Leading for Change Through Whole-School Social-Emotional Learning

Strategies to Build a Positive School Culture

Jennifer E. Rogers

• Publisher: Corwin
• Year: 2019
• Print ISBN: 9781544352985
• eBook ISBN: 9781544352992
• Edition: 1
• Topic: Education
• Subtopic: Education Counseling

Develop and cultivate a positive school culture!

Calling all change agents! If you are hoping to join other schools and districts across the country that are adopting Social-Emotional Learning (SEL) programs and practices to improve student outcomes and teacher  capacity, then you've found the right book.

Let Jennifer Rogers share her specialized experience in developing and implementing behavioral and social-emotional programs and support with you. The practical framework outlined in this book comprises real-world experiences and evidence-based strategies to integrate systemic change toward a positive school culture. With sustainable practices in mind, this guide features 

• thought-provoking worksheets to explore staff understanding of SEL, collect evidence, influence instruction, and more 
• a step-by-step rubric to guide implementation with recommendations
• resources to explore at the end of each chapter
• reflection questions to promote deeper thinking

SEL is about both prevention and intervention. For the stakeholders engaged in this work who must think reflectively about schools, this book offers the support, strategies, processes, and tools, to teach students these competencies in a comprehensive and sustainable way. 

Chapter 1 Why Now?

Schools are challenged with students exhibiting mental health issues, adverse childhood experiences (ACEs), and escalated behavior in the classroom. Teacher burnout and stress can result from feeling hopeless in the face of some of these issues. Now is the time to focus on prevention and outcomes. There are programs created to improve student behavior and social-emotional skills that benefit teachers, staff, and systems. Here is one example of why a school or district would take on social-emotional learning (SEL).

Mental Health of Our Students

Students like Kenny are not unusual in our schools and communities. According to the National Alliance on Mental Illness (NAMI, 2016), one in five children ages 13–18 have or will have a serious mental illness. Attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) occurs in about 5 percent of children (NAMI, 2016), and many schools are contending with anxiety and depression, even among students in elementary school. Mental health issues can affect the student socially, emotionally, and behaviorally. Students who have difficulty developing and maintaining relationships with their peers may be at a greater risk for anxiety, behavioral and mood disorders, substance abuse, and delinquency as teenagers. Ninety percent of those who committed suicide had an underlying mental illness (NAMI, 2017).

“That Student”

A Case Study

Kenny was a fifth-grade boy who looked like he belonged in ninth grade. He was the tallest and biggest boy in the school. He arrived at the end of his fourth-grade year and immediately got the attention of the principal, counselor, and dean. His fifth-grade teacher, Ms. Abrams, had difficulty managing her class with his constant disruptions. Kenny would try to get the other students to laugh by blurting inappropriate things. He seemed to have no filter and would use inappropriate language and put down classmates when he felt “dissed.”

After many months of learning about Kenny’s background and finally receiving his cumulative folder, school staff found that Kenny had been in special education at his last school. Kenny had both academic and behavioral goals in his IEP. He was diagnosed with ADHD and has been on and off medication since he was in second grade.

In communications with the family, the staff discovered that Kenny had many ACEs. His parents were divorced, and he had not seen his mother in years due to her substance abuse issues. He had witnessed his father hit his mother when he was younger and was often left home alone while his father worked. Recently, his father’s girlfriend had gotten pregnant.

Kenny’s behavior escalated beyond the verbal issues. He had meltdowns that his teacher reported “came from out of the blue.” This included yelling, throwing things, hitting, and shoving desks and students as he walked out the classroom door when he was sent to the office. Kenny was suspended due to safety concerns.

The principal, counselor, behavioral intervention specialist, special education teacher, fifth-grade teacher, and dean tried the following interventions: wiggle seat, reinforcement for good behavior, behavior chart, special seat at lunch, escort to special events like assemblies, time out tickets, and an adult mentor.

Ms. Abrams reported having a great deal of stress this school year. She has spoken about her lack of sleep and guilt about her lack of attention to the other students in her class. She has taken sick days because of “incessant flu-like symptoms.” At the spring break, she told the principal that she would need to remove herself from the classroom for the rest of the year. The team spent many hours on this one student.

Schools work with students who have mental health issues and are undiagnosed and with those who are diagnosed but are not receiving care. Lack of care can be due to many factors including lack of access, being underinsured, or other problems. Students with mental health issues and learning disorders are twice as likely as students without such issues to be suspended, expelled, referred to law enforcement, or be involved in a school-related arrest (National Center for Education Statistics, 2013–14). Students who receive severe discipline consequences in school are more likely to drop out. The overall school dropout rate is 7 percent, but for students who qualify with emotional disturbances under the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA), it is 38.7 percent (Snyder & Dillow, 2015).

