Jordan talks with Dedeeh Newbern, the Chief Student Support Officer for Fayette County Public Schools.
Student support looks different across the country, from district to district. Our student support really encompasses all things behavior that is not addressed by special education services.
So we're really looking at that student who has not been identified for special education services but still requires some level of support through a behavior or multi-tiered systems of support (MTSS) process.
We also have a lot of mental health services provided through our student support lens as well as social-emotional learning.
We couple all of those things into a space where we look at how can we take the strategies and supports that are out there within those three areas and use them to remove any barriers to instruction.
Because for us, it always goes back to this: the kids are in school to learn.
How are we making sure we're removing the barriers that take kids from being in those seats?
How do we keep them in the room learning math, reading, and working through PreCalculus so that they can get the academic outcomes that we're looking for within the school environment?
We're building citizens. It's got to go beyond just being able to complete a test, or just being able to show that you can read.
We are building the people who will work in the nursing homes, we are helping to instruct the people who will take our orders at restaurants, our future senators, and our future representatives.
They're in our schools right now. Those are the stakes we have to keep in mind when we talk about addressing the needs of the whole child.
It's really huge for me, because it pulls in all of those elements that we're talking about, through a PBIS framework.
If we're talking about positive behavior, intervention, and culture…restorative practices can fit right in there. It focuses on building strong relationships, not just with students, but with other adults.
It focuses on accountability, and how we as educators are accountable for how we treat children. Just as children are accountable for how they treat their teachers and their other classmates.
It brings in families, parents, and community members, to really talk about the role we all play in educating our children.
It shows how we restore relationships. When there has been harm done, it is now all about how repairing the relationship and fostering a commitment to educating students can complement each other.
There are programs that teach you all the restorative practice ideas and we'll make sure you have all the components.
However, if you look at it as this basic practice of building relationships and holding individuals accountable.
Then you bring that collaboration of effort past the school and out into the community. You really get a strategy that digs down to what we are here in school to do.
The goal is to make sure our community has a positive culture and climate for our children to learn and grow.
It's still the peer pressure to be cool, and do what's cool. I think the avenue of how they're accessing that peer pressure is now social media.
As a tool it’s been wonderful for our country, and our world. But when misused, which it can sometimes be with teenagers, it can become a place where we see kids exposed to things that are not necessarily leading them in a positive direction.
I know as a parent, one of the challenges my teenager faces is being able to decipher:
It’s then about how we use this tool in a way that helps to enhance their lives but does not take over them in a way where it starts to cause disruption in their lives.
When I was a kid, I just could not answer the phone, if you called me and I'd be done with it.
Now it's in their faces all the time and I do see that as a challenge for our students, even when it comes to school.
I really think it's about social-emotional learning education. We actually have a tier-one social-emotional learning curriculum that is implemented k-12.
Schools actually take the opportunity to build in addressing our SEL needs for our students. One of those key topics for older students is “how to utilize social media effectively”.
We do need to go down to lower grades now though, because they're getting social media and being exposed to it younger and younger these days.
We have to understand that just like we have that core curriculum from academics, there is a set of core expectations within SEL that every student should have access to.
When we are able to have a space where you feel heard, where you feel valued, and when you genuinely feel someone wants to help you.
That is how the district helps to improve school culture at every level.
When you ask me for something, I may say: “I can't do that but this is what I can do”. That builds a positive culture.
From the district standpoint. There are of course rules, regulations, policies, and protocols, I have to make sure all of that is intact.
There are times when I have been asked for something that I simply cannot do. But as a leader, it is upon me to think creatively about how I can help you.
I cannot take this kid who you feel has been terrible in your building, and just move them to a different school tomorrow.
But I can help you think through a plan, connect the family with outside resources, provide a pair of educators, look at a shorter school day, and think through ways that we can build better relationships with the teachers for the student.
Those are all things I can do.
So when I am trying to build that positive culture in the district, it is my belief that it is upon us to make sure schools understand that we are here to genuinely support them.
That to me is how you increase your positive culture in any environment. You're there for people.
