Thesis advisor: Vincent Cho / The Role of Leadership in Social-Emotional Learning Implementation: Making Sense of Social-Emotional Learning Initiatives by Sarah J. Hardy Dr. Vincent Cho, Chair, Dr. Elida Laski, Reader, Dr. Ingrid Allardi, Reader Social-emotional learning (SEL) is an essential component of every student’s education. District leaders play an important role in the development and implementation of SEL programs in schools. This qualitative case study explored the strategies used by district leaders in supporting sensemaking of SEL initiatives as they were implemented. Data were collected through semi-structured interviews with district and school leaders, focus group interviews with teachers, and a document review. Findings revealed district leaders employed strategies in the broad areas of setting direction, developing people, and redesigning the organization (Leithwood et al., 2004). However, there was no district-wide, unified vision for SEL programming, and the majority of SEL reform was advanced by principals. SEL interactions mostly occurred between principals and teachers, and between members of the teaching staff. SEL interactions were focused on essential principles of SEL initiatives, procedural information about SEL implementation, and crisis-driven support for individual students. Some interactions supported sensemaking. One recommendation of this study is to set a district-wide vision for SEL learning to align practices and provide a framework for principal autonomy. This study also recommends establishing structures that support collaboration in order to promote sensemaking through SEL interactions. / Thesis (EdD) — Boston College, 2018. / Submitted to: Boston College. Lynch School of Education. / Discipline: Educational Leadership and Higher Education.

Thesis advisor: Vincent Cho / One mechanism for supporting teachers during the implementation of school and district reform is the provision of professional development. By offering meaningful professional development opportunities, leaders can influence teacher efficacy, thus potentially improving teacher practices. As social-emotional learning (SEL) becomes more prevalent in public schools, it is incumbent upon district and school leaders to understand how professional development opportunities can support teachers during SEL implementation. This qualitative study explores one district’s approach for professional development in the area of SEL, with the goal of understanding how professional development may influence teacher efficacy. Data were gathered through semi-structured interviews, focus group interviews, and a document review. Findings revealed a variety of professional development activities occurred during SEL implementation. However, district and school leaders, as well as teachers reported their dissatisfaction with these professional development offerings. Without the presence of satisfactory SEL-related professional development, teachers could not relate the influence of the professional development to their efficacy. Teachers described their most meaningful professional development experiences as those including the opportunity to collaborate with each other. Therefore, one recommendation of this study is to increase the amount of collaborative opportunities provided to teachers. In addition, leaders can promote the use of SEL practices through professional development experiences that introduce techniques directly related to teachers’ classrooms and context. This type of professional development also has the potential to increase teacher efficacy. / Thesis (EdD) — Boston College, 2018. / Submitted to: Boston College. Lynch School of Education. / Discipline: Educational Leadership and Higher Education.

Strong Teens is an evidence-based social and emotional learning (SEL) curriculum designed to target internalizing disorders by promoting emotional resilience and social competence. In this study, Strong Teens was implemented among 36 adolescent girls during group therapy in a residential treatment center (RTC). A non-equivalent, quasi-experimental wait-list control group design was used. The curriculum was evaluated by tracking the girls' social and emotional knowledge, internalizing symptoms, and resilience from the perspectives of the girls, group therapists, and a supervisor who was blind to the study. Although the results indicated that exposure to Strong Teens was not effective in increasing the social and emotional knowledge of the girls, statistically significant reductions in internalizing symptoms and statistically significant gains in resilience were reported. Treatment fidelity checklists were filled out during 31% of the lessons where it was observed that the average lesson time was 30.11 minutes and 62% of the lessons' components implemented with integrity. In addition, group therapists completed a social validity questionnaire after the completion of the lessons in which they agreed with the goals and procedures of the curriculum, were neutral with the outcomes, and generally reported that the curriculum helped the girls facilitate better awareness of linking thoughts, feelings, and behaviors as well as helping them better understand empathy and improved peer interactions. They also indicated that the curriculum was "too basic" and wished it would have had more tailored specifics for their population. It is recommended that future research with this population investigate which SEL topics are most suitable, identify the most favorable lesson time, and explore student perspectives and experiences with Strong Teens.

abstract: The purpose of this action research study was to examine the effects the Six Seconds model on the emotional intelligence development of teacher candidates in a teacher education program described above. How would this focus impact a teacher candidate's ability navigate the emotional aspects of teaching, exercise optimism, and make daily choices based on a greater sense of purpose? A mixed-methods (QUAL-quant ) was employed to investigate this question and to gain a greater understanding of emotional intelligence in the teaching profession. The Six Seconds model of emotional intelligence was used as a foundation for the intervention and data collection. Data were collected through an emotional intelligence assessment, a teaching satisfaction survey, semi-structured interviews, observations, field notes, training transcripts, training artifacts, and a participant journal. The results from the study indicated that the Six Seconds model has the potential to positively impact emotional intelligence development in teacher candidates. Moreover, the study resulted in broader assertions about emotional intelligence development among future teachers. Emotional intelligence starts with a commitment to change. Second, teacher candidates must have the opportunity to continuously apply new learning in an environment conducive to EQ development. Finally, the pursuit of a noble goal is critical to the application of all other emotional intelligence competencies. / Dissertation/Thesis / Ed.D. Educational Leadership and Policy Studies 2012

