All of the sessions below will be held on June 26 and 27 at the MiMTSS Social, Emotional, Behavioral, Mental Health Summer Symposium.
Monday, June 26
9:00 –10:15 a.m. Overview of Early Childhood PBIS: Voices from the Field
Staci Reed, Early Childhood Specialist, Cortney Last, MCISD GSRP Director, Monroe Intermediate School District and Michelle McQueen, Early Childhood Implementation Specialist, MiMTSS Technical Assistance Center.
Early Childhood Positive Behavioral Interventions and Supports (EC PBIS) and implementation of the Pyramid Model support the social-emotional competence of young children. This session provides an overview of early childhood PBIS, including the data, systems, and practices necessary for implementation. The session is presented by voices from the field.
10:30 –11:45 a.m. Building and Sustaining Strong Partnerships with Families
Dr. Noel Kelty, Ph.D., Assistant Professor of Teacher Education, Saginaw Valley State University
This interactive session will focus on building and sustaining strong partnerships with families in early care and education, leading to improved social-emotional outcomes for children and their families. This session includes a research-informed foundation for facilitating family partnerships, articulates Michigan’s definition of family engagement and supportive principles, and identifies evidence-based strategies for improving family partnerships. This session will enable participants to effectively integrate equitable family engagement and to build and/or strengthen family partnerships, leading to improved social-emotional outcomes.
1:00 –2:15 p.m. Strategies to Improve Culturally Responsive and Sustaining Early Learning Environments
Dr. Tessa Kranski, Ph.D., Research Coordinator, Florida Embedded Practices and Intervention with Caregivers
This session will build from strategies to promote equitable family engagement and partnerships and focus on how to grow more culturally relevant and sustaining learning environments. Important research-based foundations of culturally responsive environments will be presented, and participants will learn specific strategies and materials they can use in their practice and early learning environments.
2:30 –3:45 p.m. Supporting Staff so They Can Support Families: Strategies to Nurture Staff Wellness and Address Compassion Fatigue for a Thriving Workplace
Dr. Mary Mackrain, Ph.D., IMH-E (IV), Managing Director, EDC
To foster child and family wellbeing through Pyramid Model Practices, staff also need to be nurtured within supportive environments. Staff members need the time and resources to grow their practice, reduce their own stressors and reflect about their work. This session will offer specific recommendations on policies, procedures and strategies to support programs in maintaining an effective workforce, and ultimately best practices across the Tiers.
Tuesday, June 27
9:00 –10:15 a.m. Using Evidence-Based Interventions to Reduce Anxiety for Students & Staff Across the Tiers
Dr. Stephanie St. Joseph, Behavior Clinical Consultant, The May Institute
This presentation examines how to reduce students’ and staff’s anxiety within each tier of the MTSS framework. This will include both assessment and progress-monitoring strategies that inform the use of evidence-based interventions.
Dr. Sarah Pinkelman, Associate Professor of Psychology at Western Michigan University; and Dr. Kathleen Strickland-Cohen, Assistant Professor, Department of Special Education, University of Utah
It is a misconception that examining behavioral function should be reserved for Tier 3 or students receiving special education services. We will describe and give examples of function incorporated throughout all tiers to maximize the effectiveness of behavior support.
Dr. Christopher Pinkney, Ph.D., Assistant Professor, Special Education, Portland State University
This presentation describes the key features of implementation, progress monitoring, and evaluation of integrated (academic and social behavioral) supports in high schools. The Academic Seminar curriculum discussed is an example of implementing integrated supports as part of a Multi-Tiered System of Support.
Dr. Kathleen Strickland-Cohen, Assistant Professor, Department of Special Education, University of Utah
Despite the development of supportive, safe, and predictable school environments, student behavior may, at times, escalate to unsafe levels. This session will focus on practical, research-based strategies educators can use to safely and instructively de-escalate challenging situations in the classroom and reduce reliance on reactive strategies, such as punitive or exclusionary practices.