As schools across the United States work to mitigate the impact of violence within their communities and establish school-based prevention programs, many seek assistance from federal grants. One such grant is the Department of Education’s Project Prevent grant, which awarded a third cohort in 2022 with funds to increase their capacity to identify, assess, and serve students exposed to pervasive violence, help to ensure that affected students are offered mental health services for trauma or anxiety; support conflict resolution programs; and implement other school–based violence prevention strategies in order to reduce the likelihood that these students will later commit violent acts. One grantee from this cohort is NCSSLE’s Scotland County School System in North Carolina.

On this episode of “In Session,” we speak with Dr. Patricia McLean, Project Director of Scotland County’s Project Prevent program, about her reflections on year one of the grant. Dr. McLean reflects on challenges she and her team overcame, her most proud accomplishment with the grant, and shares many words of wisdom collected along the way.

0:55 - Introduction & Background
4:00 - Why Scotland County Applied for the P2C3 Grant
6:00 - Challenges With Staffing
7:11 - Biggest Accomplishment
8:23 - Lessons Learned & Advice for New Project Directors
16:26 - Plans for Next Year
18:30 - Closing

For all questions or feedback, you can email ncssle@air.org. Thanks for listening!

Please note, the contents of this podcast do not necessarily represent the policy or views of the U.S. Department of Education, nor does it imply endorsement by the U.S. Department of Education.

As the United States contends with a mental health crisis, schools have been actively working to hire, train and retain school mental health professionals. To support this process, one of NCSSLE’s School Based Mental Health Services grantees, funded in 2020, the Hawaii Department of Education, in collaboration with Chaminade University, created an Education Psychology doctoral program as well as the state’s first ever School Psychology program to start a pipeline of trained mental health professionals for their state’s schools.

On this episode of “In Session,” we talk to Ayada Bonilla from the Hawaii Department of Education about the state’s homegrown educational psychology doctoral and school psychology programs. This conversation is guided by NCSSLE’s Annie Knowles and Brianna Cunniff. To learn more about the programs, read Hawaii’s Grantee Highlight.

0:45 - About Ayada and Hawaii
3:55 - Creating the Doctoral Programs to Address Student Needs
7:37 - Impact of the Programs
8:40 - Recruitment & Retention
10:19 - Lessons Learned and Challenges
14:05 - Virtual Learning Opportunity
14:55 - Future Plans & Sustainability
17:28 - Using Data to Improve
20:30 - Dissertations as System Research
21:48 - Closing

For all questions or feedback, you can email ncssle@air.org. Thanks for listening!

Please note, the contents of this podcast do not necessarily represent the policy or views of the U.S. Department of Education, nor does it imply endorsement by the U.S. Department of Education.

As schools across the United States work to mitigate the impact of violence within their communities, restorative practices have become a popular strategy. One of NCSSLE’s Project Prevent (Cohort 3) grantees, Dougherty County School System in Albany, Georgia, has shown great success in this effort by implementing restorative practices in their elementary schools.

On this episode of “In Session,” we speak with a team from Dougherty County School System, a Project Prevent (Cohort 3) grantee, about the district’s successful implementation of restorative practices using district-wide training and professional development. The team includes Kelly Hand, the director of the grant, along with Dr. Charles Flowers, the district’s trainer and facilitator of restorative practices; Dr. Narkisa Howard, Principal of West Town Elementary School; Tina Hood, School Counselor at Lake Park Elementary School; and Wendy Williams, fourth grade teacher at Sherwood Acres Elementary School. This conversation is guided by Annie Knowles.

Learn more about Dougherty County School System by reading their Grantee Highlight.

1:21 - Introductions
2:56 - The Key Principles of Restorative Practices
5:11 - Common Challenges Schools Face When Implementing Restorative Practices
8:28 - Progress at West Town Elementary
9:49 - “The Five R’s”
10:51 - Why We Need Restorative Practices
12:13 - Impact of Restorative Circles at Sherwood Acres
16:30 - Examples of Strategies
18:12 - Practical Tips for Educators & School Communities
22:51 - Buy-In & Prioritization
25:15 - Measuring Success
28:58 - Closing

For all questions or feedback, you can email ncssle@air.org. Thanks for listening!

Please note, this podcast does not necessarily represent the policy or views of the U.S. Department of Education, nor does it imply endorsement by the U.S. Department of Education.