This website is part of the Schools Empowering At-Risk Students (SEAS) project and has been created by the Clearinghouse for Military Family Readiness at Penn State (Clearinghouse), an applied research center located at The Pennsylvania State University. The SEAS team supports the Department of Defense Education Activity (DoDEA), a federally operated school district that educates approximately 70,000 students annually on behalf of the Department of Defense, by conducting research and creating learning modules along with other resources.
From 2011-2016, the Clearinghouse worked with DoDEA to identify effects of military-related parental absence on children, risk and protective factors, and potential unmet needs. One of the recommendations was to:
- Provide standardized training to teachers and staff:
- To better recognize when students are having difficulties;
- To implement effective supports for those students; and
- To understand military culture.
In response, the Clearinghouse worked with our DoDEA partners to support teachers and other school personnel who serve military-connected students. Specifically, collaborative efforts between the Clearinghouse and DoDEA were focused on developing and implementing standardized trainings for all school personnel on issues unique to military-connected students. This website was created to house online learning modules and other resources that were developed to help school personnel meet the needs of their military-connected students who are experiencing military-related parental absence.
In 2016, the SEAS project at the Clearinghouse commenced and work began in partnership with DoDEA to translate and apply evidence within a tiered prevention model to address student socioemotional risk. From 2016-2019, the SEAS project team provided online training materials, technical assistance, coaching, and consultation in order to help DoDEA implement best practices in a way that is sustainable and manageable given the unique needs of their schools and community.
In 2019, the SEAS project team at the Clearinghouse received a grant from the DoDEA grants program to broaden the impact of their work from 2016-2019, aimed at supporting the socioemotional needs of all military-connected children, including those in civilian public school districts. The team adapted existing resources for school professionals serving military-connected students in civilian K-12 schools, expanding their library of learning modules from eight to nearly 200. Additionally, the SEAS project team developed and piloted a new initiative that integrates motivational interviewing with the Multi-Tiered Systems of Support for Behavior (MTSS-B) framework. This work culminated in the creation of a comprehensive MTSS Toolkit.
In 2023, the SEAS project team at the Clearinghouse was awarded a contract to expand the MTSS-B pilot to include several DoDEA secondary schools. Resources that are created as part of the pilot will continue to be adapted to support the socioemotional needs of all military-connected children, including those children attending civilian public school districts. Resources are accessible on this website as they become available.