Promising Practices for Social & Emotional Learning Preparing Youth to Thrive: Promising Practices in Social & Emotional Learning Authors Charles Smith, Ph.D., Gina McGovern, Reed Larson, Ph.D., Barbara Hillaker, Ph.D., Stephen C. Peck, Ph.D. Acknowledgements The authors wish to acknowledge the following advisors who provided review and input on drafts of this guide: John Allinder, Kyla James, Nora Fleming. We also thank the staff at Susan Crown Exchange (SCE)—Susan Crown, Haviland Rummel, and Hannah Baptiste—who provided invaluable input at every stage of the SEL Challenge. Finally, we wish to thank the staff teams from the eight visionary organizations who are the original authors of the story told in this guide: AHA! (Attitude, Harmony, Achievement) The Possibility Project Jennifer Freed, Co-Executive Director Paul Griffin, Founder and President Rendy Freeman, Co-Executive Director Elizabeth Howard, Artistic Director, Afterschool Program Ben Zimmer, Director of Programs Meagan DuBois, Artistic Director, Saturday Program Isis Castañeda, Senior Facilitator Wyman Boys & Girls Clubs of Greater Milwaukee Allison Williams, Senior Vice President, Programs Natalie Cooper, Senior Director of Social Emotional Learning DeVonne Bernard, Director, Teen Outreach Program La’Ketta Caldwell, Senior Program Manager of Social Karen Guskin, Ph.D., Senior Vice President, Research Emotional Learning and Learning Philadelphia Wooden Boat Factory Youth on Board Brett Hart, Executive Director Jenny Sazama, Co-Founder and Director Zeelyna Wise, Director of Student Support Services Rachel Gunther, Associate Director Victoria Guidi, Program Director, Boat Build and Sail Teena-Marie Johnson, Education Organizer Voyageur Outward Bound School YWCA Boston Elizabeth “Poppy” Potter, Director of Operations Beth Chandler, Vice President of Programs Laura Greenlee Karp, Program Coordinator Julie Thayer, InIt Program Manager Megan Olivia Hall, Open World Learning Community Andrea Gomez, Init Program Coordinator The SEL Challenge was conducted as a partnership between the eight exemplary agencies listed above, SCE, the David P. Weikart Center for Youth Program Quality, and additional technical consultants at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champagne, the University of Michigan, and Methods-Consultants of Ann Arbor. Charles Smith was the principal investigator for the Challenge. Gina McGovern was the Challenge project manager. Reed Larson was the primary consultant for qualitative methodology and analyses. Stephen C. Peck is the Weikart Center’s technical consultant for measurement and psychological theory. This project was established and funded by SCE. Suggested citation: Smith, C., McGovern, G., Larson, R., Hillaker, B., Peck., S.C. (2016). Preparing Youth to Thrive: Promising Practices in Social Emotional Learning. Forum for Youth Investment, Washington, D.C. All inquiries regarding the contents of this guide or other Challenge findings and tools should be directed to Gina McGovern at [email protected]. Promising Practices for Social & Emotional Learning ii Preparing Youth to Thrive: Susan Crown Exchange (SCE) is a Chicago-based foundation invested in shaping an ecosystem of anytime, anywhere learning to prepare youth to adapt and thrive in a rapidly changing and highly connected world. Through three primary programs—digital learning, social and emotional learning, and catalyst grants—SCE connects talent and innovation with forces for positive change. SCE’s exchange model leverages up-to-date research, best practices, grant-making, and innovative programming to design, evaluate, and promote high quality learning experiences for young people beyond the classroom, particularly youth from underserved communities. The David P. Weikart Center for Youth Program Quality is an organization focused on improving the quality of services available from expanded learning systems and settings. The Weikart Center’s core product and services line, the evidence-based Youth Program Quality Intervention, is the leading performance management and measurement intervention in the expanded learning field and is currently used by over 105 systems at over 4,000 expanded learning program sites. The Weikart Center has core competencies in the areas of positive youth development, adult learning, measurement, knowledge management, technical assistance, and lower stakes accountability policy. iii Foreword by Karen Pittman The verdict is in: Social and emotional learning (SEL) skills matter enough to be mandated. Social and emotional skills have always mattered to those who ascribe to positive youth development. Voluntary school and community-based programs have long been the places families and youth rely on, not only for safety and relationships, but also for