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FROM OUR
CENTER DIRECTOR
Greetings School Mental Health Colleagues, Partners and Friends, and welcome to the SMART Center’s inaugural quarterly newsletter!
The University of Washington School Mental Health Assessment Research and Training (SMART) Center is a research and technical assistance center dedicated to promoting high-quality, culturally responsive programs, practices, and policies to meet the full range of social, emotional, and behavioral (SEB) needs of students in both general and special education contexts. We are proud to share our latest research, recent publications, key resources, upcoming trainings and events, and other relevant school mental health information with you.
We want to offer a special welcome to those of you joining us from the NWMHTTC world. With the closure of the network, the SMART Center is here to continue supporting the school mental workforce across the former Region 10 area of Alaska, Idaho, Oregon and Washington.
Please note – this newsletter is just one of the many ways you can join the SMART Center community. You can also:
However you associate with us, we are so glad you chose to do so. Please share this newsletter with your colleagues as well so they can join our community.
We welcome your inquiries and feedback at uwsmart@uw.edu.
Best wishes for a great start to the academic year.
Warmly,
Aaron Lyon, PhD
SMART Center Director
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MEET THE SMARTies
Our current faculty and staff.
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Welcome to our new Post-doctoral Research Fellows
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SMART CENTER TURNS 10!
In 2013, the University of Washington School Mental Health Assessment, Research, and Training (SMART) Center was launched to promote the use of evidence-based programs and practices to address the full range of social, emotional, and behavioral needs of students in general and special education contexts. We’ve spent the past year reflecting on and celebrating the SMART Center’s many accomplishments over the past 10 years.
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To learn more about the SMART Center, its mission and its accomplishments over the last 10 years, we invite you to view these resources...
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Brief Intervention for School Clinicians (BRISC) is a research-based, engagement, assessment, brief intervention and triage strategy for mental health practitioners working in middle and high schools. To meet the overwhelming demand for BRISC training and support, a web-based self-paced BRISC e-learning with implementation supports is now available to license by districts, communities or individual practitioners.
For more information contact us at brisc@uw.edu.
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Considering a career in social work?
Through the WSW Initiative, we are making a case for school social workers as one of the solutions schools and districts can capitalize on to make change.
By training the next generation of school social workers, we will transform the approach to school mental health with qualified practitioners equipped with current evidence-based practices.
Watch this video that demonstrates
WSW's impact!
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Thirteen students and their field instructors completed in the inaugural WSW 2023-2024 cohort successfully completed the Community of Practice this past spring. The second cohort is almost finalized and will begin their learning together in October 2024.
Visit the WSW Initiative website for more information.
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The College of Education’s School Psychology program has been awarded a
$1.6 million grant by the U.S. Department of Education Office of Elementary and Secondary Education for 2023-2028. Led by PI Janine Jones, PhD, this grant aims to diversify the workforce of School Psychologists through a partnership with Seattle Public Schools (SPS). The initiative focuses on recruiting, preparing, mentoring, and employing Black male school psychologists. Currently, eight Black male students have been admitted into the Educational Specialist degree program, with an additional four to join in 2025. These 12 students will receive full funding to complete the three-year, fee-based EdS program and are guaranteed employment in Seattle Public Schools upon graduation.
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Dr. Janine Jones at the Black School Psychologist’s Summit in Atlanta, GA, in April 2024.
Dr. Jones was honored to receive the Black Futures Award, recognizing her contributions
to the field of School Psychology. During her acceptance speech, she acknowledged our outstanding Fellows.
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Thank you to our amazing Summer Interns! Your hard work, creativity, and enthusiasm have made a huge impact. We appreciate your dedication and fresh perspectives. Wishing you all the best in your future endeavors!
- Davi Cross
- Evelyn Williamson
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DREAMI (Designing Real-world, Effective Approaches for Multilevel Implementation) one of our research teams, hosted an undergraduate intern from Michigan State University, Davi Cross, in June and July to get experience with implementation science. DREAMI also welcomed Kat Bruzios, our new postdoc at SMART and the UW ALACRITY Center.
This picture is from our welcome outing in July!
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SEPTEMBER
Suicide Prevention Month
The focus on suicide prevention at the start of the school year reminds us to have resources available for students as they navigate heading back to school and to know the signs and risk factors so students can be promptly connected to help. National Alliance on Mental Health (NAMI) provides a wealth of information.
