “To have our students be able to go to the state science fair, to participate in the live spelling bee instead of the virtual spelling bee, I think that’s the kind of stuff that our communities in Montana really crave.”

Other educators are planning bigger shifts to how their classrooms or schools work — often, efforts to head off some of the behavior challenges schools faced last year or to respond to them differently.

Lopez talks to educators across Colorado when providing mental telehealth support services. Some teachers have told her they are using last year as a learning opportunity and may change how they approach their classes this year to put more emphasis on structure and personal relationships.

Anthony Perdue, a 12th grade African American and Latinx history teacher at KIPP Collegiate Academy in Newark, New Jersey, is seeing that kind of change at their school as detention is being restructured to prompt students to talk about what led them there in restorative justice circles.

“Honestly, I think that will be a really transformative space, just because there was so much negative behavior from the kids last year. But that negative behavior was a direct result of not being able to process a lot of the crazy things and trauma that they were experiencing under COVID,” they said. “I think that is a huge change and a big step in the right direction.”

Staff shortages still straining teachers

Some key issues that have been plaguing teachers throughout the pandemic remain. Filling positions, from bus drivers to special education staff to traditional classroom teachers, has remained a challenge for schools headed into the year. And when positions don’t get filled, that can mean larger class sizes or added responsibilities for teachers.

“As excited as I am to go back and teach, I’m anxious and a little nervous about what environment I’ll be stepping into,” said Nicholas Ferroni, a high school history teacher in New Jersey.

Last year, Ferroni was slated to teach six classes, but when another educator left Union High School mid-year, Ferroni had to take on a seventh class.

“Obviously we all want to help out,” Ferroni said. “But it definitely added an extra stress to the already existing workload that we have.”

In a RAND corporation survey given in January, staffing issues and the extra work taken on when a gap isn’t filled came in as the number one stressor for principals and the number three stressor for teachers. A different RAND survey showed that about 90% of school districts had to change how they operated in one or more schools at some point last year because they were short-staffed.

Quarantine changes and a summer staffing push are likely to help, and evidence of an unprecedented nationwide teacher shortage is thin. Still, the hiring challenges are real.

“For the start of the year, I told my staff we will probably have zero paraprofessionals,” said Griffin, in Montana.

More than 80% of school leaders reported concerns about teacher mental health in a more recent federal survey, and nearly 45% of principals listed supporting teachers’ and staff members’ mental health and well-being as a top stressor, according to RAND surveys. As mental health issues in schools get more visibility, teachers say they or their peers are sometimes struggling without support.

“If our students are our future, we’re in trouble, because our teachers are tired,” said Sonya Battle, founder of The Teacher’s Resource, a nonprofit educator support group.

As of May, only about 14% of schools said they directly provided staff mental health counseling. Another 39% reported that they made referrals outside the school.

Grossman said at his school teachers have been implementing mindfulness practices like “bear breaths” not just for their students but for themselves.

“We explain what a bear breath is, letting kids understand this is part of self regulation, that there are going to be moments of real anxiety,” he said. “People are trying to sort of incorporate those own outcomes in their lives, not just bring them to their kids.”

Navigating curriculum changes

The tensions surrounding curriculum choices are also a weight on some educators’ shoulders as they head into the new year.

Kathryn Vaughn is an elementary art teacher in rural southwestern Tennessee, where debates about critical race theory, and how to teach about racism and sexism, gained national attention and were a key topic of local discourse last year. She’s also the president of her local chapter of the Tennessee Education Association, and curriculum changes designed to add books with stories by people of color earlier in the pandemic prompted a wave of online harassment that shook her.

“It’s been a very tumultuous time to be a teacher,” she said. “I’m someone that’s worked here in this county for almost 20 years, I’ve dedicated my life to the success of children here, and so when people tell me, I’m stupid and don’t know anything, or call me a Marxist for being an educator, it’s incredibly hurtful.”

Over 60% of principals and nearly 40% of teachers reported being harassed because of their school’s policies on COVID-19 safety measures or for teaching about race, racism, or bias during the first half of the 2021-22 school year, according to RAND.

This year, Vaughn expects to hear more feedback about curriculum choices, but feels more prepared than in previous years. Her superintendent sent out an email voicing support for teachers, she said.

At KIPP Collegiate Academy in Newark, the school made changes to its history curriculum over the summer to focus more on the experiences of Black and Latino Americans. Perdue expects parents and educators to question and debate those changes, and will welcome that discussion.

“I think whenever you have a huge change like that, people are going to be resistant to it, because it is just a change from the norm,” they said. “It is different than what they’ve done before.”

Alex Magaña, executive director of the Beacon Network Schools in Denver, said that even with the challenges schools are facing, this year is a chance for educators to “reset.”

He’s thinking about ways to build trust among teachers, celebrate students, and return to even more of the school’s pre-pandemic procedures.

“I am very optimistic for this school year, going back to what we love and why we got into this profession,” Magaña said. “But I’m also pushing that we challenge the status quo. That means, how do we meet the needs of kids where they’re at?”

Jessica Blake is a summer reporting intern for the Chalkbeat national desk. Contact her at jblake@chalkbeat.org or on Twitter at @JessicaEBlake.

Michigan school mental health program on track to expand with $50 million funding boost

2022-08-09T11:00:00+00:00

The last time administrator Kristina Hansen intervened in a school fight, she didn’t have to say much.

One of the students already knew what he should have done differently.

“That would have been a perfect time to practice my breathing, but I didn’t,” the student told her after a brief shoving match with another boy in the cafeteria at Bark River-Harris Junior High School in the Upper Peninsula. “I blew my lid.”

He had forgotten to use the tools he learned in TRAILS, a program his school adopted last year to help students manage emotions and make good decisions. With more exposure to the program and more practice using its techniques, he’ll be able to calm himself before his behavior escalates, said Hansen, who was hired last year as the Bark River-Harris School District’s student success coordinator. She runs programs to support students academically and behaviorally including TRAILS, which stands for Transforming Research Into Action to Improve the Lives of Students.

Developed a decade ago at the University of Michigan, the program now is in about 700 schools and could soon be in a lot more thanks to a nearly tenfold boost in state funding.

The state school aid budget signed into law last month provides for $50 million in funding over the next four years. That’s a big jump from last year’s overlapping state appropriation of $5.4 million over three years.

“The beautiful thing about the last two years’ worth of budgets is that the state has acknowledged that not only are children’s mental health challenges profound in the state, in the country, but that the Legislature has to be a part of the solution,” state Superintendent Michael Rice said.

The additional funding comes as schools struggle to find enough resources to help students recover from grief, loss, social isolation, trauma, and other mental health effects of the pandemic. School leaders across the country are reporting more classroom disruptions, student fights, and physical attacks that they attribute to lingering effects of the pandemic. Misbehavior was a defining characteristic that complicated efforts to get children back on track academically after two years of disjointed learning.

The boost for TRAILS is just one way the state Legislature is trying to address the problem in Michigan. The 2022-23 budget also creates a new $150 million program for mental health grants and provides $25 million for school-based health centers — up from $11 million last year. Many school districts also are tapping federal COVID relief funds to bring mental health programs to their students.

Elizabeth Koschmann, TRAILS founder and executive director, said the new funding will make a big difference in the number of students the program reaches over the next four years.

She couldn’t provide a total operating budget because TRAILS is funded on a project-by-project basis from numerous sources, including federal grants, private donations, and Medicaid reimbursements for its work in high-poverty areas.

TRAILS provides resources, training, and consulting to school staff members at all levels, from support staff through administrators. In some schools, only one or two teachers have gone through the training, but the program works best when everyone participates.

“What’s important is that we not delegate mental health to a single individual or a couple individuals in a school,” Rice said.

At Bark River-Harris, every staff member and all 725 students in the district have been exposed to the program’s first tier, which provides 15 hours’ worth of lessons teachers can deliver to their classes to introduce them to mindfulness and self-care practices.

Other tiers of the TRAILS program offer training in suicide risk management and facilitating small group sessions for students who need extra support.

Hansen said all of her teachers find ways to make time for the TRAILS curriculum, even if it takes time from academics. That’s true in other districts, too.

“We’re not hearing from (teachers) that it’s interfering with academic content delivery, because they need this content, too,” Koschmann said. “They’re saying their kids, almost across the board, are one to two years behind socially and developmentally from where they should be. … They’re saying they need an anchoring program to bolster basic skills.”

Nationally, spending on such social and emotional learning programs grew almost 50% between 2019 and 2021, according to one report.

While teachers are on board, some parents are skeptical of TRAILS’s focus on social and emotional learning, Koschmann said. Some conservatives say they believe SEL programs indoctrinate children with liberal ideas about gender identity and the lingering effects of slavery on modern institutions, neither of which is part of TRAILS or other programs. Others say schools should focus on academics, not social and emotional learning, which they believe to be parents’ job.

“They don’t want a classroom teacher teaching values to a child because that’s a family’s personal decision and they want to have control over that,” Koschmann said of the critics. “We don’t want to be teaching values to your child either. We want to equip your child with the tools that will help them manage really difficult emotions like disappointment, rejection, anxiety, worry, sadness, and fear so they can engage more fully in their classroom and can become better citizens in terms of how they handle feeling dysregulated, upset, or worried.”

None of that is political, she said.

“If a kid is showing a behavioral difficulty in a classroom but really wants to be behaving in a compliant way, our curriculum equips them with tools to help them manage their behavior more effectively,” Koschmann said.

That’s what Hansen saw happen in the Bark River-Harris cafeteria when the student realized he could have used a breathing technique to calm himself.

“You could almost see the lightbulb go off,” Hansen remembers.

Another student had a different kind of breakthrough that Hansen also attributes to TRAILS. A withdrawn high school student who wasn’t participating in class or socializing with friends suddenly became more engaged three-quarters of the way through the school year. He told her that listening to classmates talk during TRAILS lessons made him realize that he wasn’t the only one struggling with anxiety.

“Here was a kid floating along under the radar, and just by having it be a more acceptable practice to talk about feelings and struggles,” he was able to feel a greater sense of belonging that allowed him to participate more, Hansen said.

Hansen said a common lexicon is essential to the program’s success at Bark River-Harris. Everyone in the district speaks the same language and knows the same behavioral strategies.

When a child closes their eyes for a few moments in class, other students understand that they’re trying to calm their anxiety using a visualization tool, deep breathing, or another TRAILS strategy, Hansen said. If a food services worker asks a distressed student to name and rate the intensity of the emotion they’re feeling, they know how to do it because they’ve practiced using a feelings thermometer, she said.

Koschmann wants every school to be like that, and says the additional state funding will help a lot. Her team is still discussing the best ways to use it.

“We’re going to have to be really smart to make sure we can adequately staff our team to provide services at a high level but don’t set ourselves up for a fiscal cliff at the end of the funding period,” she said. “We can’t just hire, hire, hire and not have a long-term plan.”

Still, she said, there’s an urgency to train more teachers quickly.

“Schools need the support immediately,” she said. “They can’t wait. The demand for student mental health services, training for staff, materials for staff, and consultations is unbelievable.”

Tracie Mauriello covers state education policy for Chalkbeat Detroit and Bridge Michigan. Reach her at tmauriello@chalkbeat.org.

NJ children facing anxiety, depression ‘at unprecedented levels,’ new report finds

2022-08-08T08:14:00+00:00

As Newark and other school districts prepare for another school year marked by an urgent need to expand and enhance mental health services for students, a new report shows how dire the crisis is among children in New Jersey and across the country.

Children in the state and nationally are in the midst of a mental health crisis, “struggling with anxiety and depression at unprecedented levels,” according to the 2022 KIDS COUNT Data Book released Monday by Annie E. Casey Foundation, a national nonprofit.

In New Jersey, 10.7% of children struggled with anxiety and depression in 2020 — up from 7.6% in 2016, the report found. Similarly, on the national level, that number went from roughly 9% in 2016 to 12% in 2020, the report stated.

The annual study also considered state and national data related to economic well-being, education, health, and family and community factors, such as children living in high-poverty areas.

Though the COVID-19 pandemic had a profound effect on all communities, early research, including this report, is showing disparities with mental health challenges based on those varying factors.

“It’s very hard for a person, especially a child, to engage in counseling or other mental health services if they don’t know if they have a place to live or if they have enough food,” said Mary Coogan, vice president of Advocate for Children of New Jersey. The nonprofit partners with the national foundation in releasing the annual data.

One of the report’s recommendations for policymakers to address the youth mental health pandemic is to use federal pandemic relief money to help give children better access to mental health service providers.

The state’s 2023 budget allocates more than $50 million in American Rescue Plan funding to “strengthen youth mental health supports” by improving access to services, increasing awareness and resilience-building, and providing support and professional development in communities, schools, and college campuses.

The budget also increases the pipeline for behavioral health care workers, a press release from the governor’s office states, though details on that effort were sparse.

“Though we are encouraged to see that the state’s budget has allocated federal dollars toward strengthening youth mental health programs, more must be done,” said Cecilia Zalkind, president and CEO of Advocates for Children of New Jersey. “Programs such as mental health services play a critical role in moving the state forward past COVID-19, but we need to do more to address the shortage of providers for mental health services.”

In the 2020-21 school year, the average student-to-counselor ratio in the state was 339 students to one counselor — above the recommended ratio of 250 to one, the report stated.

In Newark, the average that school year was 483 students to one counselor.

“It’s a nearly impossible task for that one school counselor,” Coogan said. “That means an unknown number of students’ needs are getting missed and the anxiety or depression they have can get exacerbated.”

Catherine Carrera is the bureau chief for Chalkbeat Newark, covering the city’s K-12 schools with a focus on English language learners. Contact Catherine at ccarrera@chalkbeat.org.

Feds urge schools to reexamine discipline of students with disabilities, calling it ‘an urgent need’

2022-07-19T20:37:20+00:00

Federal education officials are urging schools to reduce rates of suspension and expulsion for students with disabilities, as many schools continue to grapple with higher levels of student stress and misbehavior.

That means schools should be looking closely at their discipline data for disparities, officials said. Schools also should be training staff to help students with disabilities who struggle with their behavior without removing them from school.

“We don’t have to choose between protecting students’ rights and giving schools the tools to identify and deliver safe, appropriate interventions,” Education Secretary Miguel Cardona said on a Tuesday call with reporters. “This work is especially urgent now as our schools and our students and families continue to heal from the pandemic.”

The education department released a series of letters and documents on Tuesday that spell out states’ and school districts’ responsibilities to avoid discriminating against students with disabilities when it comes to school discipline. Top officials underscored that adults contracted to work in a school, such as school police officers, are subject to these rules.

The documents don’t include much new information, and mostly aim to clarify what’s already in federal civil rights laws. But they do serve as a reminder that the Biden administration is watching how schools treat students with disabilities as the effects of the pandemic drag on.

Schools that fail to meet those legal obligations could be investigated for possible federal civil rights violations. If the department finds students’ rights have been violated, schools are typically required to take action to fix the problem.

The guidance package, described as the most comprehensive ever issued on this topic, comes about a year after the Biden administration announced a review of previous school discipline guidance and sought feedback from schools, parents, and others.

But controversial guidance that aimed to limit suspensions and expulsions for students of color — issued in 2014 under President Obama and revoked in 2018 under President Trump — remains under review. Education officials offered no details about whether that guidance would be reissued, and no timeline for when a decision would be made.

Education officials noted that this new guidance doesn’t prevent schools from suspending students with a disability when their behavior is a threat to other students or themselves — likely an attempt to counter potential pushback. The 2014 guidance about racial disparities faced intense scrutiny and some criticism from school leaders and educators who said it took away discipline options that made schools less safe. Some conservatives have said schools don’t need more discipline guidance at a time when they’re dealing with more student misbehavior. And while many schools have hired more mental health staff, they remain in short supply.

The documents include explicit reminders that schools need to determine if a student’s behavior was a result of their disability before issuing a punishment such as a detention or out-of-school suspension.

They also say that schools must sometimes make “reasonable modifications” to avoid discriminating against students with disabilities. That could mean adapting or choosing not to apply certain school rules when a student’s behavior is related to their disability — such as not giving detention to a student for using profanity if they have Tourette syndrome and it sometimes causes them to curse involuntarily.

And the department cautions that students with disabilities shouldn’t be suspended or expelled at all for certain non-violent or subjective misbehaviors, such as being late to class, skipping school, or disrespecting a teacher.

The documents also note the persistent connection between race and disability in school discipline rates. Officials said while they weren’t sure if the pandemic had made those gaps worse, they believed disparities have persisted in recent years. The year the pandemic began, for example, Black children with disabilities made up about 17% of all students with disabilities, but accounted for nearly 44% of students with disabilities who were suspended or expelled for more than 10 school days.

“It’s positive that they’re making those connections for people,” said Rachel M. Perera, a fellow at the Brookings Institution’s Brown Center on Education Policy who has studied civil rights enforcement in school discipline. “But something that seems to be missing is more practical guidance on what that means. OK, if a school district has these types of disparities, how do you go about reducing them? How do you actually address that?”

The guidance urges schools to turn to alternatives to removing students from school, such as providing one-on-one counseling or conducting a more intensive evaluation of a student’s behavior. It also says schools should provide ongoing training and coaching to help staff put these practices into action, and Cardona noted schools can use their federal COVID relief dollars to pay for such activities.

Knowing what to do instead is tricky, Perera said. Suspension rates tend to fall when schools emphasize alternatives to suspensions, but racial disparities in who is disciplined don’t go away.

Behavior challenges were a common theme last school year, as many students adjusted to being back in-person in school buildings with their peers. Many principals noticed an uptick in student fights and classroom disruptions that they attributed to the pandemic, a recent federal survey showed, though a sizable share didn’t see any change compared with pre-pandemic times.

Districts responded to the increase in student misbehavior in divergent ways, too. Some suspended students more often than before the pandemic began, while others suspended students at lower rates. Some districts, like New York City, that tried to continue with efforts to use alternatives to suspensions and expulsions found it especially challenging this past school year, as schools faced a spike in staffing shortages and more conflicts between students.

Kalyn Belsha is a national education reporter based in Chicago. Contact her at kbelsha@chalkbeat.org.

Pandemic effect: More fights and class disruptions, new data show

2022-07-06T18:42:28+00:00

About 1 in 3 school leaders noticed an uptick in student fights or physical attacks this past school year that they believed were brought on by the pandemic and its lingering effects, new federal data show.

In addition, more than half of school leaders reported an increase in classroom disruptions from student misconduct for the same reason.

The data, gathered in May from surveys of nearly 850 public school leaders, mostly principals, is evidence that many schools did see tensions rise this past year as students nationwide returned to fully in-person learning. For many educators, the behavior challenges were a defining feature of the school year — and complicated efforts to rebuild school communities and get students back on track academically.

Still, the responses were decidedly mixed. A sizable share of principals reported no change in these types of behavior. About 4 in 10 school leaders said the number of student fights remained about the same as in a typical year prior to the pandemic, while just under a third of school leaders saw about the same levels of classroom disruptions.

Educators say that some upticks were to be expected, as many students were dealing with heightened stress, isolation, and mental health needs this past year. Grief still permeates many students’ lives, too: An estimated 200,000 children and teens in the U.S. have lost a parent or caregiver to COVID since the pandemic began.

“We knew kids were going to be carrying just ridiculous amounts of stress and trauma,” said Katy DeFerrari, the assistant superintendent of climate and culture for Jefferson County schools in Kentucky. “I don’t necessarily think that it was all manifesting in acting out in the classroom or aggressive behaviors. Kids were just generally trying to adjust back to school. I think they did that better than everyone thought they were going to do.”

The new national survey results are bolstered by behavior and discipline data obtained by Chalkbeat from 19 of the nation’s 30 largest school districts through open records requests and a review of publicly available documents.

The district data diverges, too. Several large districts reported an increase in student fights this past year, though the size varied from a significant spike to a small uptick.

Duval County schools in Florida, for example, reported a 47% increase in infractions for fighting compared with the 2018-19 school year — the last that was unaffected by the pandemic. In North Carolina, Charlotte-Mecklenburg schools saw student fights increase by 26% over the same time period. In Texas’ Northside school district, fights were up by 20%. In Florida’s Hillsborough County and Polk County, student fights increased by 17% this past year, compared with the year before the pandemic. (In Polk County’s case, that was with a month of school still to go.) Meanwhile, DeKalb County schools in Georgia saw about a 7% increase in fights over that same time.

But other districts saw fewer student fights. As of late April, Dallas and Houston schools had each seen a sharp 62% decline in fights compared with the 2018-19 school year. With two months of school left, student fights were down by more than half in Texas’ Cypress-Fairbanks school district over that same period. And student fights were down 42% over that time in Jefferson County, Kentucky, with a month of school to go.

In New York City, the nation’s largest school district, student altercations and fights were down 27% compared with the 2018-19 school year, with a month of school to go, officials said. Still, some schools struggled.

Robert Effinger, who teaches 10th grade history at a Bronx high school, said his school saw an increase in physical and verbal fights, though physical confrontations became less frequent as the year progressed. He thinks much of the early conflict stemmed from students trying to establish their place and social circles at the school after they were apart for so long.

In his eyes, a rise in students cutting class or arriving late was an even bigger issue. And there were other disruptions, too, like students yelling across a classroom. A big driver of that behavior, Effinger said, is that some students were struggling with their work.

“They don’t want to embarrass themselves, so they’ll act out,” he said. “That’s happened a decent amount this year.”

And though his school added a counselor this year, students often went without the mental health help they needed. “I referred a few students to counseling and there are no counseling slots,” Effinger said. “It’s like, what do we do?”

Ashley Lourenco, a rising 10th grader, estimated there were five fights this past year at her magnet high school in Newark, New Jersey, where altercations are typically rare. There was only one the prior year that she could recall. She also noticed students made jokes on social media that could be interpreted as threats, and her classmates seemed more on edge when they returned from remote learning.

“People are super stressed,” she said. “Mental health is a pretty prevalent issue among people I know.”

More comprehensive national data released last week shows that schools grew safer in many ways in the decade before the pandemic’s arrival, with students experiencing fewer incidents of crime and violence — except school shootings — between 2009 and 2019. Those figures fell further in 2020 as many students learned from home.

As some schools saw fights and disorder rise again this past year, they responded in different ways.

Some turned to removing students from school more frequently. Out-of-school suspensions in Northside schools were up by 15% this past school year, compared with the 2018-19 school year. Over the same period, out-of-school suspensions rose by 9% in Hillsborough County.

Elsewhere, suspensions fell despite an uptick in student misbehavior. Duval County, for example, issued 500 fewer suspensions this past school year compared with the 2018-19 school year, a drop of about 2%.

Suspensions were falling nationwide well before the pandemic began, as states and districts passed policies limiting their usage. Research has shown that Black students, especially, are disproportionately suspended from school, and that suspensions can lower students’ test scores and reduce their chances of graduating.

As an alternative, many schools turned to less punitive forms of discipline, such as having students talk out conflicts or attend counseling. Those strategies have been tested during the pandemic and educators in some places have called for a return to more punitive forms of discipline.

Still, many districts continue to adhere to those practices.

DeFerrari, the Jefferson County official, said her district placed a greater emphasis this past year on making sure schools weren’t using suspension as a punishment when student misbehavior stemmed from trauma or because an adult had contributed to the situation with their own reaction.

The district also hired more behavior analysts who can be dispatched to schools to help figure out what’s causing a student to act out. The team grew from three to 10 last year, and will number 16 in the coming school year.

The district’s suspension rate dipped, and as of late April, officials had given out just under 15,000 suspensions, compared with just over 20,000 during the 2018-19 school year.

It’s about “really helping schools and administrators understand kids are not going to be able to interact with you if they are upset until they’re calmed down and de-escalated,” DeFerrari said. “If you can eliminate those small headaches — that is what gets people into trouble — then you eliminate problems.”

Kalyn Belsha is a national education reporter based in Chicago. Contact her at kbelsha@chalkbeat.org.

Alex Zimmerman, Patrick Wall, and Matt Barnum contributed reporting.

‘Where did it all go?’: Four NYC high school seniors reflect and look ahead

2022-06-27T17:18:56+00:00

When the pandemic gripped New York City in March 2020, high school sophomores had no idea that their remaining two years would look nothing like they had imagined.

Many of those sophomores are graduating now, having navigated school closures and two unusual years marked with grief and isolation. City officials celebrated the full reopening of public schools last fall, but the year was not nearly as normal as anyone had hoped.

“It’s been weird because I don’t really feel like part of the school — like, I kinda had to remember where everything was again as a senior,” said 18-year-old Alexandra Cruz, who graduated this month from Millennium Brooklyn High School. “I think it would have felt like more of a community if I had been there for the full four years.”

Like students in other grades, some seniors worried about contracting COVID and infecting high-risk relatives at home, especially as a winter surge emptied schools for weeks in December and January. But on top of the anxiety of being around peers for the first time since the pandemic hit, seniors also had to decide on what came after high school.

For many others in the Class of 2022, returning to the building was a boon. It meant seeing their friends and teachers again and learning in a classroom instead of through a screen. And for some, it was why they made it to graduation.

We spoke to four high school seniors who graduated this month about their experiences and what they plan to do next.

Zhenghao Lin was anxious about a full return to school amid the pandemic, but now he says it wasn’t as bad as he thought it would be. He is looking forward to college and making new friends.

ZHENGHAO LIN, 18, FRANKLIN DELANO ROOSEVELT HIGH SCHOOL, BROOKLYN

Zhenghao Lin felt overwhelmed the moment he stepped into the crowded hallways of his school in September, his first time back since March 2020.

Fearing he would contract COVID, Zhenghao, one of about 3,000 students, wore a face shield over his mask. He was afraid to touch door handles or stand too close when talking with others. He worried his peers would judge him for feeling nervous. He feared he might be subjected to racist bullying as he had in the past, because of rising anti-Asian hate crimes.

“I was not really able to, like, learn things that first few months because I felt constantly distracted,” said Zhenghao, who was diagnosed with anxiety disorder in 2020.

The pace of instruction also frustrated him because it felt slower than his virtual classes from the previous year. Students rarely asked questions during virtual learning, but they frequently raised their hands in person.

School staffers often stopped him in the hallway to ask how he was. He would say he’s not OK.

They would refer him to a counselor, who typically had a packed schedule. Zhenghao, however, was already seeing a therapist in private practice. Those twice weekly sessions helped him turn a corner in March, when the city dropped the school mask mandate.

Zhenghao continued wearing his mask, but he found that seeing his classmates’ faces and working with them in groups helped him connect with them and read their facial expressions, which were friendlier than he’d expected. To his surprise, he didn’t experience any racist bullying or comments, which he credited to advocacy campaigns across the city raising awareness about anti-Asian hate crimes.