Adverse Childhood Experiences

Adverse childhood experiences or ACEs is becoming a more commonly understood term within school districts. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and Kaiser Permanente worked together in one of the largest studies of childhood abuse and neglect and their effects on lifelong health and well-being. In 1998, the study was published; it was based on the results of a standardized questionnaire that was sent out to almost 18,000 adults during a two-year period. It was found that more than half of respondents reported at least one category of childhood exposure to sexual, physical, or psychological abuse and neglect, and one-fourth reported more than two (Felitti et al., 1998). The ACEs were categorized as 10 types of childhood trauma: physical abuse, sexual abuse, emotional abuse, physical neglect, emotional neglect, mother treated violently, household substance abuse, household mental illness, parental separation or divorce, and incarcerated household member. Researchers found that adults with ACEs had an increased rate of cancer, alcoholism, heart disease, depression, and other negative health outcomes (Felitti et al., 1998). For students who have experienced trauma, there are effects not only to their mental health but also to their academic and educational behavior outcomes (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 2018).

Students who have a history of ACEs can exhibit some of the signs of trauma during the school day. Students may exhibit externalizing behaviors, such as being aggressive to people or things, argumentative, or noncompliant on a regular basis. Or they may exhibit internalizing behaviors such as avoidance or withdrawal from social situations, not standing up for themselves, and generally not interacting with their peers. Teachers will see these types of behaviors regularly in classes, and it is difficult for them to understand the cause of the behavior. It can be a temporary situation, like a move or a new sibling. It can be developmental. It is easier to pick out the students who are at risk when they regularly exhibit externalizing behaviors. I often tell teachers that we are lucky because at least we know that something is going on with those students. Flipping the desk over or shouting at the teacher is a cry for help. Whereas, the students who don’t overtly communicate their feelings and internalize their adverse experiences can be difficult to help. We don’t know if these students are just shy, reserved, or perhaps introverted. Or are they suffering silently?

The Changing Dynamics of Our Classrooms

In many schools I have worked with, there are one or more students, like Kenny, who are labeled “a challenge.” There are times when we know that something is not working, but it is difficult to put our finger on what can be done to solve the issue. We may struggle to put together a plan that works, not just for Kenny but for all the students.

In 2018, the National Educators Association wrote an article about the “10 Challenges Facing Public Education Today” (Litvinov, Alvarez, Long, & Walker, 2018). Three of those challenges directly affect the mental health of our students. The first is school safety. Students are worried that a shooting could happen at their school. Teachers who are on the front lines of school shootings and are responsible for the lives of the students can be impacted by this fear. The fear of shootings appears on a regular basis as we prepare our students for active shooter drills, arm personnel, and invest in bulletproof backpacks and shatterproof glass. The second trend is the high levels of anxiety among students of all ages due to many factors, including social pressures, testing pressures, college entrance pressures, and social media pressures. The third challenge is making a change from “zero tolerance” discipline policies, which were damaging to students who were suspended or expelled, to policies focused on teaching them new skills and strategies to manage their emotions (Litvinov et al., 2018).

These dynamics exist and can inhibit the ability of schools to function in a productive manner. Behavioral issues in the school setting can wreak havoc on the classroom learning and well-being of the staff and students. There may be an uptick in challenging behaviors, mental health issues, teachers’ inability or unwillingness to work with specific students, complaints of too many students, and recognition that the population and needs of kids and families have changed over the years.

Without understanding the changing dynamics in our classrooms, stakeholders are often left looking at the one or two or twelve students who exhibit challenging behaviors. This misunderstanding causes undue stress for all parties. The task of the change agent is to look beyond one student or one type of student and try to uncover the dynamics that trigger these challenging behaviors.

Burnout and Stress of Teachers

Burnout: What Is It and Do I Have It?

The impact of these challenging behaviors is evidenced in teacher stress, burnout, and sometimes educators leaving the profession. The daily stressors of the life of a teacher can impact performance. In fact, coping with negative emotions toward their students can be a major stressor for teachers that impacts their ability do the complex work of teaching. Experiences of anger (when students are not performing expected behaviors) may lead to teachers engaging in emotional labor to suppress the anger, which can correlate to the teachers’ emotional exhaustion (Keller, Chang, Becker, Goetz, & Frenzel, 2014). Anyone who has had to suppress emotions for a long period of time will experience negative impacts. Some of the negative consequences include the physical health of teacher, poor teacher performance, poor student outcomes, teacher turnover, student achievement declines, and inequity in educational access (Greenberg, Brown, & Abenavoli, 2016).