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Hispanic Heritage Month
Throughout this month, we celebrate the histories, cultures, and contributions of American citizens whose ancestors came from Spain, Mexico, the Caribbean, and Central and South America. The date range signifies the anniversaries of independence for multiple Latin American countries. Learn more
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OCTOBER
Principal Appreciation Month
Three cheers to the amazing leaders of our K-12 schools. While we appreciate them all year long, this month we make sure they know it! Access resources
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National Bullying Prevention Month
There is no shortage of bullying prevention materials. The National Child Traumatic Stress Network offers a variety of useful, culturally-responsive toolkits for educators. Find them Here
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Native American Heritage Month
Throughout November we pay tribute to the rich ancestry and traditions of Native Americans. This Teacher/Educator's Guide is from the National Endowment for the Humanities.
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NOVEMBER
School Psychologist Week | Nov. 11-15
This year’s theme is “Spark Discovery.” The National Association of School Psychologists provides a variety of Resources
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Education Support Professionals | Nov. 20
Honoring paraeducators and other ESPs for their exceptional service to their
school communities. Ideas for celebrating
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Over the summer, Principal Investigator and SMARTie Dr. Jill Locke was awarded the following two research grants: | |
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1. Helping Educational Leaders Mobilize Evidence (HELM) Efficacy Trial
The purpose of this Impact Trial is to test the effectiveness of the Helping Educational Leaders Mobilize Evidence (HELM) implementation strategy in school-wide implementation of a Tier 1 evidence-based practice (EBP) – Positive Behavioral Interventions and Supports (PBIS) – relative to an implementation attention control (IAC) condition.
The entirety of this study is funded by a four-year IES award totaling $3,999,987.
2. School-Based Paraeducator Education for Engagement at Recess (SPEER) Efficacy Trial
The purpose of the proposed three-site study is to test whether an educator-level implementation strategy, coaching, with or without a school-level implementation strategy, school-based teams, will maximize paraeducators’ use (fidelity and sustainment) of an evidence-based social engagement intervention, Remaking Recess (RR). RR aims to improve peer related social skills for autistic students and their non-autistic peers who are socially isolated or peripheral and need support during recess.
The entirety of this study is funded by a five-year IES award totaling $3,999,989.
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NEW! Findings from Phase 1 of the ASD PREP Study
In the first phase of our Preparing Teachers and Paraprofessionals for the Successful Inclusion of Children With ASD (ASD PREP) study, we collected 86 surveys and conducted 81 interviews with General Education Teachers, Special Education Teachers, and Paraeducators in Washington state about which evidence-based practices they have heard of, been trained in, and used to include and retain autistic children in general education settings more meaningfully. We found that the four most used evidence-based practices among our respondents were reinforcement (97.7%), modeling (94.2%), visual supports (86.0%), and antecedent-based interventions (76.6%).
There was a discrepancy between the terminology used in autism research
and educators' implementation. These findings suggest that general education teachers may need more exposure to and training in autism-specific EBPs given the increased prevalence and high likelihood that autistic children will be included in their classrooms.
Locke, J., Hernandez, A.M., Joshi, M., **Hugh, M.L., **Bravo, A., **Osuna, A., and Pullmann, M.D. (2022). Supporting the inclusion and retention of autistic students: Exploring teachers' and paraeducators' use of evidence-based practices in public elementary schools. Frontiers in Psychiatry - Autism, 13, 961219.
The entirety of the ASD PREP study was funded by a four-year IES Exploration Award, totaling $1,399,375. PI: Jill Locke, PhD.
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Participate in UW College of Education’s iBESTT Tool Study
A team of University of Washington College of Education researchers, led by Carol Davis, is looking for schools interested in helping us test the effectiveness of an online app — iBESTT. The app helps school teams and teachers collaborate to develop and implement positive behavior supports in the classroom.
Participants will receive free training and ongoing support related to individualized behavior interventions and free access to a collaboration app designed by educators and researchers. See the flyer or email ibesttstudy@uw.edu to learn more.
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Washington's Universal Social, Emotional, Behavioral, and Mental Health (SEBMH) Screening Legislative Proviso
Did you know the Washington State Legislature passed a law in 2014 around social, emotional, behavioral and mental health screening? RCW 28A.320.127 describes the Plan for Recognition, Screening and Response to Emotional or Behavioral Distress in Students, Including Possible Sexual Abuse. The legislation calls for school districts to have a plan that addresses multiple components of screening. In 2022, the Washington Office of Superintendent of Public Instruction (OSPI), in collaboration with UW SMART and Forefront Suicide Prevention, updated the Model District Template for Student Social, Emotional, and Behavioral, and Mental Health Recognition, Screening, and Response to broaden the focus to include universal SEBMH screening following recommendations from the 2021 K-12 Behavioral Health Audit.
In 2024, SMART Center, in collaboration with the Washington State Legislature and the Washington Office of Superintendent of Public Instruction (OSPI), is conducting a landscape analysis to understand universal Social, Emotional, Behavioral and Mental Health (SEBMH) screening practices in Washington. SMART will provide a report of this scan to the Legislature on December 1, 2024, and will develop a guidance document inclusive of best practices by June 30, 2025. You can read more about the proviso on page 792 of the Engrossed Substitute Senate Bill 5950-Operating Budget 2023-2025.
