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Optimal applications of social and emotional learning paradigms for improvements in academic performance

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Optimal applications of social and emotional learning paradigms for improvements in academic performance

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Content Running head: OPTIMAL SEL FOR AP
OPTIMAL APPLICATIONS OF SOCIAL AND EMOTIONAL LEARNING PARADIGMS
FOR IMPROVEMENTS IN ACADEMIC PERFORMANCE
by
Edwin Harris
A Dissertation Presented to the
FACULTY OF THE USC ROSSIER SCHOOL OF EDUCATION
UNIVERSITY OF SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA
In Partial Fulfillment of the
Requirements for the Degree
DOCTOR OF EDUCATION
(Global Executive)
Defense date: July, 2019
Conferral date: May 2020
Copyright 2019 Edwin Harris
OPTIMAL SEL FOR AP i

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

I would like to thank Mark Power Robison for his unwavering faith in both me and my
work from beginning to end. I would also like to thank Ruth Chung for her support of my vision
for a grounded theory approach to this research and for her ongoing guidance in the continual
refinement of this work. I would like to thank Cathy Krop for her tremendous insight into the
aspects of this research that would most benefit K-12 educators, and for her multi-faceted
wisdom that has guided me throughout this journey. A very special thanks to my dissertation
chair Robert Filback whose extensive knowledge of education and the dissertation process made
an ambitious project achievable. Finally, I would like to thank my father Aaron Harris whose
example as both an innovative educator and a character based instructor inspired me to pursue
this research. Moreover, his insistence that I leave his side during his illness to complete this
work has been my deepest motivation.

OPTIMAL SEL FOR AP ii

TABLE OF CONTENTS
The International Achievement Gap ............................................................................................. 12
The United States Achievement Gap ............................................................................................ 16
Socioemotional Learning as an Effective Achievement Gap Intervention ................................... 22
Multiple Intelligences Theory and Learning ................................................................................. 33
Conclusion ..................................................................................................................................... 41
Knowledge and Skills .................................................................................................................... 42
Motivation Influences ................................................................................................................... 45
Organizational Influences .............................................................................................................. 48
Interview Group Sampling Criterion and Rationale ...................................................................... 54
Interview Group Strategy and Rationale ....................................................................................... 54
Observation Sampling Criterion and Rationale ............................................................................. 55
Observation Sampling (Access) Strategy and Rationale ............................................................... 55
Explanation for Choices ................................................................................................................ 55
Interviews ...................................................................................................................................... 57
Observations .................................................................................................................................. 57
Documents and Artifacts ............................................................................................................... 58
General Findings ........................................................................................................................... 61
Validation of Knowledge, Motivation and Organization Influences ............................................ 63
Motivation Findings ...................................................................................................................... 68
Organizational findings ................................................................................................................. 71
Theoretical Developmental Overview ........................................................................................... 74
Intrinsic .......................................................................................................................................... 77
Passion as a Cultural SEL paradigm ............................................................................................. 77
Emotional Awareness as a facilitator of physical and cognitive integration ................................. 80
Equity as a Catalyst for Individualized Instruction ....................................................................... 83
Child Centered Intellectual Stimulation ........................................................................................ 87
Community Emphasis ................................................................................................................... 92
Relational education (social relationships, listening, modeling) ................................................... 93
Maintaining SEL Mission .............................................................................................................. 94
Confidence as the Central Goal ..................................................................................................... 95
Survey Results ............................................................................................................................... 97
Discussion .................................................................................................................................... 111
OPTIMAL SEL FOR AP iii

SEL Survey Protocol and Responses .......................................................................................... 151

