Educational Psychologist Offers Tips to Help Schools Help Kids

In a recent interview marking the anniversary of a school shooting that killed two students and wounded 13, the then-teenaged gunman shares the warning signs he displayed before his tragic meltdown.

"My dad noticed my grades slipping ... I would come home with bruises and lie to him," says Charles "Andy" Williams, now 27, in the Oprah Winfrey Network interview.

"I didn't know how to communicate that somethin' really, really bad was goin' on. I didn't know how to talk about it."

Take Andy's story, says educational research specialist Dr. Mariam Azin, and multiply it by hundreds of thousands of students across the country. Among them are the next Adam Lanza, James Holmes, or Andy Williams - people who have become so emotionally disturbed, they turn to killing strangers.

"It's the quiet kids who slip through the cracks and don't get the help they need," says the founder and CEO of Mazin Education (www.mazineducation.com), a social psychologist who has spent decades conducting research in educational settings and on at-risk students.

One high school for which she gathered data found that 750 of its 2,500 students reported having a substance abuse issue. But, in the year she studied, only 10 students were referred for substance abuse intervention, and just five of them connected with a program. Three completed it.

"The loud and disruptive kids who are having problems get the attention they need; the quiet ones don't," Mazin says. "If we can identify them - and we can! -- and intervene, we can help prevent future violence and suicides."

She says schools can take some simple but effective steps right now to begin identifying troubled students.

1. Make it everybody's job. From the lunch lady to the custodian to the bus driver to the teacher, many adults notice small signs, like Andy Williams' declining grades and his bruises. If everyone reported the small signs they saw, the cumulative effect could be one big indicator of a problem. "The cafeteria worker may notice he's not eating," Azin says. "The custodian may see him being bullied. One sign here or there gets overlooked, but if everyone knows that, if they see something that concerns them, they document it, then we'll be able to connect those dots and make sure more kids get the help they need." School leadership should make it everyone's job to report.

2. Provide a safe way to report. Some people say nothing because they're afraid they'll be expected to make a decision about what the behavior means or they'll have to do something about it. Some fear reporting will make them legally accountable. "Everyone involved with students needs to understand they are expected only to report what they see -- changes in behavior, incidents that may cause emotional distress," Azin says. "A single, isolated incident will not necessarily result in action being taken." Schools also need to embed an infrastructure through which concerns can be documented securely as soon as an incident takes place.

3. Identify community services that can help. Schools may be reluctant to identify troubled students because they don't have the resources to provide them with help. "Identify and develop relationships with programs and resources in the community to which students can also be referred," Azin says. "While schools are the place where many troubled students can be identified, it does not necessarily follow that it is solely the school's responsibility to provide all of the necessary services to those students and their families. It takes a village to help provide services to at-risk youth and their families and to help prevent school violence. But if we can't document and clearly identify the need, it's impossible to get these resources in place.

4. Embed a system for follow-up and monitoring. Once students who are showing signs of academic, behavioral, or emotional risk are identified and referred to appropriate services, a system for follow-up and monitoring needs to be embedded to ensure that they actually connect with appropriate mental and physical health services, academic intervention or other family services. Ideally, subsequent monitoring of progress will occur to see if the identified services and interventions are appropriate and producing the intended effects and to make necessary adjustments. "Oftentimes, the way it is now is that schools will make a referral but then it just goes into a black hole - nobody knows what happens afterwards," says Azin.

After a tragedy, Azin says, those who knew the perpetrator recall the signs they witnessed: not speaking to classmates, drug use, bullying.

"People see the signs," she says. "Shouldn't we create a way for them to document that information and get these kids help before something terrible happens?"

About Dr. Mariam Azin

Dr. Mariam Azin is president and CEO of Mazin Education, an educational company focused on software solutions that help schools to better assess, identify and serve at-risk students. Dr. Azin holds a doctorate in applied social psychology and has more than 20 years' experience in educational research and evaluation. She has been the principal investigator on numerous large-scale evaluation efforts related to students, currently serving as joint principal investigator on three federal Safe Schools/Healthy Students evaluations. She is the creator of Mazin Encompass, a software program that helps schools better identify and serve at-risk students.

