Developing Safe and Civil Schools
(DSACS) Initiative
Putting the Pieces Together:
Improving Academic Outcomes and School Climate,
Safety and Civility
Presented by Maurice J. Elias, Ph.D.
Rutgers University and CASEL,
Collaborative for Academic, Social, and Emotional Learning
and Members of the DSACS Team
A Program of the Rutgers Social-Emotional Learning Lab
(www.rci.rutgers.edu/~melias/) and
the Center for Applied Psychology,
Graduate School of Applied and Professional Psychology
Vision for Students’ Success
That every student live a satisfying life and
meet life’s challenges by:
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Achieving personal goals
Fulfilling family responsibilities
Enjoying good health
Producing high-quality work
Contributing to their community
the new challenges
facing children
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Increased pace of life
Greater economic demands on parents
Alterations in family composition and stability
Breakdown of neighborhoods and extended families
Weakening of community institutions
Unraveling of parent-child bonds due to work, school
demands, time, drugs, mental health, and economic
burdens
• Ongoing exposure to an array of digital media and
pervasive advertising that encourage violence as a
problem-solving tool and other health-damaging
behaviors and unrealistic lifestyles
If You Had a Magic Wand, What
Values Would You Wish for
Children?
• Friendship
• Peace
• Wisdom
• Beauty
• Long Life
• Riches
• Popularity
• Family
Social and Emotional Learning (SEL):
A Coordinated Framework Provides Synergy
School-Wide Efforts
Violence
Prevention
Programs
without a
Common
Framework
Ed
Drug
Academic Skills
Ed
Community Involvement
Sex Ed
Families
Health
Ed
SEL
A Common
Framework
Provides
Synergy
Violence
Sex Ed
Health
Ed
Academic Skills
Service Learning
Drug
Ed
Ed
Character Ed
SCHOOL-FAMILY-COMMUNITY PARTNERSHIPS
Much is Already Being Done
• Schools are already engaged in a variety of SELrelated efforts, including character education,
bully/violence prevention, substance abuse
prevention, counseling and related services, SEL
curriculum programs such as Social Decision
Making/Social Problem Solving, Responsive
Classroom, Second Step, Quest, or Resolving
Conflicts Creatively, positive behavior supports
and similar efforts at school-wide positive
recognition of students, and service learning.
Most Efforts Are Not Coordinated
• This has two major results, especially in lowperforming settings:
1. The whole is less than the sum of its parts; you
do not get benefit in proportion to effort and
expenditure.
2. Students’ emotional, behavioral, and attitudinal
skills are not affected to the point where they can
direct sufficient energy to academic learning to
make real progress. Therefore, you also do not get
benefit in proportion to your effort in academics.
What SEL Facilitates
• SEL refers to the skills, structure, and
content necessary for all children to
optimize their potential to be caring,
competent, committed individuals.
• SEL is necessary because it promotes success
behaviors, reduces safety concerns, positively
impacts on academics, builds caring communities,
prepares students to be ethical leaders, and
provides resources and political capital in the
community.
