Many different activities can help start the development of
student social and emotional competencies and social and emotional learning
(SEL), including: providing professional
development for faculty, growing counseling staff, funding a new administrative
position, engaging parents and community members, and inclusively preparing a
strategic plan.
However, we must remember that social and emotional
competencies all start with school climate. Without a healthy and positive
school climate, all other SEL initiatives are likely to stall or be stymied.
We know that:
- If students don’t feel safe and secure in their environment, particularly while they are learning, then they are unlikely to be able to take the risks necessary to consider and share their social or emotional struggles. Equally concerning, they will be unable to fully participate in learning experiences intended to develop those skills.
- If students don’t feel that school leaders, teachers, and fellow students respect and appreciate them individually and recognize their unique qualities and cultural differences, then it is unlikely they will respond to the call to develop and practice SEL skills.
- If students don’t have a sense of true connection with their teachers and the other adults in the school—a mutual respect that helps them feel “known” by those who are charged with educating them—then developing those key qualities will be seriously curtailed.
We have seen research showing that improving school climate yields
many benefits, including:
- Improving academic achievement
- Strengthening student behaviors. In schools with more positive school climate ratings, there are less instances of bullying and aggression that occur between students.
- Reducing achievement gaps between students and schools with different socioeconomic status levels.
- Cultivating cultural competence. Students in higher quality school climates are more respectful and accepting of differences.
- Growing student engagement. Students in stronger climates feel a greater sense of belonging and can focus on schoolwork with fewer distractions
Accordingly, we have updated ACT Tessera to include a school
climate section. This section surveys students on roughly two dozen items to
generate data reports for school leaders to use in two key domains: school
safety and adult-student relations.
Adding attention to school climate is important in its own
right. This is because a healthier school climate is such a foundational
element for building student social and emotional competencies.
ACT Tessera is more than an assessment; it is a system that
schools, districts, and other educational organizations can use to develop
their programs and implement a holistic education. Tessera includes a “Teacher
Playbook” that includes guidance and lesson plans for teaching social and
emotional learning. With the new school climate section, we now also provide thorough
explanation for school administrators on how to improve school climate and how
to use Tessera climate data to do so.
Sections are devoted to:
- Strengthening relationships
- Improving adult morale and the faculty climate generally
- Engaging families and the wider community
- Promoting inclusive and equitable school cultures
- Facilitating greater student voice and leadership
For example, in terms of facilitating greater student voice and leadership, administrators might pursue strategies such as inviting students to study school-wide climate data and generate their own insights about what findings are most important and what factors are influencing the results. Administrators might ask students to suggest strategies for improving climate, give feedback about strategies under consideration, and select an issue of highest priority, such as social media bullying, and take the lead in organizing students to combat the problem.
Advancing social and emotional learning at a school- or
system-wide level is a valuable yet sometimes daunting proposition, and determining
where to start may be challenging. Focusing on school climate is a great starting
point, and ACT
Tessera can help you along the way.
To read more blogs about social and emotional learning, click here.
To read more blogs about social and emotional learning, click here.
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