TENTATIVE AGENDA
SCOTT COUNTY BOARD OF SUPERVISORS
March 25 - 29, 2013

Tuesday, March 26, 2013

Committee of the Whole - 8:30 am
Board Room, 1st Floor, Administrative Center

1. Roll Call: Minard, Sunderbruch, Cusack, Earnhardt, Hancock

Presentation

2. Presentation of PRIDE recognition for years of service. (Item 2).....9:00 a.m.

3. Presentation of PRIDE recognition for retirement. (Item 3)

4. Presentation of Distinguished Budget Presentation Award (Item 4)

5. Recognition of Investor Education Workshop Participants. (Item 5)

6. Recognition of the candidates who have met the County's Leadership Summit
Recertification requirements. (Item 6)

7. Presentation of PRIDE Recognition for Employee of the Quarter.

8. Discussion with the following Authorized Agencies: (Room 638)

10:00 a.m. Scott Soil Conservation/Watershed Partners- Karen Wilke, Doug
Johnson & Jan McClurg
10:30 a.m. Mississippi Valley Fairgrounds- Bob Fox

Facilities & Economic Development

9. Approval of the Bi-State copy paper order. (Item 9)

Human Resources

10. Approval of modifications to Human Resources Policy P. (Item 10)

11. Approval of personnel actions. (Item 11)

Finance & Intergovernmental

12. Approval of beer/liquor licenses for A-1 Mart, Glynns Creek Golf Course, Donahue
American Legion (5 day) and Olathea Golf Course.

Other Items of Interest

13. Consideration of appointments with upcoming term expirations for boards and
commissions. (3 month notice)

o Benefited Fire District #6- (3 year term) (Joint appointment with Muscatine Board)
Jennifer Rochholz -10 (term expires 6/30/13)

Thursday, March 28, 2013

Regular Board Meeting - 5:30 pm
Board Room, 1st Floor, Administrative Center

SPRINGFIELD, IL - Rock Island County has been issued a final property assessment equalization factor of 1.0000, according to Brian Hamer, Director of the Illinois Department of Revenue.

The property assessment equalization factor, often called the "multiplier," is the method used to achieve uniform property assessments among counties as required by law.  This equalization is particularly important because some of the state's 6,600 local taxing districts overlap into two or more counties (e.g. school districts, junior college districts, fire protection districts).  If there were no equalization among counties, substantial inequities among taxpayers with comparable properties would result.

Under a law passed in 1975, property in Illinois should be assessed at one-third (1/3) of its market value.  Farm property is assessed differently, with farm homesites and dwellings subject to regular assessing and equalization procedures, but with farmland assessed at one-third (1/3) of its agriculture economic value.  Farmland is not subject to the state equalization factor.

Assessments in Rock Island County are at 33.42 percent of the market value, based on sales of properties in 2009, 2010, and 2011.

The equalization factor currently being assigned is for 2012 taxes, payable in 2013.  Last year's equalization for the county was 1.0000.

The final assessment equalization factor was issued after a public hearing on the tentative factor.  The tentative factor issued in October 2012 was 1.0000.

The equalization factor is determined annually for each county by comparing the price of individual properties sold over the past three years to the assessed value placed on those properties by the county supervisor of assessments or county assessor.

If this three year average level of assessment is one-third the market value, the equalization factor will be one (1).  If the average level of assessment is greater than one-third of market value, the equalization factor will be less than one (1).  And if the average level of assessment is less than one-third of market value, the equalization factor will be greater than one (1).

A change in the equalization factor does not mean total property bills will increase or decrease.  Tax bills are determined by local taxing bodies when the request money each year to provide services to local citizens.  If the amount requested by local taxing districts is not greater than the amount received in the previous year, then local property taxes will not increase even if assessments increase.

The assessed value of an individual property determines what portion of the tax burden a specific taxpayer will assume.  That individual's portion of tax responsibility is not changed by the multiplier.

Supporters Call Agreement "A New National Model"

WHAT: Clergy and grassroots leaders from across the state of Illinois will gather at the new Mississippi River Bridge in prayer for fair and equal opportunities for minorities in the construction trades, and in celebration of the passing of the statewide Project Labor Agreement. The group will be joined by Illinois Department of Transportation (IDOT) officials, including Secretary Ann Schneider.
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