About TAP
The Clough Foundation Training and Access Project (TAP) partners with Boston Public Schools and focuses on building the capacity of school communities to address social-emotional learning and behavioral health. It provides comprehensive professional development through a Learning Collaborative model along with consultation.
TAP aims to build sustainable systems, processes, and resources around targeted goals to address the social, emotional, and behavioral health needs in schools. TAP utilizes program evaluation tools such as database documentation and collection of needs assessment data, pre- and post-surveys, satisfaction surveys, and progress monitoring data to support its efforts.
TAP also offers free online trainings for educators everywhere on various topics related to social-emotional learning and behavioral health through TAP Online.
TAP: Professional Development and Consultation
Over the course of five years, TAP engaged in two-year partnerships with 25 Boston Public Schools. Each school received up to 120 hours of individualized consultation along with up to 40 hours of professional development through a Learning Collaborative. The TAP consultants would meet regularly with an identified team along with leadership, and together they develop goals and create action plans, in order to work toward sustainable systems within the school to address social, emotional, and behavioral health.
The Learning Collaborative model is central to TAP’s professional development and is used to provide comprehensive training on topics tailored for schools that address social, emotional, and behavioral health. The Learning Collaborative is based on the concept that knowledge is gained through people actively interacting and sharing experiences, and that everyone has an opportunity to learn from each other. This model of learning engages participants by utilizing different methods for presenting and discussing material including group activities, small and large group discussion, team reflections, didactic presentations, and opportunities to network with individuals from different schools.
Building on the work in schools, TAP has now begun to support the Department of Social Work within Boston Public Schools to provide professional development and consultation to the newly expanded department.
We would like to thank the Gloria and Charles Clough Foundation, Manton Foundation, and C.F. Adams Charitable Trust for making this project possible.