Mental Health and Well-Being

Students who are suspended or expelled can experience elevated rates of depression through their teen years and into early adulthood, according to research from sociologists at the University of Arkansas. 

Previous studies connect suspensions and expulsions to a range of poor academic outcomes, such as lower standardized test scores and graduation rates. But this study provides new insights into the impact on long-term mental health patterns, according to researchers. 

Some 786,600 K-12 students received one or more in-school suspensions and about 638,700 got one or more out-of-school suspensions in the 2020-21 school year, the most recent civil rights data from the U.S. Department of Education shows. The data also shows Black boys are disciplined at higher rates — representing 8% of K-12 enrollment, they receive 15% of in-school suspensions, 18% of out-of-school suspensions and 18% of expulsions.

The University of Arkansas research findings emphasize that exclusionary discipline is not only an educational concern but a significant public health issue that requires policy interventions.

“Broadly speaking, we definitely need discipline reform,” said Alexia Angton, assistant professor of sociology and criminology at the University of Arkansas, in a news release. “What can we put into place towards lessening the effects of suspension and expulsion down the line?”

The report highlights the significant role schools can play in protecting youth mental health by incorporating a holistic and compassionate approach to behavior issues.

Restorative justice, which works through relationship building rather than punishment, is one alternative. According to the National Center on Restorative Justice, restorative justice approaches include identifying needs and repairing harm, active accountability by taking responsibility, voluntary participation, and centering relationships and community so that all voices are heard and everyone is valued and respected.

Restorative justice is most impactful when it's not just used as an alternative to discipline, but as a schoolwide approach to student well-being, according to DeMointé Wesley, the center's assistant director of partnerships and communications and before that an educator at Chinquapin Preparatory School, a private college-prep school serving low-income students in Texas.

“Kids, in my opinion, spend far too much time at school for school to not feel like a place where they have really strong relationships,” Wesley said.

In a 2023 report, the Learning Policy Institute found that restorative practices improved academic achievement, behavior and school safety.

Wesley recommends that interested educators and administrators begin by reaching out to experts in the restorative justice field and learning about the practices as well as the skills and patience necessary for successful implementation.

Trying to use restorative justice in current school frameworks can be like "trying to shove a square peg in a round hole,” Wesley said. “Educators and school leaders are up against a lot, so I do just think it is a matter of taking the time and as much as possible restructuring and reprioritizing.”

Innovative schools have several themes in common: They anticipate challenges, maintain consistent schoolwide practices, and use evidence-based practices to solve problems that matter most to students and families, according to research released in December by the Center on Reinventing Public Education and Transcend.

While school reform efforts can help deliver student experiences that are more engaging, flexible and empowering, the report warns that factors outside of a school's control — such as funding and workforce pipelines — can derail innovative practices and sustainability.

The findings are part of the Canopy project that began in 2019 to collect, analyze and share self-reported educational solutions from traditional public, charter and private schools.

CRPE and Transcend, nonprofits that study school improvement and innovation, are currently tracking 319 innovative schools across the country, according to a data portal.

Since 2019, most schools participating in the Canopy project have adopted new practices to support student well-being and equity, deeper learning and postsecondary pathways — but in different stages, the report said. 

For example, at the height of the COVID-19 pandemic, schools prioritized equity and student mental health. More recently, they have focused on instructional approaches that provide complex problem-solving and hands-on experiences.

Canopy schools, which were nominated by organizations, were surveyed in spring 2019 and again in each spring 2021 through 2024. About 263 Canopy schools completed at least two of the five surveys. 

Key findings from Canopy schools' experiences include:

• Artificial intelligence. Schools are looking to AI to help personalize learning and ease some work burdens for teachers. However, most schools that reported using AI are doing so in limited ways for now.
• Blended learning. The use of online learning while students are in school buildings peaked in 2021 and has receded since.
• School-family partnerships. School leaders are seeking approaches that involve students and families in decision-making.
• Workforce worries. School administrators are concerned about finding teachers with the right training and background to teach in uncommon instructional models.
• Challenging policies. Existing policies around accountability, graduation requirements, teacher credentialing and scheduling are creating roadbumps toward innovation, school leaders said.

