Introduction to Social - Emotional

Development and Learning (SEDL)

NYS Council of Education AssociationsMay 2, 2008

Mark J. Barth, NYSEDmbarth@mail.nysed.gov

rev. 3-12-09

New York’s Ratings

New York, followed by Massachusetts and Maryland, received the highest grades overall.

• An A in Standards, Assessment and

Accountability

• An A in Transitions and Alignment from preschool through higher education.

Education Week Quality Counts January 10, 2008

Progress: Good But not Great in all Subgroups

• ELA Grade 3-8 – 2006: 62% – 2007: 63%– 2008: 69%

• ELA Grade 8– 2006: 49% – 2007: 57%– 2008: 56%

• Math Grade 3-8 – 2006: 66% – 2007: 73% – 2008: 81%

• Math Grade 8– 2006: 54% – 2007: 59%– 2008: 70%

Progress and Plateaus

NAEP 8th Grade Writing

NYS students proficient or above:

21% in 1998

30% in 2002

31% in 2007

The Achievement Gap

“The biggest achievement gap is between what individual students CAN and Will do…

• "The gap between actual achievement and potential on standardized measures — that's the gap that's most important to us,"

Eric Cooper National Urban Alliance

Emotion Attention Learning

• Information-learning needs relationship

• The quality and culture of environment matters.

• Wars against risk behaviors have to be re-cast as pro-social development

James Comer “Child and Adolescent Development: The Critical Missing Focus in School Reform” PDK June 2005

Risk factors that create“Barriers to Learning"

• Poverty, Racism (disaggregate the performance data)

• Exposure to violence or drug use• Absent or infirm parents • Behavioral and cognitive disabilities• Court-involved – juvenile justice• Foster care

Failure to address multiple problems early on can lead to systems spillover.

Schools are victim of systems spillover.

“The (SED) commissioner shall, in cooperation with the commissioner of mental health, develop guidelines for voluntary implementation by school districts that incorporate social and emotional development into elementary and secondary school education programs prescribed in … the Children’s Mental Health Act of 2006.”

Education Law Section 305 subdivision 35 P-16 Action Plan #11 “Reduce barriers to teaching and P-16 Action Plan #11 “Reduce barriers to teaching and

learning”learning”

Achieving the Promise for New York’s Children and Families

“…emphasizes prevention, early recognition and quality treatment.”

Current examples of school-based SEDL

interventions – Positive Behavior Intervention & Supports

(PBIS)– School-based health centers– School safety / violence reduction

programs*– Response to Intervention RTI– Early intervention – Character education

* “Only a small proportion of the violence in our society can be attributed to persons who are mentally ill.” Mulvey, 1994. Quoted by David Woodlock Deputy Commissioner OMH

Primary Prevention:School-/Classroom-Wide Systems for

All Students,Staff, & Settings

Secondary Prevention:

Specialized GroupSystems for Students with At-Risk Behavior

Tertiary Prevention:Specialized

IndividualizedSystems for Students

with High-Risk Behavior

~80% of Students

~15%

~5%

Prevention and intervention continuum to promote healthy,

adaptive, and pro-social behaviors

Walker et al (1996)

Turnaround for Children • Focus on the "Red Zone" in troubled schools where

top two tiers may be 10% acute 30% sub-acute diagnoses.

• Regents Report November 2006: – One-fifth of NYC public school students have

emotional disorders caused or exacerbated by environmental stressors;

• They are expelled from elementary and middle school at four times the rate, and arrested while in school at 13 times the rate of children with all other disabilities.

A student population in crisis can undermine teacher efficacy to a point where teachers

have lost control of the instructional mission.

Mental Health in Schools: Current practice in school-based mental

health:

• Over emphasis on individual treatment to the detriment of prevention.

• A focus on mental illness & treatment leads to:– Increasing demand on clinical services– Assigning diagnostic labels to commonplace

behavioral, learning and emotional problems.– Consuming finite resources and a zero-sum

game

Adelman & Taylor, Fall 2007

Additional approaches to mental health in schools

• Specialized clinical services

• Classroom management / discipline practices

• Pro-social agendas:– Positive Youth Development– Social & emotional learning SEL– Supportive learning environment SLE– Afterschool programs

• Ameliorate, stop:• Bullying - Substance Abuse - Pregnancy - Dropping Out

Crisis Management vs. Prevention: Either / Or?

• For 60% in troubled schools and 80% in typical schools:– focusing on hurt feelings (e.g., over being left out of a game), – managing jealousy (e.g., when a girlfriend talks to another guy), – negotiating minor conflicts (e.g., in cafeteria, playground, etc.).

– Prevents escalation, – Equips youngsters/adolescents with life skills

proves cost effective in the long run.

• That is a tall order – especially if you agree that schools not stop with the little ones.

Mental Health in Schools:

“Much more than services for a few”

School systems need to address all three tiers:

• Promote healthy development, prevent problems

• Address problems as soon after onset as is feasible

• Have a system for assisting those with chronic and severe problems.

