For teachers, preparing for an emergency such as an active shooter at school can be anxiety-provoking and overwhelming. A new research-based training aims to ease some of the anxiety by incorporating mental health support into the drills.
Two researchers from the Center for Health, Work, and Environment at the University of Colorado Anschutz Medical Campus recently completed a two-year research project on emergency preparedness plans and drills in schools. To start, they spoke to educators from six Colorado districts and learned that teachers often lacked coping skills for drills and felt as if they had no say in the details of the district鈥檚 emergency response plan.
鈥淥ne of the first things we heard [from administrators] was, 鈥榃e need this because our teachers aren鈥檛 engaging in drills,鈥欌�� said Natalie Schwatka, an assistant professor who focuses on workforce health and safety. 鈥淚t鈥檚 scary, it鈥檚 stressful, so teachers aren鈥檛 showing up to work on the days when they know there are going to be drills.鈥�
The researchers used the feedback to fine-tune a half-day workshop for teachers that integrated mental health with emergency preparedness, which they then delivered to nearly 500 educators from six schools鈥攖wo elementary, two middle, and two high schools鈥攊n the Cherry Creek district outside of Denver. They plan to soon make the training鈥檚 curricula and materials available for districts across the nation, free of charge.
In the workshop, teachers learned about the rationale behind the response plans and drills and had an opportunity to ask questions from their district鈥檚 head of safety and security. They also learned about psychological preparedness鈥攎eaning the ability to anticipate and manage their responses in an emergency situation鈥攁nd associated coping skills to calm the body and mind.
Those techniques help teachers feel more in control during a high-stress situation and avoid freezing or panicking, said Courtney Welton-Mitchell, an assistant professor who has worked as a mental health clinician specializing in traumatic stress.
鈥淲hen we鈥檙e in a heightened arousal state, it鈥檚 so much harder for us to think clearly,鈥� she said.
The intervention also had a peer-support component, so teachers learned how best to support one another. At the end, the researchers collected anonymous feedback about safety, security, and preparedness that they provided to the district.
鈥淭his project is designed to not only give [educators] tactical things they can do to prepare for emergencies ... but also sort of tally: How can we get these teachers and staff more involved in making decisions about what happens around safety and security?鈥� Schwatka said.
An emphasis on wellness and communication
Angie Lore, the principal of Polton Elementary School, which was one of the pilot schools, said she appreciated how the training emphasized wellness and support.
鈥淚t really is about making sure that teachers and school personnel and staff are taking care of themselves, that they know their roles [in emergencies],鈥� she said. 鈥淚t鈥檚 that age-old thing: We can鈥檛 take care of others unless we fully take care of ourselves.鈥�
The communications piece was also critical, she said: 鈥淲e鈥檝e got to make sure we鈥檙e a school community that can lean on each other, that can ask questions and be vulnerable, so we can do our best work.鈥�
The researchers initially conducted the training at three of the six schools so they could compare the final survey results of educators who received the training with those who hadn鈥檛 yet. The other schools received the training after first three were done.
The teachers and staff who participated in the training reported feeling more psychologically prepared, having more peer support for emergencies, feeling more like they collectively shared leadership responsibilities for emergency preparedness, and believing that their school was more committed to emergency preparedness.
The most robust findings were for psychological preparedness and peer support, Welton-Mitchell said.
鈥淭hat really speaks to the fact that we knew that psychological preparedness was an identified gap鈥攖hat it wasn鈥檛 happening or integrated in existing models,鈥� she said. 鈥淪omething like this half-day workshop could really move the needle on that, as well as other components.鈥�
Active shooter drills loom large in teachers鈥� minds
The intervention can be used for all emergency preparedness鈥攆ire drills, tornado drills, disease outbreaks, even plans for a bear on campus鈥攂ut active shooter drills loomed the largest in teachers鈥� minds, the researchers said.
School shootings are statistically rare but even the thought is terrifying. There have been 25 school shootings in 2023 that resulted in injuries or deaths, according to an Education Week analysis. Last year, there were 51, the most in a single year since Education Week began tracking such incidents in 2018.
The fear of school shootings takes such a toll on educators, making it critical to incorporate psychological preparedness into trainings, Welton-Mitchell said: 鈥淓ven if it鈥檚 a perception of a broader risk than what actually exists, those mental health impacts are real.鈥�
Teachers told researchers that they often felt like they didn鈥檛 have enough opportunities to talk with emergency personnel and have their questions answered, Welton-Mitchell said. Often, debriefings after drills happen with the emergency response team and senior leadership at the school鈥攖eachers are not included.
鈥淭he importance of teachers and staff feeling better prepared and better about their voices mattering in this process because they have that face time and that one-on-one access can鈥檛 be underestimated,鈥� she said, adding that the teachers who participated in the Cherry Creek trainings had the most positive feedback for the town halls with the district鈥檚 head of security.
Meredith Olugbode, a 3rd grade teacher at Polton Elementary in the Cherry Creek district, said her colleagues appreciated having a chance to run through all their 鈥渨hat-ifs": What if there鈥檚 a lockdown when they鈥檙e outside the school building? What if a student is in the bathroom? What if the lockdown happens when students are walking to a different class?
鈥淎ll the things that teachers think about, we got to ask the district security team the specifics,鈥� she said. 鈥淚t helps bring our anxiety down, knowing that our concerns are heard and knowing that if this 鈥榳hat-if鈥� situation ever does happen, [we] can rely on what they told us.鈥�
More districts can implement this training
Teachers told researchers that they鈥檇 like to have this training at the start of each school year.
鈥淚 think keeping the conversation in the forefront of our minds is what we have to do,鈥� Lore said.
Olugbode added that seeing reports of school shootings in the news often triggers new fears and anxieties for teachers. Having an annual refresher on coping skills鈥攁nd a chance to ask new questions鈥攃ould help, she said.
The Cherry Creek safety and security and mental health teams now plan to implement the training in more of the district鈥檚 67 schools, Welton-Mitchell said. The researchers are in the process of training district staff so they can conduct the workshop on their own.
Access to mental health support has been a priority in the Cherry Creek school district in recent years, after a spate of student deaths by suicide in 2019. The nearly 55,000-student district is opening a $15 million mental health day-treatment center this fall.
Meanwhile, the researchers are preparing the training鈥檚 curriculum guide and associated materials to post online for district leaders across the country to use, Schwatka said. The materials will include guides for districts to evaluate the training鈥檚 impact and to solicit feedback from their staff, she added.
Ideally, Schwatka said, districts鈥� safety and security teams will partner with human resources or school wellness teams to lead the training, so it鈥檚 fully integrated with mental health support.
And the researchers say they hope districts take teachers鈥� feedback on their emergency response plans seriously.
After all, said Welton-Mitchell, this training helps 鈥渋nvert what is really a top-down system that tells teachers and staff what to do, but doesn鈥檛 really give them the voice to say, 鈥榃ait a minute, we鈥檙e here on the front lines, and we have some thoughts about what鈥檚 needed and what could enable our preparedness infrastructure to be more effective.鈥欌��
