3 Signature Practices – Developing Your Own Activities

Once you have explored the SEL 3 Signature Practices Playbook, this template will help you design new welcoming activities, engaging strategies, and optimistic closings for your learning setting.

Reflecting on Equity-Centered SEL Leadership Practices

Use this tool as a personal reflection on your leadership habits. These prompts are intended to spark your curiosity about your current practices and how you can be intentional about developing equity-centered leadership skills.

TAGS equity SEL leadership

Suspending Chicago’s Students – Differences in Discipline Practices across Schools

This report from the University of Chicago provides an example of how to analyze district discipline data to pinpoint factors that lead to inequity.

TAGS alternatives to suspension equity student discipline

Convening a Cross-Functional Advisory Council for SEL: Resources, Best Practices, and Suggestions

Key considerations for districts as they build a council consisting of members from different organizations and departments to align social and emotional learning between in-school and out-of-school time settings.

TAGS community partnerships community relations out of school

SEL: Best Practices and Barriers to Successful Implementation

From Austin Independent School District's Department of Research and Evaluation, this report shares findings from district case studies that underscore the importance of four key themes that influence the quality and sustainability of SEL implementation.

TAGS implementation support conducting local SEL research implementation monitoring implementation evaluation

District SEL Best Practices: Cultivating Shared Leadership for Schoolwide SEL

A district SEL leader from Austin, TX describes their leadership structure and approach to supporting SEL implementation through district SEL specialists who provide coaching and training for cohorts of school-based SEL leaders who in turn work with an SEL steering committee that is representative of the broader school community. This model has been shown to significantly improve implementation.

TAGS implementation support SEL coaching for staff implementation plan

District SEL Best Practices: Adult Well-being and Equity

A district leader from Tulsa Public Schools describes the district's equity framework, their monthly school leader learning institutes focused on well-being, school-based wellness teams, and the ways in which the district's equity and wellness work are interrelated.

TAGS mental health equity SEL leadership

Practices of Promise: Selecting Evidence-Based Programs Through Meaningful Partnerships

Peek into El Paso Independent School District's process for engaging staff, families, and communities in examining and selecting evidence-based SEL programs that align with their school communities’ needs and districtwide vision.

TAGS evidence-based programs family and community engagement

Practices of Promise: Youth Voice in Washoe County School District, Nevada

This case example offers a glimpse into WCSD’s process of creating structures to elevate and listen to students, before and through the pandemic.

TAGS student leadership conducting local SEL research continuous improvement youth voice

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