Professional Practice Brief: Traumatic Brain Injury

NCDPI School Psychology subscriber -

As school psychology continues to encompass a broad-based field of practice, we can sometimes become overwhelmed with the amount of information to sift through and have an established knowledge base in to support effective practice.  

Throughout this academic year, in addition to ongoing communications, a series of professional practice briefs will be distributed monthly across this network to support effective practice in ONE focused area each month.

September 21st is National Concussion Awareness Day.  A concussion is considered a mild traumatic brain injury (mTBI); therefore, the practice brief for this month will focus on Traumatic Brain Injury.  

As you prepare to read this month's brief, here are some NC Public Schools facts related to TBI:

1) Since the NC Policies Governing Services for Children with Disabilities definition of TBI was revised in 2013, our NC IDEA identification rates in this classification have increased by 62%.

2) Since the State Board of Education Policy SHLT-001 (Return-to-Learn After Concussion) was approved in 2016, the reports of concussions across NC Public Schools has increased by over 1300 students (from 15-16 academic year [before SHLT-001], to 16-17 academic year [first year of SHLT-001 implementation]).

These data suggest that increased awareness, knowledge, and consistent practices specific to traumatic brain injury has improved school staff's ability to appropriately identify students in need for additional instructional support and monitoring directly linked to a TBI.

Please see attached for additional information and resources to support effective practice in the area of TBI.

• SchoolPsy_TBIBrief_September+2018.pdf