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The Training and Technical Assistance (TAC) Unit made the conference rounds this summer.
TAC partnered with Dr. Carol Davis to host a table at the Integrated MTSS Conference in Pullman, WA. The OSPI and Washington Association of School Administrators (WASA) conference, “Empowering Excellence: Co-Designing Systems through Instructional Leadership,” featured multiple SMARTies. Core Faculty Dr. Kurt Hatch kicked off the conference with a keynote address, and Dr. Carol Davis and Rayann Silva promoted iBESTT, an IES-funded study to enhance Tier 3 implementation to educators across the state.
TAC trainers then traveled to Butte, Montana for an invited presentation on supporting school systems with Tier 1 data, systems, and practices at the Jeremy Bullock Safe Schools Summit, created in memory of a 1990’s school shooting victim.
Finally, TAC trainers traveled to Yakima, Washington for an invited presentation on Scaling Universal Screening in Washington State at the ESD105 Better Together Leadership Summit. This served as an excellent opportunity to bolster relationships with superintendents across the region and share all the ways in which SMART can support their leadership and districts.
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TAC Trainers co-presenting on universal screening with ESD 105 at the Better Together Leadership Summit.
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UPCOMING EVENTS FEATURING SMART | |
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Throughout the fall, the following conferences are featuring presentations by SMART Center faculty and staff:
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In addition to research and training, the SMART Center works to influence the policy landscape that determines how mental health supports are delivered in schools at a local, state and national level. We are developing our 2025 policy agenda and look forward to sharing it with you in January. In the meantime, we invite you to review our case for school mental health policy brief and past recommendations.
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As schools prepare for the 2024-25 academic year, the MHTTC School Mental Health (SMH) Initiative has released three new resource collections that focus on various priorities facing schools across the country. Each includes resources developed by the SMART Center faculty, staff and consulting partners.
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Recruitment and Retention of School Mental Health Providers of Color: Studies have shown that student outcomes improve for all students by ensuring that students are exposed to, and learn from, school mental health providers and educators with diverse backgrounds. This resource collection highlights several MHTTC-developed resources to help schools and school districts recruit, retain, and increase the diversity of their school mental health providers.
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School Violence: School violence describes violent acts that disrupt learning and have a negative effect on students, schools, and the broader community. School is the location where the violence occurs, not a type of violence. Examples of school violence include bullying and cyberbullying, fighting (e.g., punching, slapping, kicking), weapon use, gang violence, and sexual violence (CDC, 2021). This resource collection highlights several MHTTC-developed resources related to school violence and student mental health.
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Case Identification and Community Case Detection: Case identification and community case detection within a school setting encompasses a comprehensive approach that combines responsible and trauma-informed screening and assessment in educational environments, with the active involvement of key informants from students' homes and communities. This resource collection highlights several MHTTC-developed resources designed to help with case identification and community case detection – tools for creating safe and healthy schools.
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Last month, the MHTTC Network's SMH Initiative hosted a two-part conversation series, Healing School Communities in the Context of Faith-Based Bullying. This series was intended for students, families, educators, and school mental health professionals who are navigating the ongoing impact of faith-based bullying on student and staff mental health.
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Navigating discussions which are grounded in advancing belonging and preventing/intervening in faith-based bullying both in and out of school;
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Elevating strategies for communicating and engaging in the ongoing work to support the mental health of students and school mental health professionals which are grounded in community wisdom and build upon protective factors, both in and out of school;
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Developing spaces which engender opportunities for the field to improve its commitment to fostering a workforce ready, able and willing to hold faith-based bullying as a mental health issue in a way that is founded in community strengths and wisdom while supporting and building protective factors.
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Introducing a set of tools to navigate this moment while minimizing more harm.
Access the recordings for Session 1 and Session 2 here!
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NATIONAL ARTICLES, TOOLS & RESOURCES | |
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Guidance at a Glance documents from National Association of School Psychologists (NASP). These documents provide concise, actionable information on various topics like crisis response, grief, and cyberbullying. These are great resources to enhance your support systems for students and staff, ensuring a safer and more supportive learning environment.
National Disasters Resources
The National Association of School Psychologists (NASP) provides comprehensive natural disaster resources to help schools and districts
support their students and communities during and after crises. Utilizing
these resources ensures that schools can effectively address the emotional
and psychological needs of students, fostering a safer and more resilient learning environment.
