Supporting tutors to implement high quality SEL interventions using teacher classroom observation

• In Event: Contextualizing Social and Emotional Learning: How Do We Support Teachers to Implement Quality SEL Programs?

Proposal

The Framework Institute defines implementation as “the process by which an innovation, program, intervention or practice is put into use” (Lindland et al., 2015) and the measure of these processes is what we term as Program Implementation Quality (PIQ) measures. Despite the strong evidence that quality implementation determines the extent to which children benefit from education and social emotional learning programs, little attention, effort or resources have been applied to tracking implementation in a routine and systematic way and using the data to improve the quality of implementation on an on-going basis.

In the 2016-17 school year, the International Rescue Committee (IRC) in Lebanon has been training tutors to use low-cost targeted (LCT) SEL activities, specifically Mindfulness and Brain Games, to improve children’s academic and social emotional learning outcomes. As part of the Teacher Professional Development model, tutors are routinely coached on how to properly implement the LCT activities. In partnership with NYU Global TIES for Children, the IRC is studying the effectiveness of these LCT activities via a randomized control trial (RCT) design.

However, evaluation, whether by RCT or other designs, tell us whether or not a program had an impact in terms of specific outcomes, but allow us very little insight into why or how. In an effort to generate evidence around how an intervention is effective, as well as continuously improve programming by supporting teachers to effectively implement the activities, the IRC is investing in measuring implementation quality and generating practical evidence around how we can better implement SEL activities in crisis contexts. Only recently has SEL begun to be implemented in crisis contexts. As such, it is vital that the field determine quality standards for implementing SEL at this stage.

Maria del Sol Prieto, Education Coordinator for the IRC in Lebanon, will discuss how Teacher Classroom Observation (TCO) tools—one created for Mindfulness and the other for Brain Games--are applied to support tutors to improve the quality of implementation of LCT SEL activities. She will explain 1) how the tools were created to reflect the training the teachers received on Mindfulness and Brain Games and best practices in SEL implementation, thus capturing the fidelity of implementation, 2) how they are integrated into the larger coaching process in order to apply standards of quality to all teachers implementing the LCT SEL activities and 3) how the continuous use of data from the tools informs programmatic decision-making.

References
Lindland, E., Fond, M., Haydon, A., Volmert, A., & Kendall-Taylor, N. (2015). “Just Do It”: Communicating implementation science and practice. A FrameWorks Strategic Report. Washington, DC: FrameWorks Institute.

Author

• Maria del Sol Prieto, International Rescue Committee Lebanon