TABLE OF FIGURES
Figure 1 .......................................................................................................................................... 19
Figure 2 .......................................................................................................................................... 30
Figure 3 .......................................................................................................................................... 53
Figure 4 .......................................................................................................................................... 62
Figure 5 .......................................................................................................................................... 82
Figure 6 .......................................................................................................................................... 84
Figure 7 .......................................................................................................................................... 86
Figure 8 .......................................................................................................................................... 98
Figure 9 .......................................................................................................................................... 99
Figure 10 ...................................................................................................................................... 100
Figure 11 ...................................................................................................................................... 101
Figure 12 ...................................................................................................................................... 102
Figure 13 ...................................................................................................................................... 103
Figure 14 ...................................................................................................................................... 104
Figure 15 ...................................................................................................................................... 105
Figure 16 ...................................................................................................................................... 106
Figure 17 ...................................................................................................................................... 107
Figure 18 ...................................................................................................................................... 108
Figure 19 ...................................................................................................................................... 109
Figure 20 ...................................................................................................................................... 122
Figure 21 ...................................................................................................................................... 131
Figure 22 ...................................................................................................................................... 136
Figure 23 ...................................................................................................................................... 151
Figure 24 ...................................................................................................................................... 152
Figure 25 ...................................................................................................................................... 153
Figure 26 ...................................................................................................................................... 154
Figure 27 ...................................................................................................................................... 158
Figure 28 ...................................................................................................................................... 160
Figure 29 ...................................................................................................................................... 161
Figure 30 ...................................................................................................................................... 163
Figure 31 ...................................................................................................................................... 164
Figure 32 ...................................................................................................................................... 165
Figure 33 ...................................................................................................................................... 167
Figure 34 ...................................................................................................................................... 169
Figure 35 ...................................................................................................................................... 171
Figure 36 ...................................................................................................................................... 172
Figure 37 ...................................................................................................................................... 173
Figure 38 ...................................................................................................................................... 174
Figure 39 ...................................................................................................................................... 175
Figure 40 ...................................................................................................................................... 176
OPTIMAL SEL FOR AP iv

Figure 41 ...................................................................................................................................... 177
Figure 42 ...................................................................................................................................... 178

OPTIMAL SEL FOR AP v

ABSTRACT
The academic performance of American primary and secondary students is significantly
less than other Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) member
countries according to the Program for International Student Assessment (PISA) test which
measures the scholastic aptitude of 8
th
graders in math, language and science. The United States
scores are routinely mediocre despite being a world economic leader, and this is largely
attributed to disparate national test scores that follow a socioeconomic gradient.
In order to raise the academic performance of U.S. urban and suburban schools to that of
OECD global leaders, an intervention is needed. Social and Emotional Learning or SEL has
shown promise as a successful means of improving academic performance particularly in urban
environments. SEL seeks to engage a plurality of cognitive forms in the student and through
systematic integration, achieve improved overall academic performance. Despite early success,
there has been wide variation in results without a clear understanding of the causal factors
driving these varied outcomes. In this study, a high performing independent school that has been
implementing SEL since 1948 is examined. Due to the maturity and success of their SEL
program, insights into optimal implementations of SEL were gained. The organizational
performance was validated using a gap analysis tool by identifying influencing parameters and
analyzing them to determine SEL effectiveness. Faculty interviews were additionally analyzed
using an emergent qualitative approach to thematically develop their SEL pedagogy. The
resulting model was then distilled into recommendations for implementation with a guide for
evaluating its effectiveness.
OPTIMAL SEL FOR AP 1

CHAPTER ONE: INTRODUCTION

As the academic performance of students in the United States has continued to wane,
interventions are being explored, but improvement has been minimal. Although the highest
income families compete favorably with their demographic peers in other countries, middle and
lower class families struggle comparatively. Social and Emotional Learning, or SEL is a
relatively new approach to teaching and learning that is showing promise in addressing the
educational plight in America. SEL introduces a whole child approach, seeking to strengthen a
plurality of cognitive modes that work together synergistically for overall academic
improvement. While many consider SEL to be an entirely new learning model or paradigm, it is
so varied in approach and composition that it is more aptly described as a mosaic of multiple
learning paradigms. Despite promising early results, the data are conflicting largely due to the
broad and complex implementations of SEL. Gaining a deeper understanding of how SEL
produces improvements in academic performance independent of context can yield refinements
that lead to broader and more consistently successful implementations. This study deeply
examines an SEL paradigm at a high performing school with the objective of uncovering
methodologies that can be broadly applied for improving the academic performance of U.S. K-
12 institutions.
The United States achievement gap is a serious problem both internationally and
domestically. This is a problem impacting both urban and contiguous suburban schools in the
U.S. In most developed countries, students of lower socioeconomic status have a corresponding
lower performance in math and language (Ip et al., 2016; Marks, 2016). In the United States,
this discrepancy is statistically associated with both income and parent’s level of education
OPTIMAL SEL FOR AP 2

