Jonathan Cohen, Ph.D.National School Climate Center: Educating Minds and Hearts Because the Three Rs’ Are Not Enough;

Teachers College, Columbia University

Keynote: Healthy Schools Conference 2014: Take Action for Kids sponsored by Minnesota Action for Healthy Kids, a coalition of state agency and community partners: www.healthyschoolsconference2014.com/

8:30 to 9:30 – November 12, 2014 - Sheraton West, 12201 Ridgedale Drive, Minnetonka, MN.

School Climate Improvement: Trends, Challenges, and Opportunities

• Understandings: Supporting school – and life – success Our educational goals “Top down” efforts and/or engaging the “whole village” to

support the whole child? School climate reform

• Challenges:

• Solutions and Resources:

Policy Guidelines

Practice Guidelines and Road Maps

Tools: Measurement, Protocols & Rubrics

Leadership Development

Goals

Understandings:Our educational goals and resiliency

• School and/or Life Success?

• The impact of focusing on student cognitive learning alone: A challenge!

• On the essential importance of prosocial education and engaging the “whole village”

Understandings:

What works?

• “Top down” and/or engaging the “whole village” to support the whole child

• Current educational trends: Behaviorally informed “top down” efforts

• On the essential importance of school reform efforts that: (1) ignite the intrinsic motivation of students, parents & school personnel to learn and work together; and (2) recognize the social, emotional, ethical and civic as well as intellectual aspects of learning and school life

School Improvement Research: helpful and less helpful “Drivers” of change*

Unhelpful Primary Drivers:

1) Accountability systems that use data as a “hammer”rather than a “flashlight”

2) Primary focus on the individual teacher and/or administrator

3) Technology

4) Specific “evidence-based”programs

Helpful Primary Drivers1) Fostering the intrinsic

motivation of students, parents and school personnel: “igniting” the process

2) Engaging students & educators in a continuous process of social-emotional & civic as well as intellectual learning

3) Inspiring team work and a collaborative problem solving process

4) Affecting the whole community* Bryk, et. al. 2002 & 2010; Fullan, 2011; Mourshed,

Chijioke & Barber, 2010; Tucker 2011.

School climate reform

• A hundred year educational tradition

• Definitions

• Mobilizing the “whole village” to support safe, supportive and engaging schools: promoting safety, belonging and ability

• National and international trends

Understanding School climate: Definitions

•“Climate” and/or “culture” and/or “supportive learning environments” and/or “conditions for learning”

• Group trends

• School climate: the quality and character of school life. School climate is based on patterns of students', parents' and school personnel's experience of school life and reflects norms, goals, values, interpersonal relationships, teaching and learning practices, and organizational structures. - See more at: http://www.schoolclimate.org/climate/#sthash.lgniJxI7.dpuf

• A sustainable, positive school climate fosters youth development and learning necessary for a productive, contributing and satisfying life in a democratic society. This climate includes: Norms, values and expectations that support people feeling socially, emotionally and physically safe. People are engaged and respected. Students, families and educators work together to develop, live and contribute to a shared school vision. Educators model and nurture attitudes that emphasize the benefits and satisfaction gained from learning. Each person contributes to the operations of the school and the care of the physical environment. (National School Climate Council, 2007)

Understanding School climate: Definitions (cont.)

The School Climate Improvement Process: Intentional, strategic, collaborative, transparent, democratically informed and coordinated

1) Collaborative, democratically informed and involving all stakeholders;

2) Psychometrically sound data is used to drive action planning, interventions and program implementation

3) Improvement goals are tailored to the unique needs of students' and the broader school community

4) Capacity building promotes adult learning and PLCs

5) Curriculum, instruction, student supports and interventions are scientifically sound and support prosocial. ecologically informed and strength-based and risk prevention efforts.

6) The improvement process strengthens (a) policies and procedures related to the learning environment, and (b) operational infrastructure to facilitate data collection, effective planning, implementation, evaluation, and sustainability. (National School Climate Council, 2012)

School climate: Trends

• Violence prevention and anti-bullying laws: Nationally and internationally

• Student drop-out rates and the “high-school to prison pipeline”

• A growing body of empirical as well as ethnographic research

• Support and/or endorsement from:

U.S. Department of Education and Justice

Centers for Disease Control and Prevention

SAMHSA

Institute for Educational Sciences

A growing number of State Departments of Education and Districts

World Bank, the UN Children’s Fund and a growing number of foreign educational ministries

challenges

• High stakes testing and the culture of “blame”

• A rush to measurement!

