Relationships Matter; how relational-based supports can (PDF)

 Relationships Matter | How relational-based supports can make a difference in Alberta schools 2 Acknowledgements Thank you to school authorities, community partners and cross-ministry partners for their willingness to share their expertise in the development of this resource, including: • Alberta Children’s Services • Alberta Community and Social Services • Alberta Mentoring Partnership • Alberta Health Services • Edmonton and Area Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorder Service Network • PolicyWise for Children & Families • The Alberta Teachers’ Association • United Way of Calgary and Area • United Way of the Alberta Capital Region An additional thank you to those who provided feedback during the development of this resource and to everyone who is committed to promoting healthy relationships in schools and creating welcoming, caring, respectful and safe learning environments across Alberta. Relationships Matter: How relational-based supports can make a positive difference in Alberta school | Ministry of Education © 2021 Government of Alberta | October 2021 | ISBN 978-1-4601-4360-5 (PDF online) As part of the Government of Alberta’s commitment to open government, this publication is posted and permanently retained on the Open Government Portal at https://open.alberta.ca/publications/9781460143605. Every effort has been made to provide proper acknowledgement of original sources. If cases are identified where this has not been done, please notify Alberta Education so appropriate corrective action can be taken. Permission is given by the copyright owner to reproduce this document “as is” for educational purposes and on a non-profit basis. Website references contained within this document are provided solely as a convenience and do not constitute an endorsement by Alberta Education of the content, policies or products of the referenced website. The department does not control the referenced websites and is not responsible for the accuracy, legality or content of the referenced websites or for that of subsequent links. Referenced website content may change without notice.  Relationships Matter | How relational-based supports can make a difference in Alberta schools 3 Contents Introduction ................................................................................................................................................................................ 4 Background .................................................................................................................................................................................. 4 Relational-based Supports ........................................................................................................................................................... 5 Relationships Matter .................................................................................................................................................................. 6 Goal of this Resource ................................................................................................................................................................... 6 Legislation and Policy ................................................................................................................................................................... 7 Pause and Reflect 1: How Do We Begin? .................................................................................................................................... 9 Insights on Relational-based Supports .................................................................................................................................. 10 Key Components ........................................................................................................................................................................ 10 Pause and Reflect 2: Key Components of Relational-based Supports....................................................................................... 11 How Healthy Relationships Promote Healthy Brain Development ............................................................................................. 11 Key Understandings from Research........................................................................................................................................... 13 Pause & Reflect 3: Reflecting on the Research ......................................................................................................................... 13 Community Partnerships and Relational-based Supports in Schools ........................................................................................ 14 Pause & Reflect 4: Collaborating with Community Partners ....................................................................................................... 14 Strengthening a Continuum of Supports and Services using Relational-based Supports ............................................... 15 Universal Supports for All Students ............................................................................................................................................ 16 Targeted Supports for Some Students ....................................................................................................................................... 16 Individualized Support for a Few Students ................................................................................................................................. 17 Pause & Reflect 5: Relational-based Supports within a Continuum of Supports and Services .................................................. 17 Relational-based Supports in Practice ....................................................................................................................................... 17 Pause & Reflect 6: Next Steps ................................................................................................................................................... 22 Appendices ............................................................................................................................................................................... 23 Appendix A: Sample Reflection Questions ................................................................................................................................. 24 Appendix B: Strategies for Strengthening Healthy Student-Adult Relationships ........................................................................ 