On April 17, the AIU and ACHD Project SEEKS SES held its ninth virtual community of practice meeting – the final one for the 2023-24 school year. In the meeting, administrators at East Allegheny School District spoke about the implementation of Behavior Specialists to their staff as part of grant funding provided by SEEKS. 

East Allegheny Acting Superintendent Joe DiLucente and Director of Education Barbara Pagan spoke about the district’s approach with SEL and the SEEKS funding’s impact, providing increased mental health support and services benefiting both students and teachers. 

Funding allowed East Allegheny officials to seek new ways to assist students and came across a model in which behavior specialists were both student-facing and working with teachers to develop behavior modification and classroom management strategies at the classroom level. DiLucente said classrooms began “experiencing sharp gains very early,” such as students having plans for de-escalation, behavior specialists working with special education specialists on their functional behavioral assessments, and positive feedback from teachers. 

One new support method is a referral form teachers can easily fill out to provide context prior to a behavior specialist going into the classroom. 

Each community of practice meeting focuses on a shared topic of interest between school district, higher education, and community partners. Each meeting is led by the Project SEEKS SES coordinator, Shannon Fagan, in conjunction with a school district/university partner and subject-matter expert. The Community of Practice meetings will resume this fall. 

For a video of the Community of Practice meeting, click here.