September - 2019

Sep 14, 2019
4 min

Part 2: Understanding Self-Harm in Students (Treatment and Prevention)

By Didi Dunin, CEI Intern An understanding of the warning signs and appropriate means of intervention for non-suicidal self-injury (NSSI) can help reduce the incidence of this increasingly widespread behavior. Thankfully, more schools are recognizing this problem and taking action to reach students using NSSI to regulate their emotions. While intervention is essential, we know that prevention can be an even more powerful tool to help students better understand what to do with

Part 1: Understanding Self-Harm in Students

Didi Dunin

Sep 14, 2019
3 min

Part 1: Understanding Self-Harm in Students

By Didi Dunin, CEI Intern Parents and educators may not always recognize that their children or students, who outwardly seem happy and well-balanced, are practicing self-harm, but its prevalence makes it an important issue for adults to understand and address. Many youth turn to self-harm to alleviate the emotional pain they are experiencing. Approximately two million cases of self-injury are reported annually in the U.S., 90% of them beginning during teen or pre-adolescent y

Childhood Trauma Hearing: The House Oversight and Reform Committee

Center for Educational Improvement

Sep 11, 2019
4 min

Childhood Trauma Hearing: The House Oversight and Reform Committee

By Vien Nguyen, CEI Intern and Dana Asby, CEI Director of Innovation & Research Support “I was labeled as a troubled youth, when really I just needed someone to recognize I was being hurt” testified Creeanna Aviles-Rygg. A survivor-activist, Aviles-Rygg was one of many witnesses who spoke passionately in July in front of the Committee on Oversight and Reform (Aviles-Rygg, 2019), part of the United States House of Representatives. For the first time, the committee recognized t

Vermont’s Department of Mental Health is Leading the Way in New England

Center for Educational Improvement

Sep 10, 2019
5 min

Vermont’s Department of Mental Health is Leading the Way in New England

By Lauren Kiesel and Weng Yee Mooi, CEI Interns Vermont has made a large commitment to supporting its citizens’ mental health through initiatives launched by Vermont’s Department of Mental Health (DMH). The state’s DMH is innovative in its level of holistic compassion and positive goals and practices. Its vision is that “mental health will be a cornerstone of health in Vermont” and that “people will live in caring communities with compassion for and a determination to respon

Learning from Tragedy: How A Bullying-Related Teen Suicide Led to SEL Reform in Massachusetts

Center for Educational Improvement

Sep 10, 2019
5 min

Learning from Tragedy: How A Bullying-Related Teen Suicide Led to SEL Reform in Massachusetts

By Kaela Farrise, CEI Intern and Dana Asby, CEI Director of Innovation & Research Support This article is based on an interview with Jillayne (Jill) Flanders, former principal in South Hadley, MA, and currently an educational consultant (August 6, 2019). After a tragedy propelled her district into national news, Jill Flanders, then a school principal in South Hadley School District in Massachusetts, began to rethink her school’s priorities. She realized that excellence in wr

Featured Fellow: Erica McLaughlin Leads Teachers at Randolph Elementary to Become Trauma-Informed

Dana Asby

Sep 10, 2019
5 min

Featured Fellow: Erica McLaughlin Leads Teachers at Randolph Elementary to Become Trauma-Informed

By Dana Asby, CEI Director of Innovation & Research Support Erica McLaughlin, a C-TLC Fellow, is an elementary school principal and also a Vermont Principals Association Executive Council Board Member (August 5, 2019). Erica McLaughlin, principal of Randolph Elementary School in Vermont, has been on a journey to lead her staff in bringing mindfulness to her school. She emphasizes that while she is the principal, this is a journey that the entire school is on together. With s

The State of Mental Health in New England Schools: Innovations, Needs, and Future Directions

Center for Educational Improvement

Sep 10, 2019
6 min

The State of Mental Health in New England Schools: Innovations, Needs, and Future Directions

By Vien Nguyen, CEI Intern, William Foley, Jr., CEI Intern, and Dana Asby, CEI Director of Innovation & Research Support Is New England largely urban or rural? Poverty-stricken or wealthy? Stuck in the past or zooming into the future? The answer, like the region itself, is complex. New England, comprised of the six most northeastern states (Connecticut, Maine, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, Rhode Island, and Vermont) has unique resources and challenges that make navigating the

Helping Immigrant Children: How Educators Can Support Students Before & After an ICE Raid

Center for Educational Improvement

Sep 3, 2019
5 min

Helping Immigrant Children: How Educators Can Support Students Before & After an ICE Raid

By William Foley, Jr., CEI Intern and Dana Asby, CEI Director of Innovation & Research Support After the recent Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) raids in Mississippi, children left school to find their homes empty. With their parents gone, many relied on the kindness of strangers or relatives. While the events in Mississippi made headlines nationally because of their scale, these tactics are commonplace across the country. These raids are creating chaos in many commu