There are many benefits of having a building-level problem-solving team with professionals from different disciplines. The first being that brainstorming with others provides more ideas and strategies than just one perspective; the whole ‘two heads are better than one’ mentality. Tying to that would be the benefit of teachers and colleagues working collaboratively toward a common goal. Often times at school sites, the grade levels are divided, each doing their own work and only coming together for the requisite staff meetings. Spanning the grade levels, and including professionals at our school sites that have other areas of expertise, would not only encourage the building of ideas but also strengthen the teamwork at the school. Finally, meeting on a regular or scheduled basis allows for the continued conversations and learning from one another and keeping on track with the shared goal.
The types of behavioral and mental health professionals who are available to most school districts include the counselor, psychologist, paraprofessionals, and school nurse. At my school site our counselors are only here part time, two days a week and I believe our school psychologist is only at our campus on Fridays. If there is a student whose IEP requires that they have access to a counselor or psychologist on campus, I feel that this may not be enough time for them. It would be great if we had multiple mental health professionals on staff every day since we cannot pick and choose which day a student will and will not need assistance. Children should be able to grow and learn in the least restrictive environment and “school psychologists have the potential to help far more children thrive socially and emotionally” (Froiland, 2011, p. 41). If the school does not have the right behavioral or mental health intervention professionals available then they would and should have to reach to outside or private sources to provide the required services.
It is important to use a data-based problem-solving approach because it helps to pinpoint exactly what the need is rather than blindly guessing and wasting valuable time on something that may not need attention. Communication with grade level teams, reviewing the collected data, and guidance from other professionals on campus can show that there were steps taken before automatically jumping to office or special education referrals. Multi tiered systems of support such as response to intervention (RTI) and positive behavior support systems (PBSS) are in place at school sites as preventative interventions that use data to determine the best solutions. (Ziomek-Daigle, Goodman-Scott, Cavin, & Donohue, 2016) Even though it may take more time to identify and develop needed interventions, it is better to have spent the time wisely to achieve the best results, than to have rushed into several different strategies that may not work.
References
Froiland, J. M. (2011). Response to Intervention as a Vehicle for Powerful Mental Health Interventions in the Schools. Contemporary School Psychology, 15, 35-42.
Ziomek-Daigle, J., Goodman-Scott, E., Cavin, J., & Donohue, P. (2016). Integrating a Multi-Tiered System of Supports With Comprehensive School Counseling Programs. The Professional Counselor, 6(3), 220-232. http://dx.doi.org/10.15241/jzd.6.3.220
