Social Emotional Engagement – Knowledge and Skills is professional learning designed to bring school climate initiatives into the classroom setting.  The focus is on increasing student engagement by fostering initiation, independence, and investment within classroom instruction.  Based upon the most current social neuroscience related to social emotional learning, our developmental framework provides a mechanism to enhance the provision of educational programming for all students within a universal design for learning framework.  Both general and special educators serving diverse learners will benefit from these instructional practices and mentorship techniques.

The project focuses on:

1)    Disseminating current social neuroscience related to how students learn and the importance of relationships in the classroom setting,

2)    Supporting student engagement by getting the emotional “hook,” providing multiple modes of instruction, and encouraging students to “show what they know,” and

3)    Building the capacity of each school system served to sustain practices through teacher-to-teacher mentorship strategies that align with adult learning best practices.

A Framework Informed by Evidence-Based Instructional Strategies and Assessment Protocols

SEE-KS is informed by the research-based frameworks of a Universal Design for Learning (UDL) and Social Emotional Learning (SEL) and uses an assessment protocol consistent with the Engagement for Learning Framework.  The SEE-KS protocols ensure that research-based UDL strategies for fostering emotional investment, providing information in multiple ways, and setting the stage for students to expression are implemented while ensuring that SEL competences are embedded into everyday classroom lessons.  These SEL competencies affect a student’s social engagement in the classroom, his or her language and literacy skills, and his or her long-term academic success (Jones, Greenberg, & Crowley, 2015). UDL has been shown in multiple research studies to improve reading comprehension, speaking and listening, and other educational outcomes (http://www.udlcenter.org/research/researchevidence).  Additionally, implementing social emotional programs proactively have been shown to reduce costs to school districts for related student support, reduced student attendance, discipline challenges, etc. (Belfield et al., 2015, Durlak et al., 2011).   Finally, the primary variable targeted in SEE-KS coaching sessions is that of student engagement.  Targeting higher rates of initiation in the classroom setting is highly correlated with student achievement and learning, as demonstrated within the Engagement for Learning framework (Carpenter, 2011; accessed via: http://complexld.ssatrust.org.uk/uploads/CLDD_project_report_final.pdf).