Student support looks different across the country, from district to district. Our student support really encompasses all things behavior that is not addressed by special education services.
So we're really looking at that student who has not been identified for special education services but still requires some level of support through a behavior or multi-tiered systems of support (MTSS) process.
We also have a lot of mental health services provided through our student support lens as well as social-emotional learning.
We couple all of those things into a space where we look at how can we take the strategies and supports that are out there within those three areas and use them to remove any barriers to instruction.
Because for us, it always goes back to this: the kids are in school to learn.
How are we making sure we're removing the barriers that take kids from being in those seats?
How do we keep them in the room learning math, reading, and working through PreCalculus so that they can get the academic outcomes that we're looking for within the school environment?
We're building citizens. It's got to go beyond just being able to complete a test, or just being able to show that you can read.
We are building the people who will work in the nursing homes, we are helping to instruct the people who will take our orders at restaurants, our future senators, and our future representatives.
They're in our schools right now. Those are the stakes we have to keep in mind when we talk about addressing the needs of the whole child.
It's really huge for me, because it pulls in all of those elements that we're talking about, through a PBIS framework.
If we're talking about positive behavior, intervention, and culture…restorative practices can fit right in there. It focuses on building strong relationships, not just with students, but with other adults.
It focuses on accountability, and how we as educators are accountable for how we treat children. Just as children are accountable for how they treat their teachers and their other classmates.
It brings in families, parents, and community members, to really talk about the role we all play in educating our children.
It shows how we restore relationships. When there has been harm done, it is now all about how repairing the relationship and fostering a commitment to educating students can complement each other.
There are programs that teach you all the restorative practice ideas and we'll make sure you have all the components.
However, if you look at it as this basic practice of building relationships and holding individuals accountable.
Then you bring that collaboration of effort past the school and out into the community. You really get a strategy that digs down to what we are here in school to do.
The goal is to make sure our community has a positive culture and climate for our children to learn and grow.
It's still the peer pressure to be cool, and do what's cool. I think the avenue of how they're accessing that peer pressure is now social media.
As a tool it’s been wonderful for our country, and our world. But when misused, which it can sometimes be with teenagers, it can become a place where we see kids exposed to things that are not necessarily leading them in a positive direction.
I know as a parent, one of the challenges my teenager faces is being able to decipher:
It’s then about how we use this tool in a way that helps to enhance their lives but does not take over them in a way where it starts to cause disruption in their lives.
When I was a kid, I just could not answer the phone, if you called me and I'd be done with it.
Now it's in their faces all the time and I do see that as a challenge for our students, even when it comes to school.
I really think it's about social-emotional learning education. We actually have a tier-one social-emotional learning curriculum that is implemented k-12.
Schools actually take the opportunity to build in addressing our SEL needs for our students. One of those key topics for older students is “how to utilize social media effectively”.
We do need to go down to lower grades now though, because they're getting social media and being exposed to it younger and younger these days.
We have to understand that just like we have that core curriculum from academics, there is a set of core expectations within SEL that every student should have access to.
When we are able to have a space where you feel heard, where you feel valued, and when you genuinely feel someone wants to help you.
That is how the district helps to improve school culture at every level.
When you ask me for something, I may say: “I can't do that but this is what I can do”. That builds a positive culture.
From the district standpoint. There are of course rules, regulations, policies, and protocols, I have to make sure all of that is intact.
There are times when I have been asked for something that I simply cannot do. But as a leader, it is upon me to think creatively about how I can help you.
I cannot take this kid who you feel has been terrible in your building, and just move them to a different school tomorrow.
But I can help you think through a plan, connect the family with outside resources, provide a pair of educators, look at a shorter school day, and think through ways that we can build better relationships with the teachers for the student.
Those are all things I can do.
So when I am trying to build that positive culture in the district, it is my belief that it is upon us to make sure schools understand that we are here to genuinely support them.
That to me is how you increase your positive culture in any environment. You're there for people.
Student support looks different across the country, from district to district. Our student support really encompasses all things behavior that is not addressed by special education services.