27 Appendix C: FASD-informed Strategies ..................................................................................................................................... 30 Appendix D: Web-based Resources .......................................................................................................................................... 32 Appendix E: References ............................................................................................................................................................. 34  Relationships Matter | How relational-based supports can make a difference in Alberta schools 4 Introduction Grounded in current and emerging research and best practice, including learnings from the 2009-17 Wellness, Resiliency and Partnerships (WRaP) Success Coach pilot project, this resource provides practical information and ideas for: • understanding the importance of, and identifying strategies for, strengthening student-adult relationships across the school environment; • guiding discussion, reflecting on practice and building a shared language around the concept of relational-based supports in schools and its potential for enhancing mental health and well-being, as well as improving student engagement and school success; and • building shared understandings of the benefits and components of relational‑based supports within a comprehensive continuum of supports and services. In 2021, Alberta's government is re-introducing an enhanced WRaP program to help students with Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorder (FASD) across the province reach their full potential. This new program will work closely with experts in the FASD Networks to leverage the success of existing FASD initiatives and activities, partnering with school authorities to build and enhance capacity with Alberta's educators. The specialized FASD supports embedded into the school’s continuum of supports and services ensure students with FASD are able to get the most out of their school community through engagement, academic success and enhanced social, emotional and physical well-being. A key component of this continuum are relational-based supports outlined in this resource. Background The WRaP Success Coach project was developed in 2009 as part of the FASD 10-year Strategic Plan. This comprehensive and coordinated response to FASD focused on five areas, including: awareness, prevention, assessment and diagnosis, supports for individuals and caregivers and creating a FASD learning organization. Administered through Alberta Education, and cost shared with partnering school authorities, the WRaP Coach project focused on providing innovative and flexible relational-based supports to support inclusion and increase student success through a youth-development coaching model. The WRaP Success Coach project also involved various community partners, such as the Alberta FASD Service Networks, to provide local context and expertise. School-based youth coaches (called WRaP or Success Coaches) worked with students affected by FASD to: • maximize school engagement; • increase academic success; and • enhance social, emotional and physical well-being. In addition, coaches worked to enhance school and family capacity for supporting students affected by FASD and to build partnerships that increased youth’s access to supports at home, at school and in their communities. This included strengthening connections to local FASD Service Networks and their staff. Alberta’s Ministry of Community and Social Services supports a province-wide network of FASD services and supports. More information, including a map and contact information for the FASD Service Network in your area, can be found on FASD Alberta Networks. Who is this resource for? The primary audience for this resource is: • school and school authority leaders; • teachers and other adults working to support students; and • community partners working in collaboration with school authorities.  Relationships Matter | How relational-based supports can make a difference in Alberta schools 5 Relational-based Supports The learnings from the WRaP Success Coach project align with and support current and emerging research on student engagement, high school completion and school improvement. This emerging research clearly identifies that healthy relationships matter—between students, between students and adults in the school environment, between adults in the building and between schools, families and community partners. For students in particular, healthy relationships are the foundation for all positive social interactions; they help students feel connected to others and to the school community. Experiencing healthy relationships also contributes to students’ sense of belonging, engagement with learning and academic success. In addition, healthy relationships are reciprocal. They benefit not only students, but also the adults who participate in them. Growing evidence suggests that strategically and systematically investing in healthy relationships in schools, and providing targeted and/or intensive and individualized relational-based supports for those students who require them, including students with diverse learning needs, will lead to improved learning and life outcomes. Across the province, schools and school authorities have seen the value of implementing relational‑based supports to support student success. Relationships Matter: How relational-based supports can make a positive difference in Alberta schools is designed to strengthen and build on the work already underway provincially and to provide guidance and direction for those schools and school authorities looking to strengthen healthy relationships in their schools. Relational-based supports help students develop resiliency and build a personal network of strong and flexible relationships they can rely on at home, at school and in the community. They are also structures and processes that are put in place to support students and adults in engaging intentionally in meaningful activities, collaborative reflection and critical conversations intended to enhance students’ learning and social-emotional development. A note about terminology in this resource: Student is inclusive of children and youth. School is inclusive of all in-person and virtual learning environments, including early learning.  