School administrators: Key players in concussion management

Every year millions of children get sports and recreation brain injuries. Concussions, or mild brain injuries are common - and they’re serious.

Effects of brain injury can lead to increased school absences, decreases in school performance, and reduced social interaction, all of which can impact a child’s quality of life. Given that most children return to school soon after injury, it’s important that school staff are knowledgeable about brain injury and prepared to support learning for students who have experienced concussion.

School administrators play a particularly critical role in creation and oversight of systems of support for students with brain injury. School leaders are responsible for allocating resources, interfacing with families and providing direction for school staff on issues that affect student success. The first step in establishing effective school supports for students with concussion is staff awareness—understanding how common concussion is—so that resources can be appropriately allocated, and effective systems established. However, surveys of school principals suggest that this awareness is lacking; most school administrators significantly underestimate the number of students in their school who experience concussion each year. This lack of awareness and understanding is also present in school staff who work directly with these students.

Fortunately, most school principals express a willingness to learn and acknowledge the importance of providing accommodations for students who have brain injuries.

What should school leaders do?

There is consensus on how best to design effective school supports for students with mild, moderate, or severe TBI. The most critical step is to identify a point person or team who can oversee concussion management. This allows parents and students to have a consistent point of contact as the child recovers. In addition, guidance suggests that school leaders should establish:

(a) Clear pathways for communication: Make sure that the child’s healthcare provider and family have one point of contact at the school.

(b) A system for monitoring student progress over time: This can be as simple as the concussion management team lead checking in weekly with school staff and communicating with the child’s family.

(c) Professional development for school personnel: Options for staff education on concussion management range from a lecture from a local healthcare provider to an online course such as In the Classroom.

(d) Consistent use of assessment practices to identify student needs: Students with brain injuries have unique needs as they recover. There are both informal and formal approaches to assessment to help identify the most effective approaches

The absence of consistent concussion management protocols at schools may lead to a lack of supports for students following a concussion. Educators need direction, guidelines, and resources to address concussion in the classroom. The first and most critical step is for school leaders to acknowledge the scope of the problem and then to lead efforts to provide needed supports to these students.