Newsletter Archive: February 2020

Registered users of the District Resource Center and the Guide to Schoolwide SEL receive quarterly newsletters from CASEL with featured tools and learning opportunities. This issue focuses on the role that school and district leaders play in the success of SEL.

TAGS newsletter

Fostering Mental Health and Wellness with Universal Social-Emotional and Behavioral Supports

A concise document describing how SEL supports mental health and academic performance, featuring the work of CASEL partner the School District of Palm Beach county to develop a Tier 1 approach to SEL to support the mental health of all students and staff. Includes links to the resources and tools the district provided to all schools.

TAGS mental health MTSS

Supporting Implementation of Evidence-Based Programs in El Paso and Oakland

In this webinar you will hear from El Paso Independent School District and Oakland Unified School District on their process to support meaningful implementation of SEL programs in their communities. Hear about their lessons learned, what worked well, and the strategies they employed to improve the adult and student experiences of programs.

TAGS implementation support evidence-based programs

Student SEL Data Reflection Protocol

Student perspective is essential for understanding district data and making equitable, inclusive, and culturally responsive decisions. This tool presents a student-led, structured process for students to reflect on school and district data in partnership with adults, to observe trends and discuss ideas for improvement of SEL implementation.

TAGS continuous improvement implementation monitoring implementation evaluation youth voice

Fellowship Spotlight – Finding a Focus for Systemic SEL

SEL Fellow and district SEL leader in St. Paul Sara Lein describes their process of developing a shared vision and strategic framework for SEL with more than 400 participants, including students, parents, school district staff, and community members. Visit https://casel.org/series/sel-fellows-briefs/ for more briefs from SEL Fellows.

Practices of Promise: Exploring Ways to Share the Power Toward Equitable Decision-Making in Portland Public Schools

How can a school district select an SEL program that aligns with its commitment to equity and social justice through an inclusive process that also demonstrates and deepens that commitment? This brief describes Portland's approach that brought many voices to the table, shared decision-making power, built trust, and centered the district's equity work.

TAGS evidence-based programs family and community engagement youth voice

Systems-Wide Reflection: Indicators of Schoolwide and Districtwide SEL

This chart sets CASEL’s Indicators of Districtwide SEL and Indicators of Schoolwide SEL side by side, with links to further information, suggested implementation processes, and examples. District leaders can use this tool to guide reflection, conversation, and planning about how social and emotional learning (SEL) is integrated throughout systems at the school level and at the district level.

Sacramento City Districtwide SEL Program Inventory

This is an example of a third-party report on SEL programs and practices throughout the district, shared by Sacramento City, including a site level inventory as well as findings and recommendations regarding implementation and monitoring.

TAGS assessment evidence-based programs data dashboards conducting local SEL research implementation monitoring implementation evaluation

Sample Schoolwide SEL 101 Presentation

CASEL's interactive and editable presentation for district and school staff audiences uses data to make the case for SEL and illustrates SEL in the classroom, with group activities, video links, and presenter notes.

TAGS three signature practices staff onboarding SEL overview classroom level culture and climate professional learning district SEL expertise building buy-in for SEL SEL leadership

Social and Emotional Learning Benefits All Students and Adults (Brochure)

This 4 page booklet from Oakland describes the SEL vision and accomplishments in the district, and includes classroom discussion indicators for the 5 SEL competencies.

TAGS SEL overview communications community relations classroom level building buy-in for SEL family and community engagement