(Carnoy & Rothstein, 2013). Since many low-income families are located in highly populated
cities, test scores are on average, lower in urban areas (Baker, 2015; Melguizo & Kosiewicz,
2008; Reeves & Busette, 2018), however test scores of many suburban schools still lag behind
their international socioeconomic counterparts (Carnoy & Rothstein, 2015). This significantly
contributes to the United States’ overall poor performance on international tests measuring
national educational achievement (Carnoy & Rothstein, 2015). The United States addressed this
issue through standardization efforts, such as NCLB and the Common Core, in an attempt to
centralize national academic improvement however, this has been met with resistance largely
due to perceived threats to local autonomy (Duncan, 2009; Wilson, 2013). Consequently,
academic performance continues to suffer for many suburban and most urban students in the
United States.
Socioemotional learning (SEL) has recently been gaining attention for its potential to
address both the international and domestic achievement gaps. SEL focuses on the social aspects
of learning, teaching students to understand their own emotions, perceive the emotions of others,
develop self-motivation, and control their impulses. SEL can be implemented in a variety of
ways, including character development programs, multi-step emotional development curricula,
and SEL activity linked whole school programming. SEL has been shown to both improve
student behavior and increase academic performance by as high as 21 percentile points, and in
some cases increase graduation rates by over 20 percent (CASEL 2017). SEL is currently being
implemented in several U.S. public school districts, all of which report various degrees of
success (CASEL, 2017).
Although SEL has been shown to improve both behavior and academic performance,
SEL is still relatively new, so more research is needed in order to improve the performance
OPTIMAL SEL FOR AP 3

efficiency of the program. Moreover, there is great variation in the success cases, so the
underlying causes of optimum success are poorly understood. Given the early promise of SEL,
examination of a high performing SEL school with an established history of success can serve as
a template for further pedagogical development. The purpose of this study is to carry out a case
study of such a school in order to better understand the most beneficial SEL paradigm
components and how they should be implemented for optimal academic performance.
Background of the Problem

In order to close the international and domestic achievement gaps in the United States,
curriculum standardization has been implemented with the objective of improving the
consistency of academic performance among public K-12 students. The Common Core
curriculum, has thus far demonstrated mixed results (Carnoy etal, 2016). While best practices
have been employed to give U.S. students optimal opportunity for academic success, several
challenges have emerged. Many districts view the standardized curriculum as suboptimal for
their setting due to language and cultural barriers (Williams, 2008). Specifically, some teachers
believe that the new level of centralization has negatively impacted their autonomy (Gubi &
Bocanegra, 2015; Schuitema, Peetsma, & van der Veen, 2016).
Despite great efforts to close the achievement gap and raise the overall U.S. academic
performance in comparison to other industrialized countries, the U.S. continues to perform
comparatively lower, ranking 36
th
out of 45 OECD countries in math, 19
th
in reading and 22
nd
in
science according to the 2015 PISA assessments (OECD, 2016). Even after implementation of
Common Core, the US PISA math ranking did not improve (Jackson, 2016). The lowest
performing geographical areas are large cities. Suburban areas perform much better, yet still lag
OPTIMAL SEL FOR AP 4

behind their economic counterparts in OECD leading countries. Only the PISA scores of the top
20 percent of income earners in the U.S. compare favorably with the top 20 percent of OECD
leaders such as Finland and Singapore.
As previously stated, there is a correlation between U.S. socioeconomic status (SES) and
academic performance (Caro, 2009) however, many inner cities have higher percentages of
lower SES students than suburban communities in the U.S. thus, U.S. urban education needs
more effective strategies to close both domestic and international achievement gaps (Gottfried &
Johnson, 2014).
Pedagogy has also been shown to have an impact on academic performance. Rather than
solely focusing on mathematical execution and language memorization, high-performing schools
are demonstrating success by teaching to the whole child (Humphrey, 2007). By emphasizing
creativity, emotion, character and individuality as important contexts for curriculum delivery, a
broader demographic is experiencing improvements in academic performance (Hansenne &
Legrande, 2012). Recent discoveries in the physiology of learning reveal neurological linkages
between the centers of both emotion and higher cognition (Miller, 2010; Palghat, Horvath, &
Lodge, 2017; Teffer & Semendeferi, 2012; Telzer, Qu, & Lin, 2017). Emotional intelligence
paradigms have also demonstrated pathways external to traditional IQ that lead to improvements
in academic performance (Agnoli, Mancini, Baldaro, Russo etal, 2012). By implementing
didactic systems that engage a larger breadth of human experience, progress toward closing the
achievement gap may be achieved.
Socioemotional learning (SEL) presents an opportunity to incorporate creativity,
emotion, and individuality into a pedagogical framework that increases student engagement,
OPTIMAL SEL FOR AP 5

