Tufts University School Psychology Program and Wediko Children's Services: An Urban School-Based Training Partnership

Wediko Children's Services has been providing mental health services to children and families in the Boston Public Schools for nearly thirty years. These services include the year around school-based program and the forty-five day summer program in New Hampshire. For undergraduates considering the Tufts School Psychology Program, we highly recommend the New Hampshire summer program as a means of gaining experience that offers an excellent supervised training opportunity for working with urban children in a highly structured, outdoor setting. The summer program also provides outstanding preparation for participation in our training partnership with the Wediko Side By Side Program.

The emphasis of Side By Side has been on social skills groups that are co-facilitated by Wediko clinicians and classroom teachers. The carefully structured curriculum provides a clear and consistent framework for each 40-50 minute group session per week. However, the curriculum for each group still provides the flexibility to meet the goals of individual teachers, while addressing the developmental needs of each classroom (K-5) and the strengths and weakness of individual students. Side By Side creates an atmosphere conducive to maximizing learning in several ways. Data have demonstrated an increase in positive school climate as noted in decreased suspensions and school staff reports. Teachers develop stronger helping relationships with students and report feeling greater skill and competence in the classroom. Students are provided with the opportunity to develop and practice positive coping strategies that contributes to positive behavioral support throughout the school.

This fall (2008), four Tufts practicum students will be spending one-half of their practicum hours working under the supervision of a Wediko clinician in the Side By Side program. Tufts students will be participating in the Side By Side groups and working with students individually. They will continue with the Side By Side program as part of their third year internship having the additional opportunity to work with families. Upon completing this training experience, a Tufts student will be prepared to enter the field with hundreds of hours of supervised experience in group work in an urban elementary school. This prepares one as a practitioner to actively collaborate with teachers in creating similar groups in other settings, thereby building the capacity to deliver mental health services to far greater numbers of children.

To learn more about Wediko Children's Services and the Side By Side Program, please visit: http://www.wediko.org.