So we're really looking at that student who has not been identified for special education services but still requires some level of support through a behavior or multi-tiered systems of support (MTSS) process.
We also have a lot of mental health services provided through our student support lens as well as social-emotional learning.
We couple all of those things into a space where we look at how can we take the strategies and supports that are out there within those three areas and use them to remove any barriers to instruction.
Because for us, it always goes back to this: the kids are in school to learn.
How are we making sure we're removing the barriers that take kids from being in those seats?
How do we keep them in the room learning math, reading, and working through PreCalculus so that they can get the academic outcomes that we're looking for within the school environment?
We're building citizens. It's got to go beyond just being able to complete a test, or just being able to show that you can read.
We are building the people who will work in the nursing homes, we are helping to instruct the people who will take our orders at restaurants, our future senators, and our future representatives.
They're in our schools right now. Those are the stakes we have to keep in mind when we talk about addressing the needs of the whole child.
It's really huge for me, because it pulls in all of those elements that we're talking about, through a PBIS framework.
If we're talking about positive behavior, intervention, and culture…restorative practices can fit right in there. It focuses on building strong relationships, not just with students, but with other adults.
It focuses on accountability, and how we as educators are accountable for how we treat children. Just as children are accountable for how they treat their teachers and their other classmates.
It brings in families, parents, and community members, to really talk about the role we all play in educating our children.
It shows how we restore relationships. When there has been harm done, it is now all about how repairing the relationship and fostering a commitment to educating students can complement each other.
There are programs that teach you all the restorative practice ideas and we'll make sure you have all the components.
However, if you look at it as this basic practice of building relationships and holding individuals accountable.
Then you bring that collaboration of effort past the school and out into the community. You really get a strategy that digs down to what we are here in school to do.
The goal is to make sure our community has a positive culture and climate for our children to learn and grow.
It's still the peer pressure to be cool, and do what's cool. I think the avenue of how they're accessing that peer pressure is now social media.
As a tool it’s been wonderful for our country, and our world. But when misused, which it can sometimes be with teenagers, it can become a place where we see kids exposed to things that are not necessarily leading them in a positive direction.
I know as a parent, one of the challenges my teenager faces is being able to decipher:
It’s then about how we use this tool in a way that helps to enhance their lives but does not take over them in a way where it starts to cause disruption in their lives.
When I was a kid, I just could not answer the phone, if you called me and I'd be done with it.
Now it's in their faces all the time and I do see that as a challenge for our students, even when it comes to school.
I really think it's about social-emotional learning education. We actually have a tier-one social-emotional learning curriculum that is implemented k-12.
Schools actually take the opportunity to build in addressing our SEL needs for our students. One of those key topics for older students is “how to utilize social media effectively”.
We do need to go down to lower grades now though, because they're getting social media and being exposed to it younger and younger these days.
We have to understand that just like we have that core curriculum from academics, there is a set of core expectations within SEL that every student should have access to.
When we are able to have a space where you feel heard, where you feel valued, and when you genuinely feel someone wants to help you.
That is how the district helps to improve school culture at every level.
When you ask me for something, I may say: “I can't do that but this is what I can do”. That builds a positive culture.
From the district standpoint. There are of course rules, regulations, policies, and protocols, I have to make sure all of that is intact.
There are times when I have been asked for something that I simply cannot do. But as a leader, it is upon me to think creatively about how I can help you.
I cannot take this kid who you feel has been terrible in your building, and just move them to a different school tomorrow.
But I can help you think through a plan, connect the family with outside resources, provide a pair of educators, look at a shorter school day, and think through ways that we can build better relationships with the teachers for the student.
Those are all things I can do.
So when I am trying to build that positive culture in the district, it is my belief that it is upon us to make sure schools understand that we are here to genuinely support them.
That to me is how you increase your positive culture in any environment. You're there for people.
Student support looks different across the country, from district to district. Our student support really encompasses all things behavior that is not addressed by special education services.
So we're really looking at that student who has not been identified for special education services but still requires some level of support through a behavior or multi-tiered systems of support (MTSS) process.
