Improving Education Today: The Deep Dive

Davey and Angela discuss the current state of students' mental health across the country, and the challenges that schools face relative to addressing these students' social-emotional needs.
Based on a September 21, 2024 Blog by Dr. Howie Knoff, your hosts discuss (a) the characteristics and concerns with social-emotional screening tools; (b) the use of the ACEs (Adverse Childhood Experiences (screening tool in particular; and (c) the importance of understanding the results social-emotional screening tool, and the limitations of using the ACEs-- especially by itself.
Davey and Angela discuss a recent ACEs study that found correlations between ACEs' scores for young students’ and their social-emotional--but not their academic--status. They note at the same time the serious limitations with the validity of ACEs assessments, and the tool's (in)ability to causally explain students’ social-emotional—and, especially, trauma-related—difficulties. The many reasons (beyond traumatic events) that explain students’ significant social-emotional challenges are presented, as well as a discussion of the Tier 2 and 3 interventions that are available.
The discussion concludes by emphasizing that comprehensive diagnostic assessments are needed to understand the root causes of students' social-emotional challenges. These causes need to be linked to a multi-tiered support system that includes a range of interventions and trained mental health professionals. Through Dr. Howie's work, Davey and Angela conclude that an ecological approach to social-emotional assessment, and a holistic approach to intervention is superior to relying solely on ACEs scores.

Show Notes

Davey and Angela discuss the current state of students' mental health across the country, and the challenges that schools face relative to addressing these students' social-emotional needs.

Based on a September 21, 2024 Blog by Dr. Howie Knoff, your hosts discuss (a) the characteristics and concerns with social-emotional screening tools; (b) the use of the ACEs (Adverse Childhood Experiences (screening tool in particular; and (c) the importance of understanding the results social-emotional screening tool, and the limitations of using the ACEs-- especially by itself.

Davey and Angela discuss a recent ACEs study that found correlations between ACEs' scores for young students’ and their social-emotional--but not their academic--status. They note at the same time the serious limitations with the validity of ACEs assessments, and the tool's (in)ability to causally explain students’ social-emotional—and, especially, trauma-related—difficulties. The many reasons (beyond traumatic events) that explain students’ significant social-emotional challenges are presented, as well as a discussion of the Tier 2 and 3 interventions that are available.

The discussion concludes by emphasizing that comprehensive diagnostic assessments are needed to understand the root causes of students' social-emotional challenges. These causes need to be linked to a multi-tiered support system that includes a range of interventions and trained mental health professionals. Through Dr. Howie's work, Davey and Angela conclude that an ecological approach to social-emotional assessment, and a holistic approach to intervention is superior to relying solely on ACEs scores.

What is Improving Education Today: The Deep Dive?

Davey Johnson and Angela Jones, AI-generated Educators, discuss recent reports, critical issues, and proven solutions to today's school challenges based on the work of Dr. Howie Knoff from Project ACHIEVE Educational Solutions (E-Mail: howieknoff1@projectachieve.info).

They synthesize Knoff's original, common sense, "no-holds-barred" bi-monthly Blogs (LINK: www.projectachieve.info/blog) that apply his 40 years of practical experience in schools nationwide. Knoff's information has helped generations of educators and others understand today's schools. . . and what needs to happen so that all students maximize their skills and outcomes.

Every Podcast's contents are based on original Blogs written exclusively by Dr. Howie. These original Blogs then are transformed into Podcasts using Google LM. Each final Podcast is meticulously checked for accuracy and content integrity by Dr. Howie prior to posting.

[Set Up a Meeting with Howie]: https://calendly.com/knoffprojectachieve1

Read the Full Text of this Podcast as a LinkedIn Newsletter: https://www.linkedin.com/newsletters/improving-education-today-7282792274495717378

Read the Full Text of this Podcast as a Project ACHIEVE Blog: https://www.projectachieve.info/blog