Benchmarking Large Districts’ Student Support Services

This report explores large districts’ (60,000-300,000 students) strategies for supporting their students’ mental and behavioral health needs. It measures the level to which each district has implemented various supports and provides actionable strategies to scale interventions across large districts. The brief discusses structural components such as staffing and reporting structures, as well as specific interventions used by profiled districts across Tier I, Tier II, and Tier III.

All profiled districts recently implemented universal screeners

All profiled school districts recently began using universal screeners to evaluate students’ social emotional, behavioral, and mental health needs. Universal screeners for psychological and behavioral health consist of a series of questions answered by the student (if old enough), their parent(s), and their teacher(s).

These screeners benefit both students and school districts by promoting a proactive approach to identification, which improves outcomes for students while ultimately reducing costs and resource constraints for the district. In EAB’s Guide for Meeting the Rising Demand for Mental Health Care in Schools, we recommend district leaders select and implement the universal screener that best meets the needs of their district.