SPM and SPM-2 Quick Tips Case Study: What’s Behind Challenging Behaviors in the Classroom?

Experience West Seaford Elementary's remarkable journey using MTSS to slash chronic absence rates from 22% to 9%, fostering engagement and reshaping school culture. Learn how MTSS transforms learning environments, supported by research-backed strategies for student success.

Learn about the role of weighting techniques, such as raking, in reducing bias and enhancing the accuracy of academic testing norm scores for non-representative samples. Explore insights from a paper co-authored by WPS's COO David Herzberg.

Amid record mental health needs and teacher shortages, educators ponder the impact of school culture on students' well-being. Schools are now prioritizing healthier environments, starting with inclusive programs that benefit students with disabilities, fostering a more welcoming atmosphere for all.

Educators and clinicians must make sure D/HH students are carefully, competently assessed early enough to prevent language deprivation. Doing so will mean that more students can spend their school years building skills and friendships. And more students can leave school ready for all the possibilities on the other side of the graduation stage.  

Autism characteristics and behaviors can change as people mature. While some or all core features of autism may remain present from early childhood onward, the degree of impairment or the outward appearance of some traits and behaviors may change. Understanding how and when these changes may occur can be helpful to those who support autistic individuals.

Board-certified child psychiatrist Loucresie Rupert, MD, offers practical advice for recognizing ADHD symptoms in girls and women.

Youth Risk Behavior Survey (YRBS). Risky sexual behavior, substance use, and bullying decrease, but more students experience mental health problems, violence, and suicidal thoughts, according to CDC's Data Summary & Trends Report for its 2011–2021 Youth Risk Behavior Survey (YRBS).

Dyslexia is a specific learning disorder that causes reading difficulties. Despite that simple definition, this developmental condition is heterogenous: It can look different from person to person. Given dyslexia’s variations, how can you ensure that an assessment will identify the condition in the particular student you’re evaluating? 

Thorough dyslexia evaluations are notoriously complex, largely because so many skills must meld to make a good reader, and because dyslexia can be caused by a variety of developmental differences (Sanfilippo et al., 2020).

Once a screener identifies an at-risk student, the hard work really begins. Here’s what studies show are some of the most common shortfalls educators experience when assessing for dyslexia.

A robust, comprehensive assessment plan can help you ensure that students are developing skills in all five components of reading: phonemic awareness, phonics, fluency, vocabulary, and comprehension.

Discover how the SPM and SPM-2 Quick Tips help identify and address sensory processing issues behind challenging classroom behaviors. This case study explores interventions that transformed Johnny's school experience, offering insights for educators and parents in similar situations.