Thesis advisor: Vincent Cho / The purpose of this study was to understand the role of school leaders in supporting teachers as they build relationships with and between students in the classroom. These two important aspects of creating a positive classroom learning environment are necessary for Social Emotional Learning to be successful. This qualitative case study drew upon data from interviews with school leaders, teacher focus group interviews, and redacted teacher evaluations in one school district in Massachusetts. While the role of school leaders in the academic success of students has been explored in the literature, there is less research on the specific actions school leaders take to support teachers struggling with classroom environment issues. This study will explore the actions of school leaders through the lens of three leadership practices: setting direction, developing people, and redesigning the organization (Leithwood, Louis, Anderson, & Wahlstrom, 2004). The findings highlighted the difference in school leaders’ perception of the capacity of adults versus students to learn relationship building skills. In some cases school leaders were not confident that building these skills was possible and consequently they struggled to provide clear and specific strategies to teachers. The findings also reflect the reactive versus proactive nature of the support teachers received for building relationships with and between students. Recommendations include re-organizing resources to allow for more teacher collaboration, targeted professional development in relationship building and exploration regarding the difference in how student peer relationships were viewed compared to teacher student relationships. / Thesis (EdD) — Boston College, 2018. / Submitted to: Boston College. Lynch School of Education. / Discipline: Educational Leadership and Higher Education.

acase@tulane.edu / Agencies declare the development of social and emotional skills critical to child development, and research on outcomes of Social Emotional Learning (SEL) programming supports this claim. Despite the growing number of resources for educators, the day-to-day realities of individual school environments provide countless obstacles to implementation of SEL programs and initiatives. Without proper implementation, programs may not produce the desired student outcomes. Administrative support has been identified as a key factor underlying effective implementation, and while this seems to be a concrete way to increase SEL outcomes, the construct lacks a clear definition. This makes it difficult to identify which aspects of administrative support for SEL are the most important, and what mechanisms underlie the provision of support for SEL. Because there is no academic definition to guide school administrators in what supports to provide for effective implementation, it is necessary to research this construct. The current study seeks to do so by listening to the voices of those closest to the work of implementation, administrators and teachers themselves. By determining what supports stakeholders perceive necessary to successfully implement SEL in the context of a specific school site, the study aims to identify salient components of administrator support and create an emic definition to guide implementation. / 1 / Laura C. Cornell

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In recent years, leaders in school divisions across the nation have begun to implement social-emotional learning (SEL) curricula and programs explicitly within the academic day (DePaoli et al., 2017; Graczyk et al., 2013; Oberle et al., 2019). The purpose of this study was to examine teachers' perceptions of their role, as well as the role of school leadership, in the implementation and sustainability of an SEL curriculum. To conduct the study, all elementary teachers in one school division, approximately 220 teachers, were invited to participate by completing a survey regarding their beliefs and perceptions of implementation. Respondents supplied data for the study by providing demographic information, responding to four open-ended questions, and answering 42 questions by indicating their perception on a 5-point scale. The survey received a 27% response rate. The collected data were analyzed using statistics of responses to generate response category means, compile the response rate of data for each question, and code emerging themes to inform findings. Findings indicated the teachers felt it was the responsibility of all stakeholders to teach and model SEL for students. Most respondents, 85%, highly agreed with the belief that SEL practices promoted academic success by selecting almost always or always on the scaled response. Findings also indicated the teachers felt their building leadership did nothing to support SEL implementation, and further stipulated that more time and training were necessary to implement SEL successfully. The findings led to three implications for school leadership. First, teachers should partner with all other staff members and adults in the learning community to model and deliver SEL instruction. Second, data analysis revealed school leadership should identify one SEL curriculum for the school to ensure consistency in training, monitoring, and implementation. Finally, school leaders should dedicate time in the school day for explicit SEL instruction. / Doctor of Education / In recent years, leaders in school divisions across the nation have begun to implement social-emotional learning (SEL) curricula and programs explicitly within the academic day (DePaoli et al., 2017; Graczyk et al., 2013; Oberle et al., 2019). The purpose of this study was to examine teachers' perceptions of their role, as well as the role of school leadership, in the implementation and sustainability of an SEL curriculum. To conduct the study, all elementary teachers in one school division, approximately 220 teachers, were invited to participate by completing a survey regarding their beliefs and perceptions of implementation. Respondents supplied data for the study by providing demographic information, responding to four open-ended questions, and answering 42 questions by indicating their perception on a 5-point scale. The survey received a 27% response rate. The collected data were analyzed using statistics of responses to generate response category means, compile the response rate of data for each question, and code emerging themes to inform findings. Findings indicated the teachers felt it was the responsibility of all stakeholders to teach and model SEL for students. Most respondents, 85%, highly agreed with the belief that SEL practices promoted academic success by selecting almost always or always on the scaled response. Findings also indicated the teachers felt their building leadership did nothing to support SEL implementation, and further stipulated that more time and training were necessary to implement SEL successfully. The findings led to three implications for school leadership. First, teachers should partner with all other staff members and adults in the learning community to model and deliver SEL instruction. Second, data analysis revealed school leadership should identify one SEL curriculum for the school to ensure consistency in training, monitoring, and implementation. Finally, school leaders should dedicate time in the school day for explicit SEL instruction.

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