Building Capacity in School Districts

Connections Consultants strive to build capacity within an educational setting to support the needs of students, staff, and parents. We offer a tiered service delivery model for classroom or student-specific consultations as well as professional development for any district staff member with an emphasis on behavior management in different settings. Our consultation services are based off of a multi-tiered system of support (MTSS) service delivery model. Each consultation begins with an initial meeting with the school team to develop specific goals and purpose of service delivered. The Consultant will conduct a set of case-related assessments to determine the best evidence-based practices to utilize. The Consultant then coaches staff members on the team through data collection, fidelity of implementation, and data-based decision making specific to each case. Professional development and more intensive coaching/mentoring is offered to schools when needed based on the needs of the teacher or staff member.

Connections consultation services can be broken down into the following categories:

Student-specific

A student-specific case will focus on building capacity with the team supporting the student through assessments, evidence-based practices, and coaching school staff to ensure fidelity of a behavior intervention plan.  The Consultant will ensure interventions chosen are feasible and cost-effective for the school and team supporting the student.

Classroom Management

Classroom consultation focuses on supporting teachers within the classroom for behavior management, organization, or facilitating the use of data collection systems feasible for the classroom. The Consultant will adhere to the goals of the teacher and team through assessments, evidence-based practices, support of PBIS team within the school, and coaching.  

Professional Development

Connections provides a wide variety of topics for professional development presentations/trainings to teachers, administration, paraeducator, and district personnel. Connections can also provide consultation on district-wide program development and guiding professional learning communities.

Program Development (Framework Development Process for Social/Emotional/Behavioral Programs)

• Initial training for classroom teams of students with SEB: Direct instruction emphasizing the implementation of EBP’s and quality indicators that represent an effective SEB program. Training modes will include presentation, group discussion, role-play & rehearsal, and case study analysis.
• Assessment & teacher self-assessment: The consultant will conduct an assessment of program quality indicators. Concurrently, teachers will complete a self-assessment to self-identify areas of needs. These data will be triangulated to identify areas of strength and areas in need of development. These assessments will be conducted quarterly to monitor progress towards higher quality practices.
• Goal Identification: Once an assessment is completed the teacher and consultant will identify observable and measurable goals for program quality improvement.
• Implementation of Evidence Based Practices: The consultant will work with the classroom team to develop an action plan for progress towards program goals. The consultant will emphasize the use of evidence-based practices and data collection when designing the action plan. All interventions will have a strong evidence-base; representing specific procedures that are supported by a robust body of peer-reviewed literature (WAC 392-172A-01165; OSPI, 2005; Ryan, 2008).
• Monitoring and Evaluation of Implementation: The consultant and teacher will set weekly, biweekly, or monthly meetings (dependent upon the extent of their goals), where progress towards goals will be measured and any action plan modifications will be documented.
• Ongoing Technical Assistance and Support: During these meetings and in classroom situations the consultant will provide teachers with ongoing training in the implementation of EBP’s and quality indicators.