Background
Ravit R Stein, PhD, BCBA-D, NCSP, is the Director of Psychological and Behavioral Consultation at EASTCONN, one of six Regional Education Service Centers in Connecticut. She is a licensed psychologist, board-certified behavior analyst/licensed behavior analyst, and nationally certified school psychologist. Stein and her team of multidisciplinary experts in the fields of education, psychology, and behavior analysis, partner with public schools to provide coaching and consultation to school teams at the student, classroom, school and district-wide level, on a wide range of topics, from issues related to trauma-informed practice, social-emotional learning, academic achievement and mental health supports.

Stein’s work revolves around the idea of closing the “knowing-doing gap.” “I often find that in schools, key personnel know what evidence-based practices should look like in classrooms, but—given the variety of competing initiatives—putting those practices into place consistently over time can be challenging,” she says. Stein is dedicated to coaching educators in how to build capacity via effective systems and meaningful habits so that evidence-based high leverage practices can be sustained over time. She also focuses on how to translate and apply organizational behavior and leadership approaches that work well in other sectors to educational settings.

Stein has been interested in helping others since her undergraduate career. Both her undergraduate and graduate studies sparked her strong interest in utilizing an ecological lens. “I like to think about all parts of the system to develop solutions that meet the diverse needs across multiple layers,” says Stein. She believes that it is possible to “work smarter, not harder” by looking at need from a systemic perspective, in order to generate solutions. “We want to solve problems in a sustainable manner, rather than solving the same problem over and over,” she says.

Stein strongly believes that education settings provide a unique opportunity to impact students’ lives by supporting the whole child. Early in her career, Stein spent time working in private practice with families and students. In returning to work for a regional education service center, Stein reflected; “What can we do earlier and more proactively to set students up for success?”

Involvement with CSCH
Stein has partnered with Sandra Chafouleas, CSCH Co-Director, for many years, and values the work that CSCH has accomplished. Stein’s appreciation for the critical role of multidisciplinary teams and the goals shared between her team and CSCH is what drew her to be a CSCH affiliate and steering committee member. Stein feels as though it is important to engage a variety of diverse key personnel for the work to be sustainable. She engages in trauma-informed practice in educational settings, utilizing the WSCC model as one of the underlying principles of this practice.

More information regarding both Stein and the work of her multidisciplinary consultation team can be found on the EASTCONN website.

Fun Facts
Stein lives in the town of Mansfield, not far off of UConn’s main campus. She loves to travel, hike, and ski with her three children.

Undergraduate Researcher Elena Roberts interviewed Ravit Stein and wrote this profile.