Of the schools surveyed in spring 2024, 84% said they were innovating to be on the "cutting edge." Other reasons included addressing: systemic inequities (59%), mental health concerns (49%) and lack of student agency (31%).

"The shortcomings of conventional school designs have only become more clear as achievement lags, adolescent mental health suffers, chronic absenteeism remains stubbornly high, and longstanding inequities widen," the report said.

The report also provided examples of improvement practices put in place at Canopy schools. Nowell Academy, a public charter high school in Providence, Rhode Island, for example, increased attendance rates by creating a support system for students that includes an on-site daycare, a 1-to-1 mentoring program, and instruction connecting classroom lessons to real-world applications.

To address friction among schools, families, students and teachers regarding student grades, Bennett Day School, a private K-12 school in Chicago, adopted a competency-based assessment system that measures achievement around personal growth and skill development. The school also minimized high stakes tests and implemented “demonstrations of learning” at the end of each trimester, according to the report.  

And at San Diego Met High School, a public high school in the San Diego Unified School District, students earn credits through internships with local mentors every semester. Students can also earn college credits by taking courses, tuition-free, at San Diego Mesa College, which is adjacent to the high school campus.

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By Sandy Hook Promise

As an educator, you know that the emotional impacts of bullying have been well documented. But there's another threat to student mental health that often occurs under the radar. Social isolation is a student's exclusion from common social interactions. These include things like lunch groups, class projects, and extracurricular activities. It can happen when students withdraw or are shunned or ignored by their peers.

Even if not meant by classmates to cause harm, social isolation can take a heavy toll. Mental health impacts include loneliness, low self-esteem, and community withdrawal. Prolonged patterns of isolation and rejection can increase the damage. This can contribute to outcomes such as depression, self-harm, and violent thoughts or actions.  

The connection to school violence is clear. A Clemson University study analyzed mass shootings in K-12 schools. It found that social isolation and rejection was something that all shooters had in common. Yet, according to the study’s lead author, students experiencing isolation can be hard to identify:

“A lot of times, kids who create a lot of the disciplinary problems are kids who were sort of instigators with groups that they’re a part of. Whereas, [school shooters] are ... just kind of along the periphery, so they’re not really creating any issues, because they’re just kind of hiding in the background.”

-- Dr. Robin Kowalski, Ph.D., Centennial Professor of Psychology, Clemson University

So, how can school leaders help ensure that all students feel seen, heard, and valued?

• Promote Belonging. Implement programs that teach social awareness, empathy, emotional regulation, and peaceful conflict resolution. Encourage teachers and other school staff to model supportive social behaviors.

• Provide Opportunities to Connect. Plan events that provide easy ways for students to interact. These can encourage students to meet peers outside their usual social circle. Peer mentoring can help students through social challenges and build positive relationships. Student-led clubs and support groups can create new connections through shared interests and common experiences. 

• Support Student-Staff Connections. Having a “Trusted Adult” at school makes it more likely that a student will share a concern about oneself or a classmate.

• Foster Parent and Community Involvement. The home environment plays a major role in a student’s emotional health. Engage with parents about the importance of healthy peer connections. Partner with community organizations to offer extracurricular activities and mentorship opportunities. These can help students build strong social networks outside of school.

Sandy Hook Promise (SHP) has been working since 2013 to prevent all forms of school violence. SHP’s work centers on understanding and addressing the root causes of violent behavior. The Start With Hello program focuses on reducing social isolation and promoting inclusivity.  It draws on extensive research on social inclusion and formation of peer relationships. Program development included consultation with youth behavior experts, educators, community leaders, parents, and students. The result is an evidence-informed MTSS Tier 1 intervention that’s practical to implement and engaging for students.

Start With Hello is one component of SHP's suite of no cost programs that are helping communities across the nation build stronger and safer schools.

