Concussions are serious business. So is healthy recovery from such an event.
Students returning to the academic setting following a concussive brain injury often need additional considerations as they re-enter the classroom.
Recognizing the necessity to address this need, the Iowa Department of Education has partnered with the Iowa Department of Health and Human Services to provide statewide access to the Get Schooled on Concussions Website, including the Teacher Acute Concussion Tool (TACT).
Classroom teachers play a pivotal role in helping affected students have a smooth, seamless transition back into the classroom. Educators tending to students in their post-injury status benefit from supports like the Teacher Acute Concussion Tool (TACT), which helps teachers make academic accommodations and adjustments in tandem with the student’s return-to-learn experience. Educators accessing TACT will receive four weeks of specific classroom strategies delivered to their email inbox tailored to teaching styles, content areas, environmental and student factors.
By emailing brain.injury@idph.iowa.gov, educators can access the TACT, including a 15-minute video that schools can use as a professional development opportunity. No advance training or time out of the classroom is required to incorporate this resource into classroom practice when caring for students who have sustained a concussion. Examples of TACT support resources include:
- Web-based access to video tutorials on the academic support of cognitive inefficiency (from a concussion, COVID, trauma or any other medical/psychological condition that affects the student’s ability to learn) in elementary, middle and high schools.
- Web-based access to over 20 lessons/curriculum for the classroom teacher on how to support students with cognitive inefficiency in the general education classroom.
- Web-based access to over 11 lessons/curriculum for the related service provider (school nurses, counselors, school mental health, administrators) on how to support students with protracted cognitive inefficiency.
- Web-based access to the Teacher Acute Concussion Tool (TACT) delivering Return to Learn curriculum in school-wide teacher training and/or in real-time (when the student returns to the classroom) customized for each teacher based upon what, when and how they teach.
Educators are encouraged to use Iowa’s subscription to access the Teacher Acute Concussion Tool (TACT) resource to help address cognitive inefficiencies following a concussion injury and to have a positive impact on student learning and recovery.
If you have questions on TACT, email brain.injury@idph.iowa.gov. Additional questions may be directed to Maggie Ferguson, Project Director for Disability & Injury Prevention Programs at the Iowa Department of Health and Human Services or Melissa Walker at melissa.walker@iowa.gov Administrative Consultant of School Health at the Iowa Department of Education.