Deer Park Community City School District – Case Study
How Deer Park Community City School
District made measurable improvements
in student resiliency and behavioral health
Situation
Deer Park Community City School District started as a one-room schoolhouse in 1826. Today, the district serves students in Hamilton County, Ohio, and encourages those students to live lives full of purpose and impact.
Mental health has always been a focus of the district’s leadership. However, after noticing an uptick in angry outbursts, violent behavior, depression, and anxiety among its students, the administration began implementing new mental health support services.
“Our motto is based upon the three Hs: Help Yourself, Help Others, and Help Your School,” said Director of Teaching and Learning Mindy Robertson. “In keeping with this motto, we o er one-on-one and small-group therapy sessions, as well as access to the H-3 room. It’s a de-escalation room where students can take time out for a breather when things get too stressful or intense.”
Still, it was clear that more could be done to support student mental health and resiliency. That’s when the district turned to Terrace Metrics.
“I love the Terrace Metrics assessments. The indirect and confidential way they ask questions solicits an accurate picture of the specific issues our students are struggling with.”
-Mindy Robertson, Director of Teaching and Learning
Deer Park Community City School District
Solution
Terrace Metrics helps schools measure students’ adversity and resiliency to positively impact educational outcomes. Since 2018, its system has given educators valuable insights about millions of students’ mental health.
“Before administering the Terrace Metrics assessments in our district, we could see the lack of engagement on our student’s faces,” said Mindy. “We began with a focus not just on issues like suicide risk, but also identifying any type of student need early on so we can provide those students with support.”
Even as the COVID-19 pandemic struck, which caused students first to wear masks and later attend online classes, the district continued administering Terrace Metrics assessments. The resulting data proved endlessly valuable to the district.
“Things got worse for the students during those times,” said Mindy. “They became more isolated and withdrawn. Most importantly, they lost access to in-person school mental health resources when meetings became virtual.”
Despite external challenges, the district worked with Terrace Metrics throughout the pandemic to support its students.
Outcome
The results of the Terrace Metrics assessments have a direct, positive impact on student interventions developed and implemented by the district. Once the reports are made available, district counselors review them and take immediate action.
“Our counselors use the Terrace Metrics data to drive their individual interaction and classroom instruction,” said Mindy. “They pay attention to trends in the reports. For example, when one of the more critical tier-one concerns for our students was grit, we had a representative from Terrace Metrics come in and give our counselors information on how to implement a lesson plan to increase grit.”
When assessments revealed high ostracism among students, the district identified and brought together a group of students to have a session with a motivational speaker.
“Ultimately, the trend data starting in 2020 reveals that we continue to make progress regarding the mental health of our students,” said Mindy. “It’s very reaffirming that we are on the right path, and it’s great to see that a majority of our students report having a positive school experience. And, even though there is a nationwide narrative that bullying is rampant, only one percent of our students report habitual victimization.”
The Terrace Metrics Assessment and Reporting Process
Before, during, and after data collection, Terrace Metrics works with schools to ensure a smooth and efficient process. Technical and curriculum experts are on hand for an immediate consultation. First, deidentified data is cleaned, coded, and scored using proprietary algorithms. Then, student level data is immediately transmitted to schools for rapid response. Proprietary software automatically converts student-level data into relevant reports. Finally, all results are accompanied by empirically supported intervention strategies.