Contact Sandy Hook Promise to take the first step in bringing these life-saving programs to your schools.

New guidance from the U.S. Department of Education promotes the use of individualized behavioral assessments and support plans for students with and without disabilities to help schools address problem behaviors and reduce suspensions and expulsions. 

The 25-page, nonregulatory guidance issued in November calls for using "functional behavioral assessments" more often to help school staff and families better understand the causes of a student's behavior. Those FBAs can inform "behavioral intervention plans" for reducing challenging behaviors and measuring progress toward those goals.

In developing the guidance, department officials learned schools most commonly used FBAs when there were safety concerns, such as frequent aggressive behaviors, according to the guidance. But the department said the FBA and BIP approaches also have benefits for reducing classroom disruptions such as name-calling and avoiding schoolwork. 

The guidance came from the Education Department's Office of Special Education and Rehabilitative Services and the Office of Elementary and Secondary Education.

"It is critical that we better understand student behavior, including how students’ lived experiences, such as peer pressure, poverty, social media, discrimination, and trauma, may impact behaviors that interfere with learning in the classroom," said Glenna Wright-Gallo, assistant secretary of OSERS, and Adam Schott, principal deputy assistant secretary of OESE, in a letter introducing the guidance. 

Wright-Gallo and Schott said the guidance clarifies how FBAs can be used more often to understand and address behaviors that hinder learning.

Schools have reported a rise in mental health and behavioral challenges in students in the past few years. At the same time, schools say they lack the funding and staffing to address students' mental health needs.

Functional behavioral assessments have typically been a special education strategy to help schools determine — through data and observations — if a behavior resulted from a student's disability and to help guide interventions to reduce the interfering behaviors. Behavioral intervention plans are developed in collaboration with teachers, counselors, administrators, families and, sometimes, the student.

The new guidance notes that for students with disabilities or suspected disabilities, parental consent may be required for FBAs. Additionally, FBAs cannot be used to delay or deny an evaluation of a student who is suspected of having a disability.

Several federal funding sources support training and development for FBAs, including Title I, Title II, Title IV and the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act, Part B, according to the guidance.

The Education Department also highlights other approaches for supporting students' learning and behavioral needs, such as mutli-tiered systems of support and positive behavioral interventions and supports.

OSERS and OESE will host a webinar explaining the guidance on Dec. 3 at 1 p.m. ET.

Walk into most schools, and posters about healthy food habits and exercise routines likely line hallways, cafeterias and gyms. Details about healthy sleep habits? That information can be harder to find.

However, most middle and high school students do not get enough sleep, which according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, is approximately 8 to 10 hours a night for teens ages 13 to 18. Further, some experts believe that instilling good sleep habits is just as important as promoting healthy exercise and eating habits in students. 

“You don’t have to convince people they should eat healthy food,” says Dr. Whitney Roban, author and founder of Solve Our Sleep, a sleep training program for children, teens and adults. “You shouldn’t have to convince people that sleep is the most important behavior.”

Teaching good habits

It's hard for everyone — not just students — to develop good sleep habits because there are many things that keep people from winding down and falling asleep, said Brinley Kantorski, director of education and multimedia development at The Partnership in Education at Duquesne University in Pittsburgh.

One of the biggest culprits are smartphones, which can trigger a person's dopamine-reward system when they scroll, like and click. 

“We have so many distractions that are easy to use, including using our phone in bed and not blocking out the blue light,” Kantorski says.

Parents and their own poor habits may also play a role, adds Roban. That can include delaying dinnertime or attributing their child’s poor sleep to something inherited. 

However, Roban says it’s never too late — nor too early — to create good sleep hygiene in the home. “It’s critical in early ages to have parents involved.”

Kantorski encourages students to use a sleep and mood tracker, which can be done with paper and pencil. Youth can also download free mood-tracking apps that ask questions to help students see the real-world connections between sleep and their physical and mental status.

