Improving Education Today: The Deep Dive

Angela and Davey address the alarming mental health and social-emotional challenges facing U.S. students, citing a CDC report showing significant increases in sadness, hopelessness, violence, and bullying. Building from Dr. Howie Knoff's August 24, 2024 blog, they advocate for a comprehensive, evidence-based social skills program, implemented from preschool through high school, as a foundational element for addressing these issues. 

Your Hosts discuss why applications using cognitive-behavioral and social learning theory, help build essential self-management skills in students. . . improving their social-emotional well-being. They cite Dr. Howie's emphasis on the need for schools to adopt effective, evidence-based programs, such as his "Stop & Think Social Skills Program" as an example .

Angela and Davey's overall message emphasizes the urgency of proactive intervention to support students' mental and emotional health.

Davey and Angela compare the success of the U.S. Women's 2024 gold-winning Olympic Gymnastics team to what schools need to do to attain comprehensive levels of school success. 

Using Dr. Howie Knoff's August 10, 2024 blog as a jumping off point, your Hosts emphasize that creating a "winning" school requires teamwork, coordination between staff, and a focus on student well-being. They additional note that successful schools maintain high-quality instruction at every grade level, seamless transitions between teachers and across grade levels, and explicit social-emotional instruction.

The comparison highlights the need for collective effort, the need to directly address weaknesses, and preparing students (and staff) to perform under pressure. Critically, this is exactly how Olympic athletes train for their success.

Ultimately, Davey and Angela encourage educators to reflect on their school's collaborative spirit, preparation, and consistent focus on student success.

Angela and Davey discuss one of the most concerning topics in education today: Students' school and classroom behavior and interpersonal interactions.

Angela and Davey caution that many schools are implementing ineffective interventions to address these issues, and they advocate for a data-driven, root-cause analysis approach to address these problems. 

They also emphasize the need to explicitly teach students from preschool through high school social-emotional skills, arguing that this instruction requires the same rigor as literacy instruction. 

Finally, they stress the importance of proactive, evidence-based strategies, rather than reactive, random interventions, to achieve lasting positive change in student behavior. Angela and Davey use three quotes from one of Dr. Howie's recent conference presentations to illustrate key points.

Davey and Angela discuss school improvement, and the "Seven Sure Solutions". . . the evidenced-based components. . . that have been proven to facilitate school success in schools across the country.

Guided by Dr. Howie Knoff's July 13, 2024 blog post, your Hosts critique the narrow definition of school success that is solely based on standardized test scores. In doing this, they highlight the significant number of students that are still struggling academically, socially, emotionally, and behaviorally, even in high-performing schools.

Advocating for a more comprehensive and proven approach, they describe the seven-solution blueprint for continuous school improvement. This blueprint emphasizes strategic planning, community involvement, robust professional development, effective instruction in academics and behavior, multi-tiered support systems, and rigorous data-driven evaluation.

The ultimate goal is to maximize the potential of every student by moving beyond superficial metrics of success and implementing evidence-based practices. They note that while too many schools still focus on how many students “pass the state test,” they need to focus instead on helping students to be proficient and prepared for their post-graduation lives.

Davey and Angela take on the topic of teaching students social skills in school and how to do this. They do this by critically reviewing the June 22, 2024 blog post by Dr. Howie Knoff. Dr. Howie advocates for a behavioral approach to teaching social skills in schools, particularly to pre-K through 3rd-grade students.

Your Hosts echo Dr. Howie noting that current social-emotional learning (SEL) programs often lack the necessary behavioral instruction and practice to produce lasting change. They emphasize the importance of explicitly teaching specific social skills, using a structured, evidence-based program like his "Stop & Think Social Skills Program."

The "Stop & Think Program" has been an evidence-based (through SAMHSA) and CASEL-approved (since 2005) curriculum that incorporates modeling, role-playing, feedback, and transfer into applied classroom and school setting. The curriculum's success relies on a five-step universal language that embeds specific social skill steps.