Through therapy, he began to understand that he was at low risk of becoming severely ill from COVID, having been fully vaccinated without any high-risk conditions.

Zhenghao stopped striving for 100’s in every class, he said, and allowed himself to miss some assignments. He also dropped his AP Chinese and physics classes. He didn’t need them to graduate, and he found them too stressful and difficult.

As Zhenghao gets ready to attend a small liberal arts college in Vermont in the fall, he already has an idea for his future career: He’s planning to become a therapist.

Kekeli Amekudzi, a Brooklyn Tech senior, had to balance in-person learning and taking care of her mother, who was diagnosed with cancer during her freshman year.

KEKELI AMEKUDZI, 18, BROOKLYN TECH HIGH SCHOOL

Kekeli Amekudzi missed 30 days of school this year.

Most of those days she was taking care of her mother, who was diagnosed with cancer before Kekeli’s freshman year and took a turn for the worse last year.

“There’s just, like, so many responsibilities that I have to take care of,” Kekeli said.

The city considers Kekeli someone who was “chronically absent,” for missing at least 10% of school days. More than a third of students citywide were on track to have missed at least a month of school this year.

During remote learning, Kekeli could help her mother get to doctor’s appointments and work on schoolwork from the waiting room. She had more time to cook and clean.

Returning to school this year meant Kekeli could see her friends more regularly, but it was challenging to balance in-person learning with responsibilities at home. Being inside the 6,000-student high school, the nation’s largest, also brought concerns about reinfecting her mother, who’d already had COVID while in the hospital.

Kekeli’s teachers met with her to catch her up on assignments, and some deadlines were extended. She found it helpful to vent to a teacher during office hours about the stress of school or her mom’s illness.

A sense of normalcy continued to feel out of grasp.

Kekeli plans on studying environmental science and international law at Emory University in Georgia.

COVID cases began rising in December and exploded in January with the omicron surge, causing stress and absences among students and teachers, prompting students to organize a walkout at Brooklyn Tech. Less than three-quarters of students were at Brooklyn Tech on the Friday after winter break ended, according to data compiled by PRESS NYC, a group advocating for stronger COVID protections in school.

Her extracurricular activities, such as the debate team, remained virtual. Field trips for her favorite environmental science courses were paused until the spring.

Kekeli received some help while applying to college, but she had to navigate some details on her own, such as figuring out what financial forms she needed.

She is planning to attend Emory University in Georgia, where she wants to major in environmental science and international law. She’s considering a gap semester to help her mother transition to a home health aide.

She feels that she and her peers made it through one of the hardest times in New York City’s history. She has tried to take action, participating in climate marches, protests over gun violence, and abortion rights — making friends along the way.

But Kekeli is still grappling with a sense of loss that many graduating seniors feel.

“When we came in freshman year, we came in with so many expectations with, like, what our final year would be, and so many events were getting canceled or postponed or just weren’t done because of COVID,” Kekeli said. “There’s just been this sense of like, where did it all go?”

Abrahan Castro German, 19, is a graduating senior from English Language Learners and International Support Preparatory Academy in the Bronx. He spent much of his time in high school grieving the deaths of family members.

ABRAHAN CASTRO GERMAN, 19, ENGLISH LANGUAGE LEARNERS AND INTERNATIONAL SUPPORT PREPARATORY ACADEMY, THE BRONX

Abrahan Castro German spent the previous school year mourning the loss of a beloved uncle, who died of COVID in his home country, the Dominican Republic.

Abrahan, who immigrated to the Bronx in February 2019 and is learning English, navigated that grief alongside remote school, which he described as “very difficult” because it was hard to get extra help from teachers.

So he felt both happy and nervous to be returning this past fall to his Bronx high school, ELLIS Prep, which serves under-credited, over-age students who are new to the United States.

But halfway through this school year, he suffered a new blow. On New Year’s Day, Abrahan’s older brother died in a motorcycle accident back home.

School staff and his friends noticed that the normally bubbly, well-liked teen — known by one counselor as “The Mayor” — was quiet. Sometimes he asked to leave for the day, but staff wouldn’t let him, he said. He stopped doing much of his homework.

He missed his mother and grandmother, who are in the Dominican Republic, and would stay up at night looking at photos of his brother and uncle on his cell phone.

“I’m thinking about what feeling my brother went through in the accident, what feeling my mother went through when she lose my brother,” Abrahan said.

Teachers and guidance counselors saw his grades dipping in every subject and urged him to keep up. They worried he was falling off track to graduate.

He visited guidance counselors daily explaining how he was physically in the classroom, but his mind was on his family.

At one point, a counselor told Abrahan that his brother would have wanted him to graduate. He said he wanted to give up, but the counselor replied, “You need to try, and you can.”

Abrahan said he began feeling like himself again around March. He credited ELLIS staff and his friends for helping him work through his grief, as well as family back home who encouraged him to stay on track. He began catching up on school work. He decided that he needed “to wake up” and think about his future.

As the school year wrapped up, Abrahan was still seeing his counselors every day. Pulling a C-average, he was accepted to Guttman Community College in Manhattan. Abrahan plans to take a course over the summer to improve his English, according to a counselor.

Abrahan said he’s nervous about Guttman, especially seeing new students and new teachers, and leaving his ELLIS family behind.

But he feels driven to stay on track and “try – for my future, for my brother’s son, for my mom.”

Alexandra Cruz, a senior at Millennium Brooklyn High School, struggled with severe anxiety and keeping up with her academics during the chaotic school year.

ALEXANDRA CRUZ, 18, MILLENNIUM BROOKLYN HIGH SCHOOL

A year and a half of remote learning was bad for Alexandra Cruz’s mental health. But returning to school full time proved to be just as difficult.

Alexandra, who said she has severe social anxiety, was nervous to see hundreds of other students again, at a school where just 17% of students are Hispanic like her.

While the year started off OK, it took a turn during the winter’s omicron surge. Many peers were out sick. On the Monday before winter break, just under half of the school’s students came to school, according to data compiled by PRESS NYC. Alexandra stayed home that week as a precaution.

She struggled to make up a week’s worth of old assignments and keep up with new ones.

Her grades were slipping, and she was pulling all-nighters to keep up with what felt like mounds of homework, longing for the flexibility and leniency of remote learning. It was also tough to stay engaged in class while her friends were out sick.

“It was just so hard for me — I just didn’t have anyone to talk to,” she said.

She felt teachers weren’t checking in enough to find out why students were struggling to keep up. Seventy-three percent of the school’s teaching staff is white, Alexandra pointed out, which also felt alienating. Sometimes, she just wanted “a nice Hispanic woman” as a teacher who could relate to her.

Alexandra found some solace in her weekly meetings with a school guidance counselor, where she could drop in and “vent” if she felt too overwhelmed during class.

She began worrying about college in April while also studying for her AP exams. She’d narrowed down her choices to SUNY Oneonta and Clark University in Massachusetts, but COVID rules prevented visitors from seeing the dorms at Clark, so she couldn’t “get the full picture.”

By May, when school calmed down, she had come to a realization after months of dealing with her social anxiety: It’s OK that she’s not friends with many of her classmates.

“I feel like a weight has been lifted off,” Alexandra said. “All these people in my class — I can’t connect with these people. I already have my friends. I’m just sort of looking forward to the future.”

Alexandra decided on Clark University. She chose a school outside of the city in order to get a fresh start somewhere new.

“I’m going to try to join clubs with people of color so I can talk to people who I can connect with,” Alexandra said. “It makes me nervous, obviously, but I’m excited.”

Reema Amin is a reporter covering New York City schools with a focus on state policy and English language learners. Contact Reema at ramin@chalkbeat.org.

Having trouble viewing this form? Go here.

For families whose children have struggled through high school, graduation season is less pomp and more circumstance

2022-06-14T19:12:23+00:00

Earlier this month, as each high school graduate approached the microphone at the synagogue we attend to discuss their future plans, I shrank back in my seat. Then I looked at my oldest daughter in the seat next to me. She stared straight ahead.

As a high school senior, she too had reached a milestone. But we both knew there would be no community celebration like this for her, nor even a commencement ceremony. She’d spent the past year out of state at a therapeutic boarding school. There, she’d worked hard on her emotional health. She’d also managed to recover more than two semesters of missing credits, lost before and during the pandemic. It was a monumental feat. Still, at the finish line, she came up short by a single class credit.

Steve Majors

The diploma she’ll soon be granted by that state is “general.” It will allow her to enroll in community college classes but is short of what’s required to enter a four-year school. What’s more, she didn’t get to cross the stage with her friends and classmates back at home.

Instead, late last month, she dressed in a cap and gown and walked to an iPhone recording of “Pomp and Circumstance,” surrounded by her therapists and other kids who are still struggling to stay on track.

For these kids and millions more like them, perhaps we need to focus less on pomp and instead celebrate the circumstances they’ve overcome. Staying in school and persisting is worthy of as much honor as getting stellar grades and gaining admission to top-tier schools.

Graduation is much harder these days for many students. Overall, national high school completion rates are steady, but preliminary data suggests downward trends in some parts of the country since the start of the pandemic. And far fewer high school graduates are choosing to continue their education. The number of students enrolling in college has decreased by 1.3 million over the past two years.

The graduating class of 2022 may be remembered for being resilient. But coming up behind them are students who are finding it harder to keep pace. Studies show that as many as one-third of younger students are already missing reading benchmarks — critical indicators of future success in school. Their academic challenges are exacerbated by a pandemic-era youth mental health crisis, as young people face record levels of depression, anxiety, stress, and suicidal thoughts.

Over the past several weeks, I’ve been “envy scrolling” my social feeds, where proud parents are posting prom pictures, commencement photos, and news about the prestigious colleges their children will be attending.

The statistics are staggering and so too are the difficulties kids face in getting the extra academic support and mental health services they need to learn and one day make it to graduation. Many parents don’t have the resources to send their children off to intensive mental health programs, like the one our older daughter attended, or to hire academic tutors.

Over the past several weeks, I’ve been “envy scrolling” my social feeds, where proud parents are posting prom pictures, commencement photos, and news about the prestigious colleges their children will be attending. I feel sadness and guilt because there are times my daughter tells me these milestone moments were stolen from her. But I also summon shared pride for these other kids. Because as I look at their faces, I remind myself that many of them have overcome incredible odds themselves.

Behind their smiles are complex stories. There’s the beautiful young grad once sent out of state for addiction treatment. The scholar-artist whose mom battled cancer. The athlete who endured domestic violence and divorce in her family. And the life-of-the-party who quietly agonized for years about coming out as trans. Both my daughters know many other peers who have survived sexual violence, self-harm, and eating disorders. And they know of a few who never made it to graduation at all, including one boy they knew from the neighborhood playground who is in prison.

For the proud parents of those kids, I upgrade my usual Facebook likes to hearts, because I know the circumstances they and their families have faced. Meanwhile, in my own feed, I repost something I find in a parents support group reminding everyone that this time of year is hard for some families because not everyone will go to prom, not all kids will graduate on time or be able to afford college, and not every high school experience is a positive one.

While there is greater awareness of the unseen challenges some kids face, and many schools and mental health nonprofits are adding needed support, the crisis shows no signs of abating. Teachers in grades 4-12 want a “broader definition of student success to include both academic and non-academic skills,” a survey shows.

My own husband, who teaches fifth grade, sees firsthand the looming crisis for the next generation. Some of his students are showing significant levels of anxiety and depression. Others are more than two years behind in learning. And he predicts that it’s very likely these challenges will follow them for years, and potentially even into high school.

This summer, my older daughter will try to recover that final class credit. She then hopes to enter community college in the fall. Her younger sister, just a year behind, had to change schools to overcome her own emotional and academic challenges. A recent D+ in a class was as much cause for celebration as the A’s on her transcript.

Recently I asked both my daughters to reflect on their high school experiences. They admit that when they were much younger, they dreamed it would be like “High School Musical” and “Glee,” filled with dancing on cafeteria tables and singing tunes like “We’re All in This Together” and “Gotta Go Your Own Way.” It occurs to me that both those songs are perhaps more fitting soundtracks for this generation of grads than “Pomp and Circumstance.”

Steve Majors is a nonprofit communicator and author of the memoir “High Yella.” He lives in Montgomery County, Maryland with his husband and two daughters.

Trading ‘Please focus’ for ‘How are you?’: A listening strategy that’s helping some teachers improve the classroom experience

2022-06-14T14:15:35+00:00

To her relief, Elissa Levy’s ninth graders remembered how to make friends when they returned this September to East Harlem’s High School for Climate Justice.

But after spending prolonged time out of the classroom during the pandemic, they seem to have forgotten how to “do” other parts of school, the physics teacher said.

Many are about four or five years behind academically, as opposed to the past when her students were about two to three years behind. Some have been cutting class, hiding in bathrooms and stairwells during the day. Those who show up have been spending class time dancing to TikTok videos, doodling on furniture, and generally acting out.

Levy is trying everything in her toolkit to help them feel engaged in coursework again. One thing that’s helped is a practice known as cogenerative dialogues, or cogens, for short, in which teachers hold formal conversations with groups of students with an explicit goal: to create a plan of action aimed at improving learning and classroom community.

“Your whole life, school is a given. Even if you don’t like it, you have to do it. But then it disappears for 1.5 years,” Levy said. “So when it comes back, you have less patience for it.”

Popularized by Christopher Emdin in his 2016 New York Times best-selling book “For White Folks Who Teach in the Hood…and the Rest of Y’all Too,” cogens can vary from teacher to teacher, but the practice often hinges on shifting the power dynamic. It creates space for students to critique what is or isn’t working in the classroom, and for teachers to incorporate that feedback into their instruction.

Christopher Emdin helped popularize cogenerative dialogues.

School leaders in New York City and across the nation have been reaching out “more than ever before” about cogens, said Emdin, a professor at the University of Southern California and Scholar/Griot in Residence at Manhattan’s Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts.

Emdin previously had featured cogens prominently in his work, but saw less traction, with school leaders often saying they had to focus more on standardized tests. However, more schools now are taking a closer look at the practice as districts elevate social-emotional learning as a way to address the startlingly high student mental health and academic needs exacerbated by the pandemic.

“We tell teachers all the time it’s important to build relationships with kids,” Emdin told Chalkbeat. “Teachers say, ‘How?’ What the cogens allow you to do — it gives you a way to invite different students in. It gives a set of practical tools to get to a big idea.”

In a cogen, no voice is more important than any other, and everyone gets equal turns to talk, Emdin explained. The practice gives students a chance to vent, as well as teachers, and in doing so, it helps the teachers develop more care for their students and vice versa.

1) Cogenerative dialogues. You cant just start teaching. Begin with a conversation with your children about what they want to learn and how they want to learn it. Imposing a random curriculum does not work #HipHopEd
— Christopher Emdin (@chrisemdin) March 18, 2020

Giving students a say — “in a world where they’ve been robbed of agency and power and they’re just passively receiving information” — can be transformative, he believes. “It gives the opportunity to meet those emotional and psychological needs while delivering the content.”

More importantly, it’s not costly to implement.

“You don’t have to buy a new curriculum or iPads,” said Emdin. “I love giving professional development, but there’s no better PD you can get than from a cogen. That is probably the most essential piece: the experts are your students.”

‘Cogens build empathy’

For Levy, holding cogens has enabled her to better understand the everyday realities of her students and how those shape their experience in the classroom, so if they’re not handing in assignments, she feels better equipped to respond.

“Cogens build empathy,” said Levy. “The first thing you say isn’t, ‘Please focus.’ It’s: ‘How are you?’ It might be that you need a break or guidance, or are confused or maybe other things are just more important to you right now.”

She, too, has seen the practice gain traction as educators grapple with this particularly rough time for many students across the nation. Levy recently co-facilitated a four-part workshop with Bronx algebra teacher Brian Palacios for Math for America, a nonprofit focused on building community among the city’s accomplished math and science teachers. Both learned the practice from Emdin’s book but have never talked with the professor, calling him the “Beyonce” of the education world. Levy’s also discussed cogens with some national groups, including the Underrepresentation Curriculum, STEP UP (APS Physics), and RedesignU.

Manhattan physics teacher Elissa Levy said that holding cogens has helped her reach her students in this trying year.

Levy, who switched to education from corporate America five years ago through the New York City Teaching Fellows program, quickly adapted to the classroom, becoming an instructional coach and winning a prestigious early career fellowship from Math For America. She began using the practice three years ago, as part of a schoolwide initiative. That didn’t last, but Levy stuck with the practice and is doing cogens in various forms about once a month.

During some cogens, for example, Levy will order Domino’s pizza for a small group of students, some she knows well, some who are less involved. They’ll talk about life and what gets them out of bed in the morning. She’ll listen to their experiences, and together, they agree on how to improve class moving forward.

After one fall cogen, Levy and her students agreed to begin class with an 8-minute “chill time,” in which she allowed her students to hang out and be on their phones. A big part of allowing them to do that was because they didn’t seem to have the stamina for back-to-back 45-minute classes. She hoped the shift would lead to more sustained engagement for the rest of the class.

It didn’t necessarily pan out that way, but that practice had its benefits. It allowed her to spend one-on-one time with students at the start of class and help deepen her relationships with many students, she explained. While cogens haven’t erased this year’s challenges, she still feels like they’ve helped her be more responsive to her students’ needs.

“I think my students need group therapy more than they need my physics class most days. It’s a way of approaching that space that teachers are not prepared for — it’s not something we trained for,” Levy said, explaining how she’s often needed to be more like a social worker this year. “Cogens are a small thing I’m doing that makes things maybe just a little better. I understand how little their coursework seems to matter in their lives right now because of the weight of life.”

‘It lit up my instruction’

For Palacios, an algebra teacher at the Bronx Center for Science and Mathematics who blogs about his weekly cogens, the practice has been a game changer.

He had read Emdin’s book several years ago but wasn’t ready to put it into practice until re-reading it last summer and trying cogens when his students were learning remotely.

“It was a bright thing that came out of a dark time. It lit up my instruction,” Palacios said.

Bronx math teacher Brian Palacios said that cogenerative dialogues have “fueled” him this year.

With his students, he devised this year’s homework policy, tutoring schedules, and several lessons. He used cogens to help him shape a math project about farming loans incorporating compounding interest that brought social justice into his class by focusing on the systemic racism of the farming industry.

After kicking off the project and debriefing with his students, he saw that they were less engaged in the activity than he thought they would be. He realized the lessons weren’t reaching them not because of what they said, but because of what they didn’t say, he explained. Seeing their mood and lack of enthusiasm, he had a “breakthrough” and pivoted: Instead of following fictional farmers of color, he had the students assume the role of farmers while he pretended to be the U.S. Secretary of Agriculture.

The role-playing aspect sparked more “joy,” and helped them both understand the math and the inequitable treatment of the farmers of color, he explained.

For Palacios, the feedback he gets from his students has been more helpful in transforming his instruction than other kinds of professional development in which he’s participated. It’s important to have a space away from the “teacher world” where it’s just educators talking to each other and instead to create a place that invites students to the table and then “actually” listen, he believes.

“When I collaborate with teachers, that’s valuable,” Palacios said. “But the cogen allows me to tap into the students. It helps me see how I can adjust and be more responsive. It’s kept me solution-oriented. It’s fueled me.”

His advice to other teachers: “Just listen to students. They’ll give you what they need.”

Amy Zimmer is the bureau chief for Chalkbeat New York. Contact Amy at azimmer@chalkbeat.org.

Missing support: Students, psychologists say existing mental health resources aren’t enough

2022-06-09T17:47:38+00:00

When there was no distinguishing line between home and school while classes were virtual during the pandemic, Brittyn Benjamin-Kelley felt like her life was “going nowhere.”

“It was partially a self-discovery process because I had to figure out what I like to do on my own,” said Benjamin-Kelley, a senior at Cass Technical High School in Detroit. “But it was still a hard journey to have to go through by myself.”

Edi Wolde from Aurora, Colorado, described a similar feeling.

“It’s not fun being alone with your thoughts, especially if they’re negative,” she said.

They were among several students from across the U.S. who reflected on their experiences over the last two years during a discussion on mental health hosted Wednesday by Chalkbeat and College Track, a nonprofit focused on helping students reach and finish college.

Students shared familiar concerns, explaining that the COVID-19 pandemic has been a time of isolation, loss of structure, and added mental health burdens. But it was also a time of personal growth, some said — a testament to the resilience required of young people during the pandemic.

Xitlali Curincita, a student from the San Francisco Bay area, set “little goals” for herself, like participating in class once daily, and eventually started her own club that served as a space for students to talk. “I got the opportunity to actually make a statement and say that ‘I got your back,’” she said.

When students struggled, schools didn’t always have the resources to support them. Though schools across the country have added counselors, social workers, and training for teachers — thanks in part to federal COVID relief funding — many have faced staffing shortages and student needs that outstrip educators’ ability to effectively help.

The pandemic also followed years of alarming increases in rates of suicide and depression among young people. Suicide is the second leading cause of death among people ages 15-24, noted Mitch Prinstein, the chief science officer at the American Psychological Association, who participated in the event alongside other mental health experts.

“I’m not sure why it didn’t get more attention before. But I sure wish that it did,” Prinstein said. “Like so many things, the pandemic really exposed a problem that was there for a long time and made us see it all in a very different and more disturbing way.”

COVID also highlighted longstanding racial and age-based inequities in access to mental health services, said Jessica Jackson of the AAKOMA Project, a nonprofit focused on meeting the mental health needs of young people of color. And when families do realize they need help, they often encounter community mental health systems that aren’t flexible, accessible, affordable, or staffed to serve children in crisis.

“When I worked on impatient units, parents don’t know that you have to go to a children’s hospital most of the time” to get intensive services, she said. “If you go to your regular emergency room, everyone on the inpatient unit is like, what do we do with this 15 year old?”

Resources shared by panelists

David Anderson, the Child Mind Institute:

Child Mind Institute: Hundreds of articles for parents and educators on a range of mental health topics.
Healthy Minds, Thriving Kids Project: A collection of 34 videos and 60 skill sheets for educators and parents, adapted for elementary, middle, and high school populations. Each teaches age-appropriate concepts and language, including understanding feelings, managing thoughts, distress tolerance, relaxation skills, and mindfulness. Available in English and Spanish.

Laura Clary, Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health:

National Academies: Videos geared toward educating kids and teachers about mental health symptoms and where to go for help.

Jessica Jackson, the AAKOMA Project:

AAKOMA Project: A nonprofit focused on the mental health needs of young people of color. AAKOMA has funding available to connect young people with therapists.
Sound It Out Together: An initiative by the Ad Council that helps young people learn about social-emotional learning and expression via music.

Finding mental health support on an ongoing basis is a particularly acute challenge for families of color, she said. In addition to confronting higher rates of COVID, they’ve experienced the impact of racist violence in their communities.

“Not only am I experiencing the health issue, and grief, but now I’m also experiencing, I don’t know how people feel about who I am as I identify,” she explained. “And then you have to find a therapist that really can work with all of those things.”

It’s not that schools and outside groups don’t want to help, said Le’Yondo Dunn, principal of Mastery Simon Gratz High School in Philadelphia.

“What we are seeing when we want to jump in and get a young person access to support is that the system is incredibly overworked,” Dunn said. Dunn’s school has six social workers, more than most schools. Still, they feel strained.

“Our social workers are spending 80, 90% of their days responding and triaging,” he said. “What I wish our social workers had the capacity to do is to do some of the proactive work.”

Through a program called Rebound, his school provides additional therapy and violence mediation for a fraction of its students. Every student could use something like that, he said, “but it takes resources, and it also takes the right people.”

Students at the event — the final episode of a four-part Chalkbeat series — had their own suggestions for how schools could help.

Curincita said she would like to see schools host conversations about vulnerability, offering space to be vulnerable and to talk about what the concept means.

“Vulnerability, for me, is super hard to talk about,” she said. “But in most cases, I feel like there’s a need to be vulnerable to feel fully heard and understood.”

Another student wished people wouldn’t always try to solve their problems for them, but rather be a listening ear. Others suggested that schools add “mental health breaks” or time for rest. Lisbeth Martinez from Jordan Senior High in Los Angeles said she would like to see schools offer lessons on navigating conversations with adults about emotions, too.

Laura Clary of the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health shared research suggesting that those conversations can make a difference. Her study of a mental health program in Baltimore showed that students do actively apply the emotional management skills they learn.

“It’s heartening and depressing at the same time,” she said. “It’s heartening, because we can see that this could make a difference. But schools need the resources to be able to do these things.”

Watch the full conversation here.

COVID shuttered schools when I was a freshman. Returning in person as a junior was rockier than I expected.

2022-06-08T19:19:09+00:00

I was a high school freshman when COVID first closed schools in March 2020. I remember feeling cheated out of my first year of high school. There would be no more going to the school library to study, eating lunch in the cafeteria with friends, and attending classes — except through a screen.

Before COVID, the prospect of going to school excited me. At home during remote learning, I dreaded logging into my classes. The learning apps that were sprung on us were difficult to navigate at first. I often felt lost.

Melony Esquivel

And while adjusting to learning online was hard, figuring out how to apply any of those lessons was even harder. For instance, I began falling behind in my algebra class because I couldn’t retain anything through the education website DeltaMath. It was hard to focus, being stuck at home with three siblings who were also doing remote learning. Without teachers and friends to talk to, I felt drained.

So, when it was announced that Chicago Public Schools were reopening for the 2021-22 school year, I was relieved. Sure, there were benefits to remote learning — like rolling out of bed and into class (no commute), but the chance to get off of my Chromebook and back into the classroom with three-dimensional people seemed like a really good thing. I thought back to the first half of my freshman year and how much I liked being in school. Now I’d be a junior.

But when I finally walked inside my high school in August 2021, I realized how much the school environment had changed. Everyone was wearing a mask and trying to minimize close contact with others. I was doing the same thing, but it felt weird. Not being able to read facial expressions made me uncomfortable. I just couldn’t get used to this new normal, and I realized it would probably be like this all year.

That first day back, I remember walking into my third-period class, trigonometry. Everyone around me was talking to each other through their masks. Many faces were unfamiliar. They seemed ready to learn. I wasn’t. I had expected that the transition back to campus would be smooth, but I was wrong. After being away from classmates and teachers for half of my freshman year and my entire sophomore year, social interactions were quite awkward, like when someone mistook me for someone else.

Not being able to read facial expressions made me uncomfortable. I just couldn’t get used to this new normal.

To make matters worse, COVID still loomed. I worried about catching the virus I had been home trying to avoid for the past year and a half. Several times, at the beginning of the school year, I had to step out of that math class and force myself to take deep breaths because my anxiety was really high. I thought these feelings would subside, but the longer I stayed in the classroom, the more discomfort I felt.