enhances motivation, and ultimately improves learning (Larson, 2011; Low, Smolkowski, &
Cook, 2016; Schunk, 2012). SEL is based upon the earlier work of Emotional Intelligence (EI)
pioneered by Daniel Goleman which demonstrated the vocational benefits of emotional
awareness, and the subsequent work of Howard Gardner who developed Multiple Intelligences
Theory (MI). Both represent early SEL constructs that have been utilized in both school
activities and curriculum design (A. Abdi, Laei, & Ahmadyan, 2013; Douglas, Burton, & Reese-
durham, 2008; Hatch, 1989). Studies have demonstrated academic improvement through SEL
teaching methodologies. By studying an institution that has been successfully implementing
SEL, strategies for future development may be uncovered and refined.

Importance of a Promising Practice Project

Examining a high performing school that has successfully implemented SEL may yield
several benefits. Due to a disconnect between policy makers and urban school districts,
potentially effective strategies can be poorly implemented (Akbar, 2011). State and federal
strategists often lack understanding of the sociopolitical factors influencing education at the local
level, and urban districts may have limited understanding of core centralized objectives. This
fundamental knowledge gap contributes to the inconsistent implementation of current strategies.
Exemplary practices in both pedagogy and curriculum that foster high performance among the
target demographic would serve as a model for best practices and potentially speed adoption in
public, charter and independent schools in both urban and suburban areas. Organizational
structures that effectively translate curriculum objectives into academic performance are largely
absent in urban districts as well, further contributing to implementation breakdown (Parker etal,
2004). An examination of exemplary organizational structures that prove effective in urban
OPTIMAL SEL FOR AP 6

environments would increase operational efficiency and student performance. This would not
only include cultural models, but methods of maximizing resource efficiency. Since many of the
highest performing schools are private schools, a promising practice study of a school with
affordable tuition, yet geographically accessible from urban areas would be valuable.
Organizational Context and Mission

The Roeper School (TRS) is an independent K-12 school in a suburb of a large urban area.
The Roeper school was founded by George and Annamarie Roeper in 1941. the two met in
Hamburg Germany where they were influenced by the Marienau school where they both
attended. Annamarie’s parents became educators after the war and were committed to creating a
school that nurtured the emotional and ethical lives of students while challenging them with an
advanced international curriculum. This philosophy heavily influenced the Roepers when they
later became educators.
The Roeper grade school began in Detroit in 1941 with nine students. The school rapidly
grew and moved to a Detroit suburb in 1946. They chose a hilly wooded area with a stream due
to their belief that children should be surrounded by nature, and transported their largely Detroit -
based student population back and forth to the new location. By 1947 there were 90 children
through grade 6, and later added gifted student education as art of their mission.

Organizational Performance Status

Today, the Roeper school occupies two locations; a prekindergarten - grade 5 lower
school and a grade 6-12 middle and upper school. Their lower school population is 240, grades
6-8 comprise 128 students, and 184 students are in their 9
th
-12
th
grades with an average student
to teacher ratio of 10 to 1. Thirty-three percent of the student population identify themselves as
OPTIMAL SEL FOR AP 7

students of color, and 43 percent receive financial aid. The original tenets of nurturing a
student’s emotions while challenging them academically have continued since their inception.
Eighty nine percent of their lower school graduates continue to the upper school, and their
graduating 12th graders are exceptional high performers. Although graduating classes are
relatively with less than 50 students, several have been admitted to Stanford, Harvard, Yale,
Cornell and Northwestern in recent years, with many attending Michigan each year. The Roeper
School is situated in a suburban area, yet their academic performance far outstrips that of their
surrounding suburban demographic. Much of their high performance has been attributed to the
social and emotional learning foundation laid during the formative years at the lower school. This
study therefore focuses on the lower school since this is where social and emotional learning is
most strongly emphasized.
Description of Stakeholder Groups

TRS is composed of three primary stakeholders. TRS seeks to make students and parents
central to their governance, and have therefore included both in their developing team, seeking
their ongoing feedback and input. These parents are active members of the Roeper community
and have a rich understanding of the school’s mission and vision. The teachers serve as the
second group of stakeholders. Several of these teachers have served at TRS for more than a
decade and bring considerable knowledge to the future school direction. Finally, the third group
of stakeholders are the Roeper School administrators. This group is composed of both new and
former school leaders, with the goal of anchoring TRS in its historical roots while charting a
successful path for future progress.
Stakeholder Group for the Study

