Implementation Description
Since the day in 1997 when Quality Education Academy (QEA) in Winston-Salem, NC became one of the original 33 charter schools, the focus has been on creating and developing relationships with staff, students and families within the school community (Turner, 2020). The Covid pandemic and remote learning presented challenges with long lived relationships with parents and students. Both were an abrupt interruption of the ongoing social and emotional support offered during the school day and after school. In addition, as students returned to in-person learning, staff recognized that many of their students and colleagues were struggling with their social emotional well-being. Meanwhile, the NC ACCESS Fellows were participating in professional development opportunities that highlighted the benefits of social emotional learning (SEL) and its impact on students’ academic growth. “Rather than diverting schools from their primary academic mission, improving students’ social and emotional competence advances the academic mission of schools, while also ensuring that they meet their broader mission to produce caring, responsible, and knowledgeable students” (Ragozzino et. al., 2003).
Receipt of NC ACCESS funds coincided with the tail end of COVID restrictions to in-person learning. In response to the needs of staff and students, QEA chose to use the funds to expand their existing Purpose Over Power (POP) program. Purpose Over Power is an educational framework from Teach Like a Champion designed to eliminate the potential power differential between teacher and student and to improve students’ socio-emotional learning. The existing team consists of seven support staff members who have the flexibility to pull students for tutoring or to push into a classroom to provide assistance or to model instructional practices. Additionally, this team facilitates the POP after school program.
In an effort to increase the connection between school and home, QEA intentionally included students and parents in the planning process by soliciting their thoughts and ideas from the “Community Parent Advisory Council”. The student representative team met with school leadership during working lunches to share their ideas as well. Utilizing this feedback, the school organized opportunities for students to meet in groups based on common interests. For example, a group of students launched SAVE (Students Against Violence Everywhere). These activities fostered stronger relationships and enabled teachers to learn more about their students. Teachers noted that students demonstrated an increased sense of belonging, which ultimately enhanced the classroom setting.
Despite scheduling challenges, the team committed to including three dedicated SEL days during the 2021-22 school year and, ideally, next year this will expand to an hour each week as part of an elective course for all eighth through twelfth graders. Research shows that the addition of SEL can increase academic achievement by an average of 11% (Durlak, 2011), so QEA intends to ensure that SEL and academic learning coexist as part of each student’s daily instruction. Students have opportunities to practice these SEL skills using conversation cards, designed to get small groups of students who may not know each other talking about a common topic. They also benefit from posters with SEL tips on walls throughout the building. The availability of NC ACCESS funds allowed the school to purchase culturally responsive materials that can be used as part of this integrated instructional approach.
Students’ well-being is a top priority, and the school uses the Say Something app to help ensure issues, such as bullying or potential self harm are caught early and appropriately addressed. All fifth through twelfth grade students can report concerns either for themselves or another student. Parents and staff also use the app as needed. Each report is immediately evaluated by a small response team of staff members, including the counselor, who follow a protocol and make contact with both the student and the parents. The team works with the family to develop a plan to ensure the student receives the appropriate support. This may include working with a local partner, Hope Counseling & Consulting Services, who comes to the school and provides individual and group therapy for students as needed.
Recognizing that staff also have social emotional needs, school leadership dedicated support time to staff by meeting with each staff member individually once a quarter. During this time, the teacher shares professional goals, and school leaders ask teachers how they can best support them while working towards their goals. Additionally, leadership increased their informal walkthroughs, which allows them to be visible and readily available to support staff members with their specific needs. During follow up discussions, leadership recognizes evidence of milestones in regards to the teacher’s professional goals, and provides feedback and/or emotional support as needed.
Results
More families, once again, are feeling comfortable reaching out to the school when their child needs support.
As expected, the inclusion of SEL as part of the school’s culture has improved student academic achievement. Though QEA is not at liberty to provide actualized data points at this time, they have seen considerable growth across grade levels in the three main areas of testing, Reading, Math and Science. EOC and EOG performance has trended upward in all tested areas and QEA has experienced exponential growth within the performance data. The data demonstrates that SEL programming for staff and students along with the POP after school program have contributed to the academic growth of students at QEA post COVID pandemic onset.
Challenges
Time is the greatest challenge as both planning time and instructional time are necessary for meaningful SEL instruction to occur. Next year, QEA will utilize elective time for SEL so that time in core academic subjects is not impacted.
Future Modifications
Moving forward, QEA plans to expand the POP programming to all tested grade levels and to continue staff training on SEL strategies. The school’s master schedule will have dedicated SEL time, and school leaders will provide guidance on how to best use this time. The entire staff will undergo SEL culture training via NCDPI’s Canvas online portal “instructure.com.” The entire staff will have access to the SEL “pull out” space for HOPE Counseling services and free personal mental health support via HOPE Counseling.
Critical Components
Getting Started
It is important to embrace the idea that a child’s social emotional learning is equally as important as their academic growth. School leadership must prioritize SEL goals in their decision making, especially as it pertains to scheduling and staff training. “School leaders play a critical role in fostering schoolwide activities and policies that promote positive school environments” (Weissberg, 2016).
Ongoing Supports
Continued staff training and a school climate that maintains the expectation that everyone implements SEL instruction with fidelity are necessary for long term success.
Equity Connections
A school’s investment in socio-emotional learning has been proven to promote emotional well-being and academic success for all students. However, it is likely that the positive impact is even greater for students in poverty. Students in poverty often experience instability, which was magnified during the Covid-19 pandemic. Even the school environment many students rely on as a place of stability, changed due to social distancing guidelines. SEL lessons that explicitly teach students healthy coping strategies can help them deal with unexpected changes and stress (Bara, 2021). These SEL “soft skills” often help students break the cycle of poverty by managing their daily challenges, while developing qualities often looked for by employers.
Research
1. Bara, Jonathan. (2021). “5 Ways SEL Can Help Low Income Students”. Accessed June 29, 2022. Retrieved from https://www.collegexpress.com/interests/education/blog/5-ways-sel-can-help-low-income-students/
2. Durlak, J.A., Weissberg, R.P., Dymnicki, A.B., Taylor, R.D., & Schellinger, K.B. (2011). "The impact of enhancing students' social and emotional learning: A meta-analysis of school-based universal interventions". Child Development, 82, pp.405-432.
3. Ragozzino, K.; Resnik, H.; Utne-O’Brien, M.; Weissberg, R. (2003). “Promoting Academic Achievement through Social and Emotional Learning”. Educational Horizons. Accessed May 27, 2022. Retrieved from http://eds-courses.ucsd.edu/eds379B/wi10/205A%20W10/Ragozzino.pdf
4. Turner, Tamara (2020, July 30). “The Souls of Black Schools: How Black Students and Teachers Experience an Intentionally Designed, Culturally Responsive School System”. Retrieved July 30, 2020, from ProQuest Dissertations Publishing, https://www.proquest.com/docview/2437511297/3D8D50C7EEBA4E32PQ/1
5. Weissberg, R. (February 15, 2016). “Why Social and Emotional Learning Is Essential for Students“. Edutopia. Accessed May 27, 2022. Retrieved from https://www.edutopia.org/blog/why-sel-essential-for-students-weissberg-durlak-domitrovich-gullotta#:~:text=Research%20shows%20that%20SEL%20not,et%20al.%2C%202011
6. United States Census Bureau, “Quick Facts North Carolina”, Retrieved from https://www.census.gov/quickfacts/fact/table/NC/PST045219
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