Schools are faced with increasing numbers of children who are struggling with social, emotional, and behavioral difficulties in the classroom, which puts heavy demands on teachers and administrators. Outcomes for children with emotional and behavioral disorders are generally poor, and teachers feel that they do not have enough resources and training to handle the level of need of students in their classrooms (Lipscomb et al., 2017). This session will provide educators with a review of necessary elements for successful classroom interventions, as well as practical strategies for implementing evidence-based Tier 1 and 2 interventions for students experiencing social, emotional, and/or behavioral difficulties.
More specifically, participants will learn how to identify evidence-based interventions (EBI’s) and will be provided readily available reliable sources for locating appropriate EBI’s online. Necessary intervention components such as intervention integrity/fidelity and progress monitoring will also be discussed. Participants will acquire practical Tier 1 prevention strategies for promoting positive mental health in their students. Topics discussed will include trauma-informed classrooms, the importance of relationship-building, and strategies for prevention of depression and anxiety, with a specific focus on social-emotional learning (Durlak et al., 2011).
Attendees will also learn about Tier 2 interventions for students at higher risk for social-emotional difficulties, including how to select interventions most likely to be effective. Guidelines for managing internalizing and externalizing behaviors in the classroom environment will be presented. Likewise, examples of specific evidence-based Tier 2 behavior interventions will be provided. Case examples will be used to illustrate the selected intervention examples. Participants in this session will leave with explicit strategies and interventions that they can implement in their schools