exploration and practical skill building. But, until recently, they were relegated to second-class status. So-called soft skills, non-academic skills, and non-cognitive skills hovered outside the realm of public accountability. These skills were frequently acknowledged as useful by the big four (education, health, social services, juvenile justice) but either seen as not critical to the primary goals mandated by public funding (academic achievement, pregnancy or substance abuse prevention, violence prevention) or not enforceable. Even if all agreed that social and emotional skills mattered, lack of evidence that these skills were easily malleable or measurable made them unmarketable in public policy circles, even those focused on expanding out-of-school-time (OST) programs. But this picture is rapidly changing with a growing body of research studies proving social and emotional skills matter and will increasingly play an important role as young people progress into adulthood. These skills are linked to increased academic performance and employability and decreased anti-social behavior and mental health issues. Adolescent brain research also confirms that social and emotional skills are malleable well into young adult years. The flood of survey tools suggests that these skills are measurable. The groundbreaking collaborative work behind this guide, however, is, in my opinion, the first solid evidence that we have that SEL skill building is widely marketable to programs, to funders, and eventually to policy makers. The Forum for Youth Investment partnered with the HighScope Educational Research Foundation to create the Weikart Center for Youth Program Quality because of our shared belief in the importance of promoting research- based practice as an alternative to contributing to the proliferation of research-based program models. The collaboration with Susan Crown Exchange and the eight visionary out-of-school organizations whose disciplined brilliance is reflected in this Guide is a stellar example of what happens when the research question shifts from measuring and replicating program outcomes to distilling and disseminating program practice. This learning community was incredibly productive: They agreed on a subset of social and emotional skills that are both easily observable and relevant to most OST programs, developed practical measures, and tested them, knowing that they were running the risk of revealing program weaknesses. They pushed to describe the nuanced practices they use to promote growth in each of the six skill areas, using an iterative process to create best practice standards that were relevant across the Challenge programs, linked to program effectiveness, and supported by research. And then, as a bonus, they pushed forward to create a theory of what it takes to support the infusion of these SEL practices into their programs’ official curricula, which varied from pregnancy prevention to boat building. Combined, these three accomplishments give OST practitioners the tools they need to declare SEL goals and improve SEL practice. This is both timely and important. OST programs are, by design, hardwired to promote these soft skills. They are voluntary, experiential, choice-driven settings for relationship building, exploration, and learning. They are increasingly being recognized as critical partners in system-wide efforts to expand learning. These tools, however, provide the OST field with an opportunity to do more than increase market share: They pave the way to making readiness broadly marketable to policy makers. By demonstrating the level of organizational intentionality even the best youth development programs have to commit to ensure that staff implement the formal programming in ways that support SEL skill building, they are stepping forward to demonstrate what, I believe, needs to be the mandated across settings in which youth spend time: Demonstrate how the official curriculum supports the developmental. Only then will the OST field have done everything it can to ensure that all young people are ready to meet life’s opportunities and challenges. Promising Practices for Social & Emotional Learning iv Preparing Youth to Thrive: Foreword by Susan Crown Far too many young people are growing up today with challenges that are almost insurmountable. Kids contend with poverty, random violence, substandard schools, racism, and a scarcity of safe, supportive places to hang out. Yet even facing these kinds of challenges, the young people highlighted in this guide like Brenda from the AHA program, and Kimo from the Philadelphia Wooden Boat Factory are on the path to success. Why do some kids beat the odds while others struggle? At SCE, we believe the work we have undertaken over the past two years helps us move closer