Is Your Strategic Plan Focused on Outcomes… or Just a Direction?

There are “Many Roads to Rome”—but You Need an Address and a GPS to Get There

Dear Colleagues,

   As the saying goes, “There are many roads to Rome.”  And that is true.

   But after traveling in Italy this summer, I can assure you that you do not want to go to Rome.  Not to be coy. . . you want to go to specific places in Rome.

   To expand this metaphor:  if you are traveling to Rome from, let’s say, Florence, you want to travel South/Southwest.  However, that is only a direction that will leave you (hopefully) somewhere in Rome- - or, if you are unlucky, just on the outskirts of the city.

   In contrast, if you are traveling to Rome- - instead of a global direction, you really want to go to a destination, a specific place, in Rome.  For that, you need an address and probably (if you know Rome’s topography and lay-out) a GPS.

   So. . . what does this have to do with education ? 

   Too often, when doing strategic planning, schools and districts end up with global goals that only reflect a set of directions.  The best case scenario here is that they end up going in the “right direction,” but they never reach their student-specific destinations.  Another typical result is that their successful students maintain or extend their success, but their needy or unsuccessful students stagnate and remain the same.

   In contrast, what schools and districts need to do is to identify their specific, desired destinations- - that is, the objective and measurable academic and social, emotional, and behavioral outcomes that they want for all students from preschool through high school.  These destinations should reflect the content, skills, processes, and subject-specific and trans-disciplinary applications that students need to learn and master at every grade level.

   If “outcomes-based” strategic planning is used in place of “standards-based” strategic planning, schools and districts will be able to set their strategic “GPSs” to the path of least resistance.  The clear result is that they will then have a much better chance of meeting their goals and attaining their outcomes.

   As they say, “When in Rome, do as the Romans do.”

_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

Using a Top-Down “Standards-Based” versus a Bottom-Up “Outcomes-Based” Approach to Strategic Planning

   Earlier this past week, I was on a conference call with some district-level colleagues discussing the emerging strategic planning directions in their large urban/suburban county school district.  Together, we discussed their superintendent’s interest in developing social, emotional, and behavioral standards for their students.  Critically, we could have just as easily been discussing the district’s academic standards in literacy, math, and/or science.

   My colleagues shared that their superintendent wanted to develop district-wide standards to guide the implementation of a whole-district, multi-tiered approach.  My assumption was that these social, emotional, and behavioral standards would be connected to the district’s academic standards, creating vehicles toward the county’s strategic commitment to increase high school graduation and all students’ “college and career” readiness.

   After the first minutes of the call, my first response was to ask my colleagues:

“What social, emotional, or behavioral competencies and skills do your students need- - from preschool to high school- - in order to facilitate graduation and help them to be college and career ready?”

   My second question was:

“Wouldn’t you be better off identifying the specific outcomes that you want, and then generating your standards based on and aligned to these outcomes?”

_ _ _ _ _

   As alluded to earlier, while most school districts employ a top-down “standards-based” approach to strategic planning, my work in the field has demonstrated that a bottom-up “outcomes-based” approach works better- - relative to actually achieving the desired student-based outcomes.  This is true whether we are talking about academic or social, emotional, and behavioral outcomes.

   Consider the following:  When the national Common Core State Standards (CCSS) website first went on-line, there was a prominent statement on its Home Page.  The statement basically said:

 “These are just standards.  Individual school districts will need to (a) operationalize these standards, (b) drill them down to academic scope and sequence progressions, (c) identify specific and measurable outcomes, (d) ensure that they are taught effectively using sound curricular materials and differentiated instruction, and (e) assess them formatively and summatively with reliable and valid measures.”

   Unfortunately, many districts, schools, and teachers have not done this. 

   Instead, they are using the CCSS as their curricular, instruction, assessment, and evaluation templates.  Moreover, they are compounding this problem as teachers in the same school at the same grade level are creating their own different CCSS lessons, teaching them “their own way,” and evaluating their outcomes using vastly different approaches.

   This inconsistency ultimately undercuts instructional fidelity and accountability, and we do not get the collective student outcomes that we want.

   Critically, the same thing has happened in states that have social, emotional, and/or behavioral standards- - largely because specific outcomes have not been described and defined.  This has been left to the districts, schools, and staff- -  resulting in a standards-based mess.