Relationships Matter | How relational-based supports can make a difference in Alberta schools 6 Relationships Matter A growing body of school-based research, some of which is cited within the pages of this resource, suggests that healthy relationships provide significant benefits to students, school culture and the community-at-large. Classrooms today represent a microcosm of our rich and diverse society. Alberta schools are dynamic environments that emphasize high standards, respect and safety, but we cannot take this for granted. A continuing focus on healthy relationships will help build healthy school environments where students are ready to learn and teachers are able to teach. The education system has a role to play in students’ personal development, as well as in their ability to contribute to the social and economic potential of the province. The ability to build, maintain and participate in healthy relationships is a cornerstone of effective and responsible citizenship and of inclusive and welcoming communities. Well-designed relational-based supports: • anticipate, value and respond to learner diversity in personalized and respectful ways; • reduce the social barriers to learning and engagement that some students experience; • create additional contexts for supporting individual student’s growth and success— socially, emotionally and academically; • reduce social isolation; • reduce the incidence of challenging behaviour; and • increase students’ personal and social competence. Goal of this Resource The overall goal of this resource is to enhance capacity within schools, school authorities and community partners to strengthen student-adult relationships and improve outcomes, not only for students but also for the whole school community. Included in this resource are descriptive examples of universal, targeted and individualized relational‑based supports illustrating a range of possible supports available, and informing and inspiring local planning and decision-making. In addition, four appendices offer practical information for strengthening healthy student-adult relationships and developing school-based relational supports, including: • Appendix A: a series of additional “Pause & Reflect” questions that school staff can use as a starting point for professional conversations with colleagues and community partners; • Appendix B: practical strategies and ideas that adults in the school community can use to strengthen their relationships with students; • Appendix C: practical information for use by school-based, youth-development coaches in supporting all students, including those affected by FASD; and • Appendix D: web-based resources used to inform the content of this resource. In collaboration with the Alberta Regional Professional Development Consortia (ARPDC), Alberta Education has developed two resources that speak to the value of relational-based supports for all students, including: • Working Together to Support Mental Health in Alberta Schools; and • Support High School Completion: A Tool Kit for Success.  Relationships Matter | How relational-based supports can make a difference in Alberta schools 7 Legislation and Policy Alberta Education recognizes the role healthy relationships play in student success as part of a comprehensive continuum of supports and services. The value of healthy relationships is explicit in Alberta Education’s legislation, policy and priorities. Education Act The Education Act requires school boards to: • ensure that each student enrolled in a school operated by the board and each staff member employed by the board is provided with a welcoming, caring, respectful and safe learning environment that respects diversity and fosters a sense of belonging [Section 33(1)(d)]; and • provide a continuum of supports and services to students that is consistent with the principles of inclusive education [Section 33(1)(e)]. Professional Practice Standards The professional practice standards describe the competencies expected of teachers, leaders and superintendents. Fostering and building effective relationships is the first competency addressed in Alberta’s professional practice standards for teachers, school leaders and school superintendents. The expectation is that these relationships are inclusive of school and community contexts and underscore the value placed on the role healthy relationships play in student success. Indicators of this competency include: • acting consistently with fairness, respect and integrity; • demonstrating empathy and a genuine caring for others; • providing culturally appropriate and meaningful opportunities for students and for families and caregivers, as partners in education, to support student learning; and • going beyond pedagogy and design to accepting each student for who they are and whatever they might bring. Competency Four of the professional practice standards addresses the expectation that teachers, school leaders and superintendents establish inclusive learning environments where diversity is embraced and where students, staff and the local community are welcomed, cared for, respected and safe. In an inclusive learning environment, healthy relationships are central to fostering a culture of equality and respect. Ministerial Order on Student Learning The Ministerial Order on Student Learning outlines the vision for student learning, including that students will gain the knowledge and skills to form the foundations for successful and fulfilling lives, and make meaningful contributions to their communities and the world. Great teachers focus not on compliance, but on connections and relationships. P.J. Caposey, educator and author  Relationships Matter | How relational-based supports can make a difference in Alberta schools 8 Principles of Inclusive Education Six inter-related principles are the foundation to inclusive education in Alberta. These principles can guide and inform value-based and learner-centered decisions related to policies, practices and actions, supporting an inclusive education system.  Relationships Matter | How relational-based supports can make a difference in Alberta schools 9 Pause and Reflect 1: How Do We Begin? Consider taking a few moments to reflect and dialogue with colleagues and community partners about relational-based supports in your context. • Does your school or school authority have a common understanding of and shared language around what healthy student-adult relationships include? • How is your school or school authority currently encouraging and supporting the development of healthy student-adult relationships? • What barriers to developing healthy relationships between students and adults currently exist in your school or school authority? How can these barriers be reduced or eliminated? For additional reflection questions, see Appendix A: Sample Reflection Questions, Beginning the Conversation. Alberta’s professional practice standards define inclusive learning environments as, “classrooms, schools, online learning environments or other educational settings structured to anticipate, value and respond to the diverse strengths and needs of all learners.”  