Bethlehem Kebede holds a B.S. in Applied Mathematics and Statistics from Stony Brook University. Before joining the SMART Center team, she worked at a small startup where her job was all about data – from crunching numbers and creating dashboards to conducting market research and writing analytical blog articles. In addition to this, she spent time as a K-12 math instructor as she finds it rewarding to support students in their educational journey. She’s excited to put her analytical skills to good use in the world of school mental health research. In her spare time, she enjoys reading various types of books, especially those in literature, psychology, and history and catching Broadway shows.
The Brief Intervention Strategy for School Clinicians (BRISC) is a 4-session, evidence-based, and flexible “Tier 2” intervention tailored to high school students and designed to fit the school context. This cluster randomized efficacy trial (52 public high schools in three states) will use longitudinal data collection with students and parents; analyses of school records; implementation measures; and clinician and administrator surveys and interviews to evaluate outcomes of BRISC compared to services as usual, as well as moderators and mediators of outcomes and feasibility, acceptability, and costs of BRISC. For more information, click here.
(Training & Technical Assistance) As a key component of this mission, UW SMART has developed strategies and related infrastructure for providing training and technical assistance to state and local education agencies as well as individual school districts. The SMART Center’s “TACore” provides: 1) Training and consultation/coaching focused on developing workforce capacity (among school staff and community partners) to deliver research-based strategies, policies, and practice models relevant to the education context, 2) Technical assistance focused on building evidence-based, multi-tiered systems of school-based behavioral health, using collaborative decision-making processes guided by local data as well as research evidence, and 3) Program evaluation focused on collecting and analyzing existing (e.g., administrative datasets) and novel (e.g., surveys, focus groups) quantitative and qualitative data to determine the impact of new or existing programs, practices, and policies.
Originally funded by federal COVID relief funds, the AESD BH-SAP aims to expand availability to school-based behavioral health services statewide. Across Washington state’s nine Educational Service Districts (ESDs), this initiative expands behavioral health support systems (including mental health and substance use) through a Multi-Tiered System of Support (MTSS) framework by increasing staffing capacity at regional and local levels. TAC has supported this project through regional capacity building as well as by serving as the lead evaluator. Capacity building activities included providing consultation on selection of practice models to be used by Student Assistance Professionals (SAPs) and professional learning opportunities for SAPs. Evaluation efforts include overseeing collection of student, school, and district outcome data, analyzing data, and producing reports to inform continuous improvement of the BH-SAP initiative.
See recent program evaluation findings in the 2023-24 report and executive summary.
In response, Washington state was recently awarded $6 million from the U.S. Department of Education to create a pipeline from Washington state’s five accredited Masters in Social Work training programs to Washington state’s K-12 schools. Called the Workforce for Student Well-being Initiative or WSW, 100 aspiring school social workers will receive conditional scholarships based on their financial need so the cost of getting an education is not a barrier to their getting an advanced degree and then committing to working in a high-need public or tribal school.
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