“They may ask, ‘When I get a bad night of sleep, how does it affect me?'” she says. 

Involving families

Gabrielle Rigney is sensitive to teachers who may feel overwhelmed about adding more lessons into an already busy learning day, no matter the grade or subject they teach.

However, sleep trackers are useful tools to fold into math classes with younger students doing simple arithmetic exercises, including learning how to graph, says the lecturer in undergraduate psychology at Central Queensland University’s Appleton Institute School of Health, Medical and Applied Sciences in Australia. Rigney also co-authored a 2023 study on sleep intervention techniques for teens.

Educators can involve families by assigning young students to ask parents, siblings or grandparents about their sleep. Classes can even run a simple analysis to see if sleep patterns differ based on people's ages.

Students in upper grades can begin to study the biology of sleep and how light and activities can affect hormones and sleep patterns. That’s one reason Rigney and other researchers she works with encourage people not to have devices in the room with them when they sleep.

“What are we doing on our devices, such as watching a scary movie or playing video games that tap into our engagement and arousal,” she says. “There are things we shouldn’t be doing.”

Spotting and mitigating concerns

With a renewed focus on teaching better sleep habits, educators may begin to pay more attention to student behaviors, such as falling asleep during class.

Jennifer Martin, a professor-in-residence at the David Geffen School of Medicine at the University of California, Los Angeles, encourages educators to check on students if they see this behavior, and ask if something is going on in their lives beyond staying up late to study. More critically, she cautions teachers to not punish students for that behavior.

“They shouldn’t consider it students doing something wrong,” says Martin, who also serves as president of the board of directors for the American Academy of Sleep Medicine.

Instead, Martin notes that drowsiness in students may be due to teenagers' biological clocks and that for 80% to 90% of them, their internal system is telling them to stay up later and sleep in longer.

“When they’re in elementary school, they fall asleep in the early evening and get up at 7:30 a.m., but that's not possible for a lot of teenagers,” Martin says. “They’re biologically wired to be up later, and when school starts early, and have extracurricular activities in the morning, kids don’t have enough time to sleep.”

Kantorski adds that this shift towards night owl behavior starts young. She says while 73% of high school students don’t get enough sleep, 58% of middle school students are already not getting enough sleep even before they transition into upper grades. Further, she says educators should talk to students about what constitutes a restful night of sleep versus one that’s more irregular.

“There’s good sleep and bad sleep, and it’s good for people to know it’s a pretty big problem,” she says.

Critically, however, Kantorski cautions educators against chastising students for poor sleep, which could then lead students to criticize themselves. It’s not optimal for someone already struggling after a poor night of sleep to add more stress to an already difficult day they may be facing. 

Instead, she suggests adding some tools into a sleep curriculum that can help students learn how to calm themselves when they’re stressed from a lack of shut-eye or any other issues. Such strategies can include grounding exercises or mindfulness activities to help students — and teachers — transition through a bad day, manage a poor night’s sleep, and take away any negative feelings they may be directing toward themselves.

“Sometimes it’s unavoidable, and sometimes kids don’t have control over the home settings and how much noise and light is happening,” Kantorski says. “Instead, focus on what they can do to mitigate a bad night’s sleep.”

A steady increase in school shootings in recent years, combined with a flurry of violent threats and swatting calls, has districts on edge as they begin the 2024-25 school year. 

In Florida, an 11-year-old allegedly made threats to commit a mass shooting at a middle school in Volusia County — one of 54 threats received by school officials and law enforcement across the county in the span of just a week. In Chicago, threats of violence have already led to school closures, remote learning and panic among students this school year.

However, tips received by schools can also be credible. Right before a mass school shooting in Georgia in September, student Colt Gray's mother reportedly voiced concerns about her son to the school counselor at Apalachee High School before Gray killed two students and two teachers on Sept. 4. There is also speculation that one of Gray's teachers noted concerning behavior prior to the shooting, according to news reports.