Relationships Matter | How relational-based supports can make a difference in Alberta schools 10 Insights on Relational-based Supports Relational-based supports, implemented in robust and flexible ways, are highly effective for strengthening the social-emotional well-being of students, as well as enhancing learning and engagement. Relational-based supports are developmental in nature. The Search Institute describes relationships as developmental when they help young people: • discover who they are; • develop abilities to shape their own lives; and • learn how to engage with and contribute to the world around them.1 Key Components Effective relational-based supports: • anticipate, value and support diversity; • focus on helping students build personal resiliency (i.e., the capacity to cope successfully with stress-related situations, overcome adversity and adapt positively to change); • are built on and align with strategies, practices and approaches that are evidence‑informed (i.e., effectiveness is documented and based on credible research and/or best practice); • are aligned with specific needs and priorities of the school community; • are planned and intentional processes and activities implemented as a school-wide approach; • happen over a sustained period of time with regular and intentional interactions; • have established goals with clearly understood outcomes and indicators and use ongoing data collection and analysis to inform planning, monitoring, evaluating and documenting effectiveness; • are student-focused, flexible, personalized and incorporate student voice and choice; • are strength-based, hope-focused and culturally responsive; • build student capacity and autonomy, and promote social-emotional learning; • engage students in active learning, problem solving and critical thinking; • are supported by ongoing quality professional learning to strengthen capacity of school staff and community partners; • engage and support family and school partnerships; and • help students develop natural support networks (i.e., an evolving set of strong, flexible and healthy relationships at home, at school and in the community upon which they can rely). 1Roehlkepartain, E. C., Pekel, K., Syvertsen, A. K., Sethi, J., Sullivan, T. K., & Scales, P. C. (2017). Relationships First: Creating Connections that Help Young People Thrive. Minneapolis, MN: Search Institute. Working with vulnerable youth to enhance their natural supports speaks to the connection between positive natural supports and healthy youth development. Learn more at Working with Vulnerable Youth to Enhance their Natural Supports. Burns Memorial Fund  Relationships Matter | How relational-based supports can make a difference in Alberta schools 11 Relational-based supports offer schools a way to strengthen connections between students and adults and create more supportive and inclusive learning environments. By intentionally supporting students’ social-emotional learning through stronger and more meaningful relationships with adults, schools can see students’ enhanced ability to: • participate in healthy relationships; • work in co‑operative groups; • collaborate on projects; and • be more engaged and self-directed learners. Often, the result of this intentional focus is decreased disruptive behaviour, discipline referrals, social isolation and suspension rates. Pause and Reflect 2: Key Components of Relational-based Supports Consider taking a few moments to reflect and dialogue with colleagues and community partners about the essential components of relational-based supports. • Which of the essential components or relational-based supports are most evident in the current supports available in your school or school authority? • Which of the essential relational-based supports components would you most like to see your school or school authority focus on? Why? For additional sample reflection questions, see Appendix A: Sample Reflection Questions, Essential Components of Relational‑based Supports. How Healthy Relationships Promote Healthy Brain Development Neuroscience tells us that, as human beings, we are hard-wired to be in relationships.2 An ‘environment of relationships’ is crucial for the development of a student’s brain architecture, which lays the foundation for future outcomes, such as school performance, learner engagement, mental health and interpersonal skills. Strong and supportive relationships provide the responsiveness, scaffolding and protection that buffer students from developmental disruption. They also build key capacities—such as the ability to plan, monitor and regulate behaviour—that enable students to respond adaptively to adversity and thrive. This combination of supportive relationships, adaptive skill-building and positive experiences is the foundation of resiliency.3 2 Lieberman, Mathew D. (2013). Social: Why Our Brains Are Wired to Connect. Oxford, Great Britain: Oxford Community Press. 3 Varga, S. and Zaff, F. (2017). Defining Webs of Support: A New Framework to Advance Understanding of Relationships and Youth Development. Center for Promise. Children need nurturing, supportive and encouraging adults for sturdy brain development. Applemag.ca (2016), Alberta Health Services Youth with strong webs become more resilient to social challenges and thrive in overcoming adversity and helping others Derek Peterson, Child/Youth Advocate & Author  Relationships Matter | How relational-based supports can make a difference in Alberta schools 12 Early experiences are built into our brains and our bodies and positively or negatively affect lifelong learning, behaviour and health outcomes. Brain research shows that experiencing nurturing, responsive and stable relationships is essential for healthy brain development. By providing these supportive relationships, family members, caregivers, school staff and other significant adults in students’ lives play an important role in building a strong foundation for learning, memory, behaviour, health and the ability to form healthy