1 / Katie Simon

This capstone project was part of a group project completed by five school and district administrators in Hillsborough County, Florida. The project began because of our passion for teachers who are able to establish a culture of care in their classrooms that support students academically but transform their learning through experiences that enable them to be more highly engaged and productive students, regardless of ethnicity, socioeconomic status, perceived academic abilities, and backgrounds. My focus in this group project looked at social emotional learning, student behavior, and student achievement in high needs schools. Social Emotional Learning (SEL) and its related activities and lessons were once a foundational piece of the middle school program. Over the years, increased accountability and legislative mandates have made it very challenging to include dedicated time in a student’s daily schedule for SEL lessons and activities. In Hillsborough County Public Schools, a summer program for retained sixth graders served as a launching ground for the re-introduction of SEL activities. The positive impact of the SEL activities were immediate and the SEL lessons, delivered through daily Community Building Sessions (CBS), were received well by teachers and students. How can the overwhelmingly positive results of the use of SEL activities with students in a summer program be replicated during the regular school year? Literature supported the growing need for social emotional learning, positive impacts of SEL on student behavior and academic learning, the importance of positive classroom climates as a school-wide strategy, and the importance of leadership support.

This dissertation describes the results of two studies that examined preservice and inservice teachers' knowledge of social and emotional learning (SEL) and its impact on academic achievement. Components of SEL, such as self-efficacy and self-regulation, play an important role in academic attainment and can be especially beneficial to young readers. One hundred and seventy inservice and 155 preservice teachers completed surveys that measured their overall knowledge of SEL concepts and perceptions regarding their preparedness for teaching SEL, its importance, and implementation. The descriptive results indicated both inservice and preservice teachers had some underlying knowledge regarding SEL, but performed poorly in identifying definitions of fundamental SEL terms. The large majority of preservice and inservice teachers felt SEL was important to academic achievement, but seemed conflicted about the role of SEL in classroom instruction. Responses from inservice and preservice teachers indicate they may feel underprepared for teaching SEL in their classrooms. Multiple regression analyses revealed preservice teachers' responses to items on the perceptions scales predicted overall knowledge scores. Analysis of Variance results indicated there were no differences by demographic variables on overall teacher knowledge scores and responses to perceptions scales. The results are consistent with previous findings on teachers' perceptions of SEL's importance. Implications for teacher preparation programs and classroom instruction are discussed along with directions for future research.

This study aimed to investigate the relationship between the tendency of English as a Foreign Language (EFL) instructors to use the emotional intelligence (EQ) skills and their attitudes towards the teaching of EQ skills in EFL classes. The quantitative data were collected through a demographic inventory and two questionnaires. In the quantitative data gathering process, 140 EFL instructors working at Atilim University, BaSkent University, Bogazi&ccedil / i University and Erciyes University participated. In order for an in-depth interpretation of the questionnaire results, semi-structured interviews were held with 10 EFL instructors. The results of the study revealed that there is a relationship between the tendency of EFL instructors to use the interpersonal skills and their classroom applications related to the teaching of these skills in EFL classes. The tendency of EFL instructors to use the intrapersonal, interpersonal, adaptability and general mood skills were also found to correlate with their beliefs related to the teaching of these skills in EFL classes. Another outstanding finding of the study is that the tendency of EFL instructors&rsquo / to teach EQ skills is lower than both their tendency to use EQ skills and their tendency to believe that EI skills should be taught in EFL classes. Furthermore, the analysis of the demographic information along with the questionnaire results revealed a correlation between the tendency of EFL instructors to teach EQ skills in their classes and their gender, workload and the type of the institution they work. The results also revealed that there is a relationship between the beliefs of EFL instructors related to the teaching of EQ skills in EFL classes and their workload.

Outcomes related to academic and social engagement for boys identified by their teachers as being disengaged and requiring tier two instructional supports were investigated when the Three Block Model of Universal Design for Learning (Katz, 2012a) was implemented. The mixed-methods study involved twelve grade 3 boys and their teachers in a rural school division in Manitoba, who were divided into treatment and control groups. Students were assessed pre and post intervention for the development of general self-esteem, academic self-esteem, liking of school, enjoyment of school, and engaged behaviour. Ecobehavioral measures of task assigned, groupings, and interactions were also taken. Data were collected and analyzed using both thematic analysis for qualitative data and a MANCOVA for quantitative analysis. The intervention significantly increased students’ engaged behaviour, particularly active engagement and promoted social engagement through increased peer interactions, student autonomy, and inclusivity.

Outcomes related to academic and social engagement for boys identified by their teachers as being disengaged and requiring tier two instructional supports were investigated when the Three Block Model of Universal Design for Learning (Katz, 2012a) was implemented. The mixed-methods study involved twelve grade 3 boys and their teachers in a rural school division in Manitoba, who were divided into treatment and control groups. Students were assessed pre and post intervention for the development of general self-esteem, academic self-esteem, liking of school, enjoyment of school, and engaged behaviour. Ecobehavioral measures of task assigned, groupings, and interactions were also taken. Data were collected and analyzed using both thematic analysis for qualitative data and a MANCOVA for quantitative analysis. The intervention significantly increased students’ engaged behaviour, particularly active engagement and promoted social engagement through increased peer interactions, student autonomy, and inclusivity.