OPTIMAL SEL FOR AP 8

While the students, civic leaders, community members, and independent school boards
represent stakeholders that could be included in this study, only the lower school faculty will
serve as the stakeholder group for this study. This will permit greater focus on social and
emotional learning while still yielding sufficient data for analysis. The primary goals of this
stakeholder group are to develop socially responsible individuals, and to equip students for high
academic performance.
Purpose of the Project and Questions

The purpose of this project is to study the social and emotional learning (SEL) paradigm
of The Roeper School (TRS) in relation to stimulating high academic performance in diverse
learning environments. TRS will be analyzed both qualitatively and quantitatively through
stakeholder group interviews, observations and survey responses. Successful implementation of
SEL will first be validated in the context of current literature according to the knowledge,
motivation and organizational structure required to implement their program. A theoretical
model of the Roeper School’s pedagogy will then be developed from emergent qualitative
analysis. An implementation program will also be presented along with a plan for evaluation. As
such, the following questions may be posed:

1. What are the stakeholder knowledge, motivational and organizational attributes that
contribute to their implementation of social and emotional learning?
2. What is the Roeper school’s specific social and emotional learning model that contributes
to their high academic performance?
3. What are the recommended solutions for transferring the Roeper model of SEL into
broader educational contexts?
OPTIMAL SEL FOR AP 9

Conceptual and Methodological Framework

Clark and Estes’ (2008) gap analysis, is a systematic method of organizational
performance analysis that serves as a tool for clarifying organizational goals and identifying
potential gaps between target and actual performance levels within an organization. This
approach will be adapted for a promising practice analysis of TRS as a validation tool for their
implementation of SEL. The methodological framework is a qualitative case study with
descriptive statistics along with quantitative supporting data. Determined knowledge, motivation
and organizational needs will be elucidated from surveys, interviews and related literature. These
data will be further analyzed through grounded theory, and a pedagogical model will be
developed from the emergent themes. Research-based solutions will be recommended and an
evaluation tool will be presented.

Definitions

Combinatorial Optimization. A topic of operations research that employs mathematical
algorithms to determine the most efficient combination of subcomponents in a system such as the
shortest path between multiple locations.

OPTIMAL SEL FOR AP 10

Emotional Intelligence (EI): Emotional intelligence emphasizes the skill to perceive one’s own
emotions as well as the emotions of others. It also stresses the importance of emotional
management and self-regulation. In so doing, students can experience improved motivation and
self control.

Multiple Intelligences. Howard Gardner proposed the idea of multiple intelligences which posits
that human cognition is composed of nine or more distinct intelligences that work together to
create a unique intellectual composite for the individual. These intelligences are
psychometrically unique, and based upon extensive criteria that include evidence from the
neurophysiological and behavioral sciences.

RSEL. Roeper Social and Emotional Learning paradigm. This is an acronym for the
implementation of SEL specific to the Roeper School.

Socioemotional Learning (SEL): Socioemotional learning leverages the tenets of emotional
intelligence and applies them in the classroom. By emphasizing self-awareness, self-
management, social awareness, relationship skills, and responsible decision making, both
behavior and academic performance may be improved. Also called Social and Emotional
Learning.

TRS. The Roeper School.

OPTIMAL SEL FOR AP 11

Organization of the Study

Five chapters are used to organize this study. This chapter provided the reader with the
key concepts and terminology related to the United States’ academic achievement gaps and
socio-emotional learning as a potential solution. The Roeper School’s history, goals and
stakeholders as well as the initial concepts of gap analysis adapted to a promising practice study
were also introduced. Chapter Two provides a review of current literature regarding the
international and domestic achievement gaps, the development of emotional intelligence,
multiple intelligences theory, socio-emotional learning, SEL implementations, and performance
analysis foundation. Chapter Three details the assumed needs for this study as well as the
methodology regarding choice of participants, data collection and analysis. In Chapter Four, the
data and results are assessed and analyzed first for organizational performance validation and
second pedagogical theory development. Chapter Five provides solutions based on data and
literature, addresses the needs of comparable SEL schools in relation to the promising practice
model, and provides both recommendations for closing the international performance gap and a
plan for the implementation of solutions.

