Session: The Impact of a School-Level Support Intervention for Promoting School-Wide Social-Emotional Learning (Society for Prevention Research 26th Annual Meeting)

Interest in social and emotional learning (SEL) has grown significantly over the past several years. SEL is the process of fostering social and emotional competence in students using various strategies including direct instruction and student-centered practices that create supportive learning environments (CASEL, 2013; Jones & Bouffard, 2012). Universal, school-based SEL interventions have positive impacts on students’ academic and behavioral outcomes (Durlak, Weissberg, Dymnicki, Taylor, & Schellinger, 2011) but implementation quality often suffers when evidence-based programs are replicated in community settings. Research on the predictors of implementation quality suggest fidelity is enhanced when the interventions are supported by the leadership and integrated with core educational activities (Durlak & Dupree, 2008). Experts in the field of SEL suggest that these types of leadership activities and schoolwide practices are also an important component of systemic approach to SEL and may contribute to the sustainability of SEL programming, positive school climate, and positive student outcomes. The CASEL Guide for Social and Emotional Learning is a resource that includes tools and guidelines for teams of school leaders to implement systemic SEL and to support the implementation of evidence-based SEL programs.

The impact of the CASEL Guide was tested in an RCT that was conducted in K-3 classrooms in 28 high need schools in Chicago over the course of two academic years. Schools that were randomized to the CASEL Guide condition were provided with weekly support from a coach who helped schools form an SEL leadership team that met monthly and implemented the six key activities that are included in the CASEL Guide.

Three papers describing the findings from this trial are presented in this symposium. The first paper provides an overview of the intervention including the structure of the CASEL Guide and the coaching model used to support it. The second paper will describe the research design and data collection strategy being used by the independent evaluation team from the American Institutes for Research. This presentation will also report the effects of the CASEL School Guide model of support on staff perceptions of staff perceptions of school climate (organizational health, leadership, and social-emotional culture) and implementation quality of the PATHS curriculum compared to a standard model of support for PATHS. The third paper will present the impact of the CASEL School Guide on student outcomes including social-emotional skills, learning engagement, and problem behavior.