_ _ _ _ _

   My point again is: 

   If districts, schools, and teachers need to eventually identify students’ academic and social, emotional, and behavioral outcomes, why would we not START by:

   * Identifying the outcomes first;

   * Then writing the standards to fit the outcomes;

   * Then generating the additional standards that might have been 

          missed; and

   * Finally, “looping” back down to finalize the specific outcomes ?

_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

Examples of Academic and Social, Emotional, and Behavioral Outcomes

   From an academic perspective, a bottom-up outcomes-based approach would focus on, for example:

   * The specific content, skills, processes, and subject-specific and trans-disciplinary applications that students need to learn and master- - from preschool through high school- - in identified academic areas (e.g., literacy, math, oral and written expression, science and civics, the arts and humanities).

   To accomplish this, an integrated scientific, developmental, and pedagogical perspective is needed.  For example:

   * The current research and practice in literacy, identifies five functional, interdependent skill areas- - phonemic awareness, phonetic decoding, fluency, vocabulary, and comprehension. 

   * Each of these areas needs to be operationalized- - for example, what types of comprehension skills and questions do we want students to learn, master, and apply (in different types of texts) at the preschool/kindergarten, elementary, middle, and high school levels? 

   * Then, each of these areas needs to be developmentally validated- - for example, at what age and/or development range or levels can students learn different types of comprehension questions?  

   * Then, instructional progressions need to be developed where prerequisite knowledge and skills are identified, differentiated instruction templates are developed, formative and summative evaluation indicators and criteria are detailed, and available accommodations and modifications are embedded.

_ _ _ _ _

   Critically, and consistent with this discussion’s theme, the guiding focus is on what we want students to be able to independently demonstrate. 

   For example, integrating science, literacy, mathematics, history, and ethics, we may want high school students to be able to (a) read and understand the purpose and steps of a chemistry experiment on pollutants in the atmosphere; (b) predict and prepare for the different phases or events that will occur during that experiment; (c) anticipate, respond to, and measure the outcomes of the different phases of the experiment; (d) generalize the results to a theory or set of universal principles; (e) apply these principles to one or more past historical events; and (f) frame the principles into an ethical dilemma contrasting the present benefits of an company that produces an important product, but that nonetheless releases small amounts of pollutants into the air, versus a boycott that might put that company out of business but benefit future generations.

   While my example is complex (isn’t life?), the identification of the different science, literacy, mathematical, and ethical outcomes (and their prerequisites and progressions) is not.  This is not rocket science.  In fact, many schools, districts, states, and national professional associations have already done this work.

_ _ _ _ _

   From a social, emotional, and behavioral perspective, a bottom-up outcomes-based approach would focus on competencies and skills that I have discussed in previous Blogs.  That is, among the competencies that students- - from preschool through high school- - need to develop are the following:

•          Social Competencies

            Listening, Engagement, and Response Skills

            Communication and Collaboration Skills

            Social Problem-Solving and Group Process Skills

            Conflict Prevention and Resolution Skills

•          Emotional Competencies

            Emotional Self-Awareness, Control, and Coping 

                Skills

            Awareness and Understanding of Others’ 

                Emotions and Emotional Behavior

            Positive Self-Concept, Self-Esteem, and 

                Self-Statement Skills

•          Cognitive-Behavioral Competencies

            Self-Scripting, Self-Monitoring, Self-Evaluation, 

                Self-Correction, and Self-Reinforcement Skills

            Social, Interactional, and Interpersonal Skills

            Classroom and Building Routine Skills

            Instructional and Academic Supporting Skills

   Drilling these competencies down to a more functional level, below are twelve social, emotional, and behavioral skill clusters that all students also should learn and master progressively and before they graduate from high school:

   Listening, Following Directions, Staying On-Task

   Accurately interpreting Non-Verbal Cues and Voice Inflection

   Being Positive, Motivated, and Persistent

   Communicating Clearly, Constructively, and Courteously

   Knowing how to Discuss, Interrupt, Debate, Agree, Compromise, 

       and Disagree

   Cooperating with and Accepting Others’ Opinions

   Respecting Others, Being a Team Player, Taking on Different Group 

       Roles

   Knowing how to Ask for Help, and Accept Frustration or 

       Consequences

   Knowing how to Accept Failure, Losing, and Being Wrong

   Showing Confidence, Dealing with Peer Pressure, Standing up for 

       Self/Others

   Controlling and Expressing Emotions, Responding to Others’ 

       Emotions

   Demonstrating Goal-oriented Planning and Time Management

   Once again, these skills need to be taught in a developmentally- sound way, using effective differentiated instruction, and sound, field-tested curricular and pedagogical approaches.  Moreover, once learned, we know that these skills will positively affect students’ academic performance, teachers’ classroom management, and schools’ climate and outcomes.