Social-Emotional Learning (SEL):
Scope and Fundamental Principles
• Successful academic performance by students
depends on:
students’ social-emotional skills,
their approaching education with a sense of positive
purpose, and
the presence of a safe, supportive school climate that
fosters a respectful, challenging, and engaging
learning community
• These conditions are referred to collectively as
social-emotional learning, or SEL
Across
Grades
Fragmented,
Uncoordinated
Services
Within
Grades
Across
Schools
Students
•Inconsistent messages with little
reinforcement of them
•Confusion about expectations
•Decreased sense of common purpose
•Fewer connections to one another,
to teachers, to school—less bonding
Teachers
•Decreased sense of common purpose
•Frustration w/ inconsistent messages
and eroded quality of teaching
•Decreased communication, less
connected to staff and students
•Less holistic teaching
School
•No unified mission
•Little sense of community
•Decreased cooperation and
competition for resources
•Inefficient use of resources
•Duplication of services
Outcomes of Fragmented,
Uncoordinated Services
• Less engagement and attachment to school; lower
participation in class and activities
• Higher disciplinary, drop-out, suspension, and
expulsion rates; lower academic achievement
• Less satisfaction with teaching and higher levels of
stress
• More confrontational means of resolving disputes;
less empathy and caring behaviors
• Fewer student-teacher interactions
Paths to Success in School and in Life:
Role of Evidence-Based SEL Programming
EvidenceBased SEL
Programming
Safe, Caring,
Cooperative,
Well-Managed
Learning
Environments
Teach SEL
Competencies
Provide
Opportunities for
Positive Contributions,
Recognition, and
A Sense of Purpose
And Pride in Being
Part of the School
Less Risky
Behavior, More
Assets, &
Positive
Development
Greater
Attachment,
Engagement, &
Commitment
to School
Better
Academic
Performance
and Success
in School
and Life
Fundamental Principles of
SEL
Caring relationships provide
the foundation for all lasting
learning.
Emotions affect how and what
we learn.
Goal setting and problem
solving provide direction and
energy for learning.
SEL Skill Competencies
• Recognize and manage own emotions
• Be aware of feelings and circumstances of others
• Organize and manage oneself and one’s time effectively
• Develop positive relationships in school, family,
community, team, and leadership roles
• Communicate appropriately and effectively
• Make responsible decisions, solve problems thoughtfully,
and resolve conflicts non-violently
• Show empathy, active caring and compassion for others
• Behave ethically, responsibly, and respectfully
• Avoid negative, high-risk, unhealthy behaviors
Examples of Research Support
for Effectiveness of SEL
• School Preventive Intervention Studies
• Mental Health and Positive Youth
Development Studies
• Substance Abuse Prevention Studies
• Academic Performance and Learning
Studies
Academic Performance and
Learning Studies
Wang et al. (1997) examined 28
categories of influences on learning
based on 179 handbook chapters, 91
research syntheses, and surveys of 61
national experts
Findings
• Among top 11 most influential categories,
8 involved SEL (e.g., student-teacher
social interactions, classroom climate,
peer group)
• Conclusion: “direct intervention in the
psychological determinants of learning
promise the most effective avenues of
reform” (p. 210)
Durlak, Weissberg et al. (2005) Meta-analysis:
Inclusion Criteria
 School, family, or community programs that promote SEL assets
and influence behavior
 Target a school-aged population (5 – 18 years old)
 Promotion or prevention, but not treatment
 Employ a control group design
 Report by the end of 2004 & in English
 Present sufficient data to calculate effect sizes
Excluded:
 Interventions whose exclusive purpose was to prevent drug use,
pregnancy, and HIV/AIDS or promote physical health
 Interventions whose exclusive purpose was to improve academic
functioning
CASEL at UIC
Durlak, Weissberg et al (2005):
Meta-analysis of 665 School, Family, and
Community PYD Interventions
n = 65
n = 179
n = 486
Universal
Interventions
n = 42
n = 379
Universal
Indicated
School
Community
Family
Total Interventions = 665
School Universal:
Overall Findings
Post: n=379
Follow-up: n=93
n
ES
n
ES
SEL Assets
223
0.29*
52
.18*
Environmenta
l Influences
Positive
Outcomes
36
0.47*
8
0.17
184
0.43*
38
0.28*
187
0.23*
52
0.19*
Negative
Outcomes
School Universal:
Social and Emotional Learning (SEL)
Assets
SEL Assets
Post Post Follow- Follown
ES
up n
up ES
Socio-emotionalcognitive Skills
Self-perception
97
0.41*
29
0.20*
131
0.22*