• Mobilizing the “whole village”: easy to say, difficult to do and time consuming!

• An educator culture of “blame”

• Lack of understanding about the school climate improvement process: What are the specific tasks and challenges that need to be addressed?

PBIS & School Climate process:

Similar and/or different?

Overlapping and complimentary efforts:

PBIS & School Climate Reform

Similarities1) School wide efforts;

2) Supporting positive change;

3) Supporting student learning;

4) Supporting student-family-educator

and community partnerships;

5) Data driven;

6) Appreciate that adult behavior and

“adult modeling” matters: and

7) Focused on advancing policies and

procedures that support effective

practice.

Differences1) Goals;

2) Different data sets;

3) Behaviorally informed model that is

focused on student problems vs. a

intrinsically grounded motivational

model focused on school wide,

instructional and one-on-one

coordinated efforts;

4) Adult driven vs. community driven;

5) School Climate Reform – grounded

in adult learning & PLC’s

Resources

Policy Guidelines

Practice Guidelines and Road Maps

Tools: Measurement, Protocols & Rubrics

Leadership Development

Resources – Policy Guidelines

School Climate Standards: www.schoolclimate.org/climate/standards.php

School Climate Guide for District Policymakers & Educational Leaders: www.schoolclimate.org/climate/papers-briefs.php

Model District-level Policy and Supports: www.schoolclimate.org/programs/policy-center.php

Resources – Practice Guidelines

School Climate Practice Briefs—Practices for Implementation and Sustainability: www.schoolclimate.org/publications/practice-briefs.php

Road Maps: Stages? Tasks and challenges?

• Collaborative for Social, Emotional & Academic Learing:casel.org/in-schools/implementation/implementation-guidance/

• Character Education Partnership: www.character.org/more-resources/publications/11-principles/

• National School Climate Center: www.schoolclimate.org/climate/process.php

• School Climate Resource Center: http://scrc.schoolclimate.org/

A Five-Stage School Climate Improvement Road

Map

Tasks and Challenges

Stage One: Planning & preparation• Creating a representative leadership team • Fostering “buy in” or a shared understandings, vision, vocabulary and engagement! • Leadership Commitment & Dedicated Planning Team• Moving from blame/distrust to a more “no fault”/trusting culture• Celebrating success and building on past efforts• Reflecting on and learning from Stage one work

Stage Two: Evaluation• Systematic, scientifically sound social, emotional & civic as well as academic assessment• Developing plans to share findings with the whole community

Stage Three: Understanding findings and action planning• Understanding and Digging Deeper• Prioritizing goals• Researching instructional and/or school wide improvement programmatic efforts• Action Planning: Benchmarks & Timelines

Stage Four: Implementing the action plan: Instructional & school-wide efforts

• Coordinating instructional and/or school-wide improvement efforts with fidelity• Promoting adult social, emotional and civic learning

Stage Five: Beginning the cycle anew

Resources –

Tools: Measurement, Protocols & Rubrics

Measurement tools:

1) Readiness measures

2) Comprehensive School Climate Surveys

3) Process measures

3) Community Scales: The School-Community Partnership Process

5) Targeted measures (e.g. bully-victim-bystander dynamics)

Road Maps, Best Practices, Learning Center, Cases, Connect (social forum) and more:

School Climate Resource Center: scrc.schoolclimate.org/development/

Leadership Development: Recognizing and supporting emerging and established leaders

National School Climate Leadership Certification: Supporting individuals, teams and schools to lead and achieve school climate reform. www.schoolclimate.org/programs/certification.php

Leadership Academy in Character Education: www.characterplus.org/page.asp?page=185

Next steps?

Thank you!.

Jonathan Cohen, Ph.D.

• President, National School Climate Center: Educating Minds and Hearts Because the Three Rs are Not Enough (www.schoolclimate.org;jonathancohen@schoolclimate.org).

• Adjunct Professor in Psychology and Education, Teachers College, Columbia University.