The universal language has students telling themselves to: Stop and Think, Consider their Good or Bad Choices, Identify the Choices/Steps they need to make, Do It, and Tell themselves they did a Good Job.

Davey and Angela detail the scientific basis and practical application of teaching social skills in general education classrooms, highlighting the importance of consistent teacher fidelity and multi-tiered support systems for students.

In today's Program, Angela and Davey summarizes a June 8, 2024 Blog post by Dr. Howie Knoff explaining Title IX's requirements regarding sexual harassment in schools. They highlight the frequent lack of awareness among school officials regarding Title IX's specific procedures and responsibilities--even though it is Federal law.

Their discussion details Title IX's definitions of key terms, such as sexual harassment and formal complaint, and they outline the required steps for handling Title IX Sexual Harassment allegations.  They also emphasize the importance of prompt responses, supportive measures for complainants, and equitable investigative processes.

Finally, Angela and Davey discuss how Dr. Howie addresses the psychological impact of sexual harassment on victims, including secondary victimization resulting from inadequate responses--advocating for a preventative approach through education and proactive measures.

Angela and Davey tackle the challenging topic of increasing student engagement. Using Dr. Howie Knoff's May 25, 2024 Blog message as a guide, they advocate for proactive measures to address student disengagement. They also emphasize the importance of planning interventions well in advance of the new school year, beginning even the prior April and May. 

They discuss Dr. Howie's suggestions for a multi-faceted approach to improving student engagement, including defining specific disengagement behaviors, analyzing root causes using a "RIOTS" framework (Review, Interview, Observe, Talk, Survey), and employing the U.S. Department of Education's ED School Climate Survey. 

A whole-school effort with integrated interventions is suggested, incorporating various staff members and peer support, and focusing on relationship building and positive school climate during the first days of school and potentially even during the summer. The ultimate goal is to prevent summer disengagement from worsening and to create a more engaging school environment on the FIRST day of the new school year.

Davey and Angela outline Dr. Howie Knoff's May 11, 2024 Blog and his critique of ineffective Multi-Tiered Systems of Support (MTSS) practices in education. Dr. Howie argues that many companies market MTSS services without sufficient evidence of their effectiveness, comparing this to medical malpractice.

Your Hosts describe the Blog's MTSS "First Things First" protocol, emphasizing the comprehensive collection of data before intervention are designed and implemented--similar to how a doctor obtains a patient's medical history and runs medical, diagnostic tests.

Davey and Angela outline the principles for effective MTSS implementation, stressing data-driven decision-making and accountability for educators. They present a case study that applies these principles. . . and, ultimately, they emphasize the need for scientifically-based, evidence-driven approaches to improve student outcomes.

Angela and Davey reflect on Dr. Howie Knoff's April 27, 2024 Blog that uses the parable of the Sword of Damocles to illustrate the potentially devastating consequences of uncontrolled social media use.

They discuss how Dr. Howie details a colleague's public relations disaster stemming from an ill-advised social media post, highlighting the importance of humility, self-control, and thoughtful communication.

Your hosts offer five key takeaways for safe social media practices and discusses the role of algorithms in shaping online experiences. They relate all of this to schools and education, concluding by emphasizing the need for media literacy education to mitigate the risks associated with social media.

Dr. Howie Knoff's April 13, 2024 blog post details a day in his life as an educational consultant, reflecting on observations from a laundromat revealing the complex lives of students and their families.

He also discusses his work as an expert witness in special education cases, highlighting the challenges of supporting students with autism.

Listen to Angela and Davey as they reflect on the pervasive issue of learning loss and the overwhelming pressures faced by educators in under-resourced schools, particularly in rural areas.

Ultimately, the discussion and the post emphasize the need for realistic expectations and a collective effort to support students and staff, acknowledging that some challenges may not have easy solutions. Angela and Davey conclude by celebrating the dedication and resilience of educators.