_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

And so, Back to Strategic Planning

   PLEASE hear me clearly:  I am not saying that we do not need standards.  I am simply questioning the directionality of how we generate standards while recommending an approach that will result in better outcomes.

   In summary, when districts and schools begin their strategic planning process from a bottom-up outcomes-based perspective, they will identify the multi-tiered curricular, instructional, assessment, and evaluation outcomes that students need to demonstrate from preschool through high school.  But in addition, this bottom-up approach will more directly and immediately connect the professional development and training, coaching and supervision, resource and technology, and services and supports needed so that the student-focused outcomes can be attained for all students.  

   Critically, we have pretty much proven that the top-down standards-based approach does not work.  For example, the Institute of Education Sciences released two new reports this past week describing surveys of Race-to-the-Top (RTT) versus non-RTT states, and School Improvement Grant (SIG) schools- - analyzing their implementation of the policies and practices promoted by the U.S. Department of Education as a condition of receiving the billions of tax dollars awarded.

[CLICK HERE for these Reports]

   While it is important to read the specifics in these (and earlier) RTT/SIG evaluation reports, the “bottom line” is that:

   * The states and schools that received grant money implemented more of the recommended policies and practices than unfunded states and schools- - but they did not implemented all or even most of the policies and practices;

   * Most of the practices were incredibly global in nature (see below)- - reinforcing the earlier point about vague strategic directions versus laser-focused student outcome destinations; and

   * The results from the RTT states and SIG schools thus far are unimpressive- - with, for the SIG program, a third of the schools showing worse student achievement results over time, and two-thirds of the schools showing just marginal levels of academic improvement.

   And, once again, what are some of global, top-down RTT and SIG practices recommended by the U.S. Department of Education?  To:

   * Use data to evaluate instructional programs

   * Use data to inform and differentiate instruction

   * Use benchmark or interim assessments at least annually

   * Implement strategies to ensure that ELL learners master 

         academic content

   * Require student achievement growth as a component of teacher 

         evaluations

   * Provide multiple-session professional development events

   * Replace the principal

   * Use financial incentives to recruit and retain effective principals

   * Change parent or community engagement strategies

   * Change discipline policies

_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

Summary

   If we are really committed to better, high and achievable outcomes for all students, we need to rethink our strategic planning processes and how we identify our needed and desired goals and outcomes.  To a large degree over the past decade or more, we keep “doing the same things” somehow expecting “different results.”

   But we are not getting the different results.

   The results we are getting include frustrated students, parents, staff, and schools.

   Moreover, we keep looking at new “Band-Aids”- - charter and magnet schools, eliminating teacher tenure, creating “smaller” schools- - when we need to focus, once again, on student outcomes and the services, supports, strategies, and programs needed to get to the outcomes.  [Note that there are lots of charter schools, work-at-will staffs, and small schools that do not produce positive student outcomes- - because these are not causal factors that directly affect student achievement.]

   For those of us who did not grow up with GPSs (never mind MapQuest), we continue to be amazed by this phenomenal technological innovation.  For those students who are growing up in schools that are not working, we need to apply the strategic approaches and innovations that DO work, and reset our GPS's.

   It is time to get to our destination- - instead of just wandering in the “right” direction.

_ _ _ _ _

   I hope that you will reflect on this message’s information and thoughts.  Know that I appreciate everything that you do as educational leaders in our country.  I look forward to YOUR thoughts and comments.  Let me know how I can help your state, regional cooperative, district, or school to move to the next level of excellence.

  

Best, 

Howie    

Why Students Don't Behave? Because We're Not Teaching Them

The Unfulfilled Promise of Education:  Students’ Social, Emotional, and Behavioral Skills

 

Why the “Soft Skills” are the Hard Skills, and Why they are Essential for Students’ Academic Success

Dear Colleagues,

   For all of the rhetoric about ensuring that students are “college and career” ready, the reality is that our schools are still focused almost exclusively on students’ academic success and—because of federal legislation pushed even further by the U.S. Department of Education—academic success that is measured largely by a single, high stakes, standards-based test.

