Social Emotional Strategist fills gap

BISMARCK, ND ( KXNET ) — Teacher shortages persist across the nation, and that’s especially true when it comes to special educators. According to the U.S. Department of Education.

Special education teachers support students with learning, mental, emotional or physical disabilities, so when these teachers are in short supply, school districts have to find other solutions to meet student’s needs.
Short a couple of special education teachers, the Bismarck Public School special education team got creative and started to think about what different degrees could fill the gap and provide students the necessary skills to succeed.

BPS Director of Special Education, Danica Nelson says they determined that a person licensed in either general education or social work would be best suited to fill some of those needs and created the role of a social/emotional strategist.

“The social emotional strat really came out of someone that’s able to support students’ social emotional needs, and then the academic side is addressed by another teacher,” said Nelson. “And so it’s just trying to make that staffing pattern come complete.”

The social/emotional strategist provides students social and emotional regulation skills, counsels students who struggle with significant social, emotional and behavioral challenges, works with resource room staff to develop individual student plans and assist with case management and crisis intervention.

Nelson says while this role is different from what a licensed special education teacher provides, students are getting the support they need to succeed in school.

“What they should feel and see is that they have someone that is caring for them and meeting their needs,” said Nelson. “They may have someone that is addressing more of that social emotional side, and then maybe someone that’s addressing more of those academic needs. However, both needs are being met for that student.”

While able to fill some of these positions by thinking outside of the box, Nelson says two speech language pathologists are still needed in the district.
She says the national criteria for SLPs makes it more difficult to fill the positions in a creative way.

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