Educational Leader Reports of Change in SEL Implementation Conditions Statewide over One Year of CalHOPE

• In Event: Rooted in History, Emboldening the Future: Scoping the SEL Implementation Literature and Enacting Statewide Change

Abstract

Introduction
Social and Emotional Learning (SEL) has been widely adopted as a promising approach to supporting the engagement, performance, and wellbeing of young people and educators. SEL works well when implemented well (e.g., Durlak et al. 2011), and is understood to be best accomplished through “systemic SEL” (Mahoney et al., 2021) - an approach to delivering SEL that engages multiple levels of the educational system to support and sustain the work - and “transformative SEL” (tSEL) - bringing an equity focus to SEL. Despite calls for shifting SEL towards systemic and transformative approaches, few, if any, models currently exist for integrating these frameworks and applying them to practice.

Conceptual Framework
To address this gap, with collaborators, we created the Systemic and Humanizing Implementation Focused on Transformation (SHIFT) SEL model as a guiding framework. SHIFT-SEL posits that student and adult outcomes (e.g., well-being) are predicated on conditions (e.g., climate) and structural mechanisms of implementation (e.g., levers of transformation). We then collaborated across research and practice to apply this model to advance SEL statewide in California.

Practice Model
CalHOPE Student Support is a partnership between the California Department of Health Care Services, County Offices of Education (COEs), public research universities, and purveyor organizations translating the science of SEL and implementation into practice. In 2021, CalHOPE first created learning networks through which COE representatives built collective capacity to become sources of regional implementation support (e.g., training, technical assistance, funding). In Fall 2022, these leaders selected and partnered with 3-8 focal schools to support their delivery of systemic, equity-oriented SEL. CalHOPE focuses on enhancing four levers of transformation, building a variety of partnerships (e.g., with local education agencies, parents), supports (e.g., training), capacities (e.g., knowledge), and structures and routines of SEL implementation (e.g., needs assessment). The ongoing, statewide assessment of SHIFT-SEL elements can pinpoint successes and areas for improvement in the conditions for SEL implementation.

Aims and Method
This study examines changes in the conditions for SEL implementation in California over the 2023-2024 school year. Educational leaders (507 in Fall 2023 and 386 in Spring 2024 from >90% of California counties) at the school, district, and COE levels reported on their well-being, workplace climate, and levers of transformation using equity-oriented measures on the Berkeley Assessment of Social Emotional Learning - Leader Voice (BASEL-LV). General linear models with mixed effects were run to test for statistically significant differences in statewide mean-level well-being, work climate, and levers of transformation: (RQ1) between COE and district/school settings, and (RQ2) between Fall 2023 and Spring 2024 - controlling for clustering and participant demographics.

Results
Cross-sectional comparisons showed that COE leaders reported more favorable conditions than district and school leaders, particularly in supports provided. Longitudinal analyses revealed significant improvements among district/school leaders in well-being, implementation supports, leadership capacities, and SEL structures and routines, while conditions at the COE level sustained earlier favorability. These findings suggest progress in developing infrastructure for SEL implementation statewide and illustrate the potential of regional intermediaries for scaling equity-oriented SEL.

Authors

• Ashley Metzger, University of California - Berkeley

• Justin D. Caouette, University of Washington

• Patrick Robinson-Link, University of California - Berkeley

• Jax Braun, University of Washington

• CalHOPE Research Committee, University of California - Berkeley

• Valerie Shapiro, University of California - Berkeley