   And yet, we know that—despite earning a high school degree— many university freshman are spending a significant amount of time in remedial courses because they do not have the prerequisite skills to be successful at the college level. 

   We also know that many students do not complete their college careers—perhaps again, because they lack the academic skills to be successful. 

   And, finally, we know that many high school graduates—who enter the job market directly from high school—need significant levels of (re)training in order to apply their reading, math, oral, and written skills to their new-found jobs.

_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

Students’ Social, Emotional, and Behavioral Skills

   But today’s discussion is not explicitly about ways to improve students’ academic proficiency.  Instead, it is about the importance of also teaching students—from preschool through high school—social, emotional, and behavioral skills.  Some call these skills the Soft Skills. 

   But these are Essential Skills, because they facilitate students’ academic success, as well as their ability to relate and collaborate with others in groups and on project-based teams in high school, college, and once employed.

   And yet, for many students, these are the Hard Skills, because our schools are not systematically and progressively teaching these skills in any way or at any level.

   The importance of teaching students—from preschool through high school— interpersonal, social problem-solving, conflict prevention and resolution, and emotional coping skills is supported both by research and practice.

   Relative to the research:

   * A recent study reported in the American Journal of Public Health tracked 750 youngsters in four diverse U.S. communities from 1991, when they were in kindergarten, until they were 25 years old.  They found that the youngsters with good social skills (sharing materials with others, resolving peer problems on their own, cooperating with peers without prompting, being helpful to others, listening to others’ point of view, understanding other people’s feelings) were more likely to graduate from high school and college, and have full-time jobs; and less likely to drop out of school, commit crimes, or need government assistance.

CLICK HERE FOR ARTICLE  

   * This study followed research published in 2011 that pooled data from 213 well-designed studies (involving 270,034 kindergarten through high school students) that compared schools teaching their students social, emotional, and behavioral skills versus schools that were not.  The students from the “social skill” schools were more emotionally well-adjusted and exhibited fewer conduct problems, they demonstrated better stress-management and interpersonal problem-solving skills, and they had more positive attitudes toward themselves, others, and school.

   But, critically, the students in the social skill schools had an 11 percentile gain in academic achievement over those in the non-social skill schools.  And significantly, all of these results occurred at the elementary, middle, and high school levels.

CLICK HERE FOR ARTICLE 

   Relative to practice:

   * As instruction at the upper elementary and secondary levels becomes more and more dependent on project-based and cooperative learning, students need to know how to interact effectively in group situations.  Indeed, they need to be able to listen to each other, plan, discuss, debate, make decisions, agree, disagree, and agree to disagree. 

These social skills are almost prerequisite to the academic outcomes that are the focus of these project-based groups.  If students are not taught the social skills that relate directly to effective group functioning, the ineffective group functioning will undermine the academic process and results.

   * Student teasing, taunting, bullying, harassment, hazing, and physical aggression still are ever-present problems in our schools.  Without essential interpersonal, social problem-solving, conflict prevention and resolution skills, and emotional coping skills, these problems are unlikely to diminish.  However, rather than waiting for these problems to occur (and teaching the skills reactively), these skills should be taught proactively—thereby creating the positive and prosocial school and classroom climates that prevent these problems from ever occurring.

   * Finally, as alluded to earlier, when students graduate without well-developed social, emotional, and behavioral skills, they are not “college and career” ready.  Clearly, when someone causes continual conflicts and is unable to get along with others at work, there typically is a very simple “intervention.”  It is called “unemployment.” 

Employers spend millions of dollars every year in this county training employees to excel in the technical aspects of their jobs.  Very little time or money, however, is invested in teaching them to how to get along with others at the job site so that they can work together as a team. 

Employees are expected to have the soft skills mastered before they enter the workforce.  Without these skills, their chances for full employment diminishes—as does their productivity, their customer service and collegial interactions, and their job satisfaction and security.

_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

What are these Social, Emotional, and Behavioral Skills ?

   One of the most fundamental goals for all schools is to help students become independent learners.  And while “independent learning” varies from kindergarten to fourth grade to eighth grade through high school, we (and our students) invest at least thirteen (barring dropping out) pre-collegiate years in pursuit of this goal.

   Similarly, another fundamental, complementary educational goal should be to help students become independent social, emotional, and behavioral self-managers.  And while this will also look different from kindergarten to fourth grade to eighth grade through high school, this is largely an unfulfilled educational goal in most of our schools and districts.