The signs of burnout can include being physically depleted; isolating oneself from friends, family, and colleagues; negative self-talk, being overly critical about work; overreacting; and inability to recognize the resources around them. It should be a priority to be aware and to note when and how teachers openly receive support. Teacher burnout has been recognized as a serious occupational issue. Some of the outcomes of burnout are exhaustion, cynicism toward teaching and education, and poor interactions with students and colleagues (Pietarinen, Pyhalto, Soini, & Salmela-Aro, 2013). Burnout is a factor that affects teacher performance. A recent search of Google Scholar listed over 52,000 citations that referenced teacher burnout.

Burnout can be compounded when there is a lack of social support (Pietarinen et al., 2013). Teachers who feel that they are struggling with the behaviors in their classes on top of the academic and curriculum demands can be isolated, because they may feel that they “should” be able to handle their class. I have seen this particularly in schools where there is competitiveness among teachers or where an evaluation system makes the teachers feel pressured to project the picture of a class with no problems.

Teachers who feel this pressure may withdraw from getting help or support:

When the pattern of social relationships is such that many teachers are disconnected from the flow of resources in their school, that school’s ability to achieve its goals may be hindered. Moreover, teachers can only benefit from the resources that are available in their school’s network, and a lack of valuable resources or an abundance of less desired or undesired resources may also constrain a school’s capacity for improvement. (Moolenaar, 2012, p. 11)

While it may be easy to say to a teacher, “Here are these resources, why aren’t you using them,” there may be underlying reasons why teachers do not feel able to access other teachers, coaches, or administration for help.

Secondary Trauma in the Schools: How What You Experience Secondhand Affects You

If you have worked with children for any length of time, you have probably heard horror stories: stories of neglect, abuse, and trauma; stories that cause you to bring extra snacks to school because you know a child is not eating enough; and stories that make you cry, wondering if the children you work with during the day are safe at night. School provides continuity and comfort for many students. When school is not in session some students are denied regular meals, warm buildings, or adults who pay attention to them. It is likely that kids in these stories act out prior to any break in the regular school schedule. And as mandated reporters, those of us in education have a personal responsibility to report when abuse is observed or suspected.

This worry, concern, and disruption can be difficult for those in education to manage. And in some cases, it can cause compassion fatigue, burnout, or even secondary trauma. According to the National Child Traumatic Stress Network (www.nctsn.org), “Secondary traumatic stress is the emotional duress that results when an individual hears about the firsthand trauma experiences of another” (National Child Traumatic Stress Network, 2018).

While much of the information about secondary trauma is geared toward helping professionals (counselors, case workers, social workers, therapists), it is my experience that teachers are also impacted by secondary trauma. Teachers see the impact of the student who doesn’t come to school properly dressed for the weather on a regular basis. They get to hear the stories that keep them up at night. They get to smell the child who does not bathe. And they get to experience the student’s reactions to the trauma in their classrooms.

You may have also experienced reporting abuse and seeing nothing change. You may have had uncomfortable conversations with parents or caregivers about the student. You may have had to use your own resources to help the st...

Table of contents

• Cover
• Title Page
• Copyright Page
• Contents
• Preface
• Acknowledgments
• About the Author
• Acknowledgements
• Introduction: Using Social-Emotional Learning to Make Your School More Positive and Productive
• Chapter 1 Why Now?
• Chapter 2 Whole-School Social-Emotional Learning: Research on SEL
• Chapter 3 Strategy #1: Identify Your Why
• Chapter 4 Strategy #2: Adopt a Framework
• 5 Strategy #3: Do Your Detective Work: Data Collection and Data Analysis
• 6 Strategy #4: Work With Others to Develop a Vision to Guide Change
• 7 Strategy #5: Understand the Politics of Your Workplace
• 8 Strategy #6: Develop an Action Plan for Implementation
• Chapter 9 Strategy #7: Invest in Your Infrastructure
• Chapter 10 Strategy #8: Plan for Resistance to Change
• Chapter 11 Strategy #9: Assess Your Outcomes
• Chapter 12 Strategy #10: Fill in the Gaps of Your Foundation
• Chapter 13 Conclusion
• Appendix 1
• Appendix 2
• Appendix 3
• References
• Index