relationships. As brain development continues into a person’s mid-20s, it is important to continue to make this strong connection to relationships and positive experiences, for the greatest levels of success. Experiencing interactions that are repeatedly negative or unresponsive can negatively impact a student’s learning, behaviour, mental health and well-being. When students experience frequent or prolonged adversity, (e.g., physical, sexual or emotional abuse; chronic neglect or abandonment; exposure to violence, including bullying; or substance abuse of a family member) the stress experience can become intolerable and toxic. Toxic stress derails healthy development and can result in trauma. This is especially true when a student has no caring adult to act as a buffer. The effect of these adverse experiences on a child’s developing brain increases the risk of long-term mental and physical health problems. To minimize these long-term health issues and protect students from the effects of toxic stress, the number of protective factors in a student’s life must be increased and risk factors must be decreased. Risk Factors Risk factors are attributes, characteristics or experiences that increase the likelihood of illness or injury. Risk factors for students’ mental health may include: • events that challenge their social‑emotional well-being, such as unsupportive or negative interactions; • isolation; • bullying; • loss and grief; • family member with an addiction and/or mental illness; and • maltreatment, including exposure to abuse, poverty or abandonment. Protective Factors Protective factors are conditions or attributes that promote well-being and reduce risk for negative outcomes, or insulate individuals from harm. These factors contribute to students’ positive mental health and buffer the effect of risk or adverse factors. Protective factors are strengthened when students have opportunities to develop social‑emotional skills and healthy relationships. Protective factors that promote students’ mental health and well-being include: • experiencing success in school or other learning environments; • having support from a wide circle of family, friends, peers and school staff; and • learning to understand, express and manage emotions and behaviour. How Brains are Built provides information on how the architecture of the brain is foundational for learning and mental health. Learn more at How Brains Are Built: Introducing the Brain Story. Alberta Family Wellness Initiative For more information on how trauma‑informed practice can increase protective factors and strengthen relationships in schools, see the Alberta Education video on Trauma-informed Practice. The more healthy relationships a child has, the more likely they will be to recover from trauma and thrive. Dr. Bruce Perry, author and psychiatrist  Relationships Matter | How relational-based supports can make a difference in Alberta schools 13 Key Understandings from Research The following key understandings can be used by schools to inform planning and decision making related to programming and supports for students. • Every student needs to have a healthy relationship with at least one adult in the school that is characterized by warmth, concern, openness and understanding, and who respects and appreciates who they are. • If a student is well known by even one adult at school, that student’s chances of success increases dramatically.4 • Students in high school consistently report that the relationships they developed with adults in their schools helped them thrive in secondary school.5 • Trust, respect and concern for others’ welfare can have powerful effects on educators’ and students’ interpersonal relationships, as well as students’ achievement and overall well‑being.6 • Healthy relationships in school can buffer the impact of past adverse experiences (e.g., experiencing abuse, neglect, violence or a breakdown in parenting caused by separation or divorce, substance misuse, mental illness or incarceration).7 Meaningful relationships need to be culturally responsive and accommodate and honour diversity, particularly for Indigenous students. • To ensure all students experience success, schools need to provide both high standards and robust support. This means having high expectations for all students (both socially and academically), and at the same time ensuring appropriate supports are in place so that all students, whatever their strengths or needs, can meet these expectations and experience success at school and beyond. • Young people are highly motivated by relationships with parents, teachers and other adults when five actions occur within the relationship: expressing care, challenging growth, providing support, sharing power and expanding possibility.8 • Students who have stronger developmental relationships with adults, and specifically teachers, do significantly better on numerous measures of motivation and executive function that are essential for school success. These measures include self-regulation, mastery, motivation, academic confidence and openness to challenge.9 Pause & Reflect 3: Reflecting on the Research Consider taking a few moments to reflect and dialogue with colleagues and community partners about current research on the importance of healthy relationships to student learning. • How does your school or school authority use research to inform practice in general, and specifically regarding healthy relationships, brain development and neuroscience? • What areas of relational-based supports research are most relevant for your school or school authority? For additional reflection questions, see Appendix A: Sample Reflection Questions, Reflecting on the Research. 4 Hattie, J. (2008). Visible Learning. Abingdon, Oxon: Routledge. 5 Willms, J. D, Friesen, S., & Milton, P. (2009). What Did You Do In School Today? Transforming Classrooms Through Social, Academic and Intellectual Engagement. Canadian Education Association. Toronto, ONT. 6 Chukwuemeka, O. (2013). Environmental influence on academic performance of secondary school students in port harcourt local government area of rivers state. Journal of Economics and Sustainable Development, 4 (12), 34-38. 7 Wolpow, R., Johnson, M. M., Hertel, R. & Kincaid, S. O. (2016). The Heart of Learning and Teaching: Compassion, Resiliency and Academic Success. Washington, DC: Washington State Office of Superintendent of Public Instruction. 8 Roehlkepartain, E.C., Pekek, K., Syvertsen, A.K., J., Sullivan, T.K., & Scales, P.C. (2017). Relationships First: Creating Connections that Help Young People Thrive. Minneapolis, MN: Search Institute. 