We also have a lot of mental health services provided through our student support lens as well as social-emotional learning.
We couple all of those things into a space where we look at how can we take the strategies and supports that are out there within those three areas and use them to remove any barriers to instruction.
Because for us, it always goes back to this: the kids are in school to learn.
How are we making sure we're removing the barriers that take kids from being in those seats?
How do we keep them in the room learning math, reading, and working through PreCalculus so that they can get the academic outcomes that we're looking for within the school environment?
We're building citizens. It's got to go beyond just being able to complete a test, or just being able to show that you can read.
We are building the people who will work in the nursing homes, we are helping to instruct the people who will take our orders at restaurants, our future senators, and our future representatives.
They're in our schools right now. Those are the stakes we have to keep in mind when we talk about addressing the needs of the whole child.
It's really huge for me, because it pulls in all of those elements that we're talking about, through a PBIS framework.
If we're talking about positive behavior, intervention, and culture…restorative practices can fit right in there. It focuses on building strong relationships, not just with students, but with other adults.
It focuses on accountability, and how we as educators are accountable for how we treat children. Just as children are accountable for how they treat their teachers and their other classmates.
It brings in families, parents, and community members, to really talk about the role we all play in educating our children.
It shows how we restore relationships. When there has been harm done, it is now all about how repairing the relationship and fostering a commitment to educating students can complement each other.
There are programs that teach you all the restorative practice ideas and we'll make sure you have all the components.
However, if you look at it as this basic practice of building relationships and holding individuals accountable.
Then you bring that collaboration of effort past the school and out into the community. You really get a strategy that digs down to what we are here in school to do.
The goal is to make sure our community has a positive culture and climate for our children to learn and grow.
It's still the peer pressure to be cool, and do what's cool. I think the avenue of how they're accessing that peer pressure is now social media.
As a tool it’s been wonderful for our country, and our world. But when misused, which it can sometimes be with teenagers, it can become a place where we see kids exposed to things that are not necessarily leading them in a positive direction.
I know as a parent, one of the challenges my teenager faces is being able to decipher:
It’s then about how we use this tool in a way that helps to enhance their lives but does not take over them in a way where it starts to cause disruption in their lives.
When I was a kid, I just could not answer the phone, if you called me and I'd be done with it.
Now it's in their faces all the time and I do see that as a challenge for our students, even when it comes to school.
I really think it's about social-emotional learning education. We actually have a tier-one social-emotional learning curriculum that is implemented k-12.
Schools actually take the opportunity to build in addressing our SEL needs for our students. One of those key topics for older students is “how to utilize social media effectively”.
We do need to go down to lower grades now though, because they're getting social media and being exposed to it younger and younger these days.
We have to understand that just like we have that core curriculum from academics, there is a set of core expectations within SEL that every student should have access to.
When we are able to have a space where you feel heard, where you feel valued, and when you genuinely feel someone wants to help you.
That is how the district helps to improve school culture at every level.
When you ask me for something, I may say: “I can't do that but this is what I can do”. That builds a positive culture.
From the district standpoint. There are of course rules, regulations, policies, and protocols, I have to make sure all of that is intact.
There are times when I have been asked for something that I simply cannot do. But as a leader, it is upon me to think creatively about how I can help you.
I cannot take this kid who you feel has been terrible in your building, and just move them to a different school tomorrow.
But I can help you think through a plan, connect the family with outside resources, provide a pair of educators, look at a shorter school day, and think through ways that we can build better relationships with the teachers for the student.
Those are all things I can do.
So when I am trying to build that positive culture in the district, it is my belief that it is upon us to make sure schools understand that we are here to genuinely support them.
That to me is how you increase your positive culture in any environment. You're there for people.
You know what they teamwork makes the dream work. These articles have been written by the wonderful members of our team.
This conversation originally appeared on The Flywheel Effect Podcast. Deedeh joined Jordan on the show to chat about student support and how we can improve behavior in schools as well as how district support staff can improve their entire school community.
