New York schoolchildren began to have mental health checks: teachers call tests strange

Some New York City public school teachers and their union, the United Federation of Teachers (UFT), are expressing concerns about the “mental health checks” the City began to conduct on students in October 2021, reports AMNY.

In December 2020, New York Mayor Bill de Blasio, along with First Lady Chirlane McCrae, announced that the city would introduce new mental health screenings for public school students. They were promised to be organized in the areas most affected by the coronavirus pandemic. The “checks”, according to the authorities, were supposed to take the form of five-minute questionnaires for schoolchildren. The results of such testing will help school officials provide support for children with mental health problems.

By this spring, the plan had expanded to all schools in five boroughs through federal pandemic relief funds.

Checks don't look as promised

But mental health checks actually look very different from what city officials originally described them. Initially, students had to fill out questionnaires consisting of five to seven questions. Instead, teachers or other school staff fill out 40-question online children's questionnaires. These teacher questionnaires are called the Devereux Student Strength Assessment, or DESSA. Questions include assessing children on criteria for self-confidence, communication and decision-making skills.

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The completed DESSA questionnaires will then be interpreted by a social and emotional instructor. He must complete 13 hours of training to interpret the answers in the questionnaires. Based on the screening results, children will be divided into different groups depending on their social and emotional needs. The most mentally unstable students will receive additional support.

According to a spokesman for the Department of Education (DOE), the agency is gradually implementing DESSA in city public schools. Screening data should be collected by December 4th.

Some members of the school community feel they have been misled about mental health checks on children. UFT even requested a meeting with Department of Education officials to clarify questions about teachers spending huge amounts of time filling out questionnaires.

DOE and teachers are divided

DOE officials say it will take teachers only a few minutes to complete the questionnaire. But some teachers are skeptical about such promises. Filling out an unfamiliar online form is time-consuming. Especially considering the questions that some call “ridiculously subjective”.

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“I was a little funny when I saw the questions,” said one Bronx high school teacher. She worries that she will not be able to clearly answer the questions on the questionnaires about the 14 students allocated to her.

“These are questions like“ over the past four weeks, how often did the student behave confidently… ”I don’t know what this means and how to answer it,” the teacher admitted.