The Learning Professional, August 2018, Social and Emotional Learning (Product Unavailable for Purchase)

Learn how and why to build capacity for social and emotional learning in staff and students.

Articles in this issue:

SOCIAL AND EMOTIONAL SKILLS ARE LEARNING SKILLS
By Suzanne Bouffard
Great teaching, including high-quality professional learning, can render the invisible visible. It can make the implicit explicit. In that spirit, this issue of The Learning Professional focuses on a core element of excellent teaching and learning that is not always stated explicitly or afforded time in educators’ busy schedules: social and emotional learning (SEL). In…


INTEGRATING SOCIAL AND EMOTIONAL LEARNING SHOULD BE STANDARD PRACTICE
By Stephanie Hirsh
As more practitioners and researchers recognize the importance of addressing students’ social and emotional learning (SEL) in schools, we can’t leave to chance the professional learning needed to make these efforts effective. Far too often, the professional learning linked to essential emerging topics is a distant afterthought in many educators’ contexts. We should also recognize…


IF WE JOIN FORCES, WE CAN IDENTIFY STUDENTS WHO ARE AT RISK
By Leigh Wall
It has been just a few months since the unimaginable tragedy that occurred here in Santa Fe, Texas, when a high school student shot and killed 10 classmates and teachers and wounded 13 others. Our community is healing, and we know the healing process will be long. As we move forward — and we must,…


WHY LEARNING FORWARD IS MY PROFESSIONAL LIFELINE
By Beth Brockman
When Beth Brockman transitioned from being a school leader to a district leader for professional learning, she reached out to Learning Forward for connection and support.


SCHOOL LEADERS SET THE TONE FOR SOCIAL AND EMOTIONAL LEARNING
By Deborah Childs-Bowen
School leaders set the tone for SEL just as they do with academic expectations. To do that, they must lead not only for SEL but with SEL.


THE IMPACT OF COACHING ON TEACHER PRACTICE AND STUDENT ACHIEVEMENT
By Elizabeth Foster
A meta-analysis of research on teacher coaching details the impact of coaching on teacher practice and student achievement.


KEEPING UP WITH HOT TOPICS
By Learning Forward
A report examines the first two years of the Principal Supervisor Initiative; second report on Common Core language arts implementation; closing in on racial disparities in discipline; lead like a designer.


THE MORAL IMPERATIVE OF SOCIAL AND EMOTIONAL LEARNING:
By Meria Carstarphen
Atlanta superintendent Meria Carstarphen talks about the importance of SEL and how to build staff capacity to nurture it.


ALIGNED IN ANCHORAGE:
By Jan Davis
The Anchorage, Alaska school district moved from pockets of excellence to an embedded, systematic SEL approach with aligned professional learning.


SOWING SEEDS OF SEL:
By Nancy Markowitz, Wendy Thowdis, and Michael Gallagher
A district-university partnership is creating effective and meaningful SEL learning across the career continuum for pre-service teachers, new teachers, and teacher leaders.


A PROMISING PATH TOWARD EQUITY:
By Tala Manassah, Tom Roderick, and Anne Gregory
A federal Investing in Innovation (i3) grant supports professional learning strategies to help schools weave together equity, SEL, and restorative practices.


A WELCOME SPACE FOR TAKING RISKS:
By Shannon Wanless and Dana Winters
Just as a teacher creates a classroom learning climate that can promote student learning, a school leader can create a climate for teacher learning.


REFRAMING OBSERVATION:
By Rachael Gabriel
By reframing the purpose and possibility of teacher evaluation, skilled leaders can create a culture of learning around the tools and routines of teacher evaluation.


WHERE ARE GIFTED STUDENTS OF COLOR?
By Katie D. Lewis, Angela M. Novak, and Christine L. Weber
Educators are learners: Most of them know that there is always more to know. The question, then, is not whether educators should engage in professional learning, but in what areas they should focus to best serve students. In the difficult process of choosing and designing professional learning, the needs of some students tend to get…


WHEN TEAMS HIT ROUGH WATERS:
By Eleanor Drago-Severson, Christy Joswick O'Connor, and Jessica Blum-DeStefano
Adult developmental theory can help us better understand why teaming can be challenging for adults and how to support teaming as a developmental practice.


WHAT DOES SEL LOOK LIKE IN THE CLASSROOM?
By Nick Yoder and Liz Nolan
Many teachers and administrators recognize the importance of social and emotional development for student success inside and outside of school. However, they often feel as though they do not have the time or tools to support social and emotional learning (SEL) (Bridgeland, Bruce, & Hariharan, 2013; DePaoli, Atwell, & Bridgeland, 2017). In our work with…


LEARNING FORWARD EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR STEPHANIE HIRSH TO RETIRE
By Learning Forward
Stephanie Hirsh, who has served as Learning Forward’s executive director since 2007, will retire on June 30, 2019. “Under Stephanie Hirsh’s leadership, Learning Forward has expanded its influence among many education stakeholders, from practitioners to thought leaders to policymakers,” said Alan Ingram, Learning Forward president. “Because of the strategic direction that Stephanie and her leadership…


ACADEMY PARTICIPANT LEADS CHANGE IN HER TEXAS DISTRICT
By Juliet Correll
For many of us who work in curriculum and instruction, Learning Forward’s Standards for Professional Learning (Learning Forward, 2011) resonate as relevant and even intuitive. However, putting those concepts into practice can be more elusive. One way the Learning Forward Foundation facilitates meaningful use of the standards is by supporting members’ participation in the Learning…


LEARNING FORWARD TO HOST CAPITOL HILL BRIEFING ON TITLE IIA
By Learning Forward
Learning Forward will host a special Capitol Hill briefing this fall that will bring together nationally recognized professional development expert practitioners to show Congress, the Trump administration, and K-12 education stakeholders how school districts are using funding from Title IIA of the Every Student Succeeds Act. This panel will focus on how Title IIA-supported initiatives…


THE STATE OF PROFESSIONAL LEARNING IN SOCIAL AND EMOTIONAL LEARNING
By Learning Forward
Surveys show teachers want more support on how to incorporate social and emotional learning.


THROUGH THE LENS
By Learning Forward
Use this tool to deepen your understanding of Learning Forward’s standards and how they play out in three examples from the issue.