Student support looks different across the country, from district to district. Our student support really encompasses all things behavior that is not addressed by special education services.
So we're really looking at that student who has not been identified for special education services but still requires some level of support through a behavior or multi-tiered systems of support (MTSS) process.
We also have a lot of mental health services provided through our student support lens as well as social-emotional learning.
We couple all of those things into a space where we look at how can we take the strategies and supports that are out there within those three areas and use them to remove any barriers to instruction.
Because for us, it always goes back to this: the kids are in school to learn.
How are we making sure we're removing the barriers that take kids from being in those seats?
How do we keep them in the room learning math, reading, and working through PreCalculus so that they can get the academic outcomes that we're looking for within the school environment?
We're building citizens. It's got to go beyond just being able to complete a test, or just being able to show that you can read.
We are building the people who will work in the nursing homes, we are helping to instruct the people who will take our orders at restaurants, our future senators, and our future representatives.
They're in our schools right now. Those are the stakes we have to keep in mind when we talk about addressing the needs of the whole child.
It's really huge for me, because it pulls in all of those elements that we're talking about, through a PBIS framework.
If we're talking about positive behavior, intervention, and culture…restorative practices can fit right in there. It focuses on building strong relationships, not just with students, but with other adults.
It focuses on accountability, and how we as educators are accountable for how we treat children. Just as children are accountable for how they treat their teachers and their other classmates.
It brings in families, parents, and community members, to really talk about the role we all play in educating our children.
It shows how we restore relationships. When there has been harm done, it is now all about how repairing the relationship and fostering a commitment to educating students can complement each other.
There are programs that teach you all the restorative practice ideas and we'll make sure you have all the components.
However, if you look at it as this basic practice of building relationships and holding individuals accountable.
Then you bring that collaboration of effort past the school and out into the community. You really get a strategy that digs down to what we are here in school to do.
The goal is to make sure our community has a positive culture and climate for our children to learn and grow.
It's still the peer pressure to be cool, and do what's cool. I think the avenue of how they're accessing that peer pressure is now social media.
As a tool it’s been wonderful for our country, and our world. But when misused, which it can sometimes be with teenagers, it can become a place where we see kids exposed to things that are not necessarily leading them in a positive direction.
I know as a parent, one of the challenges my teenager faces is being able to decipher:
It’s then about how we use this tool in a way that helps to enhance their lives but does not take over them in a way where it starts to cause disruption in their lives.
When I was a kid, I just could not answer the phone, if you called me and I'd be done with it.
Now it's in their faces all the time and I do see that as a challenge for our students, even when it comes to school.
I really think it's about social-emotional learning education. We actually have a tier-one social-emotional learning curriculum that is implemented k-12.
Schools actually take the opportunity to build in addressing our SEL needs for our students. One of those key topics for older students is “how to utilize social media effectively”.
We do need to go down to lower grades now though, because they're getting social media and being exposed to it younger and younger these days.
We have to understand that just like we have that core curriculum from academics, there is a set of core expectations within SEL that every student should have access to.
When we are able to have a space where you feel heard, where you feel valued, and when you genuinely feel someone wants to help you.
That is how the district helps to improve school culture at every level.
When you ask me for something, I may say: “I can't do that but this is what I can do”. That builds a positive culture.
From the district standpoint. There are of course rules, regulations, policies, and protocols, I have to make sure all of that is intact.
There are times when I have been asked for something that I simply cannot do. But as a leader, it is upon me to think creatively about how I can help you.
I cannot take this kid who you feel has been terrible in your building, and just move them to a different school tomorrow.
But I can help you think through a plan, connect the family with outside resources, provide a pair of educators, look at a shorter school day, and think through ways that we can build better relationships with the teachers for the student.
Those are all things I can do.
So when I am trying to build that positive culture in the district, it is my belief that it is upon us to make sure schools understand that we are here to genuinely support them.
That to me is how you increase your positive culture in any environment. You're there for people.
This conversation originally appeared on The Flywheel Effect Podcast. Deedeh joined Jordan on the show to chat about student support and how we can improve behavior in schools as well as how district support staff can improve their entire school community.