"In the early stages of an incident, officials are in the 'fog of war,' and details may be scant," said Ken Trump, a school safety consultant and president of National School Safety and Security Services, an emergency preparedness firm. "As time goes on, details from each incident tend to unfold to get a better understanding of what happened, what did not happen, what worked, and what, if anything, failed."

Routing reports to behavioral threat assessment teams

To evaluate the credibility of concerning student behavior, schools should have in place a behavioral threat assessment team that investigates all concerns — no matter how big or small, said Guy Bliesner, a school safety and security analyst for the Idaho State Board of Education. 

However, for the threat assessment teams to meet their full potential, schools should have in place a system where anyone — teachers, students, parents, bus drivers — can make a report that is ultimately routed to the team for evaluation. 

"When you look at the after action reports from these things, multiple people said, 'Well, I saw this. I saw that.' It was never routed anywhere," said Bliesner. 

That information, Bliesner said, should be "moved effectively to somewhere to be looked at in aggregate with all of the other reports — the one that came from the cafeteria and from the bus driver and from all of those places — so that you can build the entire picture, as opposed to trying to make this decision based on one-off observations." 

Change reporting culture

To encourage that kind of reporting, however, classroom culture needs to shift from one where teachers feel judged for student misbehavior to one where reporting is expected. 

"And that's a hangover from another era, where we didn't report anything for fear that it would be listed on our teacher evaluation that we didn't have good classroom management skills," said Bliesner. "So we're fighting an institutional inertia of teachers who believe that good teaching is handling it in a classroom."

Professional development and training can help in this area. 

"While the facts and merits of each case will vary, a common theme we have seen in prior school safety litigation cases is that allegations of failures tend to focus on alleged failures of human factors — people, policies, procedures, communications, training, systems gaps, etc.," said Trump. "Not alleged failures of security hardware, products, and technology." 

Put support in place early

Entire school communities must also embrace the reporting culture, including kids who are sometimes pressured to not report out of fear for punitive consequences their peers might face, said Bliesner. 

To avoid that fear, behavioral threat assessment systems should offer support rather than suspicion to students who have been reported. 

"Behavioral threat assessment is not disciplinary," stressed Bliesner. "It was never designed as such."

Rather, they are meant to identify students who may need specific support, like mental health resources, and provide that resource while also keeping students and communities safe. "So do understand that it's not and should not be seen as disciplinary or punitive in any way."

While school security experts often vouch for threat assessment teams, several disability and civil rights groups oppose them, citing concerns that students with disabilities and students of color are disproportionately impacted. 

Black and lower-income families are less likely to report the availability of mental health services in their schools compared to their White and higher-income counterparts, according to a nationally representative study released in August by the University of Southern California. 

The study also found "striking patterns" relating chronic absenteeism and academic outcomes to student mental health concerns such as emotional symptoms, conduct problems and troubles with peers.

The findings come as at least 14 states cutting across regions and political leanings committed this week to tackling chronic absenteeism by cutting rates in half over the next five years. 

While over half of White and higher-income families surveyed said they have mental health services available in school, only 29% of Black families and 37% of the lowest-income families — those with household income under $25,000 — reported the same. 

The study linked mental health struggles to higher rates of absenteeism and lower school grades, although the findings suggest correlation rather than causation, according to the report.

Students on pace to be considered chronically absent — defined as missing 10% or more of a school year — scored abnormally on an assessment of "conduct problems" at four times the rate of peers with five or fewer absences.

Mental health challenges were also linked to academic outcomes. Students who earned mostly Cs or lower in at least one subject area were 2 to 4 times more likely to have abnormal scores in mental health measures. 

"Our data support the interconnected nature of student needs; to improve their academic outcomes, schools also must focus on mental health and attendance," researchers wrote.

Students' worsening mental and behavioral problems, soaring chronic absenteeism rates, and academic struggles have been chief among school and policy leaders' priorities on the road to recovery from COVID-19. 

On Sept. 9, at least 14 states signed on to a challenge issued by Attendance Works to address the chronic absenteeism problem by cutting rates in half from the highs seen during the pandemic.  

