UND exceeds state requirement, offers K-12 teachers mental health training for youths

The 2015 North Dakota Legislative Assembly passed Senate Bill (SB) 2048, which mandates that state school districts provide at least eight hours of mental health training every two years to elementary, middle and high school teachers, as well as administrators.

Beginning this month, the University of North Dakota’s Professional Development for Educators program will offer a 15-hour, online youth mental health training course, available to all North Dakota educators, as well as educators across the United States. The course costs $199 and offers letter or satisfactory/unsatisfactory (S/U) grading. Participants have up to four months to complete the training.

“We’re looking forward to launching (this training),” said Kyle Knutson, coordinator for the Professional Development for Educators (PDE) program. “There is definitely a demand across the state and nationwide. Mental health is an important matter. We know educators want to learn about it and become more comfortable in dealing with different types of mental health issues.”

A fact sheet focusing on SB2048, highlights a Center for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) report (2013), showing one out of every five children experiences a mental health disorder in any given year. A National Institute of Mental Health report (2009) estimates only 20 percent receive treatment. A 2013 North Dakota Youth Risk Behavior Survey (YRBS) revealed at-risk behaviors for students in grades 9-12:

• 35 percent have had a drink of alcohol in the past 30 days
• 25 percent reported being bullied on school property in the past 12 months
• 25 percent reported feeling so sad or hopeless almost every day for two weeks or more in a row that they stopped doing some usual activities in the past 12 months
• 22 percent reported binge drinking in the past 30 days (consuming five or more drinks within a couple of hours)
• 18 percent used prescription drugs without a doctor’s prescription in their lifetime
• 16 percent seriously considered attempting suicide in the past 12 months

The YRBS survey was one reason the North Dakota Education Standards and Practices Board (ESPB) decided to offer 15-hours of professional development training. Another reason was how higher education considers credit hours.

“For our teacher candidates to be exposed to mental health competencies within the higher education system, we needed to use a ‘semester hour’ system,” explained Dr. Janet Welk, executive director of North Dakota ESPB. “Semester hours must be provided by an approved college or university in order to be used toward teacher licensure.”

The course is a collaborative effort between UND, ESPB and North Dakota’s Department of Public Instruction (DPI), which cites success stories from around North Dakota.

“Our national movement for mental health and wellness in schools is just beginning. This work is incredibly necessary with all the challenges faced by today’s youth, but to reach all students there is a lot to be done,” explained Trish Arnold, assistant director of safe and healthy schools for ND DPI. “Based on the work of these innovative educators and administrators, their achievements have come from going above and beyond the mandate because they know their efforts are what’s best for all students.”

Course Information
SB2048 is set to go into effect on Aug. 1, meaning, any teachers or administrators without at least eight hours of mental health training on that date may not be eligible to teach in North Dakota. New college graduates received mental health training in their degree curriculum. School districts, required to offer at least eight hours of mental health training, should provide the appropriate training for current educators.

“New educators to the state of North Dakota are going to need training,” said Knutson, “ESPB estimates more than 500 educators apply for teaching licenses each year. Without the required mental health training, they won’t be approved.”

More information on UND’s online youth mental health training can be found at UND.edu/educators/youth-mental-health.

About UND’s Professional Development for Educators Program

• PDE provides learning opportunities for more than 4,000 school administrators, teachers and other school professionals each year.
• PDE offers more than 200 online, enroll anytime courses for PreK-12 educators.
• Each year, PDE coordinates or provides credit for more than 50 face-to-face learning events for educators.
• UND is fully accredited by the Higher Learning Commission of the North Central Association of Colleges and Schools.

— Kyle Knutson, Coordinator, Professional Development for Educators