ERIC Number: EJ978748
Record Type: Journal
Publication Date: 2012
Pages: 4
Abstractor: ERIC
ISBN: N/A
ISSN: ISSN-1089-5701
EISSN: N/A
Available Date: N/A
Creating the Infrastructure for Organizational Change with RAP
Shields, Julie; Milstein, Mindy; Robinson, Consuela
Reclaiming Children and Youth, v21 n1 p29-32 2012
In order to thrive, organizations must undergo significant change at various points in their development. Such is the case with Montgomery County Public Schools (MCPS) Emotional Disability Services in the beginning process of implementing Response Ability Pathways (RAP) with staff and students. The impetus for change originated from an understanding of the immense challenges that students with emotional disabilities (ED) face. In particular, these students graduate at a much lower rate than either regular education students or students with other disabilities. Graduation is impacted by many factors such as absenteeism, low academic skills, lack of academic supporting behaviors, and limited home support. Students with ED often have a past history of trauma which makes them distrustful of adults, and they push away concerned adults. In addition, they also experience significantly more stress, crises, hospitalizations, and suspensions. Within two years of implementation of RAP, significant changes were seen. Alternative placements and hospitalizations were reduced by half, as was the number of students who failed to graduate. Risk behavior of students was reduced by a third, and the training was highly rated by staff. Even so, an ongoing challenge has been to generalize the training into the cultures of the various school settings serving this challenging population. Beyond initial training, educators need ongoing support in implementing restorative approaches with challenging students. An earlier article described how MCPS employed coaching sessions to help teachers move from punitive strategies to build respect and accountability. This article describes additional strategies to increase the fidelity of RAP implementation.
Descriptors: Organizational Change, Change Strategies, Emotional Disturbances, Emotional Problems, Program Implementation, Graduation Rate, Functional Behavioral Assessment, Response to Intervention, Delivery Systems, Integrated Services, Accessibility (for Disabled), Program Effectiveness, Program Descriptions
Reclaiming Children and Youth. PO Box 57 104 N Main Street, Lennox, SD 57039. Tel: 605-647-2532; Fax: 605-647-5212; e-mail: journal@reclaiming.com; Web site: http://reclaimingjournal.com/
Publication Type: Journal Articles; Reports - Descriptive
Education Level: Elementary Secondary Education
Audience: N/A
Language: English
Sponsor: N/A
Authoring Institution: N/A
Grant or Contract Numbers: N/A
Author Affiliations: N/A