However, with the help of my Intro to Secondary Education teacher, I realized the importance of letting out my emotions and processing them in a healthy manner, as well as the power of community- and rapport-building. I began to reach out to classmates, friends, and loved ones. I asked for the support I needed, which fostered confidence and relief. Soon, staying in my trigonometry classroom no longer felt overwhelming. Socialization came more easily. I could once again handle people asking me, “What’s your name, again?”

There were still challenges, to be sure, but I became more comfortable moving through them. Now, as the 2021-22 school year comes to a close, I see this past year as one big transition back to in-person learning — a period of hard, necessary, and ultimately meaningful change.

Melony Esquivel is a high school junior (soon to be a rising senior) on Chicago’s South Side. She takes part in her school’s teaching assistant program, in which high school students are matched with a mentor teacher and assigned to work with other students.

Chicago student films tell stories about pandemic life, racial justice. It ‘rewrites our narrative.’

2022-05-31T20:28:11+00:00

A montage of Benito Juarez Community Academy school photos flashes across the screen as a voiceover of a student discusses how life has changed since the start of the pandemic: “It’s like a whole different world we had to go through.”

Another student reveals: “I became disassociated with the world that I had lived in.” A third describes becoming more civically engaged following the murder of George Floyd: “I’m more socially aware of how things are.”

That is the opening of “Black and Brown Unity through COVID,” a nearly 6-minute film produced by students at Benito Juarez, which aims to elevate the voices of young people the filmmakers felt were missing from the coverage of Floyd’s murder at the hands of Minneapolis police and the protests that followed.

The movie is part of a Chicago Public Schools initiative called “Shifting Chicago Narratives,” which also includes works by students from Curie High School, Hyde Park Academy, and Phoenix STEM Military Academy focusing on the pandemic’s impact on students, a robotics program, and how an organization is engaging young people on Chicago’s South Side

With the help of groups such as Thrive Chicago and We Are Light, students were put behind the lens to tell their own stories, using iPhones and Shure microphones. Over the span of 11 weeks, students were provided weekly instruction and discussions. Earlier this month, students debuted their films at the Gene Siskel Theater in Downtown Chicago. The films can be viewed here.

At Benito Juarez, Angel Melvin, Yotzin Tzintzun, Addis Quiterio, and Jose Guzman Jr. explored Black and Latino Unity and the impacts of the coronavirus pandemic.

Watching news of the George Floyd protests, Angel Melvin noticed media coverage describing racial tensions between the Black and Latino community. But this wasn’t the reality she experienced at Benito Juarez.

So the 17-year-old junior and her peers set out to elevate the voices of young people that seemed to be largely absent in the coverage.

News stories focused on “a divide between Black people and Mexican people,” Angel said. “I wanted to show the other side of it because the news was only portraying that Black and Brown peoples against each other which was not the case at all.”

That representation, she added, was necessary.

In May 2020, bystander video showed now-convicted Minneapolis police officer Derek Chauvin, who is white, pinning Floyd to the ground with his knee for nearly nine and a half minutes as onlookers yelled for the officer to stop. Floyd’s murder sparked protests for racial justice across the country.

In some instances, the protests and instances of isolated looting resulted in racial tension in some Chicago neighborhoods. But activists and youth led marches against anti-Blackness in an effort to quell tensions and show solidarity between the Black and Latino community.

In the film made by the Benito Juarez crew, students describe being isolated at home while watching coverage of Floyd’s murder and its aftermath.

“It really shook me up into my core,” a student says in the film, as he walks down a hallway at the school. “I started learning more.”

The film also features a montage that includes a glimpse of a Floyd mural, news clips of Floyd’s arrest, protests, and police response, photos of Floyd and his children – and interviews with students reflecting on their feelings and experiences as unrest roiled their city.

One calls the mistreatment of Black people compared to other racial groups “unfair.”

Another said she wanted more justice. A third says she supported the riots and protests.

“People were angry. I was angry,” she says. “He should not have been murdered.”

Asked about Black and Brown solidarity, a teacher describes the work of groups in Little Village and North Lawndale to unite the Black and brown communities.

Sophomore Jose Guzman Jr. said he was grateful for his peers’ vulnerability and was captivated by their stories and willingness to share the struggles they faced during the pandemic.

For 17-year-old Addis Quiterio, elevating the voices of young people to highlight what they’ve learned and show that representation was important.

During the interviews, Jose, who is 15, heard from his Latino classmates who went out to protest or got involved in clubs to show the Black community they were “loved and appreciated.”

It was a “heartwarming experience to see that,” he said.

He also noted that he learned about his classmates’ resilience through the trauma from the COVID-19 pandemic and social unrest brought on by Floyd’s murder.

In reflecting on the experience, Angel said she hopes people change their perspective on Black and Latino youth and stop perpetuating negative stereotypes.

With every showing of the film, the junior believes the project “rewrites our narrative.”

“It shows us that Black people and Brown people [are] not just minorities,” Angel says. “We’re more than that. We’re filmmakers. We’re future speakers ... These are our future lawyers.”

She wants people to recognize that and for Black and Latinos voices to be “valued.”

Mauricio Peña is a reporter for Chalkbeat Chicago, covering K-12 schools. Contact Mauricio at mpena@chalkbeat.org.

NYC’s controversial social skills assessment helped this Brooklyn school. Getting there hasn’t been easy.

2022-05-27T15:41:08+00:00

Educators and families were in wide agreement: Students would need help adjusting socially and emotionally to being back in classrooms this year amid the COVID pandemic.

But one of New York City’s plans to do that — by using a questionnaire called the Devereux Student Strengths Assessment, or DESSA, in every school — was quickly met with backlash. Educators, already overwhelmed trying to meet the pandemic-era needs of students, worried it was time-consuming, and they feared they couldn’t accurately answer the questions about students they hardly knew at the start of the year. Some concerned parents opted their children out.

Brooklyn principal Kiri Soares could relate.

She also struggled to figure out how her school could use the DESSA to help her students at the Urban Assembly Institute of Math and Science for Young Women.

That was more than five years ago.

Now, the assessment is steeped in the school culture, and Soares and her counseling team say it has been an integral part of preparing students for success — both academically and outside the classroom. But it took time and resources to figure out how to shift the school’s culture to make the tool useful, raising questions about how easily other schools could replicate their model as classrooms continue to be rocked by the pandemic.

“It wasn’t smooth,” Soares said. “You can just roll assessments out there and expect them to be useful if you don’t have time and energy.”

‘Skills that undergird a child’s academic success’

This year, New York City mandated that every school administer the questionnaire through a three-year, $18 million contract with Aperture, the education technology company.

The Urban Assembly network, a nonprofit group that supports 23 schools across New York City including the Institute of Math and Science, had already been using the DESSA for years to address students’ social wellbeing.

Schools use a version of the screening tool that consists of 43 questions that educators answer about their students’ social skills such as decision-making, self-awareness, and taking personal responsibility.

Social-emotional learning, or SEL, has recently gained traction across the country as an important part of what students should learn in school. But lately, the approach has become wrapped up in heated fights tied to social justice issues.

Brandon Frame, the director of social-emotional learning at Urban Assembly, said oftentimes people’s skepticism is tied to misunderstanding what social-emotional learning is. He emphasized that it focuses on building skills and attitudes students need to navigate life in the classroom and beyond: teaching them how to set and achieve goals, for example.

“There’s no community that I go to and they say, I don’t want my child to develop [these] skills,” Frame said. “These are skills that students need to be successful, that ultimately impact our communities.”

Soares said it’s also helpful to be clear about what the DESSA is not. It is not, she stressed, a measure of a student’s mental health. It’s not going to help diagnose or treat depression, for example.

“We are looking for the social emotional skills that undergird a child’s academic success. Like, I don’t want my teachers to be counselors. I have counselors, and I have teachers,” she said.

“But I do want my teachers to help kids, plan, time management, prioritize, learn how to listen, speak respectfully, track the speaker when they’re talking. Those are core skills that help them be academically successful. That’s what the DESSA looks for,” she said.

Counseling teams and peer-to-peer connections

Fine-tuning the approach at the Institute of Math and Science took years and also relied on support from the Urban Assembly network.

Teachers are responsible for administering the questionnaires only for the students in their advisory period, which is usually a smaller class of about 15.

This solves a few challenges: whittling down the amount of time teachers spend completing the DESSA, and making sure that an adult who knows the students well is answering detailed questions about the students’ behaviors, outlooks, and abilities.

The results are then analyzed by the counseling team, solving one of the biggest challenges Soares said she faced when they first implemented the DESSA: what to do with all that data.

She estimates there are 14 people on the counseling team, with a guidance counselor, social worker, college advisors, multiple deans, and a stable of interns from local universities.

Team members examine the results for any biases or outliers. Soares said sometimes teachers rate all their students as struggling or, conversely, report that they’re all doing exceptionally well. Neither is helpful because it’s not likely to be the case. So the team crosses the results with what they know about each student individually and collaborates with teachers to decide which skills students need to work on, or where they’re already strong.

With the results, which get fed into a color-coded dashboard, the counseling team builds small groups of students. They intentionally pair students who struggle with those who excel on the same skills, hoping they learn from each other.

“Sometimes, us as adults, we’re not always as relatable,” said Jennifer Jackson Robbins, a school counselor at the school. “But when you have a peer saying, ‘This is what I’ve experienced, this is how I handled it — or this is how I wish I had handled it,’ I think that speaks louder to students.”

They meet during “learning lab” – essentially a study hall period that Soares created this year to allow students room to work independently, a skill many had to strengthen while learning remotely last year, and one that Soares doesn’t want students to lose before heading off to college when it will be valuable. The period also creates a space for students to work on social-emotional learning skills without missing valuable instruction time in their core subjects.

The small groups come together for about 30 minutes once a week, for five to eight weeks at a time. The university interns play a pivotal role, leading the small groups with the guidance of a curriculum and the professionals on the school counseling team.

Support also comes from the Urban Assembly network. Frame, the director of social-emotional learning, has a team of specialists who visit schools, lead training sessions, and help principals sort through the information collected through the DESSA.

Data-driven approach

When Robbins thinks about the value of the small groups, she thinks about one student who has been working alongside her peers on decision-making skills. At the start of the year, the student would leave class or refuse to sit in her seat, prompting a flood of emails to Robbins from the girl’s teachers. Those emails are fewer now.

Marni Brand, a social worker at the school, thinks about other students who have gone from not being able to make eye contact with their classmates to planning senior events.

Before using the DESSA, knowing whether the counseling team was having an impact often meant relying on these kinds of anecdotes. Trying to figure out who needed help meant pulling bits of data from everywhere – attendance records, discipline logs, referrals from teachers.

Now, they can glance at a dashboard and cross the data gleaned from the questionnaires with what they know about students. The DESSA is re-administered multiple times a year to track progress.

“For so long it was like, ‘Are we helping people? How do we know?’” Brand said. “For us, the value is seeing the way your work is impacting students.”

Christina Veiga is a reporter covering New York City schools with a focus on school diversity and preschool. Contact Christina at cveiga@chalkbeat.org.

NYC’s ‘community schools’ are a lifeline for many students. Dozens are bracing for cuts.

2022-05-19T19:21:08+00:00

Big cuts are coming to nonprofits that partner with dozens of New York City’s “community schools,” providing them with wraparound support for students, such as mental health services, attendance monitoring, and dental or vision check-ups.

One organization that serves a 1,600-student Queens high school may have to slash a program helping students apply for college. Another that works with three Brooklyn high schools plans to eliminate attendance workers, who have been coaxing teens back in efforts to make a dent in high chronic absenteeism rates.

The cuts stem from a new formula meant to more equitably fund organizations working with schools across the five boroughs. Out of 145 campuses housing community schools that were affected by the change, 93 are seeing an increase, but 52 campuses stand to see significant cuts.

Research has found that the city’s community schools — which embed social services in high-needs schools — boosted math scores, graduation rates, attendance, and the rate at which students move on to the next grade. But some of those successes could be hampered at campuses whose partner organizations will likely face tough decisions about laying off staff and cutting back services that have been a cornerstone of the city’s much-lauded program, said leaders of those nonprofits.

Meanwhile, the federal government has embraced community schools as a way to grapple with the high social, economic, and academic needs, earmarking $413 million across the nation for expanding the model.

“The reason why I think this is incredibly disappointing is because many of the things we work on — mental health, college access, addressing chronic absenteeism, after school – all of those things are areas in which the current administration, the [Department of Education], have expressed as important as we continue to come to the other side of the pandemic,” said Sonia B. Sisodia, executive director of South Asian Youth Action, or SAYA.

Her organization is expecting to see its funding slashed by nearly 50%, or roughly $420,000.

SAYA provides services to nearly a third of students at Richmond Hill High School, where 78% of students are from low-income families. Losing funding will force administrators to cut or eliminate their college access program. It would “significantly reduce” after school programming, such as clubs for robotics, books, arts, LGTBQ students, and one focused on leadership, Sisodia said. The organization would also shave mental health services.

All of this means that staff might work with a student just once or twice the entire year, if at all, compared with their current practice of keeping up with students more regularly, Sisodia said.

‘The needs are so great’

The cuts currently on the table were supposed to take effect last year when the city revamped the funding formula for community schools. But City Council intervened, giving organizations — who were caught off guard by the change — a reprieve as they braced for the reopening of school buildings during the pandemic.

Some organizations were receiving as little as $87,000, while others got as much as $1 million, explained Chris Caruso, former director of the Office of Community Schools.

The new formula gives each organization a base of $250,000, then adds money based on factors such as student enrollment, the percentage of low-income students in the campus they serve, and the type of grades they’re serving. Elementary schools are weighted three times higher than high schools because those elementary schools might provide more extended learning time “due to child care needs,” according to an email from education department officials obtained by Chalkbeat, which revealed that the highest contract amount was just under $550,000 and the lowest was just under $400,000.

The new formula also allows the city to expand the number of community schools, Caruso said. A department spokesperson said they plan to open about 100 more community schools by this fall.

Hundreds of thousands of dollars in cuts “is going to be noticeable,” Caruso said, but he noted that increased funding to schools, such as from federal coronavirus relief, could help offset some of these losses.

Cypress Hills Local Development Corporation, which works with three schools on the Franklin K. Lane campus in Cypress Hills, had a budget of just over $1 million this school year. It is expecting a $590,000 cut for next year, said Emily Van Ingen, the organization’s deputy director.

Each school has a team of two full-time staffers, plus several part-timers, who work on “some of the core tenements of community schools,” including improving attendance and graduation rates by finding ways to keep students interested in school. Those teams meet with students and their families and connect them with mental health, housing or other services.

With the cut, the organization will reduce its staff to one full-time director at each school and a part-time social worker who would work across all three campuses.

But the needs remain high. The East New York and Cypress Hills communities were “rocked” by COVID, Van Ingen said. Many students are dealing with the loss of loved ones and remain apprehensive about coming to the building. In the first nine months of the school year, there were 16 attempted suicides among students, compared to none in the 2019-20 school year, Van Ingen said.

“We have to be realistic about how much you can expect one human being to do because the needs are so great,” Van Ingen said.

At one of the schools on the campus, chronic absenteeism hit 45%. Citywide, schools are projected to see a 37% rate of chronic absenteeism, which is when students miss 10% or more school days. That would be the highest level since at least 2000.

The front line workers from community organizations are worried these rates will continue to remain high next school year.

“Students have been online, remote learning and have had a hard time socializing and reintegrating into school, so if they’re not coming now, what’s the indicator that they’re going to come in September or October?” asked Anju Rupchandani, of Zone 126, which works with Long Island City High School in Queens.

Zone 126 plans to cut six full-time people, half who work on improving attendance through home visits and one-on-one mentoring. The others provide drama-based therapy to students. They also contract with an outside organization for mental health services, which they plan to pare back.

That will leave the school with two full-time Zone 126 staffers, one who will potentially work on attendance and then a director who will “coordinate any and all programs.”

Students at the school have struggled this year to connect with their peers and even have one-on-one conversations, Rupchandani said. They’ll often walk into the Zone 126 office at school seeking a place to “chill out” because they’re overwhelmed, and some have been nervous about falling behind academically. She’s noticed a concerning level of chronic absenteeism among the school’s ninth graders.

Failure to get paid

Suzan Sumer, a spokesperson for the education department, said the department will work with the City Council “to continue funding our community schools and the incredible work they do in support of all-around student health and wellbeing.”

The funding cuts are just another issue facing these organizations: Multiple nonprofits have not yet been paid for the hundreds of thousands of dollars in services they’ve provided to schools this year.

Cypress Hills may have to cut back on end-of-the-year student events, such as graduation, if they’re not paid by June, Van Ingen said.

SAYA has not yet been paid “one dollar” for the more than $600,000 worth of services they’ve provided so far this school year, Sisodia said, who added that they’ve received no clear explanation for the delay.

As a result, SAYA’s cash balances were drained this year, and they dipped into investment accounts to help make payroll. At one point, they were faced with the decision whether to pay their employees or pay the vendor they contract with that provides mental health services for Richmond Hill students, Sisodia said.

The education department declined to explain why organizations have not been paid, what the problems are, and how many are waiting on payments. Any delays in payment “are being addressed and are related to contract procurement and registration,” according to a department spokesperson.

Reema Amin is a reporter covering New York City schools with a focus on state policy and English language learners. Contact Reema at ramin@chalkbeat.org.

Event: What our schools need next to support student mental health

2022-05-19T16:57:56+00:00

This event was originally scheduled for June 1, and has been postponed to June 8.

Mental health is a topic that has threaded throughout Chalkbeat’s journalism with particular intensity since COVID started.

In response to this national need for more discussion around mental health, Chalkbeat and College Track will host student panelists from across the country in conversation with Blair Imani to share their experiences with mental health and wellness over the last two years, how they have felt during the pandemic, and what they need next.

Following the students, Chalkbeat managing editor Sarah Darville will moderate a panel of mental health experts to discuss how COVID has exacerbated many issues that existed in schools around mental health, and the solutions to address the effects of the added stress students and educators have endured over the last two years.

Join Chalkbeat and College Track for this important discussion with students and mental health experts. Please RSVP for this premiere so we’re able to provide streaming information. This event is free to attend, but any optional donations will go to support Chalkbeat’s nonprofit journalism and events like these.

This event is the final in a four-part national Chalkbeat series titled COVID and Mental Health, which seeks to amplify efforts to better support the wellness of students and school staff during this challenging comeback year.

Chicago Public Schools partners with Lady Gaga foundation to tackle depression, mental health issues among students

2022-05-10T22:41:31+00:00

Chicago Public Schools is launching a new initiative aimed at providing mental health support for students amid increased rates of depression, suicide, and anxiety disorders among young people across the nation.

Please Stay is focused on promoting dialogue around mental health support for seventh to 12th grade students, the district announced Tuesday morning. The suicide prevention program, which coincides with Mental Health Awareness month, was created by pop singer Lady Gaga’s Born this Way Foundation and mental health grassroots organization Find Your Anchor. The campaign offers schools materials to tackle mental health issues and promote self-care among students.

School districts across the country are grappling with how to deal with the mental health fallout from the pandemic. Last month, the Centers for Disease and Control Prevention released a survey that found 1 in 3 high school students experienced poor mental health during the pandemic. About 44% of students also reported feeling “persistently sad or hopeless,” according to the survey findings.

Amid the uncertainty of the last two years, Northside College Prep senior Anmol Singh witnessed firsthand how “COVID-19 really took a toll on students’ mental health.”

“We’re all very fearful,” Singh said. “There was a sense of uncertainty in the air, and being tasked to continue with school, but also not know if it’s okay to even go outside. That was something that was very hard to manage.”

He remembers his family life being disrupted, financial hardships, and being disconnected from extended family. His mother had to take a leave of absence to care for his 3-year-old brother, while his older brother missed out on cornerstone moments of his senior year.

“We were just really devastated by the fact that we had to completely uproot everything that we knew,” Singh recalls.

“The uncertainty kind of piled on, and at times, it was really rough” to understand and put things into perspective, he said. “We were constantly trying to be hopeful of the future when not really understanding what the future would entail.”

In Chicago, mental health support has long been a concern among parents, students, and advocates who have called on the district for additional resources such as more social workers and counselors at schools to address mental health issues exacerbated by the pandemic. In March, concerns for more academic and mental interventions came to a head during a Chicago school board meeting, where members said the district was not spending funds fast enough to address immediate academic and mental health needs.

“This is an emergency,” board president Miguel del Valle said at that meeting, calling on the district to move faster on hiring for community-based organizations that provide CPS with social, emotional, and mental health support. “Schools are crying out for additional help.”

The district has allocated about $24,000 from federal COVID relief funds to launch the Please Stay campaign.

“This campaign reminds students of the importance of prioritizing their mental health and of the many supports that are available to them,” CEO Pedro Martinez said in a statement.

As part of the initiative, schools will facilitate peer-to-peer conservations, provide additional tips to cope with stress, and connect students with resources, officials said.

The district distributed materials to school communities to help spur conversations on self-care and identify “anchors,” such as activities, sports, or snacks that help steady students during times of stress.

As part of the program, students participating are asked to take a pledge to reach out for support if needed.

In a letter to parents, Martinez said the initiative was a response to a rise in depression, suicide, and anxiety disorders among young people that have been “made worse by the stress and isolation” brought on by the pandemic. “The time to address it is now,” he said.

Michael Roy, the Training and Prevention team lead with CPS’ office of student protections and Title IX, said coronavirus and its impact have created additional challenges for young people.

The initiative is designed to be an accessible way for administrators, teachers, and counselors to have conversations with young people and connect them to resources available in the school building, Roy said.

“It was important to do this as a way to really start destigmatizing the conversation around mental health,” Roy said.

The initiative is one part of the district’s efforts to support students’ social and emotional health. The district is working with Lurie Children’s Hospital to implement Behavioral Health Teams in every district-run school by 2023-24, Roy said.

Since returning to in-person learning, school officials have seen an increase in mental health concerns among students presenting with “anxiety and depression,” says Taylor Daum, a counselor at Thomas Kelly High School on the Southwest Side.

“We’re also seeing some trauma, especially in regards to the past few years of the pandemic,” Daum said.

In the coming weeks, the Southwest Side school will launch additional activities including homeroom lessons around the campaign and schoolwide interactive activities, and work with community partners to foster a sense of community while addressing persistent mental health concerns, Daum said.

The program offers flexibility for schools to customize various activities to meet the needs of students at their campuses, Roy said.

He acknowledges the initiative is only one part of the puzzle.

“We are recognizing that we have a lot of need for outreach for communities of color, for our LGBTQ+ young people who might have additional challenges” who haven’t traditionally received equitable resources and support, Roy added.

Northside College Prep senior Singh hopes this initiative is one of many steps by the district to help prioritize high quality mental health services for students — and opens a door for peers to speak openly about what they’re going through.

“It’s been a taboo for so many years,” Singh said, noting that conversations around mental health are rare in the classroom setting and at home for some students. But these dialogues, and prioritizing mental health, he says, can help students succeed in school.

“I hope that we continue to move in this positive direction, we continue to push the boundary, push the envelope,” Singh said, “and we continue to realize that students’ mental health is really important.”

Mauricio Peña is a reporter for Chalkbeat Chicago, covering K-12 schools. Contact Mauricio at mpena@chalkbeat.org.

How to help struggling students? NYC’s Comfort Dog Program might unleash some answers

2022-05-05T22:15:42+00:00

Literacy coach Meredith Loftus sometimes has a special helper for her phonics lessons with struggling readers at P.S. 70 in the South Bronx.

Chip, a 1.5-year-old shih-poo (poodle/Shih Tzu mix), joined her on Thursday, as she worked with a small group of third graders as they sounded out words with digraphs, two letters that sound like one, such as “wh,” “sh,” “ch,” and “th.”

Chip used his nose to toss a large die with a word on each side, and it landed on “shoulder.” Then a student read the word and instructed Chip to pick a bucket with the corresponding digraph.

Getting students excited about being pulled out of their regular classroom to work on phonics can be a struggle — particularly this year, when pandemic-related learning disruptions have left some kids lagging several years behind. But having the dogs helps make it more fun, said Kirsten Kinsella, P.S. 70’s former assistant principal, who now leads the New York City education department’s Comfort Dog Program.

“They explain the sounds to Chip. They’re learning it with the dog,” Kinsella explained. “It builds confidence and communication.”

Chip is one of five dogs who regularly works with P.S. 70 students on literacy, math, yoga, and social-emotional skills. When he’s not at the school, he and the other four dogs live with Kinsella, who has continued to use the school as her home base and lab site. She Zooms with educators at the city’s other 52 schools with dogs in the program to see how things are going and to troubleshoot. P.S. 70 is also where she certifies dogs before they head to their respective schools.

A third grader at P.S. 70 reads “Chicka Chicka Boom Boom” to a dog named Mushu.

Kinsella gets inquiries from educators “every day” about the program and said over 500 schools want to participate.

This kind of targeted literacy intervention puts the Comfort Dog Program at the forefront of how schools can incorporate the therapeutic animals, Kinsella believes. Such activities are also more engaging for the dogs than simply being petted all day. (“I’m like the UFT for the dogs,” Kinsella joked, comparing her role to the teachers union’s in ensuring the pups have good work conditions.)

Though dogs have been in some New York City public schools since 2016 as a way to bolster emotional well-being, their roles in the classroom have been evolving, and training them — along with training their humans — is an ongoing process. Interest in the program has been especially high this school year, as student mental health needs have become dire across the nation; in October 2021, theAmerican Academy of Pediatrics declared a national emergency about the issue.

Hundreds of schools want dogs

The program expands and contracts based on various factors, and Kinsella expects to certify six new dogs before the school year ends. While she’s hopeful the program will grow, it’s a major undertaking to train the dogs and their humans. An education department pilot program this year is sending a school professional, who is also a dog trainer and animal-assisted intervention specialist, into various schools with her dog to work with teachers for part of the day.

To be part of the program, an educator with a dog at least a year old must participate in a six-hour training program through the Good Dog Foundation.. Schools can allocate up to $1,000 from their budgets to help defray costs, Kinsella said, but the educator is a volunteer, providing room and board for the pet.

The training focuses on how to work with students who might be scared of dogs or how to desensitize dogs to school-specific distractions like the school bell, fire alarms and PA announcements.

But going through the training does not automatically guarantee acceptance into the program, as other factors might come into play in terms of how the dog responds to being in a school environment. The dogs must also exhibit a love for greeting strangers without hesitation and cannot exhibit any aggression. And their handlers have to become skilled at reading their dogs’ stress signals, Kinsella said.

