Social Emotional Learning Programs in Middle School: A Multidistrict Analysis of Implementation, Education, and Interpretation

• In Event: Improving Social-Emotional Skills at Scale: Measurement and Innovation in the CORE Districts

Abstract

School-based social-emotional learning (SEL) programs have expanded in recent years (Garner, Mahatmya, Brown, & Vesely, 2014; Greenberg et al., 2001). This drive to improve student competencies in SEL reflects an understanding that these complex skills and knowledge advance outcomes such as college readiness, career success, mental health, and relationships (Ashdown & Bernard, 2012; Davis, Solberg, DeBaca, & Gore, 2014; Durlak, Weissberg, Dymnicki, Taylor, & Schellinger, 2011; Greenberg, Domitrovich, Weissberg, & Durlak, 2017; McKown, Gumbiner, Russo, & Lipton, 2009). Yet, we know little about how educators understand, design, and implement SEL interventions within and across schools.

This paper seeks to address this gap by examining SEL practices within the CORE districts. The CORE network is working together to improve math achievement, particularly for African American and Hispanic/Latino students, through the integration of academic and social-emotional supports, with an added focus on race and equity. In 2016-17, a research team investigated the interpretations, interventions, and practices of district administrators and middle school leaders and teachers in response to this reform. Although research has examined SEL in educational reform at a district and school level (e.g., Greenberg, 2001; Greenberg, Weissberg, O'brien, Zins, Fredericks, Resnik, & Elias, 2003; Hawkins, Smith, & Catalano, 2004; Schaps, Battistich, & Solomon, 2004; Zins & Elias, 2007), few studies have examined an SEL reform effort at this scale.

This paper answers the following research questions: How did district and middle school actors interpret and advance SEL? What SEL practices did they implement at the district, school, and classroom levels? What factors shaped SEL practices within and across districts?

To answer these questions, we collected data in five networked districts and 10 schools that demonstrated higher-than-average performance in student-reported social-emotional skills and math outcomes for African American and Hispanic/Latino students. We analyzed documents, videos, and interview data from district leaders (n=50), school administrators (n=58), teachers (n=55), and after-school providers (n=4). Guided by distributive leadership (MacBeath, 2005; Spillane, Camburn, Pustejovsky, Stitziel Pareja, & Lewis, 2008) and sensemaking theories (Spillane, Reiser, & Reimer, 2002; Weick, Sutcliffe, & Obstfeld, 2005; Weick, 1995), we analyzed how educators interpreted and promoted SEL within the network.

Preliminary findings indicate that the majority of SEL strategies and practices targeted all students, rather than just African American or Hispanic/Latino students, and that efforts to improve school and classroom climate were commonly believed to support SEL. Additionally, we identified a spectrum of SEL program embeddedness linked to measured outcomes across the districts. We found that the lack of a clear SEL advancement reform in districts and schools created opportunities for teachers and administrators to interpret and implement SEL practices based on their understanding of SEL outside the network improvement focus.

These findings suggest important implications for policy and practice, including ways to develop programs for identified subgroups and the need to examine how well administrator and teacher preparation programs are training educators to advance SEL. This study further highlights the need to extend research on the viability of measuring SEL and how those measures may yield increased focus on positive student outcomes.

Authors

• Michelle Hall, University of Southern California

• Julie A. Marsh, University of Southern California

• Heather J. Hough, Stanford University

• Taylor N. Allbright, University of Southern California

• Susan McKibben, University of Southern California