The Coalition for Psychology in Schools and Education (CPSE) is comprised of members from various divisions within APA. The CPSE mission is to bring together interested psychologists to promote and make publicly accessible applications of the research that psychology has developed to assist the nation in improving the quality of public and private PreK-12 education. I am delighted to be the Division 6 representative to the CPSE, a role I have served since June 2016.
The CPSE finally held its first in-person semi-annual meeting since the start of the pandemic in June 2022! It was a joy and privilege to share physical space with this terrific group of people, whom I admire as experts, colleagues, and friends. There is just nothing that can quite compare with the energies and creativity that flow from small, in-person meetings like these, and this was evidenced by an Op-Ed that I published alongside Tammy Hughes, PhD in Education Week titled, “This is What Happens to a Student’s Brain When Exposed to Gun Violenceopens in new window.” This Op-Ed was a direct result of the June 2022 CPSE meeting, and was published just weeks afterward. It is the first product of the CPSE’s new Communications working group, which prioritizes sharing our work and products with legislative audiences, professional audiences, youth organizations, boards of education (state and local), and the general public. The CPSE held its December semi-annual meeting virtually, as we have done since 2020.
In addition to this work, I also lead the Mental Health Primers working group. We work to bring our psychological expertise directly to K-12 teachers by developing primers to help them identify student behaviors in the classroom that are symptomatic of mental health and other psychological issues. The goal is to direct teachers to appropriate resources for their students. The intent is not for teachers themselves to treat students, but for teachers to recognize behaviors and provide tangible resources for the students as needed. The published Mental Health Primers are on the APA websiteopens in new window: published topics include Students Experiencing Stressopens in new window, Students Experiencing Race-Based Hate Speech and Microaggressions, Students Experiencing Bullyingopens in new window, Students Experiencing Sadnessopens in new window, Students Experiencing Low Self-Esteem or Low Perceptions of Competenceopens in new window, Students Experiencing Inattention and Distractibilityopens in new window, Students Who Have Experienced a Crisisopens in new window, Students Exposed to Traumaopens in new window, and Students Exploring Gender Identityopens in new window. Please share these primers with your networks!
With subsequent funding from the CDC, we are now finalizing a stand-alone primer on mental health equity, with the intent for equity to be a lens with which to learn about all the individual primers. We are also developing a professional development module for teachers focused on the Mental Health Primers.
In June 2021, I joined a new project led by George DuPaul, PhD (Division 53) on homeschooling, to create easily digestible materials full of relevant information and considerations for parents considering home-schooling for their children. This resource is now available on APA’s website.
If you are interested in learning more about the Coalition or have questions about our work, please feel free to email me.