"Sustained high rates of absenteeism threaten students’ social, emotional, and academic development," said Attendance Works, which advocates for regular school attendance, and other education organizations said in announcing the states' commitment. 

The states accepting the challenge include:

• Alabama
• Arkansas
• Colorado
• Connecticut
• Iowa
• Maryland
• Nebraska
• Nevada
• New Mexico
• Ohio
• Rhode Island
• Virginia
• Washington
• West Virginia

“The reasons for chronic absenteeism are varied, from health and transportation challenges to harmful discipline practices to a lack of authentic and culturally responsive family engagement," said Denise Forte, president and CEO of EdTrust, one of the groups involved, in a statement on Sept. 9. Forte added that education leaders should make addressing chronic absenteeism "a top priority this year," particularly for Black, Latino and low-income students "who are too often inadequately supported by their schools.”

In fact, the August study found that while school districts used pandemic federal aid to increase their mental health services, students and families most in need of the services are the least likely to have them available. Meanwhile, while White and higher-income households are more apt to have mental health services available to them through public schools, they are also more likely to find that help outside of school, the report said. 

Approximately 1 in 5 respondents — especially Black and Hispanic families — said they would have signed their child up for mental health services if they were available. 

"Real needs continue to be unmet," the report said.

The study was based on a survey administered beginning in March 2020 by USC's Center for Economic and Social Research of more than 14,000 households nationwide.

New research has found a correlation between the number of adverse childhood experiences faced by rising kindergartners and the severity of disruptive behaviors, anxiety and depression found in this population. Yet the correlation doesn't hold for academic and social readiness, with those skills remaining on par with peers who had gone through fewer harmful events.

The correlation between a high number of ACEs and disruptive behaviors, published in the Journal of Child and Family Studies, add to previous research about the impact of early childhood trauma. The effects can be both short term for preschoolers and longer term for a child's K-12 pathways and developmental well-being.

The findings point to a need for greater awareness of mental health issues and suicide prevention support for young children and their families, particularly those in vulnerable populations, said lead researcher Akira Gutierrez Renzulli, a senior research associate at the Education Development Center, a research and policy nonprofit.

The study involved a total of 115 preschoolers attending a comprehensive school readiness summer program in Miami in 2017, 2018 and 2019. The children were in the transitional summer between preschool and kindergarten, and they were enrolled by their parents or other caregivers due to concerns about disruptive behavior problems at home and in school.

The Summer Academy program is an adaptation of the Summer Treatment Program for Pre-Kindergartners, which caters to children entering kindergarten with behavioral, emotional and learning challenges. The seven-week program is supported by Florida International University and The Children's Trust, a nonprofit in Miami-Dade County. It emphasizes school routines, positive behaviors and family engagement, Gutierrez said.

For this study, researchers questioned caregivers and parents to determine the number of ACEs that each child experienced during their lifetime. Nearly all of the participating children participants experienced poverty, Gutierrez said. Other examples of the 29 types identified included neighborhood violence and housing instability. 

About 94% of the children experienced at least one ACE, and 49% had four or more . Only 6% of children experienced no ACEs. Researchers didn't study the connection between specific ACEs and behaviors. 

Gutierrez said the study revealed what the researchers had expected: Children with higher numbers of ACEs were likely to have a higher prevalence of internalizing and disruptive behaviors. 

But what was surprising, Gutierrez said, was the discovery that the number of ACEs had no association with academic functioning, such as early math and reading skills.

Gutierrez said one of the most important takeaways is the need to help even young children and their families find strategies for coping with disruptive and internalizing behaviors. Educators and parents can provide safe spaces and model calming and mindfulness techniques, as well as teach children to identify their emotions, how to manage their feelings, and to ask for help when needed, she said. 

"We need to consider trauma-informed models and educate both the providers and the families on the fact that that context of being in a very high needs, under-resourced situation also plays a role in how children behave and how they're experiencing life so early on," Gutierrez said.