Adelman & Taylor, Fall 2007

Poor School Achievement

Poor Mental HealthAggression/ViolenceSubstance Use/Abuse

Impulsive Action

Emotion Dysregulation

Insecure Relations

Undesired Undesired OutcomesOutcomes

Underlying Underlying ConstraintsConstraints

The Big Picture: Public Health The Big Picture: Public Health OutcomesOutcomes

Mark Greenberg, Prevention Research Center,Mark Greenberg, Prevention Research Center, Penn State Penn State UniversityUniversity

Problem-Solving OutlineWhen you notice upset feelings:

1. STOP and think.

2. Identify the PROBLEM. (collect lots of information)

3. Identify the FEELINGS. (your own and other peoples')

4. Decide on a GOAL.

5. Think of lots of SOLUTIONS.

6. Think about what MIGHT happen next. ER

7. Choose the BEST solution. (evaluate all the alternatives)

8. Make a PLAN. (think about possible obstacles)

9. TRY your plan.

10. SEE what happens. (evaluate the outcome)

11. TRY another plan or solution if your first one doesn't work.

• The brain responds to environmental factors and produces experience-dependent changes in brain structure and function.

• The prefrontal cortex acts as a convergence zone for integration of affective and cognitive processes.

• Qualities such as patience, calmness, cooperation, and kindness are all regarded as skills that can be trained

Richard J. Davidson, University of Wisconsin Waisman Center and Laboratory forAffective Neuroscience

Importance of Neuroplasticity

Stroop TestStroop Test 1– Read Color NAMES 1– Read Color NAMES

Stroop TestStroop Test 2–Name the COLOR 2–Name the COLOR

• The mind automatically determines the semantic meaning of the word and then must override this first impression, a process which is not automatic. It strains the executive function of the brain.

• It is used to investigate aspects of psychological disorders such as ADHD.

Stroop Test

Cognitive Abilities

Self-Control / Emotion Regulation

Relations with peers and adults

Building protective factors promotes good mental health

Schools are primary settings in which problems arise and can be prevented

Key Resilience FactorsKey Resilience Factors

What is Social and Emotional Development and Learning ?

The process of acquiring the competencies to:recognize and manage emotionsdevelop caring and concern for others make responsible decisions establish and maintain positive

relationships handle challenging situations effectively

CASEL Collaborative for Academic, Social and Emotional Learning, U. Illinois Chicago

Ecological model for building a caring school

environmentUndesired Outcomes

Underlying Constraints

Interventions

Targets: Resilience Factors

Behavioral Outcomes

Poor achievement

Poor mental health

Aggression

Substance Abuse

Violence

Impulsive action

Emotional dysregulation

Insecure relations

School - ClassroomEnvironment

Family-CommunityEngagement

Skill Instruction and mentoring

After School Programs

Coordinated Community Services

Development of Staff and Partners

Cognitive abilities

Self control /Emotional regulation

Relationships with peers, adults

Alter brain executive functions:

-Problem solving

-Planning

-Goal setting

-Working memory

Academic Impact of SEL

• 0.28 SEL effect size or academic performance

• More impact than most academic interventions.

• About the impact of a good literacy intervention.

• NB: Daily aspirin prescription for heart attack prevention is based on 0.1 effect

Roger Weissberg et al Meta Analysis (2008)Education Week Dec 19, 2007

Soft Skills?

• From service industries to professional organizations businesses seek individuals with strong “communication skills, honesty and integrity, interpersonal skills, motivation and initiative, a strong work ethic, and teamwork skills, in that order”

Rothstein, 2004, Class and Schools: Using Social, Economic, and Educational Reform to Close the Achievement Gap. Washington, DC

The Partnership for 21st Century Skills

#3. Learning and Thinking Skills. Students also “need to know how to keep learning - and make effective and innovative use of what they know - throughout their lives. Learning and Thinking Skills are comprised of:

• Critical Thinking and Problem Solving Skills • Communication Skills • Creativity and Innovation Skills • Collaboration Skills • Information and Media Literacy Skills • Contextual Learning Skills

http://www.21stcenturyskills.org/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=254&Itemid=120

Expectation for Teachers

A flight or fight reaction is triggered by the brain’s responses to threat.

When a student faces prolong and intense threat, thinking is impaired.

Teachers and administrators who routinely face these behaviors

receive little in the way of preparation.

Emotional Regulation Ability

“Teachers with high emotional literacy… experience more positive emotions in the classroom, receive more support from co-workers, employ more effective coping strategies during stressful encounters, and report less burnout and greater job satisfaction.”

Marc Brackett Emotional Literacy in the Classroom (2007), Yale

University

The Child

“To the doctor, the child is a typhoid patient; to the playground supervisor, a first baseman; to the teacher, a learner of arithmetic. At times, he may be different things to each of these specialists, but too rarely is he a whole child to any of them.”

From the 1930 report of The White House Conference on Children and Youth