   But, what are these social, emotional, and behavioral skills?

   From a “competency” perspective, students need to progressively develop—from preschool through high school—at least the following competencies:

•          Social Competencies

            Listening, Engagement, and Response Skills

            Communication and Collaboration Skills

            Social Problem-Solving and Group Process Skills

            Conflict Prevention and Resolution Skills

•          Emotional Competencies

            Emotional Self-Awareness, Control, and Coping 

                 Skills

            Awareness and Understanding of Others’ 

                 Emotions and Emotional Behavior

            Positive Self-Concept, Self-Esteem, and 

                 Self-Statement Skills

•          Cognitive-Behavioral Competencies

            Self-Scripting, Self-Monitoring, Self-Evaluation, 

                 Self-Correction, and Self-Reinforcement Skills

            Social, Interactional, and Interpersonal Skills

            Classroom and Building Routine Skills

            Instructional and Academic Supporting Skills

_ _ _ _ _

   Drilling this down to a more functional level, below are twelve social, emotional, and behavioral skill clusters that all students should learn and master before they graduate from high school—as individuals, in small project-based group situations, and in large-group instructional settings:

   Listening, Following Directions, Staying On-Task

   Accurately interpreting Non-Verbal Cues and Voice Inflection

   Being Positive, Motivated, and Persistent

   Communicating Clearly, Constructively, and Courteously

   Knowing how to Discuss, Interrupt, Debate, Agree, Compromise, 

        and Disagree

   Cooperating with and Accepting Others’ Opinions

   Respecting Others, Being a Team Player, Taking on Different 

        Group Roles

   Knowing how to Ask for Help, and Accept Frustration or 

        Consequences

   Knowing how to Accept Failure, Losing, and Being Wrong

   Showing Confidence, Dealing with Peer Pressure, Standing up 

        for Self/Others

   Controlling and Expressing Emotions, Responding to Others’ 

        Emotions

   Demonstrating Goal-oriented Planning and Time Management

_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

How do We Prepare to Teach these Skills ?

   In order to teach these skills, schools and districts need to recognize that they are an inherent and essential part of school discipline and safety, classroom climate and management, and student self-management and academic engagement.

   Teachers, especially those in states where their instructional effectiveness is formally evaluated, might parenthetically recognize that—when students are taught and demonstrate these skills—their teacher evaluations will benefit in both the classroom management and student academic outcome areas.

   And students—based on our thirty years of work in this area across the country—will feel safer and more secure in school, will find school more enjoyable, and will find themselves more productive and successful.

   And so, as they prepare to teach students these essential skills, districts and schools need to invest a similar level of investment and preparation in this area as in their academic areas.  This investment could include the following activities:

·         Develop and implement a preschool through high school “Health, Mental Health, and Wellness” program guided by a scaffolded scope and sequence of courses, curricula, modules, skill, and/or experiences

·         Systematically teach students social, emotional, and behavioral skills consistent with their developmental levels

·         Identify classroom and common school area behavioral expectations and standards for all students, and develop and implement a school-wide behavioral accountability system involving incentives and differentiated responses to progressive levels of inappropriate student behavior

·         Have related service and other staff available to provide consultation to classroom teachers, to complete functional assessments of behaviorally-challenging students, and to help implement strategic or intensive instructional and intervention services, supports, strategies, and programs to underachieving, unresponsive, or unsuccessful students

·         Reach out to parents and engage community resources in areas and activities that support students’ academic and social, emotional, and behavioral learning, mastery, and proficiency

·         Evaluate the outcomes of all these activities, especially in the following areas:  positive school and classroom climate; high levels of student engagement and achievement; high levels of prosocial student interactions; low levels of school and classroom discipline problems requiring office discipline referrals or school suspensions or expulsions; low levels of student drop-out rates (at the secondary level) or placements in alternative schools or settings; high rates of student high school graduations and post-secondary school successes

   While some educators may say, “Another thing to do !!!”  please remember, once again, the research and practice results described earlier.  These approaches will both enhance students’ academic achievement, and help them to be completely college and career ready.

   But let’s also recognize that the recommendations above will also save a significant amount of training and implementation time if schools are engaging in time-consuming and redundant efforts implementing different programs that actually have the same core skills and outcomes.

