Introduction to Social - Emotional Development and Learning

							Introduction to Social - Emotional
Development and Learning (SEDL)

   NYS Council of Education Associations
                May 2, 2008
            Mark J. Barth, NYSED
             mbarth@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     • Math Grade 3-8
  – 2006:   62%       – 2006:   66%
  – 2007:   63%       – 2007:   73%
  – 2008:   69%       – 2008:   81%
• ELA Grade 8       • Math Grade 8
  – 2006:   49%       – 2006:   54%
  – 2007:   57%       – 2007:   59%
  – 2008:   56%       – 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.
               Achieving the Promise
          for New York’s Children and Families
        “…emphasizes prevention, early recognition
                  and quality treatment.”

―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 learning”
     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
   Prevention and intervention                            Tertiary Prevention:
  continuum to promote healthy,                                Specialized
                                                              Individualized
adaptive, and pro-social behaviors                      Systems for Students with
          Walker et al (1996)             ~5%              High-Risk Behavior


                                                        Secondary Prevention:
                                          ~15%             Specialized Group
                                                        Systems for Students with
                                                            At-Risk Behavior
        Primary Prevention:
         School-/Classroom-
          Wide Systems for
            All Students,
          Staff, & Settings




                                     ~80% of Students
           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
      The Big Picture: Public Health Outcomes
      Mark Greenberg, Prevention Research Center, Penn State University


Undesired Outcomes                      Underlying Constraints


Poor School
  Achievement                          Impulsive Action
Poor Mental Health
                                       Emotion Dysregulation
Aggression/Violence
Substance Use/Abuse                    Insecure Relations
                                  Problem-Solving Outline
When 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.
Importance of Neuroplasticity
• 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 for
                                Affective Neuroscience
Stroop Test 1– Read Color NAMES
Stroop Test 2–Name the COLOR
             Stroop Test

• 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.
       Key Resilience Factors

            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
           What is Social and Emotional
           Development and Learning ?

The process of acquiring the
 competencies to:
  recognize and manage emotions
  develop 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 environment
Undesired     Underlying     Interventions Targets:            Behavioral
Outcomes      Constraints                  Resilience          Outcomes
                                           Factors
Poor        Impulsive        School -            Cognitive     Alter brain
                             Classroom
achievement action           Environment           abilities   executive
                                                               functions:
                             Family-
Poor mental                  Community
health        Emotional                          Self control / -Problem
                             Engagement
              dysregulatio                       Emotional      solving
Aggression    n
                             Skill Instruction    regulation
                             and mentoring
                                                               -Planning
Substance                    After School        Relationship
                             Programs
Abuse         Insecure                           s             -Goal setting
              relations      Coordinated           with peers,
                             Community             adults
Violence                     Services                          -Working
                                                               memory
                             Development of
     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