A dog named Aurora helps third graders from P.S. 70 when they’re doing yoga.

A little help from a friend on social-emotional learning

The comfort dogs have been especially helpful this year as children had to reacclimate to being back in the classroom around other children and adults, Kinsella said. For some students who have been reluctant to show up to school, they now start their day feeding the dogs, a calming transition before school work.

“Through the dogs and working with them and seeing that bond, we just see the students grow,” she said.

She pointed to the transformation of Ian, a third grader who was having trouble remaining in class this year. Now he helps train the dogs.

“They make me feel more excited to be here,” Ian said. “They’re my best friends.”

He’s already planning to be a dog trainer when he grows up, he said.

Kinsella worked with Ian and three other students on some social-emotional skills in a quiet fifth-floor classroom — where the dogs usually stay, so that children who are allergic to dogs don’t encounter them elsewhere.

She started out by asking the children how they felt, and said that Chip felt “ner-cited,” which was a made-up word for nervous and excited, Kinsella told the children.

Kirsten Kinsella, who oversees the city’s Comfort Dog Program, asks Chip, her shih-poo, to wave goodbye.

A third grader named Izzy said he also felt nervous because there were more people than usual watching the group. But he said he also felt grateful because “a lot of people don’t get chances” to spend time with dogs in school.

Izzy then led the group in a short, guided meditation with deep-breathing exercises.

When he finished, the four students and two dogs in the room all seemed more at ease.

“When we change the energy in the room, we change the energy for the dogs and ourselves,” Kinsella said.

Amy Zimmer is the bureau chief for Chalkbeat New York. Contact Amy at azimmer@chalkbeat.org.

‘Students are petrified’ to go to school amid rising Philly gun violence

2022-04-21T19:08:20+00:00

Philadelphia schools can’t ignore rising gun violence if they want to reverse the trend, students said during a Wednesday panel discussion sponsored by Chalkbeat Philadelphia. That means creating safe spaces for students to express their fears and acknowledging that gun violence affects everyone.

“Once you experience gun violence in your family, in any group that you’re in, you go back to school, school should be a community,” said Erin Gill-Wilson, a junior at George Washington Carver Engineering and Science High School.

Instead of “jumping back into schoolwork,” students — and teachers— need support and time to talk about the experience, she said.

More than 100 people attended the virtual panel organized with Resolve Philly, where students, educators, and Philadelphia’s outgoing schools superintendent discussed the epidemic of violence in the city and its impact on student mental health.

The numbers are staggering. There have been 145 homicides so far this year, up 6% from the same time last year, according to the Philadelphia Police Department. Teenagers and children make up a growing number of gun violence victims and perpetrators, a problem city and school officials have been struggling to address. This year, 96 fatal and nonfatal shooting victims were between the ages 13-19 and 12 homicide victims were young people under 18.

“Gun violence isn’t just a school issue,” said Armando Ortez, a senior at Northeast High School and a student representative on the Philadelphia Board of Education. “It’s a community issue.”

“Students are petrified to go to school or come back to school” for fear of encountering gun violence, Ortez said.

“People don’t just carry guns around to look cool,” Gill-Wilson said. “It’s a level of protection. There are people who don’t even want to go to certain events or certain places if they can’t have a weapon. They don’t feel protected.”

Ignoring the problem is the wrong way to go, said Gill-Wilson. “I understand that as a teacher, faculty or staff, you may not want to open up or create some uncomfortable conversations,” but “uncomfortable conversations have to happen,” she said. “Gun violence and losing someone is uncomfortable.”

Resources for students dealing with trauma exist, but are often hard to come by, especially on short notice, said Lisa Christian, director of counseling services at the Anti-Violence Partnership of Philadelphia.

“There are very few resources I know of in this city that do not have a waitlist at this time,” she said. “That’s an issue.”

Mental health programs are “saturated” because of the gun violence epidemic, Christian said. She encourages people with health insurance to reach out to their insurer’s customer service department and “let them know you need trauma therapy, or you want to speak to a trauma therapist,” she said. “That will sometimes get you services a lot quicker.”

Christian’s organization provides counseling for a range of trauma-specific issues, but most are related to guns, she said, adding that “we need to have community-based intervention” through recreation centers and libraries.

School and city officials are trying to address the needs, said Kevin Bethel, chief of safety for Philadelphia schools.

“There’s a collective, all-hands approach,” he said. “This is not normal. What our kids are being exposed to, what our leadership is being exposed to, is not normal. We have allowed this to get normalized in our space. That is not acceptable.”

“We have to start teaching our young people how to deal with conflict,” he said, noting that a “plethora of programs” are aimed at supporting and mentoring young people.

“At the end of the day, we have to start working upstream” rather than just addressing incidents, he said.

Creating programs isn’t enough, said Gill-Wilson. “There also needs to be an explanation of why the programs are needed,” she said. “How will one of my peers know I need to be in this program?”

Students can benefit from having teachers and school officials who look like them and know what it’s like to grow up around gun violence, said Selina Carrera, who teaches and mentors at the Philadelphia Juvenile Justice Services Center School.

“I’m one of two Latinos” on the faculty there, she said, adding: “I could name maybe, on one hand, the number of teachers of color or from the community.”

“You can’t fix a problem you don’t see,” Carrera said. “We need more support in humanizing these experiences. It’s so uncomfortable, teachers will just try to avoid it.”

It’s important to give students “space” to deal with trauma, as well as mentors they can call on if they want to talk, she said.

Carrera, who uses music and other creative arts to help students to tell their stories, suggested dedicating one day a week to mental health and how to deal with these conflicts.

“If we’re too busy policing our kids instead of listening to our kids, then they’re not going to be open to opening up,” she said, “and they’re not going to be willing to speak the truth.”

At Simon Gratz High School Mastery Charter, a program called Rebound works with the most vulnerable students to give them access to mentors and therapy and offers after-school enrichment programs that feature trips to plays and excursions to places such as New York and Washington.

“So many students have not left their neighborhoods or their communities,” said Gratz Principal Le’Yondo Dunn. Rebound currently supports 50 students, and while the goal is to expand the program, that takes resources, he said.

“We can’t assign 50, 60, 100 young people to one adult,” he said.

There needs to be more acknowledgment of “how far-reaching the impacts of gun violence are,” said Dunn, the Gratz principal, who noted that his school “impacted disproportionally,” but the effects don’t stop there.

“My students have cousins and friends who attend other schools,” he said. “It’s impacting everyone who lives in the city, so we need to work together collaboratively.”

“Black and brown students are often viewed as a monolith, that they have the same experiences, the same aspirations,” Dunn said.

He said he sees young people growing up amid food insecurity, in historically overlooked communities, without knowing how to process the information they’re taking in. “I believe the system is incredibly overworked,” with calls to 911 going unanswered and no guidance on how to respond to incidents.

“If I could wave a magic wand, I would delete Facebook, Instagram, TikTok,” Dunn said. “There’s so much conflict bubbling up in those spaces, and those spaces are unmonitored.”

But social media can be a way of reaching at-risk youth, argued Christian.

“We demonize social media, but we know the majority of your youth are on social media,” she said. “Social media’s not going anywhere. Let’s use it to our advantage.”

While the Rebound program is “amazing,” it’s not everywhere, said Gill-Wilson. She started her own nonprofit, Mentally E.A.T., to advocate for mental health, and called it “a shame” that she didn’t find any existing resources.

“We all need to know about different colleges, different ways of living,” Gill-Wilson said. “There’s more to life than just Philadelphia.”

It’s heartbreaking to her that most of her peers don’t know where certain colleges are or what opportunities are available to them.

“We need to be told this,” she said. “We’re losing our friends, we’re losing our families, and we’re going back to school acting like it’s normal.”

William Hite, the outgoing schools superintendent, said at the event that more needs to be done.

“We need to be willing to learn how to have difficult conversations around what young people are experiencing and showing they are heard and showing we are responsive, that we’re humanizing these issues,” he said. “We want to expand what we’re doing around mentoring,” but “these things take resources.”

Mental health resources for students, educators, and parents

Professional counseling: The Anti-Violence Partnership offers free, professional counseling to adult and child co-victims of homicide and those who have been traumatized by other forms of violence. These services are provided at their offices in the Art Museum area and in West Philadelphia. Fill out this form to learn more or call 215-567-6776.

Gun violence resource guide: Dozens of organizations across Philadelphia are dedicated to helping those affected by gun violence. Up the Block has a searchable guide, in Spanish and English, available online. This project was created and is maintained by The Trace, a nonprofit newsroom dedicated to covering gun violence. Read more about the project here.

Mentorship programs: Philadelphia has dozens of programs seeking to provide supportive mentorship environments for youth. Learn more about the programs and how to get in touch with organizers from the Fun Times.

For emergencies: Contact the Philadelphia Mobile Emergency Team at 215-685-6440, the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline at 1-800-273-8255, or for all other emergencies, call 911.

This article is part of The Toll: The Roots and Costs of Gun Violence in Philadelphia, a solutions-focused series from the collaborative reporting project Broke in Philly. Find other stories here and follow on Twitter at @BrokeInPhilly.

Reading list: How Philadelphia schools are grappling with gun violence

2022-04-20T14:50:07+00:00

Amid rising gun violence in Philadelphia, educators and students are calling for greater support, including more funding for trauma-responsive programming, grief counseling, recreational support, and summer programming.

Violence in Philadelphia has reached historic levels, with the city surpassing 500 homicides last year, the highest number since 1990. Teenagers and children have been swept up in this surge. This reality is taking a toll on schools, which are already reeling from the disruption of the pandemic and now struggle to meet the mental health needs of students who have been shot, lost loved ones, or fear for their own safety.

As Philadelphia officials outline steps to stem violence in and around schools, Chalkbeat wants to hear directly from students, educators, and school leaders on how schools can better support students experiencing community trauma. How can schools best spend precious resources? What do students feel has made a difference in their own lives? What resources can help equip educators? (Have you been affected by gun violence in Philadelphia? We want to hear from you here.)

During an April 20 discussion hosted by Chalkbeat Philadelphia and Resolve Philly, students, experts, and educators spoke about their suggestions for the Philadelphia school district. Read on for Chalkbeat’s reading list for event attendees and anyone who wants to better understand how these issues are playing out in Philadelphia schools and beyond.

Mental health resources for students, educators, and parents

For emergencies: Contact the Philadelphia Mobile Emergency Team at 215-685-6440, the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline at 1-800-273-8255, or for all other emergencies, call 911.

We hope you find these compiled stories and list of resources helpful. Do you have any remaining questions? Or story ideas for us? Reach out at philly.tips@chalkbeat.org.

Behind bars: School inside Philly’s juvenile center feels brunt of city’s gun violence

A student at the Philadelphia Juvenile Justice Center School Program shares their thoughts on the city’s gun violence during an interview.

The spike in Philadelphia youth involved in gun violence has staff at the school district’s Juvenile Justice Services Center School calling for help.

The goal of the center’s school is to keep students on track with their education and help them transition back to a traditional school after their arrest. But Principal Deana Ramsey said the rise in gun violence has not been met with an increase in staffing or mental health supports, leading her and others to worry the center isn’t fulfilling its mission to students.

The city’s gun violence crisis, coming amid the coronavirus pandemic, has put pressure on the West Philadelphia center, whose students accounted for 12.7% of all shooting victims enrolled in city schools through April of last school year, according to school district data.

Read the full story.

Some kids ‘don’t come back’: One Philly school grapples with gun violence

Principal Keisha Wilkins walks through the auditorium of Martin Luther King High School in Philadelphia as the school’s cheerleading squad practices on the stage.

In more than six years as principal of Martin Luther King High School in Philadelphia, Keisha Wilkins has developed a ritual of sending students off in the afternoon with the same parting words: “I love you, be safe, see you tomorrow.”

But twice in the past year at the 551-student school in Philadelphia’s West Oak Lane neighborhood, students haven’t returned. A junior was found shot to death while attending a vigil for another shooting victim last October. And a junior was found shot in the head on Mother’s Day, sitting in a car around the corner from his grandmother’s house.

“There are some kids that don’t come back the next day,” she said, “and it’s not because they don’t want to come back, but it’s because their life is taken prematurely because they had to make adult decisions as children. It’s very hard for us as a school.”

School leaders find themselves balancing these students’ academic and personal needs. For Wilkins, this means developing a relationship with local police officers, offering weekly grief counseling, and searching for programming to keep students on the right track. But she knows she is facing an uphill battle — she estimates 30 teens and young adults with ties to the school have been murdered during her tenure.

“You can’t normalize violence, can’t normalize grief, but you can at least give some outlet,” she said.

Read the full story.

‘Our schools are a safe place’: Philadelphia officials outline steps to stem violence in and around schools

Student art lines a hallway as staff enter a room at the Philadelphia Juvenile Justice Center School Program.

Amid a troubling wave of gun violence impacting the lives of Philadelphia students, the district’s director of school safety declared that city leaders are mobilizing resources and cementing collaborations to keep children out of harm’s way.

“Our schools are a safe place,” said Kevin Bethel, a former deputy police commissioner who spent 30 years with the department before joining the district two years ago. “They’ve always been a safe place. They continue to be one of the safest places in the city of Philadelphia regardless of the incidents we’ve had recently. Our schools are safe.”

Bethel’s declaration came during a press conference where he and Superintendent William Hite announced that, as part of their strategy to keep students safe, the district plans to pay community members to help patrol areas around school buildings during arrival and dismissal.

Read the full story.

Caroline Bauman connects Chalkbeat journalists with our readers as the community engagement manager and previously reported at Chalkbeat Tennessee. Connect with Caroline at cbauman@chalkbeat.org.

Here are education highlights from New York’s state budget

2022-04-18T19:37:04+00:00

New York state lawmakers passed a budget over the weekend that will boost funding for New York City schools by about 4% per pupil next school year.

The city’s public schools will receive just over $12 billion in state funding. State funds represent roughly 40% of the city’s education operating budget.

School funding is usually a bitter battle among lawmakers and advocates during budget season. But lawmakers reached a deal last year to fully fund Foundation Aid, the formula that sends more dollars to high-needs schools.

As a result, even the most fervent school funding advocates shifted their attention to expanding other programs and initiatives. One of the largest pushes went toward expanding subsidized child care across New York.

The final budget deal calls for $7 billion in early child care funding over the next four years, which could pave the way for universal child care and greatly expand access for New York City families. But some advocates and lawmakers were disappointed by that level of funding and are frustrated that it still excludes children who are undocumented.

Lawmakers also passed legislation to mandate electric school buses and instituted some funding changes for private special education programs, which serve public school children with the most challenging disabilities and have been struggling to retain teachers.

Here are highlights from the state budget.

NYC schools get $56 million less than proposed

New York City schools will see about $475 million more in state funding next school year. That figure is $56 million less than what Gov. Kathy Hochul had proposed; it wasn’t immediately clear why the final budget sent less money to the city.

Unlike previous years, it was clear from the governor’s proposal in January that school districts would receive an influx of cash following commitments last year to boost Foundation Aid, which gives districts the most flexibility, including the ability to hire more teachers or create new programs.

Some advocates, however, were disappointed not to see a funding increase for career and technical education programs. The New York State Educational Conference Board, a coalition of large school organizations, including the state teachers union, had called for updating a three-decade-old formula that helps fund career and technical education. The state’s Board of Regents also asked for more funding.

“Completing high school should put every young person on a path toward success in adult life,” Charles Dedrick, executive director of the New York State Council of School Superintendents, said in a statement. “Quality CTE programs have proven to be an effective option for students, including those planning to enter the workforce, to pursue further education, or both.”

Thousands more NYC families will be eligible for subsidized child care

The state’s $7 billion, four-year agreement for expanding subsidized child care would make it more affordable for families earning up to 300% of the federal poverty limit, or around $83,000 for a family of four. Previously the upper limit was around $55,500 for a family of four, or 200% of the poverty level.

While the final deal did not make care free, keeping in place co-payments that advocates had hoped would be eliminated, those payments are now capped at 10% of a family’s income.

About 74,000 more New York City children under the age of 5 will be eligible for significantly subsidized care, for a total of about 290,000 children across the five boroughs, according to an analysis of 2019 Census data conducted by United Neighborhood Houses, which represents child care providers.

Children who are undocumented will not be included, leaving an estimated 5,000 children across the state excluded from the program. Because state and federal dollars are “co-mingled” for subsidized child care, covering undocumented children would violate federal law, according to a spokesperson for Hochul’s office.

But advocates believe officials could separate out state funds and use them specifically for excluded children. It could work like the state’s excluded workers’ funds, which provided benefits to New Yorkers who lost work during the pandemic but were left out of federal relief programs, said Gregory Brender, director of public policy for the Day Care Council.

Many advocates called the investment “historic” for the industry and for families desperately in need of support. But some who had called for even more funding said the plan will fall short and cause families long waits for subsidized care — leading at least one leading lawmaker behind the universal childcare push, Sen. Jabari Brisport, to vote against the budget.

New York City in recent years has significantly expanded free child care for 3- and 4-year-olds through free preschool programs, but families with infants have struggled to find and afford care.

It remains to be seen how many families will take advantage of more affordable care and how the rollout will work. In 2019, more than 93,000 families qualified, yet only about 8,000 were enrolled in publicly supported programs, according to public data analyzed by the Citizens’ Committee for Children, or CCC, a nonprofit advocacy group.

The annual cost of care is about $18,000 to enroll in center-based programs or about $10,000 for programs that are run out of providers’ homes. Many women who left the workforce during the pandemic have not returned, with 35% of those reporting lack of childcare as the reason, according to census data analyzed by CCC.

Providers, meanwhile, have struggled since well before the pandemic. Many operate as private businesses, while those that participate in public programs say the rates they’re paid do not come close to covering costs. COVID only made things more difficult, with more expenses and plummeting enrollment. Many were forced to close.

Districts will start purchasing electric buses

The final budget requires all school districts to use zero-emission school buses that don’t use gasoline by 2035. Starting in 2027, districts can only purchase or lease green buses, or they must require the same of companies they contract with for transportation services.

This follows a law passed by New York City Council in November 2021 requiring that all school buses in use are zero-emission by 2035. Roughly 10,000 school buses service New York City, according to the New York State Association for Pupil Transportation, or NYAPT.

Former New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio had committed last April to changing 75 of 960 city-operated buses to electric by 2023, costing $30 million. The city contracts with other companies to run other school buses. An education department spokesperson said there have been no changes to de Blasio’s commitment.

Hochul had pitched the change in her budget proposal in January, earning pushback from NYAPT and other school advocates over the complicated logistics that could arise from the mandate. The groups worried about the costs that would come along with the mandate, such as building charging stations.

To meet the mandate, a district without any electric buses would have to convert close to 8% of its fleet on average annually in order to meet the new requirements by 2035.

NYAPT estimated the new mandate will cost at least $1 billion a year across the state, assuming about 4,000 new zero-emission buses are purchased annually. That organization had called for allowing districts to convert 5% of their fleets annually beginning in 2029, or pushing the start date of the mandate out to 2035, while letting districts choose a fleet of all-electric school buses or “a diversified fleet of school buses is more appropriate when considering the safety, environmental, and economic factors of their school district.”

A spokesperson for the association did not immediately share its response to the final budget.

The budget dedicates $500 million for zero-emission school buses in the state’s environmental bond act, a borrowing plan that must still be approved by voters this November. It also allows districts to apply for a two-year extension to meet the requirements of transitioning their fleets.

Dedrick, from the state’s superintendents group, said the $500 million allocation “will be a significant help to school districts.”

Private special education funding

Advocates and education policymakers had hoped for changes in how New York funds state-approved, privately run special education programs that serve thousands of school-age and preschool children with severe disabilities.

But those requests didn’t make it into the final budget.

Advocates welcomed a commitment from Hochul to boost funding for these programs by $240 million. But there was no final deal to freeze a complicated policy called “reconciliation,” which they argue could make the funding increase moot.

Under reconciliation, not only must programs return state funding they don’t use in a given school year, they also lose that funding in the following year. That means, for example, that if a teacher quits, and the school is unable to hire a replacement, then the school will not get the money for that position in the following year, said Chris Treiber, associate executive director for children’s services at InterAgency Council of Developmental Disabilities Agencies, Inc., which represents these programs.

“Our schools are so understaffed, they’re unable to recruit teachers, teacher assistants and clinicians,” Treiber said. “If they had to spend all this money in one fiscal year, they never would be able to.”

Last school year, 853 schools which serve school-age children had a teacher vacancy rate of 29%, while preschool programs had a vacancy rate of 33%, according to figures from Treiber’s organization.

The final budget allows these programs to retain a certain portion of unspent funding. Over the next three years, schools can hold on to up to 11% of surplus funding. That percentage would decrease to 8% in the 2025-2026 school year, to 5% the following year, and then 2% by 2027-2028 and annually after that. Treiber said his organization is still working to understand how exactly this would impact their programs.

Stagnant state funding has contributed to the closure of these programs and a shortage of seats for 3- and 4-year-olds with disabilities.

More than 22,000 New York City children are enrolled in these programs. Rate increases for the preschool special education programs stalled after the 2008 recession. Since 2015-16, the state has approved a 2% annual rate increase, which trails what public schools and programs for older children have received.

Hochul vetoed a bill in December that would have provided preschool special education programs with the same annual rate increase that school districts receive.

On Monday, State Education Commissioner Betty Rosa said she’s concerned about these programs closing due to funding issues, leaving children with the most severe disabilities with fewer options. Her team also requested just over $1 million to begin reviewing the tuition rate-setting methodology, but that, too, was left out of the final budget.

“While we are still looking at this issue, we do believe the tuition rate setting methodology is one that has to be addressed,” Rosa said. “We are hopeful we can continue the dialogue because there has to be a full understanding of the long-term implication this has.”

More mental health and tuition help

A total of $100 million in state grant matching funds will be available over the next two years to match what school districts are spending to address the fallout from the pandemic, including for student mental health and academic recovery. Hochul pitched this in her budget proposal in hopes of helping school districts address a youth mental health crisis spreading across the nation.

That funding will match what school districts are spending, including on extended day and after school programs and hiring mental health professionals.

The state will also spend $150 million toward New York’s Tuition Assistance Program in order to help cover tuition for 75,000 more part-time college students.

Christina Veiga contributed.

Reema Amin is a reporter covering New York City schools with a focus on state policy and English language learners. Contact Reema at ramin@chalkbeat.org.

Correction: This story previously stated the state has expanded free child care. In fact, more families will now qualify for subsidized care, but families will still be required to contribute a co-payment capped at 10% of their income.

‘Utterly unsustainable:’ Denver mulling fix for special education workloads

2022-04-12T22:18:00+00:00

In one week in March, school psychologist Tim Farrow supported a student who received a text message that her father had died unexpectedly, helped another student with federal Section 8 affordable housing vouchers for his family, and completed a suicide risk review for a student with an intellectual disability who was struggling with grief over the loss of a family member.

That was in addition to providing required services for 25 students with disabilities on his caseload. Farrow cares about all 1,700 students at Denver’s North High School, but he said the extra work beyond his caseload can make his job feel unsustainable.

“Most of the extra work we’re doing as educators, it’s things that we want to do,” said Farrow, who is one of two psychologists at North. It’s just that he and other mental health staff want “the opportunity to do those things without being run into the ground,” he said.

After years of advocacy by the teachers union and recommendations from a districtwide special education task force in 2019, Denver Public Schools and the Denver Classroom Teachers Association are collaborating to alleviate the heavy workload of specialists like Farrow.

A committee of five district officials and five “specialized service providers” — a category that includes school psychologists, social workers, counselors, nurses, occupational and physical therapists, and speech language pathologists — is tasked with brainstorming solutions.

Quantifying the work

Whereas the workloads of classroom teachers are dictated by factors like class size and 45-minute periods, specialized service providers have less definition to their workday. The committee’s goal is to adopt a workload calculator that would help specialized service providers and special education teachers collect data to quantify the work that they do.

For instance, a psychologist may spend an average of 24 hours per week providing services to students with disabilities, 15 hours prepping and planning lessons, two hours on paperwork, one hour attending staff meetings, one hour meeting with parents, and so on.

In a district like Denver where school principals have autonomy over their budgets, principals could use the calculator to better understand how many providers they need to hire to meet students’ needs. And district leaders could provide clearer guidelines.

“Do we need to have different conversations with school leaders to say, ‘You should be budgeting for more special education teachers based on your student caseload and the community you serve?’” said Julie Rottier-Lukens, Denver Public Schools’ director of special education and one of five district officials on the committee.

Similar work is underway across the state, spurred by an effort of the statewide teachers union, which developed a calculator that is now being piloted in several districts.

“Right now these people are just getting buried, and they have no way of quantifying just how much and some ways that we might be able to make adjustments to make their overall workload more manageable,” said Kevin Vick, vice president of the Colorado Education Association.

Denver’s calculator would also be used to “steer negotiations” on the next union contract, according to a memorandum of understanding signed by the district and the union in November. Those negotiations are already underway, though the two sides have not yet debated this issue. The union has tried unsuccessfully for years to bargain caseload caps into the contract.

“We’ve got to fix this problem,” said Rob Gould, a former special education teacher and current president of the Denver teachers union. “It’s been going on for years.”

Working smarter

The solution may be a combination of hiring more staff and more effectively using the staff the district already has, committee members said. For example, school psychologists have specialized skills that no other staff has, and they’re legally required to provide services to students with disabilities who have individualized learning plans. Yet psychologists sometimes find themselves assigned to supervise students in the cafeteria during lunch.

“The goals I have for a tool like [the calculator] is we can say, ‘Hey, clearly we don’t have enough people doing the work to make it sustainable, and look at all the ways we’re wasting our resources,’” said Michelle Horwitz, a bilingual speech language pathologist who serves on the Denver union’s board of directors and has long advocated for a workload study.

Duplicative or unnecessary paperwork is another waste of resources, specialized service providers said. One example is what occupational therapist Mary Lintz calls “the dots.” In addition to documenting the services she provides weekly to her students so the district can be reimbursed by Medicaid, and writing progress reports for parents every eight weeks, Lintz must put dots on a graph every six weeks to chart her students’ gains.

The dots are part of Lintz’s annual performance evaluation. Her supervisor uses them to gauge whether she’s effective at her job. But with 55 students on her caseload and an estimated two minutes per dot, that’s about two hours’ worth of redundant work six times a year. Though Lintz could get dinged for not entering the data, she said she often doesn’t have time.

“How I manage this is I kind of don’t,” said Lintz, who spends much of her workday meeting with students for half an hour each to practice skills such as pencil grip and handwriting.

