Establishing Buy-In for the Second Step Program | By: Committee for Children For the past 16 years, I often have the opportunity to present 15–20 minute overviews of the Second Step program at school staff meetings. Before a school decides to implement the program, I like to make sure that a majority of the staff feels it is a good fit for their needs. Although I am a firm believer that all children can benefit from learning social skills, I think it is important for staff to feel they have input in the decision to implement, because if they believe in the need for the program, they are more likely to teach and reinforce the lessons with students. It took me many years to realize the full importance of staff buy-in. When I first started working in my district, the Second Step program was mandated district-wide. I remember thinking how wonderful it was to have our highest-level district administrators fully supporting social-emotional development. By the following year, I learned that many Second Step kits went unused, sitting on shelves collecting dust. After asking around, I discovered that many people did not understand how the curriculum could benefit their students. Others were resistant to the idea of feeling forced into using the curriculum. Although finding that delicate balance of key leadership support and staff buy-in is always a work in progress, I have frequently had success with a few main approaches, the first of which was recommended to me years ago by Committee for Children staff. When talking to school staff about the decision to implement the Second Step program, I like to use a thumbs up/thumbs down activity by reading through a list of behaviors and asking staff to indicate whether these are behaviors they see (thumbs up) or don’t see (thumbs down) amongst their students. The behaviors usually include the following: Poor listening skills Students bullying, threatening, or harassing other students Students physically fighting Disrespectful or disruptive behavior Put-downs Stereotypes Name calling Anxiety or depression Aggressive, negative, or defiant behavior Frequent need for adult conflict intervention Impulsiveness Interrupting others Difficulty focusing or following directions Most of the group usually reports seeing several of the behaviors. I then share that Second Step addresses many of the above concerns. Another great activity for establishing buy-in is to facilitate discussion about some of the following questions: Think of a time you had a student with poor social skills. How did this affect his/her relations with peers? Academics? what frustrations did you have in working with this student Were you able to meet the social needs of this student in the class setting? Was it time consuming? Finally, I share the information about how social-emotional learning is related to improved student achievement (see the research at www.casel.org). So many staff are feeling intense pressure about increasing student achievement. Teaching social skills can help reduce class time spent on misbehavior, which can free up more time for learning. It is a win-win situation!