Committee for Children Blog

Set Yourself Up for Implementation Success

By Kim Gulbrandson

When essential elements of effective implementation are in place, the results can be powerful. Social-emotional learning (SEL) can thrive in environments where stakeholders are committed to sharing responsibility for supporting implementation and where there is shared vision and leadership around social-emotional and academic success for all students. But successful and sustained implementation of any curriculum can be challenging at times because it involves change at both the individual and organizational level. It requires planning, commitment, and time.

The Right Program

One step toward successful implementation is using evidence-based curricula that contain resources and materials to support implementation. Committee for Children offers these: 

    • An online community where people can provide and gather ideas and problem-solve specific issues
    • Activities and materials that build in reinforcement and application opportunities beyond lesson time, for families at home and for integration with academic subjects
    • Lessons that address the needs of varied learners by incorporating multiple ways of sharing content with students, including songs, visuals, and oral and written formats
    • Lessons that integrate effective management and instructional strategies to support student learning through physical movement, role playing, think time, and modeling

These curricular components support high-quality implementation, but choosing a good program is not enough. The success of SEL programs also depends on building the structures and practices for quality and sustainable implementation. Whether you support SEL classwide, schoolwide, or districtwide, or whether you are just starting implementation or have been implementing for a long time, consider three factors when developing your implementation plan: leadership, integration, and assessment.

Leadership

Leadership must provide shared responsibility and ongoing support and learning opportunities for staff. To do this, leaders can build in time for follow-up support and continued staff learning:

    • Provide book resources and give time for staff to create and discuss activities that could further support skill development (use the Second Step book lists or Second Step Enewsletter book reviews for ideas). 
    • Supply materials and offer make-and-take sessions where teachers exchange their extension activity ideas for fostering SEL skills.
    • Share information about SEL webinars or recent SEL articles or blogs from sites such as www.edutopia.org.

Leaders should also stay involved with implementation throughout the year:

    • Ask staff to post lesson-tracking charts on their doors (such as those provided with the Second Step program). Use these to determine the need for additional supports.
    • Ask staff to complete a lesson calendar at the beginning of the year that indicates when they will be doing lessons. Check in by visiting classrooms during their lesson times.
    • Regularly include SEL discussion in staff meeting times. Discuss implementation status, positives, and concerns.

Finally, leaders can establish and work with a program coordinator, teacher champions, and/or an implementation team to gather ideas and create regular opportunities to support implementation.

Integration

Integrate SEL as a meaningful, purposeful, and integral part of key priorities and academics.

    • Make connections with your vision, mission, and existing district initiatives and mandates, such as Common Core or your Strategic Plan or comprehensive literacy plan.
    • Make sure SEL has high visibility in the school and community. Integrate it into various aspects of the school day, including morning announcements, staff meetings, field trips, and daily classroom routines. Collaborate with families about SEL reinforcement and extension activities.

Assessment

Assessment is a powerful resource for guiding implementation, in that it can be used to establish buy-in; measure progress and impact; and inform decisions about continuing, modifying, and/or changing the future course of action.

    • Measure the degree or fidelity of implementation.
    • Establish diagnostic, pre-post measures to help identify students’ strengths and weaknesses and better plan what to teach and how to teach it. Examples include the SEBBS (Social, Emotional, and Bullying Behavior Survey), grades 6–9, and the middle school attitude pre-post available with the Second Step program.
    • Use summative knowledge assessments after lessons are taught to determine what skills still need additional support.
    • Build in formative assessments throughout the year through Q&A sessions, reflection journals, and in-class presentations where students share and role-play what they have learned.

It may seem daunting at first to think about all the factors related to successful implementation, so don’t feel as if it has to be done all at once. Revisit your implementation plans and progress regularly, and build in additional supports as you can. The important thing is to keep it collaborative and doable. Have a great school year!

Additional Resources to Explore

CASEL (Collaborative for Academic, Social, and Emotional Learning) provides information and resources to advance SEL practice and success in schools and districts.

SISEP (the State Implementation and Scaling-up of Evidence-based Practices) provides support in establishing implementation infrastructures and capacity in states and districts; offers information on stages of implementation; and provides resources for self-assessing and moving toward full implementation. 

References

Alberta Education. (2010, revised 2012). A guide to support implementation: Essential conditions. Retrieved from http://www.essentialconditions.ca/

Apacki, C. (2003). Implementing a social-emotional learning program: Stories from schools. In M. J. Elias, H. Arnold, & C. S. Hussey (Eds.), EQ + IQ = Best leadership practices for caring and successful schools (pp. 57­–70). Thousand Oaks, CA: Corwin Press.

Elias, M. J. (1997). Reinterpreting dissemination of prevention programs as widespread implementation with effectiveness and fidelity. In R. P. Weissberg & T. P. Gullotta (Eds.), Healthy children 2010: Establishing preventive services. Issues in children’s and families’ lives, Vol. 9 (pp. 253­­­–289). Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage.

Elias, M. J., Zins, J. E., & Graczyk, P. A. (2003). Implementation, sustainability, and scaling up of social-emotional and academic innovations in public schools. School Psychology Review, 32(3), 303­–319.

Greenberg, M. T., Domitrovich, C., Graczyk, P. A., & Zins, J. E. (2003). The study of implementation in school-based prevention research: Implications for theory, research and practice (Report submitted to the Center for Mental Health Services). Rockville, MD: Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration.

Massachusetts Department of Elementary and Secondary Education. (2011). Guidelines on implementing social and emotional learning curricula. Retrieved from http://www.doe.mass.edu/bullying/SELguide.pdf

Mihalic, S., Irwin, K., Fagan, A., Ballard, D., & Elliott, D. (2004). Successful Program Implementation: Lessons from Blueprints. Juvenile Justice Bulletin (July), 1–11. Retrieved from https://www.ncjrs.gov/pdffiles1/ojjdp/204273.pdf