Though Denver voters in 2020 approved spending an additional $7 million in tax revenue on mental health and nursing services in schools, specialized service providers said the infusion hasn’t been enough to lighten their workloads to a sustainable level. School psychologist Kelly Holmes said the heavy workload nearly drove her out of education altogether.

“Almost immediately I found the job to be utterly unsustainable,” said Holmes, who joined the district four years ago. “Instead of finding a position where I could find some semblance of work-life balance, I was met with a system asking me to be everything to everyone.

“I quickly found I was treading water while attempting to do everything and nothing very well.”

Once, when she was nine months pregnant, Holmes said she spent spring break writing five special education evaluations because she worried they wouldn’t get done while she was on leave.

Like many specialized service providers, Holmes could make a good living in the private sector. But she said she decided to stay in education because Denver Public Schools started a pilot program in which she can focus on just one part of the job: providing therapy for general education students who are struggling with trauma or depression.

Holmes and others hope the workload calculator is one step toward making sure more specialized service providers stay in schools — and that the district employs enough specialists to give its 90,000 students the help they need.

“It’s not just about what our educators are being asked to do,” said Gould, the union president. “We hope it shines a light on the inequities of what our students are receiving.”

Melanie Asmar is a senior reporter for Chalkbeat Colorado, covering Denver Public Schools. Contact Melanie at masmar@chalkbeat.org.

Event: Philadelphia’s gun violence epidemic and mental health

2022-04-06T19:19:48+00:00

Philadelphia is experiencing historic levels of gun violence — and the city’s students are among those directly impacted by this community trauma. This reality is taking a toll on schools, which are already reeling from the disruption of the pandemic and now struggling to meet the mental health needs of students who have been shot, involved in a shooting, or fear for their own safety.

A Chalkbeat series chronicling Philadelphia’s schools most affected by gun violence revealed desperation from school leaders for more group counseling sessions and support staff to assist student needs, echoing nationwide concerns about student mental health.

As Philadelphia officials outline steps to stem violence in and around schools, we want to hear directly from students, educators, and school leaders on how schools can better support students experiencing community trauma. How can schools best spend precious resources? What do students feel has made a difference in their own lives? What resources can help equip educators?

Join Chalkbeat Philadelphia and Resolve Philly for a panel discussion with students and teachers. Please RSVP for this event so we’re able to provide the webinar information and can hear your ideas for questions. This event is free to attend, but any optional donations will go to support Chalkbeat’s nonprofit journalism and events like these.

Special thanks to our sponsor, Penn GSE Office of School & Community Engagement.

This event is the third in a four-part national Chalkbeat series titled COVID and Mental Health, which seeks to amplify efforts to better support the wellness of students and school staff during this challenging comeback year. This event is also part of The Toll: The Roots and Costs of Gun Violence in Philadelphia, a solutions-focused series from the collaborative reporting project Broke in Philly.

To teach is to martyr. The past two years have made that uncomfortably obvious.

2022-04-06T10:00:00+00:00

Liz is about to cry.

Our eyes meet above the fray of passing middle school students pushing their way toward their next class. Under the unforgiving glare of the fluorescent lights, I see the tell-tale signs of a teacher in distress: Her fists clenching, her shoulders hanging heavy, her eyes, equal parts vacant and panicked.

Katie Kraushaar

I recognize these signs because, last week, I was the one crying in the hallway of the middle school where we both work. And if you asked either of us what had happened, where would we even begin?

The pandemic has sapped so much from teachers. Masks and distancing protocols left us unable to be our authentic selves for our students. Remote learning reduced our creativity to a sad trail of Canvas assignments that we tried to liven up with colorful fonts and GIFs. Endless hot takes from politicians and parents trampled our dignity.

But one thing that all of the soundbites and school board commentaries miss is this: Schools are relying on the mental well-being of teachers, and there’s not enough to go around. These days, we have to take turns crying in the hallway.

Twelve years ago, though, if you had asked me what part of having my own middle school classroom excited me the most, I would have clapped my hands with the enthusiasm only afforded to a first-year teacher and declared, “Everything!” Back then, everything enchanted me: crafting exciting lesson plans, making locker signs, and decorating my first bulletin board. I lined up my colorful teacher pens next to my cheery teacher planner. I unfolded the pristine blanket of my mental well-being, intact and ready to tackle whatever this noble career would throw my way.

There was no way to have known that “everything” would become a constantly moving target. The pressure to join unpaid committees. The not-so-subtle messaging that it’s our responsibility to get 100% of parents in the door for conferences. The drive to update my classroom library, my lesson plans, and my teaching style in real-time to meet the needs of my students.

When the pandemic hit, things felt even more harried, haphazard, and traumatic. It reminded me of a Shel Silverstein poem that begins like this:

I asked for a hot dog

With everything on it,

And that was my big mistake,

‘Cause it came with a parrot,

A bee in a bonnet,

A wristwatch, a wrench, and a rake.

Even before COVID, teachers faced unrealistic expectations of being everything to everyone. Back then, I’d cry maybe once a year in the parking lot from the weight of it all.

But when we returned to in-person learning, I found myself crumbling regularly, unable to regulate my emotions as more things were added to my already heaving stack. I hoped that, when the fabric of my well-being finally, inevitably gave way, someone else would step in with support. And indeed, my colleagues have come through.

To teach is to martyr, a truth that the past two years have made uncomfortably obvious to me. I cover classes when no substitutes can be found. I write lesson plans for a colleague across the hall who is out unexpectedly when her kid tests positive. I answer emails late into the night from frantic students who don’t understand the assignments after missing weeks of school. I don’t even think about it anymore. I do it because that’s what teachers do: We care, even at our own expense.

When we returned to in-person learning, I found myself crumbling regularly, unable to regulate my emotions as more things were added to my heaving stack.

Pre-pandemic, I thought that I sacrificed solely for my students. “It’s for the kids,” I’d mutter to myself as I finished writing yet another crowdfunding request for books for my classroom. But the past two years have made something abundantly clear to me: I don’t just hold it together for the kids. I hold it together for other teachers. Because there is no love like that of a teacher for a fellow teacher who is crying in the hallway.

Back in the now-empty hallway, I stand next to Liz as she takes deep breaths, gulping in air to slow her snowballing emotions. She begins to speak about all of it: the sadness, the stress, the feelings of inadequacy. I listen. I hold space for her. I give her the comfort she has given me many times before. As she talks, I examine the tattered fabric of the remaining shred of sturdiness that I hold in my hands. At that moment, I know what I have to do. I take what little stability I have left (that all of us collectively have left) and turn it into a blanket to drape around Liz’s shoulders.

The passing period is over. The bell rings. Liz wipes her eyes and gives me a half-smile that says thank you without saying it. She walks into her classroom. As I close my own door, I can already hear her cracking jokes with her students. All is well for now. I wonder, for the thousandth time, how much longer the fabric will hold.

Katie Kraushaar is a middle school English teacher in St. Louis. She would be absolutely useless without the love and support of her fellow teachers.

One way to address student mental health? Bring the clinic to school.

2022-04-04T15:12:18+00:00

Many Michigan school administrators say they’ve often served as stand-in public health officials during the pandemic. So it’s no surprise that districts across the state are eager to get some backup from a program that opens clinics in school buildings.

School-based health centers make it convenient for students to leave class and walk down the hall for therapy, a medical checkup, or a dental appointment. While the first centers in Michigan opened decades ago, policymakers have renewed interest in them in the wake of COVID and the ongoing student mental health crisis.

As advocates push for a major funding increase, the outcome of this year’s budget negotiations could shape Michigan’s system for supporting student mental health for years to come — even after federal COVID funds run out. It would mean new health centers in roughly 100 districts that have expressed an interest in opening one but weren’t awarded funds.

Rates of depression and suicide among Michigan youth were already rising when the pandemic hit. State and federal officials are now warning of an emergency in youth mental health. Yet one-third of Michigan students with a mental illness don’t receive treatment, particularly in rural areas.

Many school districts are trying to address that problem by putting more counselors, nurses, and social workers in schools with their share of federal COVID funds, according to a Chalkbeat analysis of spending plans. Adding new school-based health centers would make those efforts more effective, experts say, because the centers are better equipped to assist with the most complex cases, freeing up school staff to handle other needs.

Gov. Gretchen Whitmer wants the state to invest an additional $11 million to open new health centers in schools this year. A bipartisan group of lawmakers studying the Oxford shooting agree that more funding is needed, though they haven’t yet said how much. Advocates are pushing for even more: an additional $25 million this year, which would nearly double the state’s current investment in the centers.

Here’s what you need to know about school-based mental health centers.

What is a school-based health center?

The centers are formed under an agreement between local health care providers, such as a hospital system, a school district, and the state. All three parties share the costs.

Unlike a typical school nurse’s office, the centers are recognized by the government as health care providers, which means they can more easily provide referrals for care, and they can bill for services if students have insurance.

The school provides office space — often rent free — while the healthcare system provides medical workers such as licensed therapists and nurse practitioners. In some cases, a school nurse will share the space with health system employees.

If students have health insurance, the center can bill their insurer. If not, grants from the state help cover the cost of care, or the center can bill Medicaid. Students never have to pay out of pocket.

“The centers eliminate barriers of transportation and cost,” said Kim Baron, director of health services for Grand Rapids Public Schools. She also noted that students who get medical care in their school building don’t miss as much school as they would if they left during the day for a doctor’s appointment.

Why are school-based health centers getting so much attention now?

The first school-based health centers in Michigan opened in the 1980s, and their funding increased slowly but steadily for decades.

There are 124 centers across Michigan, with one in nearly half of the state’s 83 counties, according to the School-Community Health Alliance of Michigan, a nonprofit advocacy group.

The pandemic spotlighted the strengths of school-based health centers, said Deb Brinson, executive director of the School Community Health Alliance, which is pushing for a major new funding expansion to serve more students.

The centers stayed open even when many schools closed their doors, Brinson said. They offered medical expertise and infrastructure at a time when many school administrators were struggling to coordinate their community’s public health response. In many cases, the centers offered COVID testing and vaccinations.

As administrators across the state saw what the centers could do, “We started getting calls: How do we get a school based health center?” Brinson recalled.

Funding shot up last year, with an additional $5 million for mental health services. Now Whitmer is proposing an even larger increase.

Whitmer and legislative leaders will consider funding for the centers as part of this year’s budget negotiations, which will take place over the next few months.

Do the centers make a difference?

Students who used school-based mental health centers reported less risky behavior, better emotional coping strategies, and reduced physical stress, according to a 2018 study.

Various national studies have come to similar conclusions. A study of 168 schools in Oregon found that students at schools with health centers were less likely to report depression and suicide attempts.

Administrators in districts with centers say they are effective.

“There are hundreds of kids walking down the hall and getting the care that they need from a medical, dental, and behavioral health aspect,” said Tom Livezey, superintendent of Oak Ridge Public Schools near Muskegon.

“I can’t imagine having to go through the pandemic without this service.”

Before the pandemic, the Oakridge school health center typically served more than 700 unique students per year, including more than 1,000 mental health appointments. The district enrolls roughly 1,900 students.

How do the centers support mental health?

School-based health centers in Michigan are required to have a mental health staff person on site in addition to a medical professional such as a nurse.

Students can attend therapy or seek help if they are having an emotional crisis.

“From a mental health standpoint, we’re seeing kids act out in classrooms, and the anger and anxiety can turn into physical altercations in the schools,” Livezey said.

Given the lack of mental health providers for young people in the surrounding community, Livezey says school-based mental health centers are “the only way our kids are going to get adequate care.”

Koby Levin is a reporter for Chalkbeat Detroit covering K-12 schools and early childhood education. Contact Koby at klevin@chalkbeat.org.

Tennessee students: CRT laws promote bias in school, hurt mental health

2022-04-01T18:35:16+00:00

State legislation limiting how teachers can discuss topics like institutional racism and white privilege has thrown a damper on critical conversations in classrooms across Tennessee, students and educators say. They shared that feedback as part of Thursday’s panel hosted by Chalkbeat Tennessee and the Education Trust of Tennessee on how laws targeting critical race theory and controversial books are affecting Tennessee students and teachers.

The impacts of the law aren’t purely academic. Students from Memphis, Nashville, and Knoxville said they’re disheartened by the law and its fallout, at a time when leading health officials are warning of an accelerating youth mental health crisis brought on by the pandemic.

A Centers for Disease Control and Prevention survey released Thursday revealed more than four in 10 teens report feeling “persistently sad or hopeless,” and one in five say they have contemplated suicide, evidence of spiking mental health concerns among teens over the last decade.

Angelie Quimbo, a senior at Hillwood High School in Nashville, said she and other students of color are saddened by the law.

“The nature of the bill was to remove this sort of restriction and bias from the school system,” she said, “but instead I feel like it’s actually adding more restriction and bias, and kind of limiting the access of how students get information that they need that’s actually impacting them.”

Quimbo was among a panel of students, educators, and experts at Thursday’s virtual panel.

Like Quimbo, Ivy Enyenihi, a junior at Farragut High School in Knoxville, called the law disheartening, adding that after she visited the state capitol during a “day on the hill” event, it was hurtful to return to her community and know that “nobody’s paying attention to what’s going on there, there’s no conversation about it, people aren’t even aware.”

And Jamal Wright, a senior at Bluff City High School in Memphis, says his education doesn’t reflect the reality of what he sees on the news.

Teachers, too, are facing heightened stress, the group told panel moderator and Chalkbeat Tennessee bureau chief Cathryn Stout. Tennessee is among eight states that have passed widely varying laws restricting how schools teach about racism and sexism over the last year, amid national fury from conservatives opposing critical race theory, an academic framework that studies how policies and laws perpetuate systemic racism.

The Volunteer State’s law, enacted last spring, restricts teachers from discussing 14 concepts the legislature deemed divisive, including that the United States is fundamentally or irredeemably sexist or racist and that a person is inherently privileged, racist, sexist, or oppressive because of race or gender.

In November, Education Commissioner Penny Schwinn signed off on emergency rules for regulating the law. Districts found to be violating the law could face financial penalties, and the State Board of Education could suspend or revoke teachers’ licenses if their district fires them for a violation.

Reading list: CRT and book bans in Tennessee schools

Check out Chalkbeat’s reading list for event attendees and anyone who wants to better understand how these issues are playing out in Tennessee schools and beyond.

Resources from Education Trust

The Tennessee Coalition for Truth in Our Classrooms is a group of students, education advocates and community organization leaders who believe in promoting the teaching of truthful history in our schools, and honoring and valuing the diversity of our students, staff and institutions. Read the Education Trust in Tennessee’s collection of resources.

Attend the next Chalkbeat event on mental health and students

The next event in Chalkbeat’s four-part COVID and mental health series will be hosted by Chalkbeat Philadelphia and Resolve Philly on April 20. To find more information and register for the event, click here.

Many teachers in states with new laws targeting how race and gender are taught say they haven’t changed their approach and there is little evidence that it’s led to sweeping curriculum changes. Still, they say the ambiguity of the laws, plus greater scrutiny from parents and administrators, are chipping away at discussions of racism and inequality.

How that looks varies from school to school, classroom to classroom, and educator to educator, said Diarese George, founder and executive director of the Tennessee Educators of Color Alliance, a nonprofit, nonpartisan organization aimed at amplifying the voices and perspectives of teachers of color.

In areas where people are engaged with the topic, George said he’s heard some teachers are “finding ways to be resistant.” Others, he said, “are not touching this at all” and cut conversations short because they’re fearful of losing their job, or worse, losing their license.

“Folks are literally picking and choosing their battles,” George said.

Ann Varnedoe, who teaches ELL and world history at Hillwood High School in Nashville, hasn’t changed her approach. Varnedoe said she’s lucky that her school’s administrators have remained supportive of her teaching decisions and students’ identities.

Still, Varnedoe said the law has hurt some students. Although Hillwood administrators never took down Black Lives Matter posters after the law passed, Varnedoe recalled a day when a Black student came to her, clearly distraught, and said “Miss V, we can’t talk about Black Lives Matter anymore.”

“He was so disappointed, he was so engaged, it’s relevant to his life, it’s something he’ll take with him as he moves on from school,” Varnedoe said. “Robbing them of an opportunity to talk about their identity, to talk about the world around them, is such an injustice to me.”

That’s why, Varnedoe said, “I’ve stuck to what I know, which is to teach history in a way that is true and to stand with our students and their identities and to say to them: You’re safe here. You’re safe to explore these things that are difficult and these things that affect you and your families.”

Karen Streeter, a licensed educational psychologist in Memphis, said she was struck by the overwhelmingly negative emotions expressed by both students and teachers. While jotting down all the emotional words used by panelists, she noticed “none of them were positive.”

“I heard frustrated, isolated, uncomfortable, disheartened, hurt, sad, confused, awkward, anxious, ill-equipped, disappointed, stressed, and confused,” Streeter said. “That’s a lot of negative energy, a lot of negative emotions on both the sides of the students and the teachers, and that’s a lot to have to deal with when you’re also trying to teach every day and learn every day.”

To combat this, Streeter suggested teachers and administrators monitor for what she called “the desolate Ds” — disruptive behavior, disengagement, dreaminess, depression, and “danger watching,” or heightened anxiety. And teachers notice any of these changes in an adult or student, they should be clear they’re open to communication, listen, and provide resources, Streeter said.

In encouraging teachers to learn as much as they can about the law, George highlighted resources from the Education Trust of Tennessee and the ACLU of Tennessee.

Despite all the challenges, Quimbo and Enyenihi trust their teachers to deliver instruction in a fair and balanced manner, even as they grapple with heightened scrutiny and restriction.

Quimbo, who has noticed some of her teachers in her Advanced Placement classes have been “cognizant and weary” of how they talk about race, said she trusts her teachers to encourage healthy discussion despite their own personal bias or the bias she says is part of any history textbook.

“People have their own opinions. If something slips out with their personal opinions, that’s completely fine as long as we explore the possibilities of other opinions as well,” Quimbo said. “Just having a full spectrum of open discussion is something I really value in the classroom, which is why I really value the consideration of my teachers and their delivery of lessons.”

Samantha West is a reporter for Chalkbeat Tennessee, where she covers K-12 education in Memphis. Connect with Samantha at swest@chalkbeat.org.

How a Grammy-nominated Chicago teacher is using music to help students heal

2022-04-01T11:00:00+00:00

When schools shut down because of the pandemic in the spring of 2020, Chicago music teacher Trevor Nicholas found himself at his piano composing songs for his students to connect with them at an uncertain time and help them navigate their pain. That work ultimately earned Nicholas a Grammy nomination.

He envisioned a project that could be a conduit for healing, not just for the Senn High School community but also for people around the world who were isolated trying to process the unfolding trauma. Through a computer screen, the music teacher of 13 years shared with his students his composition and some lyrics for “Who Will Carry Me?” an original song that would ultimately be made into a music video featuring his students.

“I found so much healing and peace at the piano, expressing myself through music,” Nicholas said. “As a music teacher, it’s something I try to bring to my students, the healing power of music.”

By the fall of 2020, Nicholas — in collaboration with his students — brought that vision to life. Next week, Nicholas plans to release a follow-up music video named “The Cave.”

Music as a vehicle for healing has been a part of Nicholas’ life since a young age. After being diagnosed with juvenile rheumatoid arthritis, he used a wheelchair while in the fifth grade. He spent hours at the piano during that time, and music became his companion. Now, as a teacher, he hopes to inspire his students to see music as a change agent to mend after two tumultuous years.

Over the past six years, his student ensembles have premiered works at the Lyric Opera of Chicago, the Chicago Symphony Orchestra, the Harris Theater, and Wrigley Field. He has partnered with arts organizations to bring more than $300,000 in grants, donations, and free music lessons to his Chicago Public Schools students.

Music educator Nicholas and 10 of his students stand on a small stage inside Senn High School.

Nicholas was among 10 teachers nominated for Educator of Year at the 2022 Grammy ceremony. (Stephen Cox, a teacher from Texas, won the Grammy, the awards ceremony announced on Thursday.)

Nicholas spoke recently with Chalkbeat about encouraging his students to create, giving them opportunities like those he had as a young musician, and reminding them that they are enough.

This interview has been edited for length and clarity.

Was there a moment when you decided to become a teacher?

I was supposed to major in physics, but one month before I went off to college, I realized that I had spent my later years of high school entering people’s lives with my own piano improvisations. The music — created out of my pain and trauma — built connection and allowed healing to happen. I thought: Wouldn’t it be neat to become a teacher and teach students to heal those around them by also connecting with sound?

After graduating college, I went to Los Angeles and met a bunch of amazing people that were passionate about composing and film scoring. I met J.A.C. Redford, a composer, arranger, and orchestrator. He looked at my music and compositions. I shared my story, my connection with music, my ideas on wanting to use music as an agent of change. He laid out the challenges of the industry and said, “You could probably do a lot more good if you went back and became a choral director and continue to write, continue to compose.”

I came back and jumped right in. Here I am, 13 years in, teaching music and choir in Chicago.

What are you doing to meet your students’ needs following two disrupted school years and the trauma COVID brought with it?

We know that trauma plus isolation equals traumatization. We combat long-term traumatization by giving students insulating factors.

For the “Who Will Carry Me?” one student wrote the last verse. We sat and arranged it live. Students recorded their contributions individually, and then we brought it together. This experience gave us a community and an opportunity to create art together while we were separate. It also allowed for us to turn that healing we were going through outward so that that light can shine and uplift others.

Even for those who weren’t able to send a video, they would get excited because we did it as a community. It anchored the whole community. So, we decided to follow that music project with another called the Cave, which aims to address the racial and mental health trauma that students were experiencing. We spent months working with a guest artist Sharon Irving, an America’s Got Talent contestant from the South Side of Chicago. Irving’s grandfather marched alongside Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. in Selma. We were anchored in history.

We are also launching a new initiative, electro acoustic pathway, where students can learn how to use a variety of recording equipment used by audio producers and engineers to formally study and develop as artists and healing agents. It also provides an opportunity to understand the different types of jobs beyond the stage available in the music industry.

Can you explain how you bring your own music background into your classroom and how you help students process whatever they might be going through?

During the beginning of the pandemic, I was finishing my master’s degree, and my final project was to write music for my students that they would enjoy and respond to specific traumatic events in our learning community. When we went into quarantine, I’d already released a few of those pieces with my students, and we were able to continue that thread that started there.

The process resulted in the creation of “Who Will Carry Me?”

I also do a film music unit with my students where we talk about how you can rewrite a movie scene using music. We then wipe the audio from a movie scene to change and shift things through music.

We make our art in the large ensembles, but I also encourage them to make their own art. Sometimes it’s weird to have somebody touch your art or move it around; it’s like somebody comes in and paints on your canvas, and that just doesn’t always feel right. A lot of the way we structured our music program is to have some time to work on your own artistry. I share my story and the difficult time during my youth struggling with depression. Hopefully, my ability to give grace and have patience help motivate my students on a daily basis.

What’s something happening in the community that affects what goes on inside your class?

The sum total of all the things that happened in the last two years has created a community mental health crisis. And how — even with something you love, like music — do you stay motivated each day?

As a student, how do you come in and deeply analyze lyrics or a piece? Or find metaphors and the alliterations as you’re writing your own lyrics? How do you take time to do that and focus when you’re in such a hurt place and you’re trying to heal? I don’t have that answer yet, but that’s my number one.

How can I motivate my students? Not so that they can produce something, but so that they can genuinely enter the process of music each day. Even if they’re going slowly, they’re still going somewhere. But what we’re seeing is, students just shut down so easily. And they’re not rude about it. But they’re having trouble having that internal motivation. There’s some healing to be had.

Can you tell me about your own experience with school and how it affects your work today?

My experience in school was filled with a lot of loss. We had a lot of really, really tragic things happen in our small town in Northern Minnesota. My group and individual experiences performing music buoyed me through those really difficult times. Our music teachers worked really hard to give us big opportunities and take us to big cities to perform. Those bus rides making music with bandmates were some of the best memories. We started talking about something and somebody busts out an instrument that’s not too loud. And during [sports] games, we would improvise playing some jazz and the blues. We had so much fun.

As a teacher, I give my students space to work individually, to jam out, and have some fun. I also make sure that large ensembles have performing experiences where when they walk off the stage they can say: “Wow, we did a really great job with that.” We have received invitations to premiere a youth opera at the Chicago Lyric Opera, Millenium Park, Chicago Harris Theater, and perform for the Cubs. I know those big experiences anchored me as a youth, and I know how valuable it’s going to be to my kids.

What’s the best advice you’ve received, and how do you put it into practice?

One of my dear mentors and friends, Dr. Angela Kasper, said to me and my grad school classmates just before our last performance: “Who you are, right now, is enough.”

At the moment, many of us are re-shifting or changing our lives as we’re trying to move into that fully post-pandemic time. We’re wondering about our work, about the choices that we’ve made. Our students are wondering: Do I belong here? Do I deserve to be in this music program or this International Baccalaureate program?

Since this advice was handed to me a few years ago, I’ve been very intentional about handing that to my students and reminding them that even if they struggle with an assignment: You are enough just as you are.

You have a busy job, and this is a stressful time. How do you take care of yourself when you’re not at work?

I love being on my bike, and I love swimming. I think I got up to about 130 miles a couple of weeks ago in one week of cycling. A few times a week, I swim with this amazing team called the Chicago Swedish Fish. But more than that, I shut off my phone. I find my boys and my wife, and play, and just spend time together without any devices.

Mauricio Peña is a reporter for Chalkbeat Chicago, covering K-12 schools. Contact Mauricio at mpena@chalkbeat.org.

Reading list: CRT and book bans in Tennessee schools

2022-03-31T20:10:11+00:00

Across the country, new laws targeting critical race theory and debated books are influencing the small but pivotal decisions educators make every day: how to answer a student’s question, what texts to read as a class, and how to prepare for a lesson.

Eight states, including Tennessee, now have widely varying laws restricting how schools teach about racism and sexism. And recently, several state legislatures have passed or proposed curriculum opt-out laws and measures that would make it easier to ban books.

This comes during schools’ efforts to provide social and emotional support for all students. A renewed urgency to help students navigate their mental health has been amplified by absenteeism, behavioral issues, and quieter signs of distress as many students grapple with the lingering pandemic and social unrest.

Chalkbeat Tennessee wants to hear directly from students and educators about how these contentious conversations have affected school culture and classroom dialogue. How do students and teachers of color show up as their full selves at school? What are the actual implications of the bill in Tennessee classrooms? How can schools discuss race and other difficult issues in a way that’s safe, empathetic, and empowering?

During a March 31 discussion hosted by Chalkbeat Tennessee and Education Trust, students, experts, and educators will talk about their ideas on how CRT debates and proposed book bans are impacting them and their peers.

