Mental Health, Crisis Response, and Collaboration
These items test judgment in mental health, crisis response, and collaborative practice - areas where "refer it" is rarely the best answer.
Mental health and risk
- Screen for depression, anxiety, and trauma; school-based supports such as CBT-informed groups, Check-In/Check-Out, and mentoring are appropriate within your competence.
- Suicide risk: ask directly; asking does not increase risk. Use a structured screen, determine immediate danger, notify parents or guardians, and follow district protocol. Never promise confidentiality.
- Threat assessment differs from suicide risk assessment: evaluate the threat, access to weapons, and needed supports using a team, not a solo decision.
- Child abuse and neglect: Illinois requires a report to the DCFS hotline as soon as possible and within 24 hours. Do not investigate yourself.
Collaboration and consultation
- Problem-solving consultation: define the problem operationally, analyze, plan, implement with fidelity, evaluate.
- Consultee-centered consultation targets the teacher's skills or beliefs; client-centered consultation targets the student.
- Cultural reciprocity: make your assumptions explicit and learn the family's explanation of the problem before proposing a plan.
- Provide qualified interpreters for meetings; never use the student as interpreter.
Worked example
A teacher says a student "just doesn't care." You ask for a specific description: work completion drops from 90% to 40% during independent writing. That operational definition lets the team count the behavior, test a hypothesis, and monitor change.
Traps
Guaranteeing confidentiality to a student who discloses self-harm; conducting a threat assessment alone; and waiting to "verify" abuse - the mandate is to report reasonable suspicion, not to prove it.