Hello again, and thanks for joining me for this lecture for the third module. Today, I'm going to discuss some of the general considerations for effectiveness with respect to implementing SEL programming. In the next two modules, we will explore this question in greater depth by looking at how effective approaches differ across the developmental stages. But here in this video, we'll focus on some of the broader considerations for school-based SEL programming across the grade levels. In presenting this material, I will be drawing from four texts, which I will go through in chronological order, highlighting both how they build on one another and how considerations for effectiveness have changed and grown as the field of SEL has developed. As we have discussed, the first text to use the term SEL and discuss recommendations for its practice in school-based contexts was the book Promoting Social and Emotional Learning: Guidelines for Practice. This text includes an extensive list of 39 guidelines for social and emotional education, both written in list form in Appendix B of the book itself and addressed one by one in order throughout the eight chapters of the text. The first three chapters of the book largely focus on what SEL is, why we need it, and how it fits into the existing school climate and structure. The guidelines introduced in these chapters similarly attest to these themes. For example, guideline 10 states, "The integration of SEL with traditional academics greatly enhances learning in both areas, addressing the importance of integrating SEL into existing academic curricula." The second three chapters of the book focused largely on planning and implementation in classrooms and schools. Chapter 4 is titled, Developing Social and Emotional Skills in classrooms. Chapter 5 is called Creating the Context for Social and Emotional Learning. And finally, Chapter 6 is titled, Introducing and Sustaining Social and Emotional Education. The guidelines introduced in these three chapters highlight key points relative to these themes. For example, guideline 21 speaks to the importance of continuity between home and school relative to SEL, stating, "When home and school collaborate closely to implement SEL programs, students gain more and the SEL program's effects are most enduring and pervasive." Chapter 7 and 8, the final two chapters of the book, discuss measurement, evaluation and next steps for the field. The guidelines introduced in these final chapters attend to the design and use of assessment tools for determining future approaches to SEL programming. For example, guideline 36 states, "Effective SEL programs are monitored and evaluated regularly using systematic procedures and multiple indicators." While guideline 39 states, "The result of SEL program evaluation efforts are used to refine programs and make decisions about their future course." This broad and extensive list of guidelines continues to serve as an example in the field. Even being identified in the second text we will be looking at, Joseph Zins, Michelle Bloodworth, Roger Weissberg, and Herbert Wahlberg's 2007 article, The Scientific Base Linking Social and Emotional Learning to School Success, as the essential elements of effective SEL practice. As they write about the 1997 text, 39 guidelines were developed based on their scientific investigations, reviews of the empirical and theoretical literature, visits to model sites throughout the country, and personal experiences in implementing and evaluating SEL practices. In addition to reiterating the continued relevance of the 39 guidelines, Zins et al., is out emphasize that the most effective SEL efforts are provided in more coordinated, sustained, and systematic ways using comprehensive, multi-year, multi-component programs then was the case in the past, and that the use of traditional short term, primarily didactic and/or isolated approaches to SEL have not been shown to be as effective as long-term coordinated efforts despite the popularity of these standalone approaches. In the same vein, they maintain that it is simply not sufficient to focus on person-centered skill development. As the authors state, effective SEL interventions are provided within supportive environments, and they're also directed at enhancing the social emotional environmental factors that influence learning so that the climate is caring, safe, supportive and conducive to success. Finally, the authors of this text create a list of seven essential characteristics of effective SEL programming. Each of the seven characteristics has anywhere from three to seven sub points. But for our purposes here today, I will simply highlight the seven primary characteristics which are: carefully planned theory and research based, teaches SEL skills for application to daily life, addresses effective and social dimensions of learning, leads to coordinated, integrated, and unified programming linked to academic outcomes, five, that it addresses key implementation factors to support effective social and emotional learning and development, sixth, that involve family and community partnerships, seven, that the design includes continuous improvement, outcome evaluation, and dissemination components. So, five years later in 2012, Stephanie Jones and Suzanne Bouffard published Social and Emotional Learning in Schools from Programs to Strategies, which you read for this module. In this piece, they highlighted the limitations of existing programmatic approaches building from Zins et al's contention, that the most popular SEL programs, the standalone programs, are not as effective as integrated strategies. Jones and Bouffard develop four principles of SEL development that can drive more effective school-based approaches, as well as four promising approaches to integrating SEL into daily practice, moving past the exclusive focus on programmatic efforts. The four principles connected to effective school-based approaches, as you'll recall from your reading, are: one, social, emotional, and academic skills are interdependent, two, classrooms and schools operate a system, three, continuity and consistency are essential for SEL skill development, four, SEL skills develop in social contexts. As the authors explain, these four principles highlight the need to shift from SEL programs to integrated strategies. And the promising approaches to integrating SEL into daily practice include: one, routines, two, training and support for all teachers, staff, and school leaders, three, SEL standards, four, support for adults' own SEL skills. Finally, Redding and Wahlberg wrote a chapter titled: Indicators of Effective SEL Practice, published in the 2015 Handbook of Social and Emotional Learning, Research and Practice. Here, the authors identify school-level indicators of effective practice and the SEL domain across four rounds, leadership, professional development, teaching and learning, and learning environment. This most recent chapter highlights an increased emphasis on school leadership in the larger environment, and reduced focus on the use of integrating specific standalone programs into individual classrooms. In particular, it is worth noting how the conversation around what effective practice in SEL is has changed over time. Beginning with a largely programmatic approach, what are the characteristics of effective SEL programs in moving towards a greater emphasis on SEL practices and the importance of learning environments and leadership to developing and sustaining those practices? Thanks for joining, and I hope this video has provided you with some initial considerations and resources for exploring what effective instruction looks like and what is best suited to your context and circumstances.