Read on for Chalkbeat’s reading list for event attendees and anyone who wants to better understand how these issues are playing out in Tennessee schools and beyond.

We hope you find these compiled stories helpful. Do you have any remaining questions? Or story ideas for us? Reach out at tn.tips@chalkbeat.org.

Bill to bolster school library book bans advances in Tennessee legislature

Tennessee lawmakers gather in the Tennessee State Senate chamber.

Days after Gov. Bill Lee signed a law requiring school libraries to screen their materials for “age appropriateness,” Tennessee lawmakers advanced a harsher bill that could slap school librarians with criminal penalties over books some might label obscene.

The bill under consideration also would require districts or charter schools to pull books from library shelves if a parent or guardian complains the content is obscene or harmful to minors. A local school board or charter school governing body would have 30 days to decide whether to permanently remove the material based on local community standards. And the state could withhold funds from schools that don’t comply.

With book challenges and bans on the rise in Tennessee and across the nation, supporters say the legislation is necessary to create processes for addressing complaints from parents. But critics worry school leaders will feel pressure to pull titles from shelves to avoid controversy. They’re also concerned how local officials would define obscenity.

CRT Map: Efforts to restrict teaching racism and bias have multiplied across the U.S.

Chalkbeat is tracking efforts to restrict — and expand — education on racism, bias, the contributions of specific racial or ethnic groups to U.S. history, or related topics. This is a screenshot of one of the maps on Feb. 1, 2022. If we have no information available on a state, its icon is gray.

Officials nationwide have raced to enact new laws and introduce new policies meant to shape how students discuss the nation’s past — and its present. Many of these efforts have attempted to ban critical race theory, an academic framework that examines how policies and the law perpetuate systemic racism.

In some states, lawmakers have tried to restrict antiracism training or the teaching of what they call “divisive concepts.” But on the opposite end, other states are adding ethnic studies courses or incorporating more about people of color into their learning standards.

Chalkbeat’s map depicts the depth and breadth of these ongoing efforts to both restrict and expand how a core aspect of American life is taught in our classrooms. So far, at least 36 states have adopted or introduced laws or policies that restrict teaching about race and racism. With 2022 state legislative sessions underway, new legislation is in the pipeline.

Not getting into it: How critical race theory laws are cutting short classroom conversations

Students head to class at a Memphis middle school.

Across the country, new laws targeting critical race theory are influencing the small but pivotal decisions educators make every day: how to answer a student’s question, what articles to read as a class, how to prepare for a lesson.

Plenty of teachers say they haven’t changed their approach, and there is little evidence that these laws have led to wholesale curriculum overhauls. But in several states with new legislation, teachers say the ambiguity of the laws, plus new scrutiny from parents and administrators, together are chipping away at discussions of racism and inequality.

As states place new limits on class discussions of race, research suggests such talks benefit students

A page from the book “The Story of Ruby Bridges”.

A handful of recent studies have found that students are more engaged in school after taking classes that frankly discuss racism and bigotry — just as some educators fear such discussions could be threatened by a wave of broad state laws governing classroom conversations.

The laws purport to limit discussion of critical race theory, a concept taught at the university level, but take aim at any curriculum that covers racism, diversity, and inclusion.

Each of these studies on discussions of race focuses on a relatively small program. Still, the findings are increasingly relevant because there appears to have been a meaningful uptick in efforts to acknowledge race and racism in schools.

Tennessee nails down rules for disciplining teachers, withholding money from schools that teach banned concepts about racism

Education Commissioner Penny Schwinn talks with a student at Dodson Branch Elementary School in Cookeville, Tenn., on May 12, 2021.

Tennessee has bolstered the financial penalties against large school districts that violate the state’s new law regulating discussions on race and gender in the classroom.

The state also lengthened the amount of time allowed for filing a complaint against a teacher who has allegedly crossed the line, while it stuck with plans to accept complaints only from students, parents, or staff in the impacted district or charter school.

Education Commissioner Penny Schwinn signed off in November 2021 on emergency rules regulating the teaching of prohibited topics. The state enacted the law this spring amid national fury from conservatives about critical race theory.

N.J. immigrant students face barriers to mental health aid. What needs to change?

2022-03-24T20:10:09+00:00

Immigrant students in New Jersey need more support in schools to address their unique mental health needs, a new report from immigrant youth advocates states.

A child’s experience migrating to a new country can be traumatic, isolating, and distressing — on top of that, the pandemic has caused significant loss and grief for immigrant and refugee communities.

The New Jersey Consortium for Immigrant Children, a coalition of legal advocates for immigrant youth, released a report last week detailing these and other findings, and focused on highlighting children’s personal experiences during the pandemic that affected their mental health.

Many schools don’t have enough bilingual mental health staff to work with English learners and their families, counselors tend to lack an understanding of an immigrant student’s experiences, and there aren’t enough programs to help immigrant students who recently arrived adjust to their new life, the report outlines.

“The unique and complex experiences of immigrant youth, as well as their limited access to mental health care, mean schools must offer culturally mindful mental health services that are more accessible to students than outside resources,” the report states.

Among the recommendations the report makes are to hire bilingual mental health professionals; create student-led, teacher-facilitated community groups to help new immigrant students adjust; and require training for all staff to learn how to be sensitive to the needs of immigrant students.

Created in part by youth leaders from the organization’s mental health advocates program, the report draws on interviews with immigrant students across the state, their caregivers, mental health professionals, and school staff. These interviews took place last summer in Elizabeth, Passaic, and Perth Amboy.

“I don’t think most people realize that student issues and immigrant issues are intertwined,” said Lady Jimenez Torres, policy director at the consortium. “If you have a student population whose needs when it comes to mental health aren’t being met in school, then you’re going to have issues with their entire schooling experience.”

Last year, the coalition released a report that highlighted how students learning English in New Jersey were often “ignored” during virtual learning, with schools routinely failing to provide information in home languages and bilingual aides to assist with virtual assignments.

In Newark, immigrants make up about a third of the population, with the majority coming from Latin American countries. Statewide, there are about 115,400 immigrant children, a significant number of students who face these difficult experiences.

Immigrant and refugee communities have a high prevalence of post traumatic stress disorder, and often face barriers related to language, technology, and access to basic health resources. They, along with communities of color, were disproportionately affected by the pandemic.

One parent, quoted anonymously from an interview last summer in the new report, said her family had recently arrived in New Jersey when the pandemic forced schools to switch to remote learning in March 2020.

“My son is alone. We don’t have a lot of family, only a nephew, but he is older,” the parent said. “He spent a lot of time locked up taking online classes and it affected him a lot.”

In New Jersey and nationwide, there was also an existing shortage of bilingual mental health professionals before the pandemic. Immigrant students in New Jersey interviewed in the report said that even in cities with large immigrant populations, there aren’t enough counselors who speak their home language.

Danna Chacon, a formerly undocumented student at Elizabeth High School, said that some of her peers who migrated from Latin American countries have shared with her their close encounters with violence and abuse that have driven their families to leave their home countries.

Despite being in Elizabeth, one of the state’s largest districts with an overwhelming majority of Hispanic students, there was only one counselor at her school who spoke Spanish, she said.

“Coming to the U.S. was a very hard transition, in the sense that I really didn’t have any support in the school,” Chacon said. “I didn’t have a counselor who guided me through what was happening. At the time there was just one counselor speaking Spanish, but I would rarely see her. She wouldn’t be available.”

Students also said there aren’t enough counselors — or any, in some cases — who understand the issues undocumented students face. This problem can deter them from seeking help again.

“I have friends that are undocumented. Even when they do get counseling, they don’t get the help they need,” one student said. “They’re educating the counselor on what it means to be undocumented. (Counselors) can’t help until they understand the issue and the student’s experiences.”

Last year, the American Academy of Pediatrics, along with other national organizations, declared a national emergency in children and adolescent mental health last fall. The organizations have pressed policymakers to increase federal funding to ensure access to mental health services and support school-based mental health care, among other initiatives.

This effort has also taken place in New Jersey, where at a meeting last week mental health advocates, professionals, and experts urged the state Senate education committee to take action.

As the push for mental health resources in schools continues to grow, Jimenez Torres hopes policymakers consider the unique needs of immigrant children in New Jersey.

“When we think about the wellbeing of a child, regardless of their immigration status, they need to have access to healthcare, a good education, and mental health support,” Jimenez Torres said. “If a child doesn’t have access to health care, then a common cold can leave them out of school for days, contributing to learning loss. If a child’s mental health needs go unaddressed, then they’re not going to be able to perform what’s expected of them in the classroom.”

Catherine Carrera is the bureau chief for Chalkbeat Newark, covering the city’s K-12 schools with a focus on English language learners. Contact Catherine at ccarrera@chalkbeat.org.

Event: How the CRT debate and book bans impact Tennessee students

2022-03-24T16:40:01+00:00

Eight states now have widely varying laws restricting how schools can teach about racism and sexism. And recently, several state legislators have passed or proposed curriculum opt-out laws and book bans. Tennessee teachers who cross the line could lose their teaching licenses, and school systems that look the other way risk losing some state funding.

Plenty of teachers say they haven’t changed their approach, and there is little evidence that these laws have led to wholesale curriculum overhauls. But some teachers say the ambiguity of the laws, plus new scrutiny from parents and administrators, are chipping away at discussions of racism and inequality. And some students say the laws have the potential to stifle students and their knowledge of historical race relations.

This comes during schools’ efforts to better social and emotional support for all students. A renewed urgency to better help students navigate their mental health has been amplified by absenteeism, behavioral issues, and quieter signs of distress as many students grapple with the lingering pandemic and social unrest.

We want to hold a space to hear directly from students and educators about how these contentious conversations have affected school culture and classroom dialogue. How do students and teachers of color show up as their full selves at school? What are the actual implications of the bill in Tennessee classrooms? How can schools dialogue about race and other difficult issues in a way that’s safe, empathetic, and empowering?

Join Chalkbeat Tennessee and the Education Trust in Tennessee for a panel discussion with students and educators. Please RSVP for this event so we’re able to provide the webinar information and can hear your ideas for questions. This event is free to attend, but any optional donations will go to support Chalkbeat’s nonprofit journalism and events like these.

This event is the second in a four-part national Chalkbeat series titled COVID and Mental Health, which seeks to amplify efforts to better support the wellness of students and school staff during this challenging comeback year.

Five Illinois educators on reimagining how schools support mental health

2022-03-24T15:19:45+00:00

The pandemic’s traumas and isolation spurred a mental health crisis among children — and an unprecedented reckoning about the role schools can and should play in tending to the mental health needs of students and staff members.

The Illinois legislature recently backed proposals allowing students and educators to take time off for mental health reasons. With federal COVID relief dollars, some schools across the state are trying to bring more help for students in-house – from one-on-one therapy to wellness screenings to new social and emotional learning curricula. But such efforts can be uneven from school to school and district to district, and work remains to better track which approaches are paying off for students.

Chalkbeat spoke with five finalists for the 2022 Golden Apple Award for Excellence in Teaching about what they and their campuses are doing to address the pandemic’s mental health fallout for both students and educators — and how public schools could shift their approach to better serve struggling, vulnerable students.

Their answers have been lightly edited and condensed for publication.

Sharon Ponder-Ballard is a teacher at Englewood STEM High School.

Sharon Ponder-Ballard

Englewood STEM High School, Chicago

On supporting student mental health: At Englewood STEM, we have two full-time social workers, three full-time counselors, and a clinic with a social worker and psychologist. We use the Umoja Seminar and Embarc curriculums to reach every student in the building with social and emotional learning. During the advisory period, teachers engage students in mindfulness and meditation. We also offer group counseling, one-on-one crisis meetings, and other mental health interventions through our school’s behavioral health team.

On supporting teacher mental health: To provide the best care for our students, we also must take care of ourselves as educators. Our job requires so much of our mental and emotional alertness that we need to replenish without taking it home all the time. During prep period, I try to go out jogging at least twice a week on our beautiful track. Often, there are other colleagues there getting those steps in and enjoying the fresh air.

On reimagining learning for the post-pandemic era: During the pandemic, we had students who began working during the day to help support their families. My response was to hold virtual early evening classes for students who could not make it during their regular class periods. Maybe another approach to teaching could be to allow students who are dealing with homelessness, anxiety, and other mental health issues to join classes virtually. Many of these students are having difficulty concentrating and adjusting to in-person instruction.

Nikki Lazzarreto is a teacher at Deerfield High School.

Nikki Lazzaretto

Deerfield High School, Township High School District

On supporting student mental health: When I ask students how we are supporting their mental health, they say that they have a therapy dog and free muffins on Fridays. Some report that they have teachers they can talk to who care, but as far as the school as a whole, they can’t think of anything else. Of course, I would like to see more.

On supporting teacher mental health: I know that our mental health is mentioned a lot, but there doesn’t seem to be anything done with intention. One thing I feel my building does is support “family first.” I really appreciate that. Having even one professional development session that gives teachers choices having to do with mental health would be great: yoga, mindfulness, art therapy, movie time, cards, or board games. That would be amazing in a month like February when we need a break.

On reimagining learning for the post-pandemic era: I’ve added more social and emotional learning to my classroom, where one day a week is dedicated to checking in and creating a strong community. Intentionally building in this type of learning could go a long way. It provides opportunities to teach soft skills and listening with intention and empathy.

Will Ejzak is a teacher at Gwendolyn Brooks College Prep.

Will Ejzak

Gwendolyn Brooks College Prep, Chicago

On supporting student mental health: Flex Seminar days every other Wednesday are a great way to give students a breather in the middle of the week while creating positive relationships between students and teachers and providing opportunities to catch up on missing work. Teachers lead 80-minute seminars on subjects they’re passionate about. I’ve taught seminars on the history of pop music or the dystopian sci-fi show “Black Mirror.” Teachers can “flex” students out of their seminars to provide tutoring or extra time to catch up on work. It’s a really healthy way for kids who are stressed out or falling behind to get the additional support they need.

We’ve also been making a push to implement Executive Functioning classes designed to build students’ academic confidence while teaching organization, time management, and self-advocacy skills. Sometimes, student stress or feelings of helplessness stem from the fact that schools don’t teach “soft” academic skills or give students guidance in establishing healthy academic routines.

On teacher mental health: Our Instructional Assistance Team has been planning out-of-school casual social events for teachers to get together and talk about anything besides work. That’s been a small but valuable gesture.

On reimagining learning for the post-pandemic era: One thing that became even more necessary during the pandemic was providing space in the classroom for student voice. During the pandemic, my classroom became even more discussion-based and student-led than was before. Students learn more when they are doing, and students take ownership of and pride in their learning when they are the ones doing most of the talking and thinking.

Otto Corzo is a teacher at McHenry Community High School.

Otto Corzo

McHenry Community High School

On supporting student mental health: My district is providing mental health seminars during the school day. But few students are aware of these opportunities. There can also be a stigma to seeking help and attending those meetings. I would love to see more done to make student wellness a significant component throughout the day and to normalize the topic of mental health. I would encourage all districts to take time out of the day to have students partake in mindfulness activities and breaks.

On supporting teacher mental health: If schools are not intentionally taking care of teachers’ mental health, a culture that supports student mental health cannot be established. Just recently, my district has offered teachers lunches and coffee. More should be done to care for the teachers. I suggest giving teachers access to nutritionists, yoga instructors, and massages during their free periods.

On reimagining learning for the post-pandemic era: I recommend that the education process return to being transformative and not transactional. We need to provide students with the opportunity to display mastery of the content or skills in the way that best suits them. I think we focus too much on learning content and not enough on learning skills. We as educators need to not be tied to a calendar and a set curriculum.

Laurel Kulig is a teacher at Northtown Academy High School.

Laurel Kulig

Northtown Academy High School, Chicago International Charter School

On supporting student mental health: Our Student Services teams are rockstar collaborators who keep tabs on each student, communicate openly with us about needs, intervene with student crises, and connect students to resources outside of the building. There is so much more to supporting mental health than having a stellar counseling department, though, and a lot of it has to do with student voice and student advocacy. Our school provides students with a robust suite of options and advocacy. For example, we have integrated alternative credit programs for students who work or participate in sports or the theater program. We also weave supportive practices into the central curriculum. In our broadcasting class, for example, students produce editorial commentary that helps them feel heard by the staff and administration.

On supporting teacher mental health: My school is such a cool community of educators. Teams of teachers and administrators have opened up dialogue and community connections through book clubs, staff traditions, and consulting with local community nonprofits. Our administration supports our staff by providing additional planning time and bringing in “fun” days — most recently, a taco truck on professional development day. We have access to an anonymous work-life balance support line, and our principal’s mantra this year has been for us to focus on building relationships and culture.

On reimagining learning for the post-pandemic era: In my biology classes during e-learning, we embraced the practice of taking field notes in nature. Students would go outside and learn to take in the world and to record what they saw and heard by sketching, writing, mapping, and even collecting small samples in their field notebooks. The practice helped my students to connect to the world in an entirely new way. It made room for them to be self-directed and exploratory. Picture a world where we can flip the model on its head, allowing students to have more self-paced, discovery-based, service-oriented learning facilitated by, but not necessarily housed in, their local school. What if our buildings were truly hubs for interconnected mentorship, service, and support rather than monolithic flagship models themselves?

Mila Koumpilova is Chalkbeat Chicago’s senior reporter covering Chicago Public Schools. Contact Mila at mkoumpilova@chalkbeat.org.

Chicago school board ‘discouraged’ by district’s spending on academic, mental health support: ‘This is an emergency’

2022-03-23T22:27:06+00:00

Some Chicago school board members are urging the district to pick up the pace on its federally-funded push to address the pandemic’s academic and mental health fallout, saying the money isn’t being spent fast enough to meet the immediate needs of students.

The district has so far spent only 12%, or $62.9 million, on a two-year, half-billion dollar initiative called Moving Forward Together, which was designed to help students bounce back from COVID disruption. And it has made use of less than 7% of its $1.8 billion allocation under the Biden administration’s American Rescue Plan, the third and final round of federal COVID relief dollars.

District officials said they have run into a slew of hurdles to spending the money faster: The delta and omicron variants diverted energy from academic recovery efforts, and the national “Great Resignation” made it harder to line up the staffing needed to roll out new programs to support students.

CEO Pedro Martinez also noted that the district had to spend dollars from earlier federal relief funding rounds first, and that not all expenses are included in the American Rescue Plan figures because the district hasn’t reported them to the state.

Some school members said they understand the challenges, but still would like to see stepped-up efforts to get help to schools now.

Board president Miguel del Valle said the district needs to expedite its hiring processes for community-based organizations that provide CPS with social, emotional, and mental health support.

“This is an emergency,” del Valle said. “Schools are crying out for additional help.”

Board member Luisiana Melendez acknowledged the persistent challenges, but said “timely interventions” for students were immediately needed to prevent more problems in child’s learning, and social and emotional development.

“I am a little discouraged by the low amount of investment so far,” she said.

The Moving Forward Together plan announced last June uses $525 million — a portion of the $1.8 billion in American Rescue Plan dollars the district received — to address academic and mental health trauma from the pandemic over the span of two years. Chicago Public Schools got a total of roughly $2.8 billion from three rounds of federal COVID relief.

The program investments include:

learning acceleration and access to grade-level content ($35 million)
targeted intervention and tutoring ($15.3 million)
supporting students with disabilities and English language learners ($7.6 million)
early literacy ($1.9 million)
transition-year support ($11.1 million)
social, emotional, and healing supports ($3 million)

Real-time spending data that Chalkbeat obtained and analyzed suggests that the district has so far used a significant portion of its federal COVID relief dollars to cover the salaries and benefits of existing teachers and support staff and other routine expenses for which it had previously budgeted state and other funds. The district told the state it would use about $764 million in federal emergency relief to pay for existing instructional positions alone. It plans to separately cover support staff such as cafeteria workers and security guards as well as pre-kindergarten personnel with COVID dollars.

During a meeting at the beginning of the school year, board members pressed district officials to spell out how they would track whether the initiative was paying off for students. Some members voiced concern about the possibility of making a substantial investment without having results to show for it.

At the time, officials said they were still exploring ways to capture the program’s outcomes, noting some challenges such as quantifying student mental health improvements. But they promised to report back with concrete measures of success.

On Wednesday, district officials didn’t outline a metric for measuring the success of the program. Rather, board members echoed Melendez’s concerns around the pace of spending for such interventions.

The school year had been dubbed as a “recovery year,” but in reality the district has been focused on reopening and keeping schools open amid surges, staffing retention, and other issues, Martinez said.

“We all wanted this to be a recovery year, but it has not played out that way,” Martinez said.

Across the country, school districts are grappling with learning gaps and mental health challenges created by the pandemic that upended the education system. The federal government has issued billions in COVID relief funding to help school districts respond.

In detailing the initiative last summer, Chicago Public School officials said about 84,500 students had been flagged for target support and another 18,130 students would qualify for more intensive outreach. The district’s effort would primarily be focused on the South and West communities hardest hit by the coronavirus pandemic, officials said at the time.

The initiative is broadly focused on re-engaging students who tuned out after the district shifted from in-person to remote learning in March 2020. Chicago Public Schools used portions of the funds to create behavior and mental health teams at school, while also partnering with outside providers for mental health services.

At Wednesday’s meeting, Melendez and other board members asked the district how they planned to speed up the use of these funds to ensure students were receiving necessary interventions now and in the coming years.

“This is not meant to be finger-pointing or blaming anybody,” Melendez said, “but I think this is an issue that is becoming increasingly urgent as time continues to go by and children are suffering from the long-term learning impacts — and social emotional impacts— of COVID.”

The presentation was only “a partial picture,” in part, because of the complexity around how those funds are reported, Martinez said, promising a more in-depth analysis of spending by May. Still, Martinez said the district was “doubling down” on providing support that principals were asking for including social workers, counselors, and nurses by next year.

Board member Melendez acknowledged the complexity of the funding but argued that “schools are hurting, they need support now.”

Mila Koumpilova is Chalkbeat Chicago’s senior reporter covering Chicago Public Schools. Contact Mila at mkoumpilova@chalkbeat.org.

Mauricio Peña is a reporter for Chalkbeat Chicago, covering K-12 schools. Contact Mauricio at mpena@chalkbeat.org.

As schools try to recover, COVID’s toll lingers: ‘We haven’t seen fine, ever’

2022-03-19T10:00:00+00:00

This story is being co-published with The New York Times Sunday Review.

As class ended on a recent Tuesday, Ana Barros, a middle school teacher, signaled for a seventh grader wearing Crocs to hang back. Minutes earlier, he’d stormed into the hallway, slamming the door in her face.

“Walk me through that moment you just had,” she said.

Ana Barros, a seventh-grade social studies teacher, says more students are asking to see the counselor at her Tulsa school this year.

Barros, who teaches social studies at an Oklahoma charter school, listened with patience. The student had struggled to manage his emotions before the pandemic. A year spent at home when classes were fully remote without the neutral ground that school provided had intensified his anger.

“When you’re mad, when you’re feeling that rage,” she said, “you can’t slam the door.”

“Sorry,” the student replied softly, trying to keep his feelings in check.

“It’s OK,” Barros said. “But we’ve gotta find a way to channel those moments when you’ve got rage. We’re on the same team. I’m not against you. I want to help you.”

In some ways, this is typical middle school teaching. But the pandemic has upped the volume and intensity of students’ needs and raised the stakes for schools trying to meet them.

The cascade of new challenges started with the onset of the coronavirus in 2020, which closed school buildings and plunged teachers and families into the unknowns of remote learning. The year that followed was a patchwork of remote and in-person instruction, with school districts around the country varying wildly in their policies.

Many hoped this would be the comeback school year, when schools would focus on recovery. The last schools that had been operating remotely fully reopened. COVID relief dollars poured into districts. The availability of vaccines for teens, and then children over 5, created hope.

But just as the pandemic’s emotional and academic toll on students grew clearer last fall, staff shortages hobbled schools. When the virus seemed like it was under control, the omicron wave of cases brought half-empty classrooms or temporary returns to virtual learning. It’s been a year of survival and triage for teachers, school leaders, students, and their families.

Now a shift is underway. Mask mandates have largely lifted, and more Americans say they are ready to leave the pandemic in the rearview mirror. But teachers like Barros are still grappling daily with issues that COVID has left in its wake, most of which defy easy solutions.

“I really feel scared to say that we’ve turned a corner,” she said. “The things that we were struggling with, even outside of COVID, are just still there.”

Barros found herself scrolling through job listings earlier this winter, but like most teachers, she’s sticking it out. “I’m choosing to stay because I love this,” she said.

In Barros’ classroom at the Tulsa School of Arts and Sciences, many students require intensive support. One boy didn’t attend a single virtual class as a sixth grader or return when the school building reopened last spring. It’s her job to keep him tethered to school.

When another student started clutching a stuffed toy shaped like an avocado, Barros didn’t press her for a reason. And when one of Barros’ top students started having panic attacks in class, she helped come up with a plan to calm her heavy breathing. Her school has noticed an uptick in thoughts of self-harm, negative self-talk, and meltdowns. More students are asking to see the counselor.

Two years into the upheaval, teachers are depleted. On top of the needs in their classrooms, teachers and their unions have faced scrutiny over school shutdowns, vaccine and mask mandates, and COVID safety protocols, leading to labor strife in Chicago and elsewhere.

Some teachers have begun having doubts about their ability to keep going. As three colleagues departed midyear for higher-paying jobs outside the classroom, Barros, who has taught for four years in Tulsa, found herself scrolling job listings earlier this winter. Like most, she’s sticking it out. “For a while, I was in that victim mentality of ‘woe is me,’ but I do have choices,” she said. “And I’m choosing to stay because I love this.”

But America’s schools remain fragile. As teachers catch their breath after the latest wave of COVID cases, many are teetering between cautious optimism and lingering exhaustion.

Across the country, teachers like Neelah Ali are trying to help students who are struggling emotionally and keep them on track academically after two years of stop-and-start learning.

Ali teaches freshman biology at Denver’s South High School, where she is also a teacher coach, an assistant track coach, and a sponsor of the dance team, Jewish Club, and Black Student Alliance. She’s the kind of teacher who knows nearly everyone and will hop up on a table to help students understand a lesson.

Ali much prefers in-person teaching to what she called “the abyss” of virtual learning. Students had the option to return to classrooms part-time last spring and have been learning in-person all of this school year, though COVID cases meant attendance was spotty until recently. There are signs of genuine joy in school: students giggling together in class, cranking pump-up music in the weight room, and eating pizza off trays in the hallways.

