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Uptake and quality implementation of social and emotional learning programs: evidence & lessons from contexts of crisis

Wed, February 22, 1:30 to 3:00pm EST (1:30 to 3:00pm EST), Grand Hyatt Washington, Floor: Independence Level (5B), Independence H

Group Submission Type: Formal Panel Session

Proposal

A robust body of research indicates Social and Emotional Learning (SEL) Programs can have a profound effect on teaching and that social, emotional, and behavioral skills are key to improve children’s learning, health, and general wellbeing. Research also suggests that SEL programs are most impactful for children who face high risks, such as those living in emergency contexts and experiencing numerous and recurring stressors. However, there is also a growing body of evidence which indicates that implementation factors are crucial in mediating the outcomes of such programs. Implementation can be defined as the way that a program is put into practice and has 8 sub-components: fidelity, dosage, quality of delivery, adaptation, participant responsiveness or engagement, programme differentiation, monitoring, and programme reach (Durlak, 2016)). Numerous studies have indicated that the quality and level of implementation are crucial factors in determining whether SEL programs achieve their proposed outcomes. The level of implementation (dosage) is clearly an important condition for success; if a program is not fully implemented (or not implemented at all) then successful outcomes are highly unlikely. If implementation is so vital, a key question is therefore what factors determine the uptake and quality of such SEL programs? This is an under-researched question, but the available literature points to a range of factors which may influence implementation such as the program’s relevance to the school context and needs; the quality of the professional development program offered; characteristics of teachers who will be implementing the; and features of the school such as its readiness to change, the commitment and support of its leadership and its organizational climate (Domitrovich et al., 2008; Durlak & DuPre, 2008; Fixsen, Naoom, Blasé, Friedman, & Wallace, 2005).

While the theory and evidence around the factors which influence successful SEL implementation has been growing, gaps remain in our understanding. It is not established, for example, if any factors tend to be more important than others, or which combination of factors are sufficient and necessary conditions for successful implementation, and how these factors apply and combine in different contexts. Furthermore, the vast majority of studies have focused on high-resource contexts in the United States and Europe, and there is a dearth of evidence on this issue in lower resource or emergency contexts where teachers and schools face specific local challenges, needs and opportunities. This panel seeks to address this knowledge gap and presents evidence and lessons learnt from a range of SEL programs and studies across multiple low-resource and emergency settings in Latin America, Africa, Asia and Europe. The panel includes an evidence from an RTI evaluation on school climate improvement and SEL strategies and how these interact with teacher and student characteristics; teacher a implementation research from International Rescue Committee (IRC) and Harvard EASEL lab which evaluated how a process of locally sourcing and localizing SEL programming in North East Nigeria influenced teacher uptake (paper pending technical glitch on system), quality and fidelity of implementation; research from Save the Children and local partners Aulas en Paz and EcoAnaliticia on the factors influencing teacher uptake of a SEL curriculum in Colombia; findings and lessons learnt from Amal Alliance’s Colors of Kindness SEL program in Uganda, Bangladesh and Greece.

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