Schools' Mental Health

Services and Young

Children's Emotions,
Behavior, and Learning
(2010)
Bridget Goulding
Importance
● Behavioral & psychological disorders ● Benefits
affect … ● Higher test scores
● Educational attainment ● Better mental health
● Test scores ● Better behavior
● Juvenile delinquency ● Decrease in interruptions
● Interrupt classroom ○ Misbehavior
○ Skipping class
○ Fights
○ Stealing
○ Drug use

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 Michigan
Student/Counselor
Ratio: 250:1
Obtained from American School Counselor
Association
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Who receives counseling?
● Most likely demographic
○ Male, Non-Asian, single parent or divorced parent household
● Sample of 3rd grade students that receive counseling services
○ 14% White
○ 15.9% African American
○ 9.8% Hispanic
○ 15.8% ‘other race’
● Changes in household: divorce, separation, birth, death, sibling moving out
● Changes to residence: perform worse on tests
○ If large % of students are new to school, overall student performance declines

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 Increased Need For
Counseling
Separation/Death of parent between 1st and
3rd grades
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Special Education
● IEPs
○ May require students to engage in counseling services
● Over 26.4% of students with IEPs receive services
● If IEP specifies need to modify students’ behavior: 62.7%

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Geography
● Lower in Northeastern and Western USA
● Higher in medium cites as opposed to large/small/rural
● High in middle class
● Low in districts with median funding
● Districts with high or low funding have similar rates
○ Resources of high funding, necessity of low funding
● Greater coverage in states with centralized funding, lower % of adults that dropped out of
HS, not located in large cities

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 What to Take From This
Mental Health Matters!

● Observe your students’ behaviors

● Understand warning signs of declining mental health
○ Irritability, acting out, difficulties at home, new student, bullies, violence in
school/home/community
● Advocate for your students
● Familiarize self with your schools’ resources
● YOU will be a mandated reporter!
● Record, record, record
● Brainstorm ways to improve students’ mental health beginning in classroom
Some Ideas for Your Classroom
● Soft lighting ● Books about mental health
○ Students on the spectrum ● Books about ‘hard topics’ (age
● Flexible seating appropriate)
● Fidget toys ○ Divorce
● Differentiated Instruction ○ Death
● Stress management lessons ○ SA
● Emotional literacy ○ Domestic violence
● Spend time outdoors ○ Homelessness
● Meditation, breathing exercises ○ Natural disaster
● Wind down at end of day ○ Neglect
● Journals for personal use ○ Chronic illnesses
○ “Freedom Writers” Movie
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 Thank you!
Reback, Randall. “Schools’ Mental Health Services and
Young Children’s Emotions, Behavior, and Learning.”
Journal of Policy Analysis and Management, vol. 29, no.
4, 2010, pp. 698–725. JSTOR,
http://www.jstor.org/stable/40802188.

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