But Ali says her students have less academic stamina than she is used to. Before the pandemic, all of her freshmen would most likely have finished their lab, which involved flipping pennies to determine the odds that two parents’ offspring would have dark hair or freckles, in a 50-minute class period. This year, only one pair of students did. More students are asking for breaks during class, too.

“I’m having more conversations with kids about not liking school,” Ali said.

Neelah Ali, a biology teacher at South High School in Denver, has noticed that her students have less academic stamina than they typically did pre-pandemic.

Students also seem more attached to the digital world. Despite posted signs prohibiting cellphone use, nearly all of Ali’s students on a recent day had their phones out at some point. A few used them in ways that were arguably academic, walking up to the white board and snapping a photo of the lesson on chromosomes and meiosis to copy it onto paper. For others, the phones were a distraction.

Ali knows that taking a student’s phone is likely to upset them deeply. That wasn’t as true before the pandemic, she said.

“Now it’s like, if I take the phone, it threatens their identity,” she said. “If I take it, that’s going to damage our relationship so much that I don’t even broach the topic.”

Despite the difficulties, Ali said she was getting through the curriculum, partly because the pandemic meant fewer guest speakers and field trips. But student absences because of COVID or COVID exposure have been another complication. In each of her classes, several students were on their laptops doing makeup work instead of the penny lab.

The absences, a national challenge this year especially during the omicron wave, pose a daily dilemma. When should teachers reteach a lesson that some students missed and when should they move on? The answers matter, as ninth-grade success is seen as a key predictor of whether a student will graduate from high school in four years. Last year, graduation rates dipped nationwide and more ninth graders fell behind on credits in some states.

“A lot of teachers are struggling with: Do we make it up or do we not make it up?” Ali said.

The little boy arrived in Kendra Barclay’s kindergarten classroom on a chilly Detroit morning wearing a white mask so big it was hanging off his face.

“You need a kid’s mask!” she told him, scurrying off to find one.

Mask adjustment is still part of the job for Barclay, who spent much of that morning transitioning from lessons on letter sounds to gentle, and at times stern, reminders about classroom COVID safety.

“Ch says chuh, chuh, chuh,” Barclay said as she surveyed the students sitting on the rug in front of her. “Kamryn, you’ve got to cover your nose.”

Though schools in most of the country have lifted their mask mandates, Detroit district leaders are still weighing a potential change. For now, Barclay continues navigating the physical logistics as well as the emotional toll of teaching in a community that lost thousands to COVID.

“How do you keep 5-year-olds socially distanced?” she said. “They love being near each other. A lot of them need that contact. They need to feel nurtured.”

At Detroit’s Spain Elementary-Middle School, kindergarten teacher Kendra Barclay navigates the physical logistics of social distancing with young children that long for close contact with their classmates.

Barclay finds a way to do both, and her classroom at Spain Elementary-Middle School in the city’s Midtown neighborhood includes plenty of dancing and singing. When she needed her students to see how their tongues should sit between their teeth as they make the “th” sound, she moved to the far side of the room and pulled her two masks down for a few seconds.

Back in September, the stress of wanting to serve the students who needed her while avoiding getting sick herself got the best of Barclay, a South Carolina native who has taught in Detroit since 1999. On the school’s first in-person day, the principal, Frederick Cannon, popped his head in her classroom door before the kids arrived and asked how she was doing. Barclay burst into tears. “It was just the fear,” she says.

Barclay is optimistic about the progress of her kindergartners, though she worries if enough of them will be prepared for first grade.

Months later, as she was beginning to feel more comfortable, a new wave of cases disrupted everyone’s lives again. Schools in the district went remote for weeks as the omicron variant spread and again for winter storms, briefly severing the connection between Barclay and some of her students. A couple of children signed in daily, but never turned their cameras on or responded when she called on them.

Barclay remains optimistic about her students’ progress and was grateful recently to be among a group of teachers who received recognition from the district for their work during the pandemic. She knows her students aren’t all where they should be academically, though. She has found herself reteaching lessons from the fall, like how to write words on the correct lines of their handwriting practice paper.

“I’m still committed to coming in every day, trying to push and pull the greatness in and out of them,” she said. “I just still worry. How many of them are going to be prepared for first grade?”

“I have to realize this is just what it is in the world right now, and I am doing all I can.”

After a winter of emotions that rose and fell with COVID case rates, the nation’s teachers and families are looking to what comes next. Whether their fatigue will stretch on through the spring and even fall. Whether their schools can turn a fragile grip on stability into a firm grasp.

This pandemic may become less acute, but its effects on schools will linger: the children coping with the death of their caregivers, the fissures that remain over how to keep kids healthy and safe, the kindergartners struggling with their ABCs, the seventh graders tamping down anxiety, the high schoolers fretting over their diplomas.

Schools are now spending big on mental health programs, tutoring, and other academic recovery efforts — work that is likely to stretch past the three years they have to use their federal relief funds. “Our hardest and most important work lies ahead,” the U.S. education secretary, Miguel Cardona, said recently.

For Ali in Denver, that work looks like a full school day followed by a three-hour virtual training on a new science curriculum that’s more inclusive and culturally relevant. The changes are important to her, but “burnout feels like it’s a lot closer than it used to be,” she said.

It’s the same for a lot of teachers she talks to, she said. The rising stress “feels like it’s more at our chest than at our feet.”

For Barclay in Detroit, the work means connecting with her students — whether by listening intently to a retelling of the plot of a “Transformers” movie or offering hugs even when they go against social distancing guidelines.

“I figure, you wouldn’t ask for a hug or a high five if you really didn’t need it,” she said.

Barclay helps one of her kindergartners with letter writing. She’s had to reteach some handwriting lessons from the fall as she works to keep her students on track.

And for Barros in Tulsa, the work looks like this: grading assignments on Sundays, spending her planning periods in meetings with families whose children are struggling, and mentoring a new teacher partly to supplement her comparatively low Oklahoma teacher’s salary.

She hopes she’s pushed past the worst of her exhaustion — when she was out sick for seven school days with COVID in January, wracked with guilt, waking up each morning to record a video lesson so her students wouldn’t fall behind.

Now the end of the school year feels within reach. Come fall, she won’t be as in the dark about where her students are, academically and emotionally, as she was this year.

Other challenges aren’t going away. Barros goes without adequate staffing support even in a normal year, helping translate for the school’s Spanish-speaking families as one of the few bilingual staff members. Her school also serves a disproportionately high share of students with disabilities. Without other teachers or aides in the room to help, it’s Barros who slips a pillow under the foot of a student with autism to soften the sound of his tapping foot, and Barros who pulls aside a student with dyslexia to read tricky passages aloud.

After months back together in the school building, she’s seen her students make real progress — reading full chapter books, building friendships with classmates. But they’re still dealing with the ramifications of the COVID years. It will take a wider network of support to truly give her students what they need, Barros says. To her, that includes greater investment in Tulsa’s under-resourced neighborhoods, stronger bonds between schools and families, and more counselors and therapists.

“We haven’t seen fine, ever,” she said. Pre-pandemic, many of the students with disabilities and students of color at her school were “already so underserved.”

“I feel like I’m a piece of the puzzle, and I see myself as a piece of the puzzle,” Barros said. “And sometimes it’s like, damn, some of those pieces are taking a long time to get here.”

Kalyn Belsha is a national reporter based in Chicago. Contact her at kbelsha@chalkbeat.org. Lori Higgins is the bureau chief for Chalkbeat Detroit. Contact her at lhiggins@chalkbeat.org. Melanie Asmar is a senior reporter for Chalkbeat Colorado covering Denver Public Schools. Contact her at masmar@chalkbeat.org.

Michigan students push for filling gaps in school mental health services

2022-03-17T00:33:45+00:00

Brittyn Benjamin-Kelley and Thyaba Mymuna have little faith in the system now in place to support student mental health in Michigan schools — a gap, they say, that must be filled.

What’s needed to address student mental health are more therapists and psychologists, they said during a panel discussion Wednesday co-hosted by Chalkbeat Detroit, Bridge Michigan, and the Detroit Free Press. Watch the full conversation here.

Brittyn, a senior at Cass Technical High School in Detroit, said her school, which enrolls 2,400 students, has only a handful of counselors. “That’s stressful for everyone,” she said. “I feel like we need more people for that in our school and other schools.”

Poor mental health among teens has been a growing issue, according to a report from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. More than one in three high school students had experienced persistent feelings of hopelessness in 2019, a 40% increase since 2009.

Leading pediatric associations such as the American Academy of Pediatrics and Children’s Hospital Association last year declared a national emergency in children’s mental health, citing the pandemic’s ongoing toll.

Districts across the state have $6 billion of COVID relief funding to spend, which some schools are using to address the youth mental health crisis. That level of investment can range from hiring social workers and counselors, creating curriculums focused on student well-being, and purchasing therapy dogs.

Thyaba, a junior at Cousino Senior High School in Warren, said prioritizing the mental health needs of students should be on par with the emphasis placed on physical health and fitness in schools.

“We already have nurses and doctors, at least at our school, to help students physically because they really give importance to athletes. But if you’re giving importance to athletes and students, they should also give importance to their mental health,” Thyaba said.

The discussion follows a January poll that showed Michigan residents overwhelmingly support increased mental health resources.

The event was the first in a four-part Chalkbeat series entitled “COVID and Mental Health,” which seeks to amplify efforts to better support the wellness of students and school staff during this challenging comeback year.

Elizabeth Koschmann, executive director of a University of Michigan program created to make mental health services accessible to students, said the solution to supporting student mental health during the pandemic may not require hiring more professionals. Instead, equipping current school employees with the needed “tools, resources, and professional development” may be what will help address their students’ mental health.

“We have already seen that even with incredible funding opportunities, a lot of positions in schools go unfilled because the positions are incredibly demanding, they’re hard, they’re often under-salaried, they’re emotionally taxing,” she said.

“We have got to reframe our understanding of who these individuals are working in our buildings, and ensure that we’re not setting them up for failure and burnout and exhaustion.”

Increasing student input and feedback in school decision-making, Brittyn said, should be a main priority. Usually, she added, students go to their peers for advice about how to cope with stress, or direct each other to outside resources or professionals they can go to for support.

“I feel like the students and the youth, they raise awareness, they try to come up with their own programs, their own resources,” Brittyn said. “We’re working together because we feel like there’s no one else who can do something for us.”

Amanda Holiday, a Detroit parent and early childhood program director at Congress of Communities, suggested school districts send students home with a list of resources for mental health services available in or outside of school.

The organization found in a recent survey of primarily Latino families in southwest Detroit that many overwhelmingly wanted to talk about mental health support for their children. The priority among parents, Holiday said, was for schools to “meet [student] needs before they become emergency level.”

Thyaba said she believes that acknowledging and listening to students should be the goal of school leaders as they consider how to spend their COVID relief money.

“I don’t think it’s too much to expect people in power to support us, especially when it comes to mental health,” she said. “There’s so many people struggling with mental health and I see every day on the news and all over social media people killing themselves, and it all just hurts me so much because I’m just like, they could have been helped, but they weren’t.”

The next event in the Chalkbeat series on COVID and mental health will be hosted by Chalkbeat Tennessee and the Education Trust in Tennessee on March 31. For more information and to register for the event, click here.

Ethan Bakuli is a reporter for Chalkbeat Detroit covering Detroit Public Schools Community District. Contact Ethan at ebakuli@chalkbeat.org.

A resource guide for mental health in Michigan schools

2022-03-16T21:48:36+00:00

Yet it’s not clear how far that money will go. Students’ needs are immense, and the pandemic-roiled labor market is limiting districts’ efforts to hire additional staff. At stake is the post-pandemic recovery of Michigan’s youngest residents, not just emotionally but academically.

Interested in learning more? During a March 16 discussion hosted by Chalkbeat Detroit, the Detroit Free Press, and Bridge Michigan, students and educators will discuss their ideas for how Michigan should use funding to better support students.

Read on for the Chalkbeat resource guide for event attendees and anyone who wants to better understand how Michigan school districts are responding to the student mental health crisis. To watch our event in full, go here, or scroll to the bottom of this article.

We hope you find these compiled resources helpful. Do you have any remaining questions? Or story ideas for us? Reach out at det.tips@chalkbeat.org.

What stories should I read about Michigan students and mental health?

How COVID cash could help Michigan schools tackle a mental health crisis Chalkbeat, March 14, 2022
How dogs help ease Michigan’s student mental health crisis Chalkbeat, March 14, 2022
Mental health crisis: Children at breaking point during COVID Michigan Health Watch, Bridge Michigan, June 30, 2021
A child mental-health fix takes early action, more help. Here are 7 ideas. Michigan Health Watch, Bridge Michigan, July 2, 2021
Poll: Michigan should use COVID money first for tutoring, mental health Chalkbeat, Jan 28, 2022

Parents: Resources if your child is having a mental health crisis

Mental illness or distress can be scary and confusing to parents. But there is no shortage of resources for parents worried that their children are not well.

In the Detroit area, parents can find help from organizations such as the Detroit Wayne Integrated Health Network, Caleb’s Kids, and Central City Integrated Health.
Parents anywhere in Michigan can reach out to health officials in their county for help with mental health. Find a list of mental health services by county here.
The Stay Well Project at the Michigan Department of Health and Human Services offers free, 24/7 mental health counseling during the pandemic. Just dial 1-888-535-6136 and press 8.
TRAILS to Wellness offers tips for maintaining students’ mental health during the pandemic. TRAILS also has a self-care guide to help teens cope with COVID.
The Suicide Prevention Lifeline, a national group, has a list of coping tips and other resources, and a 24-hour hotline that families can call if a child is expressing suicidal thoughts at 1-800-273-TALK (8255). There is also a guide for youth struggling with mental health challenges.
Some schools also offer mental well-being training to students and parents, and school social workers are trained to support children in distress.

How are school districts across Michigan using COVID funds to better support student mental wellbeing?

(For more context, read our story in full.)

In response to the pandemic, the federal government poured a record amount of money into schools — $6 billion in Michigan alone. Chalkbeat, the Detroit Free Press, and Bridge Michigan are collaborating to track where the money is going and how it is helping students.

To report on how schools are using the money to support student mental health, we analyzed state records showing how districts planned to spend their share.

Lansing Public Schools is creating mental health programs with TRAILS to Wellness, a school-based program based at the University of Michigan. TRAILS provides brief lessons on mental health designed to be delivered to entire classes, student well-being surveys, mental health activities for staff, and suicide protocols.
In Grand Blanc, a suburb of Flint, the school district plans to hire seven new staffers to work one-on-one with students on social and emotional issues — one for every two elementary buildings, one for each middle school, and one for the high school. Students will be selected to work with the new staffers based on a mental health assessment or referrals by an adult.
The Kalamazoo district plans to pay 100 teachers an annual stipend to meet with small groups of students in advisory sessions that will focus on the challenges students are facing in life.
In Grand Rapids, the district plans to cover the cost of additional social workers and therapists.
Detroit Public Schools Community District will spend $10 million to contract with five organizations to provide mental health services, including therapy and diagnosis, to 3,700 Detroit students with the most severe mental health needs. The district expanded its full-time counseling staff in recent years, but demand for their services became overwhelming during the pandemic.
In Battle Creek, the district plans to hire a student support coordinator, an administrator who will help schools develop plans to address severe mental health issues among students and work with community agencies to connect students to mental health services outside of school.
In Flint, the city district contracted with a behavior specialist to address student trauma when classrooms reopened. When classes were virtual, the district hired a social-emotional learning coordinator to work with 9-12 graders who were learning online during the 2020-21 school year.
In Plainwell, near Kalamazoo, teachers, social workers, and other staffers are set to review district curriculums to bring social-emotional learning into academic lessons. For instance, a math teacher might include instruction on coping with frustration or working with partners to solve challenging problems.
Chatfield School, in rural southeast Michigan, hired an outside firm to provide mental health workshops to parents, students, and staff.
North Huron Schools, a small rural district in eastern Michigan, purchased a therapy dog named Chipper who lives with a teacher and spends his days at school. Teachers can refer distressed students to spend time with Chipper.

Who are the panelists at Chalkbeat’s March 16 event, and what resources do they suggest for parents, educators, and students?

The panel will feature:

Moderators: Koby Levin, Chalkbeat Detroit, and Lily Altavena, Detroit Free Press
Thyaba Mymuna, a junior at Cousino Senior High School in Warren Consolidated Schools
Brittyn Benjamin-Kelley, a senior at Cass Technical High School
Elizabeth Koschmann, executive director of TRAILS (Transforming Research into Action to Improve the Lives of Students)
Amanda Holiday, Detroit parent and Congress of Communities early childhood program director

Our panelists recommended the following resources:

Information on youth resources and student-led healing circles from Detroit Area Youth Uniting Michigan (link).
Resources on student social and emotional learning for parents and teachers from Dearborn Public Schools (link).
TRAILS programming for school leaders: Tier 1: Universal education and awareness; Tier 2: Early intervention for students with symptoms of anxiety and depression; Tier 3: Suicide risk management for students in crisis.
TRAILS sample lessons for classroom teachers. There are 20 lessons across four grade bands: K-2, 3-5, 6-8, 9-12.
For parents and students: A TRAILS student video series that provides an overview of the coping skills for students.

Watch our event in full:

This event is the first in a four-part national Chalkbeat series titled COVID and Mental Health, which seeks to amplify efforts to better support the wellness of students and school staff during this challenging comeback year.

Caroline Bauman connects Chalkbeat journalists with our readers as the community engagement manager and previously reported at Chalkbeat Tennessee. Connect with Caroline at cbauman@chalkbeat.org.

Koby Levin is a reporter for Chalkbeat Detroit covering K-12 schools and early childhood education. Contact Koby at klevin@Chalkbeat.org.

To address pandemic’s emotional toll, NYC is paying parents to lead peer workshops on mental health and wellness

2022-03-16T21:34:45+00:00

Crystal Rodriguez is on a mission.

As one of nearly 650 “Family Healing Ambassadors” tapped by New York City schools at the end of last school year, the 31-year-old Bronx mom is trying to help families wade through the pandemic’s emotional fallout. In the process, she is also embarking on her own path of self-healing.

Ambassadors were selected at schools in areas hit hardest by the coronavirus — largely low-income communities of color — and were awarded a $500 stipend to participate in trauma-related training sessions over the summer and then present their own workshop to their school communities by December. Several ambassadors said that talking with other parents about their feelings and struggles has often not been widely embraced in their communities, leaving many to feel alone and isolated.

This program is trying, in a small way, to change that.

Ambassadors were tasked with creating at least one workshop focused on bolstering emotional well-being. Several ambassadors took the role even farther.

One started “Walk with me Wednesdays” to encourage parents to connect while getting some exercise. Another translated materials from English into Spanish for her school’s social worker. Even though Rodriguez’s “term” is up, she is working on her third workshop, in which she’s been sharing what she’s learned and opening up about her own struggles raising her five children, the first of whom was born when she was 16.

“Mental health has always been a taboo in our community,” Rodriguez said during her January presentation to the small virtual group from P.S. 146 in the South Bronx’s Morrisania neighborhood.

“In my family it’s: ‘What happens at home, stays at home.’ ‘If you get therapy, you’re crazy.’ You can’t speak about your feelings. ’Just man up,’” she said. “It shouldn’t be that way.”

Many advocates are hopeful that the initiative’s peer-to-peer approach can help normalize mental health and wellness in Black, Latino, and immigrant communities. These groups are not only experiencing pain, grief, and financial stress from the pandemic, but also other deep-rooted personal or systemic traumas related to neglect or abuse, hunger and housing instability, racism, and over-policing.

Rodriguez is an ambassador for P.S. 146, a school in the South Bronx’s Morrisania neighborhood.

Students in the Bronx, which long has had one of the nation’s highest poverty rates, are among the most likely to experience childhood trauma and its harmful effects on learning, advocates say. The situation is even more dire now: A study by the United Hospital Fund found that between March and July 2020, of the roughly 4,200 New York children who lost a parent or caregiver to COVID, 57% were in the Bronx, Brooklyn, and Queens, with the burden falling disproportionately on Black and Latino children.

“You can talk about learning loss all you want. Children are not going to thrive if they are hungry, and if they are suffering trauma,” said Rasheedah Brown-Harris, a leader with the Bronx’s New Settlement Apartments Parent Action Committee, who has long worked with other parents to transform how schools approach childhood trauma.

Brown-Harris is also a staff member in the education unit of Bronx Legal Services New York where she is part of the Healing-Centered Schools Working Group, formed by a coalition of parents, advocates, and educators. Though the group is not getting paid by the education department, it volunteered to support some of the parent ambassadors while it continues to push for deeper change in Bronx schools in addressing trauma.

“It’s a transformation in how we see ourselves, how we support mental health and how we sustain it for our family and for our school community,” Brown-Harris said.

Emergency room visits jump for children

Children in her community are suffering, Rodriguez said. Their tempers are flaring. Fights have become more frequent. A growing number of children, including her own daughter, seem to be talking about suicidal thoughts and landing in the emergency rooms of local hospitals, she said. This mirrors a trend across the nation where emergency visits jumped 31% for children ages 12 to 17 between February and March 2021 compared to the same period the year before, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. The increase for girls in that age group was even higher — 51%.

COVID brought illness, and remote learning brought stress to her family, Rodriguez shared during her presentation. She had a newborn, sleepless nights, and separation from the baby’s father. Other losses mounted. A friend died by suicide on Christmas Eve in 2020; another was murdered about a month later. Over the summer, the family’s foundation began to crumble further, when one of her daughters ended up in the emergency psychiatric ward of a hospital after expressing suicidal thoughts to her doctor.

“I felt like I failed my children,” Rodriguez said through tears, as other participants in the meeting typed affirmations in the Google hangout chat, such as, “You got this,” and sent her virtual hugs.

But she also celebrated what she considered a breakthrough, and credited the work she’s done through the ambassador program with inspiring it: She and her children have started therapy.

And, while the process isn’t easy, and her relationship with some of her children is still strained, she acknowledged, Rodriguez feels like she’s standing on more solid ground.

During her presentation, Rodriguez outlined some common signs of trauma in children, ranging from regressions like thumb-sucking and bed-wetting for younger children to unexplained pains and aches in older ones or increased anger and anxiety. She provided practical and accessible tips for families to support their children as they work through their feelings and walked participants through a 2-minute guided meditation. She talked about the importance of using words of affirmation, and praising children’s efforts instead of focusing on the negative.

“A lot of times, unintentionally,” Rodriguez said, “we become our children’s first bullies.”

She dispensed positive rather than punitive parenting advice to the small group — covering topics such as establishing bedtime routines, how to help kids break homework into smaller chunks to make it feel less overwhelming, and focusing on breathing as a way to calm both parents and kids.

“These kids went through a lot. The parents went through a lot. Everyone is witnessing trauma,” Rodriguez told Chalkbeat. “Healing is about accepting that we have to face things we may want to bury in our subconscious. It’s time to open the luggage, unpack, take out what doesn’t fit.”

Rodriguez credits her role in the ambassador program with inspiring her to start therapy with her family. “When I got into it I didn’t really know what the position was,” she said of being an ambassador. “It helped me start the healing process at home with my children.”

‘Healing begins at home’

The ambassador program is designed to add support for families to existing mental health services in and outside of school. In New York City schools, there was one counselor for every 325 students last school year, according to the most recent available public data. That’s better than the recommended ratio of one to 500, but with the needs much higher this year, many educators say it’s still not enough.

More generally, the city’s mental health system — as well as the nation’s — is overburdened. President Joe Biden in his State of the Union address this month called to increase providers, and the White House also recognized the need for expanding peer support.

“We must dramatically expand the supply, diversity, and cultural competency of our mental health and substance use disorder workforce – from psychiatrists to psychologists, peers to paraprofessionals — and increase both opportunity and incentive for them to practice in areas of highest need,” the White House said in a statement earlier this month.

New York City’s education department had identified 1,000 schools to select parent healing ambassadors last school year, but only 800 parents or caregivers applied. Roughly 650 of the ambassadors completed the program and engaged with more than 4,000 family and community workshops, education department officials said.

As a result, there’s still money remaining from the $1.35 million grant from the Robin Hood Relief Fund in partnership with the Fund for Public Schools to support trauma-responsive work in schools.

For the second half of the school year, the city is making some tweaks. At 20 schools, it’s piloting a program where ambassadors are part of a “healing-centered” team, working with school staff on planning “healing-centered” events with a budget of $2,500. Additionally, ambassadors in certain neighborhoods who completed their first stint can apply for 92 “district” ambassador roles where they can continue working on a larger scale on community-building activities, sharing mental health resources, and more, according to education department officials.

“Healing begins at home,” said education department spokesperson Suzan Sumer. “We are committed to providing our schools with the supports they need to center student wellbeing as we emerge from this pandemic, and we know parents and caregivers are an integral part of this effort.”

For the summer training sessions, the Bronx Healing-Centered Schools Working Group helped bring in two of the presenters: Chicago’s TREP (Trauma Responsive Educational Practices) Project, and Shawn Ginwright, a San Francisco State University professor of education in the Africana studies department who runs the Flourish Agenda.

The Bronx group also hopes it will get the chance to move ahead with its longer term vision, starting small but going deep with a few schools. They want to create “transformation teams,” to rethink a school’s culture from the types of books children read (ensuring, for example, enough books that center Black characters) to the type of lighting in the building (replacing harsh lights with warmer, more welcoming colors). They talked about creating career paths to encourage more educators from their communities, and looked at models like Schenectady, where the school district removed police officers from schools and replaced them with “cultural brokers” — respected community members, often elders, who intervene when student conflicts arise.

“We don’t know the long-term effects of this pandemic. We won’t know,” Brown-Harris said. “But we do know that we have to slow down, and we all need to reconnect in a way that we have not done in our public school system ever.”

Rodriguez wears her ambassador position with pride, giving more to her school community than the one workshop that was required.

Programs were individualized to the school

The role of the parent healing ambassadors has differed from school to school based on the ambassador as well as the level of support from the school administration. Some focused on self-care, while others directed their efforts on how parents and teachers can collaborate more to recognize trauma. Some parent ambassadors tried to participate in all PTA meetings. Some struggled to get much air time. Some also struggled to get a critical mass of families to participate.

Many parents have felt more comfortable reaching out to the Bronx group rather than the education department, said Shannon O’Neill Fonseca, an organizer with the Parent Action Committee, who has witnessed several of the ambassadors climbing out of their own depression as they’ve connected with their peers.

“They feel seen, they feel heard, and they feel supported,” O’Neill Fonseca said. “They recognized, when I’m in community, we can collectively heal.”

Wanda Jackson, the parent healing ambassador for P.S. 73, where her granddaughter attends kindergarten, has held two workshops for the school’s staff while she plans how to best reach parents. She said that parents at the school have not been participating in school events lately.