9 ibid. Positive connections are one of the five core strategies of Alberta’s High School Completion Strategic Framework. An Alberta Education/ Organisation for Economic Co‑operation and Development (OECD) research project found that strong relationships with students, parents and local communities was one of the common factors in schools that are successfully supporting Indigenous students. The students in the study reported feeling supported when people at their schools care about them and care about who they are as Indigenous people. Promising Practices in Supporting Success for Indigenous Students (OECD, 2017)  Relationships Matter | How relational-based supports can make a difference in Alberta schools 14 Community Partnerships and Relational-based Supports in Schools When school staff collaborate in planning for relational-based supports, they build a shared understanding of both the social‑emotional needs of students and the power of healthy relationships. This allows them to collaborate more effectively with families and community partners to identify supportive strategies and practices that can be implemented across environments, including at school or other learning environments and in the community. To respond effectively to student and community needs, school staff need the additional expertise and/or active participation of specific community partners, such as post-secondary institutions, researchers, health professionals or other service providers. Partners from health and service agencies are often able to provide professional development to school staff on specific topics and/or issues. Collaborating with, and tapping into, the expertise of community partners and service providers is an effective way to build school staff capacity to better support students. Partners may also have relevant expertise and resources that can help in providing intensive individualized supports to students who require specific interventions or supports. Pause & Reflect 4: Collaborating with Community Partners Consider taking a few moments to reflect and dialogue with colleagues on how collaborating with community partners can contribute to strengthening student-adult relationships in the school, as well as building capacity to implement school-based relational-based supports. • How are community partners currently supporting students or working in collaboration with staff in your school or school authority? • What new partnerships would benefit your students and build capacity of your school staff? For additional reflection questions, see Appendix A: Sample Questions, Collaboration and Community Partners. For more ideas on working with community partners, see Working Together: Collaborative Practices and Partnership Toolkit. This resource offers a four-stage approach to help build capacity and develop partnerships to support children and youth in schools. All things and all people, though we have our own individual gifts and special place, are dependent on and share in the growth and work of everything and everyone else. We believe that beings thrive when there is a web of interconnectedness between the individual and the community, and between the community and nature. Everything we do, every decision we make, affects our family, our community, it affects the air we breathe, the animals, the plants, the water in some way. Each of us is totally dependent on everything else. Dr. Evelyn Steinhauer, University of Alberta professor, Faculty of Education, Our Words, Our Ways  Relationships Matter | How relational-based supports can make a difference in Alberta schools 15 Strengthening a Continuum of Supports and Services using Relational-based Supports The defining characteristic of relational-based supports—and how they differ from more informal relationship-building strategies—is that they are part of a comprehensive continuum of supports and services, ranging in type and intensity, and designed to respond to the evolving and individual needs of students. A continuum that includes relational-based supports builds on the belief that, with the right strategies and supports, all students can be engaged, successful learners, and experience positive mental health and well-being. It is a flexible and responsive way of conceptualizing and organizing supports along multiple pathways. Typically organized around three levels (similar to a pyramid of intervention or a multi-tiered system of support approach), a continuum of supports and services includes: • universal supports for all students; • targeted supports for some students who require additional support; and • intensive individualized supports for a small number of students who require this level of support. Universal Targeted Individualized The three support levels are inter-related and cumulative, i.e., individuals receiving intensive individualized supports also require access to universal and targeted supports. Further, in a continuum model, a specific support might be considered either universal or targeted, depending on context and level of intensity required. For example, in one school an Elder-in-Residence might take a more universal approach and share cultural teachings with all students, whereas in another school the Elder-in-Residence may take a more targeted or individualized approach and focus on a small group or individual students who would most benefit from cultural and spiritual guidance. Student needs can shift and change over time and context; therefore, supports must also be fluid and flexible. Ensuring appropriate universal strategies and supports are in place for all students can reduce the number of students requiring targeted supports. Ensuring targeted supports are in place on an as-needed basis can reduce the number of students requiring individualized types of supports, or may reduce the level of intensity required. Reminder: The three support levels are inter-related and cumulative, i.e., individuals receiving intensive individualized supports also require access to universal and targeted supports. When adults in the building know students well, and trust exists in their relationships, they are better able to observe when a student might need additional levels of support. When a healthy relationship exists, there is also an increased chance that a student will come to a trusted adult for help, if they need it. Note: It is the system structures for supports that are tiered, not the students.