Student support looks different across the country, from district to district. Our student support really encompasses all things behavior that is not addressed by special education services.
So we're really looking at that student who has not been identified for special education services but still requires some level of support through a behavior or multi-tiered systems of support (MTSS) process.
We also have a lot of mental health services provided through our student support lens as well as social-emotional learning.
We couple all of those things into a space where we look at how can we take the strategies and supports that are out there within those three areas and use them to remove any barriers to instruction.
Because for us, it always goes back to this: the kids are in school to learn.
How are we making sure we're removing the barriers that take kids from being in those seats?
How do we keep them in the room learning math, reading, and working through PreCalculus so that they can get the academic outcomes that we're looking for within the school environment?
We're building citizens. It's got to go beyond just being able to complete a test, or just being able to show that you can read.
We are building the people who will work in the nursing homes, we are helping to instruct the people who will take our orders at restaurants, our future senators, and our future representatives.
They're in our schools right now. Those are the stakes we have to keep in mind when we talk about addressing the needs of the whole child.
It's really huge for me, because it pulls in all of those elements that we're talking about, through a PBIS framework.
If we're talking about positive behavior, intervention, and culture…restorative practices can fit right in there. It focuses on building strong relationships, not just with students, but with other adults.
It focuses on accountability, and how we as educators are accountable for how we treat children. Just as children are accountable for how they treat their teachers and their other classmates.
It brings in families, parents, and community members, to really talk about the role we all play in educating our children.
It shows how we restore relationships. When there has been harm done, it is now all about how repairing the relationship and fostering a commitment to educating students can complement each other.
There are programs that teach you all the restorative practice ideas and we'll make sure you have all the components.
However, if you look at it as this basic practice of building relationships and holding individuals accountable.
Then you bring that collaboration of effort past the school and out into the community. You really get a strategy that digs down to what we are here in school to do.
The goal is to make sure our community has a positive culture and climate for our children to learn and grow.
It's still the peer pressure to be cool, and do what's cool. I think the avenue of how they're accessing that peer pressure is now social media.
As a tool it’s been wonderful for our country, and our world. But when misused, which it can sometimes be with teenagers, it can become a place where we see kids exposed to things that are not necessarily leading them in a positive direction.
I know as a parent, one of the challenges my teenager faces is being able to decipher:
It’s then about how we use this tool in a way that helps to enhance their lives but does not take over them in a way where it starts to cause disruption in their lives.
When I was a kid, I just could not answer the phone, if you called me and I'd be done with it.
Now it's in their faces all the time and I do see that as a challenge for our students, even when it comes to school.
I really think it's about social-emotional learning education. We actually have a tier-one social-emotional learning curriculum that is implemented k-12.
Schools actually take the opportunity to build in addressing our SEL needs for our students. One of those key topics for older students is “how to utilize social media effectively”.
We do need to go down to lower grades now though, because they're getting social media and being exposed to it younger and younger these days.
We have to understand that just like we have that core curriculum from academics, there is a set of core expectations within SEL that every student should have access to.
When we are able to have a space where you feel heard, where you feel valued, and when you genuinely feel someone wants to help you.
That is how the district helps to improve school culture at every level.
When you ask me for something, I may say: “I can't do that but this is what I can do”. That builds a positive culture.
From the district standpoint. There are of course rules, regulations, policies, and protocols, I have to make sure all of that is intact.
There are times when I have been asked for something that I simply cannot do. But as a leader, it is upon me to think creatively about how I can help you.
I cannot take this kid who you feel has been terrible in your building, and just move them to a different school tomorrow.
But I can help you think through a plan, connect the family with outside resources, provide a pair of educators, look at a shorter school day, and think through ways that we can build better relationships with the teachers for the student.
Those are all things I can do.
So when I am trying to build that positive culture in the district, it is my belief that it is upon us to make sure schools understand that we are here to genuinely support them.
That to me is how you increase your positive culture in any environment. You're there for people.
All the behavior resources you need to create the positive culture your school community deserves.