“They won’t Zoom. They don’t trust anyone anymore,” said Jackson, a retired parent coordinator. “But me teaching parents to stand up and fight for themselves is one way things can improve.”

Jackson, however, wished that the role came with more than a $500 stipend given the amount of time she is putting into the job. Some ambassadors have been using their own money to provide incentives for families, like small giveaways with gift cards, O’Neill Fonseca noted.

Ysaura Tavarez, the parent healing ambassador for P.S. 204 in Morris Heights, started slowly, introducing a few stress-relieving or mediation activities at PTA meetings. She worked with a mental health specialist on a workshop about burnout and did one on wellness. She also partnered with a school social worker, helping her translate materials from English to Spanish, and has tried to just be present for families, many of whom — like in Rodriguez’s community — are resistant to getting mental health support.

“I’m just allowing the parents to get to know me, for them to see my face more often, asking me questions, offering a safe place for them to just talk about what’s going on and the challenges they’re facing,”said the mom of four, who works as a wedding coordinator and couples coach. “Some of them do feel more comfortable talking to another parent, especially in their own language.”

Parents have opened up to her at the playground or at the McDonalds across the street from the school. They share their concerns with Tavarez about the COVID vaccine, job loss, and balancing the return to work with possible COVID quarantines.

Rodriguez shares a tender moment with one of her daughters. The mom of five has been working on improving her relationships with her children.

The program helped Tavarez process her own experience, losing relatives to the coronavirus and losing her personal space last year when her children were learning remotely.

For Rodriguez, being part of the program has been transformative. She recently started a new job at a nonprofit focused on teaching financial literacy in schools, and she’s starting to open up more about long-standing issues related to her own depression and anxiety, recounting how she once took her mother’s pills when she was in high school.

Participating in the summer’s training sessions with the other ambassadors helped her feel less alone, she said. By starting therapy, she feels hopeful about beginning to “break that generational curse,” of how trauma is handed down in families.

“The biggest tip for helping our children heal through traumas is healing our own first,” Rodriguez said.

Amy Zimmer is the bureau chief for Chalkbeat New York. Contact Amy at azimmer@chalkbeat.org.

Illinois teachers would be able to use sick days for mental health. Will it help?

2022-03-15T21:14:46+00:00

Teachers like English teacher Briana Morales worked overtime to support their students through two years of disruptions and emotional upheaval during the pandemic. Now, Morales wonders who will help those exhausted teachers.

The fifth-year teacher at an alternative high school in East St. Louis District 189 in southern Illinois has provided academic and mental health support for students reeling from coronavirus issues, as well as gun violence and poverty that predate the pandemic. In summer 2020, she attended funerals for three of her students who were killed in shootings.

“In the fall of 2020, I had to just bounce back because my students still needed me at that time. But I had no time to process what I needed for myself,” Morales said. “On top of that no one even asked me, ‘What do you need?”

A bill, SB 3914, in the Illinois general assembly proposes one step to address the needs of educators like Morales — by allowing teachers to use sick days for mental health reasons. It comes in response to the increased demands on teachers over the last two years: shifting instruction from remote to hybrid classrooms to in-person learning while balancing the needs of students who have lost learning and need mental health support.

SB 3914 passed the Senate unanimously and is scheduled for a House committee hearing Wednesday. The bill has changed a few times throughout the legislative process; the first version of the bill would have given teachers five mental health days at full pay but now it has expanded how teachers can use sick days to include mental health concerns.

To Morales and other educators, the bill is a step in the right direction — but not enough.

Teachers burn out from the pandemic

Under the Illinois school code, teachers receive a minimum of 10 sick days per year. That puts the state in line with the average across the country, according to the National Council on Teacher Quality, a nonprofit policy organization. The vast majority of districts allow teachers to carry over unused sick leave from year to year without a limit.

Chicago Public Schools teachers receive at least 10 sick days per year and as many as 13 based on experience level, plus three personal days. Chicago gives five days for bereavement leave and allows up to five days of sick leave to be used for bereavement.

The pandemic has made the need for additional mental health support even more important. According to “Job-Related Stress Threatens the Teacher Supply,” a report by the Rand Corporation, a nonprofit research institute, one in four teachers said that they were likely to leave their jobs by the end of the 2020–2021 school year. According to the report, 78% percent of teachers reported job-related stress compared to 40% of the general population. While teachers across the nation have voiced frustration with their jobs during the pandemic, a Chalkbeat analysis of data from the states and large school districts found that a mass teacher exodus has not happened yet.

The state’s largest teachers union, the Illinois Education Association, supports the bill.

“If our teachers are overworked or overwhelmed and need to take a break from the classroom for a day, they should absolutely be able to do so without fear of being punished for taking care of themselves,” Kathi Griffin, president of IEA, said in a statement to Chalkbeat.

Allowing teachers to take time off for mental health reasons would help districts retain educators and recruit new teachers, Griffin said.

The public supports giving teachers mental health days, according to an IEA survey of 1,000 Illinois residents. Of those polled, 72% supported allowing educators to take mental health days.

Not everyone agrees. Kate Walsh, president of the National Council on Teacher Quality, said she’s concerned about giving more days to educators because students have to recover learning after the pandemic.

“I don’t see how having [teachers] out of school more often is going to help anyone. It may be a temporary fix, but we’ve got to put kids first here,” Walsh said. “We can’t have kids showing up to school and getting escorted into a gym to spend the day because there’s nobody to teach them.”

Are mental health days enough?

Lisa Thyer, a teacher of 16 years, has found the current school year to be the most challenging. While school district leaders have promised that this year would be a return to normalcy, it’s been far from normal, according to Thyer.

She teaches English to high school students at Consolidated School District 230 in the southwest suburbs of Chicago. Thyer has struggled to figure out the academic and emotional needs of her students this school year and feels unsure about her ability to teach.

“No one knew how to do hybrid instruction and we were all doing the best we could, but I was supposed to know how to do classroom instruction,” Thyer said. “I don’t feel like I’m doing a good job anymore.”

Morales, the East St. Louis teacher, and Thyer think that the proposed mental health days would be useful, but they feel that educators will need more to stay in the profession and get past burnout.

Morales wants to see districts provide more mental health support for educators. Her district has contracts with therapists to support students and families. She would like to see that extended to educators.

Morales said that teachers have multiple obstacles blocking them from seeing therapists on their own like the cost of going to therapy and time to schedule an appointment.

“Is there a way that we can balance a school day so that both students’ families and educators are all getting the same levels of support that they need to sustain themselves during this time and going forward?” Morales asked.

Thyer is cautiously optimistic about the proposed mental health days for educators. She wants it to be the first step in the conversation on how to support teachers but worries that some will not even take sick days due to the state’s substitute shortage.

“If there’s no one who can cover your classes, taking a day off is gonna fall on your colleagues to miss their plan period or things like that to help cover your classes,” Thyer said. “It’s nice to have them but for them to actually be useful is a different thing, especially in this pandemic.”

Samantha Smylie is the state education reporter for Chalkbeat Chicago, covering school districts across the state, legislation, special education, and the state board of education. Contact Samantha at ssmylie@chalkbeat.org.

How dogs help Michigan’s student mental health crisis

2022-03-14T10:00:00+00:00

There are many ways to address a youth mental health crisis, including throwing a massive birthday party for a dog named Gravy.

A sweet-natured chocolate Lab, Gravy quickly became a celebrity to students at Grand Ledge High School after she started working there as a therapy dog in September. She showed off tricks in the hallways with her handler, Dean of Students Maria Capra. When students knelt to pet Gravy, she crawled onto their laps.

So when students learned that Gravy’s first birthday fell just before Thanksgiving break, they asked Capra if they could throw a party.

She said sure, thinking it wouldn’t amount to much. Then the student council put up posters around the school, inviting all of the school’s 1,600 students to attend. Students made a crown and a skirt for Gravy, while others set up a donation drive for the local animal shelter in her honor.

On the big day, “I really didn’t know what to expect,” Capra recalled. “I thought it might be a classroom of 30 kids.

“There were several hundred students in this gymnasium.”

The pandemic has been hard on students in Grand Ledge and across the U.S. Many young people experienced isolation, disruption, and the loss of loved ones, leading to an alarming rise in suicide rates and prompting the American Academy of Pediatrics to declare a national emergency in children’s mental health.

Schools have responded by hiring social workers, expanding their social-emotional learning curriculums, and, in some cases, purchasing dogs.

Gravy is one of at least a dozen dogs who have been introduced to students during the pandemic in schools across Michigan.

Students at Grand Ledge High School threw a party, created a costume, and signed a birthday card for Gravy, a chocolate lab who began working at their school this year to provide emotional support during the pandemic.

Districts are buying dogs and covering the costs of their training with their share of Michigan’s $6 billion in federal COVID-19 funds for education.

One reason: The dogs make kids happy.

“He’s kind of like a rock star; when the kids see him coming, they smile,” said Traci Souva, an art teacher at North Huron Schools who handles Chipper, the district’s new golden mountain doodle. “A lot of times the kids will tell Chipper what’s wrong rather than adults, and that’s pretty magical.”

Another reason: The dogs appeal to administrators wary of using one-time federal funds to incur recurring costs like hiring new people.

“We wanted to ensure that we were using the funds in a way that was going to make a lasting impact,” said Bill Barnes, assistant superintendent for Academic Services at Grand Ledge Public Schools. “We’ll have the dogs for their lifetimes.”

And one more: Research suggests that the presence of a trained dog lowers children’s stress, fosters a positive attitude toward learning, and smooths interactions between students and other children.

The potential downsides of having dogs in schools — especially sanitation, allergies, and student fears — are manageable, Barnes said. The new Grand Ledge dogs are highly trained and hypoallergenic, and they are always with a handler who ensures that no student is forced to interact with the dogs. He said the district hasn’t received a parent complaint about the dogs.

A dog trained to work in a school typically costs between $10,000 and $15,000. Districts plan to spend at least $182,000 of their COVID funds to either purchase or rent dogs for emotional support, according to spending plans reviewed as part of a collaborative project involving Chalkbeat, the Detroit Free Press, and Bridge Michigan.

That’s a tiny sliver of the federal COVID money available. Districts are spending most of their funds on ventilation improvements to school buildings, hiring additional social workers and counselors, expanding summer school, and providing teacher bonuses.

The court system has long used therapy dogs to ease the nerves of children giving difficult testimony, said Nikki Brown, a dog trainer, school counselor, and the executive director of Canines for Change, a nonprofit that trains dogs for work in schools.

Since the pandemic, demand for trained dogs in schools “has just exploded,” she said. Over the last year, she said, her organization has provided dogs to at least seven districts in Michigan, including Grand Ledge.

“The dogs are highly trained to be in a school environment,” she said. “They are trained to work with kids with autism and kids with emotional issues. They sense stress. By the dogs’ behavior they might alert a teacher or a counselor to a kid that is maybe struggling emotionally.”

Souva recalled a moment earlier in the school year when Chipper had seemed to sniff out stress.

“A child had broken up with his significant other, and Chipper decided to lay right next to his chair,” she said.

Bringing dogs into schools for emotional support is not new to Michigan. Grand Ledge administrators were already considering the idea before the pandemic after visiting Brighton Public Schools, which has had dogs on staff for years. Then COVID hit, and the federal government sent a record amount of money to help schools support students through hard times. The Grand Ledge district decided to put a dog in all eight of its schools.

Staff members applied to handle the dogs — meaning they would train with the dogs, provide a home for them, and manage them during school days.

The dogs were ready to work with students by the time school resumed this fall. The impact was obvious right away, said Jill Ford, a fourth grade teacher in Grand Ledge who handles a goldendoodle named Alfie.

“There were a few students at the beginning of the school year who wouldn’t get out of the car to go into school,” she said. “The counselor would use Alfie to get them out of the car, and they would get a few minutes of Alfie time in the counselor’s office. Now they don’t need her anymore.”

Gravy’s birthday party ranks high on the list of factors that helped Grand Ledge high schoolers get comfortable with their return to in-person learning, Capra said. Gravy has been off work for two weeks after getting spayed, and students ask about her every day.

Said Capra: “I’ve had kids ask me, ‘Can we have a welcome back party for her?’”

Chipper, a golden mountain doodle, doesn’t drive school buses, but he does provide emotional assistance to students at North Huron Schools.

About this project

$6 billion.

That’s how much Michigan schools are receiving from the federal government to help students and staff recover from the pandemic.

But it isn’t entirely clear how this unprecedented amount of federal cash is being spent and whether it is having an impact.

Chalkbeat Detroit, the Detroit Free Press, and Bridge Michigan have teamed up to find out where the money is going, who is benefiting, and whether the money is helping students get back on track academically, emotionally, and socially.

Please share your thoughts — and tips — with reporters Koby Levin at klevin@chalkbeat.org, Lily Altavena at laltavena@freepress.org, and Isabel Lohman at ilohman@bridgemi.com.

Check out a few of the most recent stories from our series below:

Federal COVID relief aid to schools will dry up soon. Are districts ready?

Michigan school districts are flush with cash, but wary

COVID aid helps Michigan school districts plug deficits

How private schools are spending COVID relief cash

New MI ESSER tutoring programs have room to grow

Koby Levin is a reporter for Chalkbeat Detroit covering K-12 schools and early childhood education. Contact Koby at klevin@Chalkbeat.org.

How COVID cash could help Michigan schools tackle a mental health crisis

2022-03-14T10:00:00+00:00

Mariana Hernandez knew her son was struggling through the first year of COVID. His normally stellar grades had dropped to F’s, and he didn’t seem like himself.

But she wasn’t prepared for her quiet, bright child to ask, “If I wasn’t here, how would you feel, mami?”

Hernandez was used to taking action when her kids needed her — a few years earlier, when her children’s Detroit charter school was failing, she helped teachers unionize.

Now she was at a loss. “I didn’t know what to do,” she recalled. She reached out to one of her son’s former teachers, who referred her to a counseling center.

“You think your kid’s OK,” Hernandez said. “But then I talked with a psychologist and she said, ‘Actually, these are suicidal thoughts.’”

Two years of frustration, disruption, and loss have taken their toll on Michigan students, exacerbating a youth mental health crisis that has been building for more than a decade. Michiganders want schools to take action, polls show, and educators are stepping up to the challenge, drawing on research showing that emotional distress and student learning do not mix well. Michigan schools have no shortage of funds on hand, thanks to $6 billion in federal COVID relief, and Gov. Gretchen Whitmer is recommending a budget that includes an additional $361 million for student mental health.

Yet it’s not clear how far that money will go. Districts have hired social workers and counselors, selected new social-emotional learning curriculums, and purchased therapy dogs (see below for a detailed list). But students’ needs are immense, and the pandemic-roiled labor market is limiting districts’ efforts to hire additional staff.

At stake is the post-pandemic recovery of Michigan’s youngest citizens, not just emotionally but academically.

“We have kids that are chronically depressed and addicted,” said Paul Liabenow, executive director of the Michigan Elementary and Middle School Principals Association. “There is a massive backlog of need.”

Second graders at Becker Elementary School in Dearborn cut out paper hands and wrote their own best qualities on the fingers, part of an activity designed by the school social worker.

On a recent snowy Thursday, fifth graders at Becker Elementary in Dearborn lit up at the sight of Kawkab Hachem.

Hachem is the school social worker at Becker — and only at Becker.

Before the pandemic, Dearborn Public Schools social workers were assigned to several schools, moving between buildings to work only with the most severe needs. Now, with help from federal COVID funding, the district expanded its social work staff, and Hachem works full time at Becker. That means she’s gotten to know all 226 students at least a little bit, even as she spends focused time with certain students. And it means she has time to visit every classroom for weekly lessons on managing emotions, self-compassion, and connecting with peers.

Nearly a year has passed since these fifth graders last had an online lesson. Kassem is an outgoing child who smiles behind his glasses as he talks. But his face darkens at the memory of sitting in his bedroom all day in front of a computer screen.

“Virtual learning made me so angry,” he said. “I felt like I was stuck.”

Today, though, Kassem and his classmates are making a list of 15 kind things students can do for another person. At another table, students are instructed to write kind notes to friends. “Dear Rached,” one student writes. “You are always there for me and you are the kindest person that I met in my life.”

Their teacher, Kristin Koss, has been with the Dearborn district for decades. In previous years, she said, social workers visited her classroom for social-emotional learning twice a year — not once a week.

“This is money well spent,” she said of the district’s new social worker hires. “The kids came back to the classroom (after virtual learning) and they didn’t know how to do school, they were so immature. These lessons help.”

Hachem’s presence also gives teachers space to focus on students with the most pressing academic needs — no small matter for teachers working to help students catch up from lost learning. While Hachem worked with the class, Koss pulled a single student aside to help him with a math concept he’d been struggling with.

At Kassem’s table, one of his neighbors, Mazen, agreed that lessons with Hachem are paying off.

“To care for other people, you have to care for yourself,” she said. “I learned that here.”

Michigan has taken notice of the mental health struggles of students like Khyiana Tate.

“Students — me included — we’ve been isolated, ” said Khyiana, a senior at the Michigan School for the Deaf. “I was stuck at home. A lot of times I was depressed. They don’t know what it’s like to have outside socializing just be snatched right from under us.”

For Tate, one solution is to hire more social workers and counselors.

Many Michiganders would agree. They put higher priority on addressing student mental health than almost anything else schools can do with federal COVID funds, according to a January poll conducted by Chalkbeat and the Detroit Free Press. Policymakers, too, have turned their focus to student mental health with budget proposals and efforts to revamp a health care system that lacks enough beds and providers to meet the needs of youth who are battling mental illness at growing rates.

Yet schools are struggling to find mental health workers to hire. The pandemic caused turmoil in labor markets, adding to a shortage of trained school social workers that began years before, said Kim Battjes, a professor at Michigan State University who trains school social workers. If districts can find someone to hire, Battjes said, they must often find ways to train them on the job.

“It’s like, ‘Yay, we’re getting money! Oh no, we don’t have people to fill these positions!’” she said. “School districts are hiring people who have never even worked with a kid a day in their life as therapists in schools.”

COVID funds alone won’t be enough to improve working conditions in schools, which have been deteriorating for years and making hiring more difficult, said Elizabeth Koschmann, a professor of psychiatry at the University of Michigan and the director of TRAILS to Wellness, a nonprofit that shares research-based mental health practices with schools.

“The environment inside our schools is one of unimaginable stress, pressure, and relentless competing demands that all present as urgent priorities,” she said in an email. “And yet, the salaries for the staff remain largely the same. Burnout is driving staff away from the entire field of education and districts can’t find enough people willing to take open jobs.”

Surveys of parents and teachers in Coloma, a small town on the west side of the state, suggested that social and emotional health should be top priorities, echoing statewide poll results. But the district decided not to expand its staff of social workers, instead opting to purchase software that promotes social-emotional learning. District leaders were wary of funding the positions with one-time money, and they worried they couldn’t hire social workers if they tried.

“We didn’t try to allocate funds for social workers because we knew we couldn’t find them,” said Dave Ehlers, superintendent of Coloma Community Schools.

In Detroit, the district opted to contract out for additional mental health services rather than temporarily hire new counselors and social workers, said Superintendent Nikolai Vitti.

Dearborn, a large urban district bordering Detroit, took another path. The district hired new social workers using federal funds on the assumption that it won’t replace employees in other areas, if need be, as the funding runs out.

“A lot of how we look at funding is through attrition,” said David Mustonen, director of communications for Dearborn Public Schools. “Being a big district, we know we can lose anywhere from 80-100 instructional employees every year. It may mean we don’t replace a resource teacher, or maybe instead of four custodians in a building, there’s three.”

And that might not even be necessary, Mustonen said, if state funding for education rises, something Whitmer is proposing amid a historic budget surplus.

Students at Becker Elementary School in Dearborn wrote letters to friends saying what qualities they liked best about them. “Dear Rached,” one student wrote. “You are always there for me and you are the kindest person that I met in my life.”

After asking her son’s former teacher for help, Hernandez found a therapist for her son at Southwest Counseling Solutions, a nonprofit in southwest Detroit, where she lives.

His depression has lifted somewhat, she said, and the suicidal thoughts stopped, though he felt anxious and isolated when his school in the Detroit Public Schools Community District reopened this fall.

“He has ups and downs, and the lows we have are still really low,” she said.

The episode left Hernandez with feelings of guilt. Was she prepared for something like this? Should she have noticed sooner how badly her son was struggling?

She said she would have benefited from training on how to recognize mental illness in a child. And she said she is glad that many districts, including in Detroit, are looking to expand their mental health staff.

Parents: Resources if your child is having a mental health crisis

Mental illness or distress can be scary and confusing to parents. But there is no shortage of resources for parents worried that their children are not well.

In the Detroit area, parents can find help from organizations such as the Detroit Wayne Integrated Health Network, Caleb’s Kids, and Central City Integrated Health.
Parents anywhere in Michigan can reach out to health officials in their county for help with mental health. Find a list of mental health services by county here.
The Stay Well Project at the Michigan Department of Health and Human Services offers free, 24/7 mental health counseling during the pandemic. Just dial 1-888-535-6136 and press 8.
TRAILS to Wellness offers tips for maintaining students’ mental health during the pandemic. TRAILS also has a self-care guide to help teens cope with COVID.
The Suicide Prevention Lifeline, a national group, has a list of coping tips and other resources, and a 24-hour hotline that families can call if a child is expressing suicidal thoughts at 1-800-273-TALK (8255). There is also a guide for youth struggling with mental health challenges.
Some schools also offer mental well-being training to students and parents, and school social workers are trained to support children in distress.

School districts across Michigan are using COVID funds to do those things and more:

To report on how schools are using the money to support student mental health, we pored over state records showing how districts planned to spend their share.

Lansing Public Schools is creating mental health programs with TRAILS to Wellness, a school-based program based at the University of Michigan. TRAILS provides brief lessons on mental health designed to be delivered to entire classes, student well-being surveys, mental health activities for staff, and suicide protocols.
In Grand Blanc, a suburb of Flint, the school district plans to hire seven new staffers to work one-on-one with students on social and emotional issues — one for every two elementary buildings, one for each middle school, and one for the high school. Students will be selected to work with the new staffers based on a mental health assessment or referrals by an adult.
The Kalamazoo district plans to pay 100 teachers an annual stipend to meet with small groups of students in advisory sessions that will focus on the challenges students are facing in life.
In Grand Rapids, the district plans to cover the cost of additional social workers and therapists.
Detroit Public Schools Community District will spend $10 million to contract with five organizations to provide mental health services, including therapy and diagnosis, to 3,700 Detroit students with the most severe mental health needs. The district expanded its full-time counseling staff in recent years, but demand for their services became overwhelming during the pandemic.
In Battle Creek, the district plans to hire a student support coordinator, an administrator who will help schools develop plans to address severe mental health issues among students and work with community agencies to connect students to mental health services outside of school.
In Flint, the city district contracted with a behavior specialist to address student trauma when classrooms reopened. When classes were virtual, the district hired a social-emotional learning coordinator to work with 9-12 graders who were learning online during the 2020-21 school year.
In Plainwell, near Kalamazoo, teachers, social workers, and other staffers are set to review district curriculums to bring social-emotional learning into academic lessons. For instance, a math teacher might include instruction on coping with frustration or working with partners to solve challenging problems.
Chatfield School, in rural southeast Michigan, hired an outside firm to provide mental health workshops to parents, students, and staff.
North Huron Schools, a small rural district in eastern Michigan, purchased a therapy dog named Chipper who lives with a teacher and spends his days at school. Teachers can refer distressed students to spend time with Chipper.

At the same time, Michigan has a massive budget surplus. With student activists calling for expanded mental health services in the wake of the school shooting in Oxford, Whitmer is calling for the state to invest an additional $361 million in student mental health. That proposal will likely be challenged by the Republican legislature, which proposes spending the surplus on a tax cut.

Still, these new investments may not be able to keep up with the need for mental health services. Consider the Grand Haven School District in western Michigan, where a string of six suicides between 2011 and 2017 spurred district leaders to expand their mental health staff to the levels that many other districts are trying to reach today.

Even as other districts in the area struggle to hire mental health workers, Grand Haven’s larger staff is struggling to keep up with mental health needs.

“We’re seeing the trickle effects of the constant chaos and uncertainty of the pandemic,” said Katie Havey, a district social worker. “We’re seeing more kids needing major interventions. We’re doing more suicide screenings and seeing higher levels of threat assessments.

“It is crazy to reflect on all of these things that we’re doing really well and realize that we could still use so much more support.”

About this project

$6 billion.

That’s how much Michigan schools are receiving from the federal government to help students and staff recover from the pandemic.

But it isn’t entirely clear how this unprecedented amount of federal cash is being spent and whether it is having an impact.

Please share your thoughts — and tips — with reporters Koby Levin at klevin@chalkbeat.org, Lily Altavena at laltavena@freepress.org, and Isabel Lohman at ilohman@bridgemi.com.

Check out a few of the most recent stories from our series below:

Federal COVID relief aid to schools will dry up soon. Are districts ready?

Michigan school districts are flush with cash, but wary

COVID aid helps Michigan school districts plug deficits

How private schools are spending COVID relief cash

New MI ESSER tutoring programs have room to grow

Koby Levin is a reporter for Chalkbeat Detroit covering K-12 schools and early childhood education. Contact Koby at klevin@Chalkbeat.org.

Federal funding and mental health: What’s working in Michigan schools

2022-03-08T21:40:48+00:00

Student mental health has suffered through the pandemic. Michigan districts are using federal COVID funds to implement new curriculums and programs focused on well-being, and are hiring social workers and counselors.

School leaders across Michigan have $6 billion to spend, the largest single influx of federal education dollars in state history. In some districts, new hires are already driving a big expansion of mental health services.

But other places are struggling to find trained workers to fill the open slots. Michigan parents overwhelmingly support increased mental health resources, according to a recent poll, and families are also looking for transparency about how their schools will spend this money.

As districts across the state work to better support their students’ mental health and hire more staff, we’d like to find out what’s working and what’s not. What supports have proven effective over time, and are schools investing in them? What do students and educators say they need?

Join Chalkbeat Detroit, the Detroit Free Press, and Bridge Michigan on March 16, 4-5 p.m. ET, for a panel discussion on these important questions. Please RSVP for this event so we’re able to provide the webinar information and can hear your ideas for questions. This event is free to attend, but any optional donations will go to support Chalkbeat’s nonprofit journalism and events like these.

Caroline Bauman connects Chalkbeat journalists with our readers as the community engagement manager and previously reported at Chalkbeat Tennessee. Connect with Caroline at cbauman@chalkbeat.org.