30
0.11*
School Bonding
25
0.27*
7
0.10
Social Norms
52
0.21*
15
0.07
School Universal: School Outcomes
Outcomes
Post n
Post
ES
Follow-up
n
Follow-up
ES
Pos. Behav-School
129
0.47*
26
0.30*
Academic
Achievement Tests
Grades
37
0.39*
9
0.22*
34
0.28*
8
0.21*
Peer Acceptance
8
0.06
3
0.07
Neg. Behav-School
134
0.21*
42
0.16*
Violence/Aggression
in School
School Discipline/
Suspension
62
0.22*
14
0.17*
40
0.28*
13
0.10
Peer Rejection
26
0.27*
6
0.25*
Outcomes of Integrated and
Coordinated Services
• More empathy and social awareness
• Higher engagement and participation in
classroom and school activities including
community service
• Better attendance, fewer drop-outs;
increased requests for assistance; higher
achievement
• Higher teacher retention and satisfaction
• Greater attachment and commitment;
improved care for facilities
• Fewer disruptive behaviors; greater sense of
safety
Short-Term, Measurable
Outcomes of SEL
Interventions
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•
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Fewer decreases in student academic performance
More interactions/more inclusion among diverse groups including
special education
Improved understanding on the part of students of expectations
and of their value as members of the community
More involvement in community service efforts (e.g., Katrina)
Better care of the building and books
Additional volunteering by parents
Fewer teacher absences
Reduced time spent on correcting negative behaviors
More class time devoted to academic tasks
“Working to put the pieces of the puzzle
together to reduce fragmentation, increase
synergy, and enhance social, emotional, and
academic learning for all children.”
www.CASEL.org
Across
Grades
Integrated,
Coordinated
Services
Within
Grades
Across
Schools
Students
•Improved climate; view school as
supportive and safe
•Closer connections to students,
teachers, school; greater bonding
•Consistent messages and common
purpose; mutual support
Teachers
•Common sense of purpose, higher
morale and mutual support
•More efficient use of classroom time
•Better communication among staff
and with students and families
•Address needs of whole child
School
•Commitment to unified mission
•Greater sense of community, higher
morale, increased cooperation
•More efficient use of resources and
expanded roles
•Fewer marginalized services
Value Added by Coordination of SEL
• SEL Coordination adds value to
schools by building success skills,
developing character, and preventing
harmful and hurtful behavior in young
people
Success Skills
• Builds academic, career, and relationship
skills
• Meets NCLB mandates
• Builds caring communities of learners with
connections to adults in the building to
peers, and to the school as a valued place to
which to belong
Character
• Fosters good citizenship, teaches how to make
sound choices, and develops purpose and sense of
optimism about the future
• Increases likelihood of students’ making realistic
means-ends connections
• Builds skills and values through community
service and service learning in and out of school
Prevention
• Provides a safe environment free from
bullying, intimidation, peer harassment, and
victimization
• Reduces likelihood of problem behaviors
such as violence, bullying, substance abuse,
truancy, school dropout, depression, apathy,
disaffection
Our Vision for Safe and Civil Schools
Through SEL
• We envision a time when all students entering schools in
New Jersey will feel they have a positive purpose in being
there. They will feel engaged, attached, and connected and
see the schools as a place they can learn and do things to
contribute to the world around them, advance their sense of
purpose, and become more literate in academic, media,
artistic, technology, and civic areas. This will be
accomplished in part because the students will experience
coordinated and continuous efforts to build their socialemotional skills, positive character, service-learning
contributions, and health, and to prevent substance abuse
and violent/bullying behavior in a safe, caring, supportive,
healthy, and ethical environment.
How will fragmentation get reduced?
• Ask yourself what efforts are being made in
your schools and districts to reduce
fragmentation
• Consider the financial costs of programs,
personnel involved-- is the whole greater than
the sum of its parts?
• Are some of your professional colleagues
operating heroically to try to solve these
problems?
Coordination Requires
Coordinators
• How will coordination take place
if no one is qualified, competent,
supported, and, ultimately,
certified to lead it and take
responsibility for it on an
everyday basis?