Interconnecting District and Community Partners to Improve School-Level Social, Emotional, and Behavioral Health.

Abstract

School districts face growing demands to address the academic, social, emotional, and behavioral health needs of all students, including meeting state mandates such as bullying prevention, suicide prevention, trauma response, and behavioral threat assessment. These needs have intensified since the COVID-19 pandemic, often resulting in fragmented and inefficient planning. The Interconnected Systems Framework (ISF) offers a structure for uniting district and community efforts into a single, integrated system of support. While research has expanded on the effectiveness of the ISF and resources have defined installation steps, the process is often arduous and challenging to notice progress and maintain momentum in action planning. This study examines the use of the ISF District-Community Leadership Team (DCLT) Installation Progress Monitoring Tool as a means to provide district and community leaders with concrete data to monitor progress and inform evaluation and action plans. Findings highlight the tool's potential to strengthen installation processes, promote data-informed decision-making, and improve alignment of resources to impact student and school outcomes.