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Making Sense of Health Privacy Laws: HIPAA and FERPA for School-Based Health Professionals
September 19, 2024 - 10-11:30 a.m. PT
To assist mental health professionals working in schools in understanding how the federal health privacy laws apply to student mental health information, the Mental Health Technology Transfer Center (MHTTC) Network and the Center of Excellence for Protected Health Information (CoE-PHI) are hosting a 90-minute virtual training.
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The SMART Center is pleased to share the following videos and publications released during the past year. | |
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Stories from the Field: Central School District (Oregon)
Through this short documentary-style story, we highlight Central School District's journey towards holistic health and wellness. Through the collaborative efforts of the district's leadership, educators, students, and community members, innovative approaches such as Positive Behavioral Interventions and Supports (PBIS) and the Interconnected Systems Framework (ISF) are making a positive impact on the lives of individuals and the broader community.
Watch video
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Remaking Recess|Autism Intervention Research Network in Behavioral Health (AIR_B)
This video shares testimonials from our participating educators about what Remaking Recess is and how
it helped their students and staff.
Watch Video
Learn more at our website: www.airbnetwork.org
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Ahlers, K., Hugh, M.L., Eayrs, C., Tagavi, D., Hernandez, A., Ho, T., & Locke, J. (2023). On an island by myself: Implications for the inclusion of autistic students in self-contained classrooms in public elementary schools. Frontiers in Psychiatry, 14, 1241892. https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyt.2023.1241899
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Collins, V. K., Corbin, C. M., Locke, J. J., Cook, C. R., Ehrhart, M. G., Hatch, K. G., & Lyon, A. R. (in press). Centering school leaders’ expertise: Usability evaluation of a leadership-focused implementation strategy to support tier 1 programs in schools. School Mental Health. https://doi.org/10.1007/s12310-024-09635-z
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Corbin, C. M., Lyon, A. R. Collins, V. K., Ehrhart, M. G., Goosey, R. Locke, J. (in press). The Incremental Benefit of Implementation Leadership and School Personnel Burnout Beyond Transformational Leadership. School Psychology. https://doi.org/10.1037/spq0000577
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Hernandez, A.M., Michael, O., Canning, G., Joshi, M., Osuna, A., & Locke, J. (2023). Educators’ experiences and reflections on the implementation of evidence-based practices for autistic students in public schools during the COVID-19 pandemic. Implementation Research and Practice, 24, 4. https://doi.org/10.1177/26334895231189197
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Linkous, O., Soon, K., Shih, W., Lee, J., Shih, W., Bearss, K., Kasari, C., & Locke, J. (in press). Short report: Examining race, ethnicity, sex, and gender among autistic youth and their educators who participated in school-based research. Autism. https://doi.org/10.1177/13623613241262144
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Locke, J., Corbin, C., Collins, V., Ehrhart, M.G., Goosey, R., Hatch, K., Espeland, C., Cook, C.R., & Lyon, A.R. (in press). Helping Educational Leadership Mobilize Evidence (HELM): The iterative redesign of the Leadership for Organizational Change for Implementation (LOCI) intervention for use in schools. Implementation Research and Practice. https://doi.org/10.1177/26334895241242523
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Locke, J., Michael, O., Holt, T., Drahota, A., & Dickson, K. (in press). Redesigning an autism evidence-based practice implementation toolkit for middle and high schools. School Mental Health. https://doi.org/10.1007/s12310-024-09657-7
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Lyon, A. R., Cook, C. R., Larson, M., Hugh, M. L., Dopp, A., Hamlin, C., Reinke, P., Bose, M., Law, A., Goosey, R., Goerdt, A., Morrell, N., Wackerle-Hollman, A., & Pullmann, M. D. (2024). Protocol for a hybrid type 3 effectiveness-implementation trial of a pragmatic individual-level implementation strategy for supporting school-based prevention programming. Implementation Science, 19, 2. https://doi.org/10.1186/s13012-023-01330-y
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Tagavi, D., Ahlers, K., Bravo, A., McVey, A., & Locke, J. (2023). Concordance of multiple informant assessment of school-based social skills intervention and association with child outcomes: Results from a randomized trial. Implementation Research and Practice, 4, 1-14. https://doi.org/10.1177/26334895231154289
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Tagavi, D., Harbin, S.G., Hugh, M.L., Hernandez, A.M., Joshi, M., Pullmann, M.D., & Locke, J. (in press). Examining professional development for special education teachers, general education teachers, and paraeducators who support autistic elementary students. Evidence-Based Practice in Child and Adolescent Mental Health. https://doi.org/10.1080/23794925.2024.2378419
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The UW SMART Center specializes in promoting high-quality, culturally-responsive
programs to meet the social, emotional, and behavioral needs of all students.
Stay informed and inspired by subscribing to our quarterly newsletter.
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