   That is, many schools nationwide are already spending a significant amount of money, time, and training on a number of programs whose “common denominators” are the social, emotional, and behavioral self-management skills that all students need.  Some of these programs focus on:

   * School teasing and bully prevention

   * Decreasing office discipline referrals and disproportionate 

          (minority and student with disabilities) school 

          suspensions and expulsions

   * Establishing progressive discipline systems that counter 

          historically-based “zero tolerance” policies and practices

   * Creating “trauma sensitive” classrooms

   * Improving school climate and preventative mental health 

          services

   * Increasing gender, multi-cultural, racial, LGBT, disability, 

          and other awareness, equity, safety, and acceptance

   * Introducing “mindfulness” into the classroom

   * Facilitating students’ “executive functioning”

   Critically, many of these programs are not implemented preventatively.  Instead, they are reactively implemented after the district or school has a problem.  Moreover, many of these programs do not have a sound scientific foundation; they have not been appropriately and independently field-tested in a diversity of schools and settings; they do not teach (from preschool to high school) all students the social, emotional, and behavioral skills discussed above; they often focus on their niche to the exclusion of broader student, staff, and school needs; and some (quite honestly) are more about marketing and sales, than long-term and sustainable student success.

   Our evidence-based work (as evaluated and designated by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services’ Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration as far back as 2000) has demonstrated that a science-to-practice focus on consistently teaching, reinforcing, and holding students accountable for demonstrating developmentally-appropriate social, emotional, and behavioral skills results in virtually no need for most of the niche programs above. 

   As noted, schools do not have the money, time, staff, or wherewithal to implement substantially separate initiatives that are redundant, might actually compete with each other, and wear teachers down.  What schools need is a single, integrated, multi-tiered school, grade-level, and classroom blueprint that results in the social, emotional, and behavioral self-management skills that reflect their essential goals and outcomes and that all students need.

_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

What is Needed to Complement the Skill Instruction ?

   But teaching the social, emotional, and behavioral skills is not enough.  In order to facilitate students’ self-management, while supporting effective classroom management and sound school safety processes, the following scientific components are needed (NOTE that the skills instruction is #2):

   *  Staff, Student, and Parent Relationships that establish Positive 

          School and Classroom Climates

   *  Explicit Classroom and Common School Area Expectations 

          supported by Social, Emotional, and Behavioral Skill/

          Self-Management Instruction (that—as discussed above—

          are embedded in preschool through high school "Health,

          Mental Health, and Wellness" activities)

   *  School-wide and Classroom Behavioral Accountability systems 

          that include Motivational Approaches reinforcing "Good

          Choice" behavior

   *  Consistency—in the classroom, across classrooms, and across 

          staff, time, settings, and situations    

   *  Applications of the above across all Settings in the school, and 

          relative to the Peer Group interactions (specifically targeting 

          teasing, taunting, bullying, harassment, hazing, and physical 

          aggression)

   For students exhibiting significant behavioral challenges, or who are not responding to the preventative approaches above, a data-based problem-solving process is used (guided by school psychologists, counselors, and other behavioral assessment and intervention specialists) to determine the underlying reasons for the student’s inappropriate behavior.  The assessment results are then linked to strategic or intensive interventions that are focused on eliminating the “problems,” and replacing them with self-management skills.

   Below is a YouTube presentation that describes the five components above in more detail, and explains how they were implemented in schools across Arkansas as part of its ten year positive behavioral support initiative.

_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

Summary

   In order to fulfill the real promise of education—to truly prepare our students to be college and career ready, and to ensure that the next generations of adults are personally, interpersonally, and professionally successful, districts and schools need to systematically invest in integrated approaches that teach students the social, emotional, and behavioral self-management skills that they need.

   This needs to be a proactive and planned process for all students; not a reactive and reflexive process for just the inappropriate, challenging, disengaged, or disaffected students.

   This can be done.  And it has been done successfully in thousands of schools nationwide over the past 30 years.

   But it requires school, grade-level, classroom, teacher, and student science-to-practice approaches that focus on consistently teaching, reinforcing, and holding everyone accountable for demonstrating these skills. 

   As the beginning of your school year continues, I hope that you will reflect on this message’s information and thoughts.  As you embark on this year’s educational journey, let’s prepare our students not just academically - - but socially, emotionally, and behaviorally.

   I appreciate everything that you do as educational leaders in our country.  I look forward to your thoughts and comments.

  

Best, 

Howie