OPTIMAL SEL FOR AP 12

CHAPTER TWO: REVIEW OF THE LITERATURE

This chapter will begin with an overview of the current state of U.S. international and domestic
academic performance followed by a progression of social and emotional learning from its
foundation in emotional intelligence theory to its current implementation as an emerging
pedagogical construct. The biological foundation for emotional cognition will be laid along with
how this enhances traditional cognitive performance. SEL Paradigms will be addressed followed
by a section on combinatorial optimization. Finally, the process of gap analysis according to the
knowledge, motivational and organizational attributes of the stakeholder group will be described
with the associated assumed influences that will be used to validate the effectiveness of SEL
implementation at The Roeper School.
The International Achievement Gap
Global academic achievement is comparatively assessed through the Program for
International Scholastic Achievement (PISA) developed by the Organization for Economic
Cooperation and Development (OECD), and the Trends in International Mathematics and
Science Study (TIMMS) which is sponsored by the International Association for the Evaluation
of Achievements (IEA). With the advent of these assessment tools, the academic performance of
15-year-old students can be internationally compared with a standardized measure. Significant
disparity has been noted among participating OECD and IEA countries (Carnoy, Hinchey, &
Mathis, 2015). The United States has performed moderately on the PISA since 2000, and since
has made only minimal gains (Carnoy & Rothstein, 2015). Several contributing factors have
OPTIMAL SEL FOR AP 13

emerged as primary contributors to the breadth of scores among all nations. For every country
including the leading countries, the socioeconomic status of families and economic strength of
their academic institution impacts the academic performance of students in both the PISA and
the TIMMS (Carnoy & Rothstein, 2013). It has also been noted that countries with centralized
governments generally scored well on the PISA, so the effects of education centralization are
being explored (Zhao, 2016). In terms of pedagogy, many interventions are being examined to
close both international and United States achievement gaps. Parental involvement, whole child
education, individualized learning, teacher quality and early learning have all shown promise as
effective strategies (Mahoney, Mitchell, & VanVoorhis, 2012). Most recently socio-emotional
learning (SEL) is being adopted in both public and private schools as a pathway to academic
improvement. SEL presents both social cognition and emotional intelligence as frameworks for a
constellation of interventions which have contributed to academic improvement (Stillman et al.,
2018; Tarbetsky et al., n.d.; Viguer, Cantero, & Bañuls, 2017). Multiple intelligences theory
(MI) when applied to instruction encapsulates many of the core tenets of SEL in a focused and
measurable construct (M. Abdi & Corresponding, 2015; Hatch, 1989; Hoerr, 2004). SEL
implemented through the lens of MI may then offer an avenue toward academic improvement in
urban areas which largely comprise students in the mid to lower socioeconomic strata
(Gustafsson, Nilsen, & Yang Hansen, 2018; Pokropek, Borgonovi, & Jakubowski, 2015).
The PISA, has served as a tool for comparing the academic performance of 15 year old
students across the globe since 2000. The assessment has evolved over the years beginning as a
science, math and language assessment, and has recently expanded into financial literacy and
self-efficacy measures. The assessment involves a questionnaire for both students and teachers,
and includes demographic data including gender, socio-economics and locality. In 2006,
OPTIMAL SEL FOR AP 14

Finland, Korea and Hong Kong represented the leading countries or economies in all three areas
of testing while the United States performance was below the OECD average.(“The Programme
for International Student Assessment (PISA),” 2006). Currently, of the 45 participating OECD
countries, the United States continues to lag. Due to the structure of the 2006 test which includes
subtests, rankings in the 2006 PISA have ranges, and the US ranked between 18
th
and 24
th
in
science and between 24
th
and 26
th
in mathematics (Carnoy et al., 2015; Carnoy & Rothstein,
2013; Danju, Miralay, & Baskan, 2014). As of the most recent PISA (2015), the U.S. mean
scores rank 36
th
in math and 19
th
in reading. The strong performance of Finland and Hong Kong
brought much attention to their educational philosophies, especially in contrast to lower
performing nations that still had high GDP per capita. With the 2006 PISA being the third
assessment, several patterns began to emerge that would chart the course of PISA going forward.
Academic performance is segregated into six levels, with levels 1 and 2 representing the most
basic functional skills, and levels 5 and 6 signifying sophisticated levels of comprehension.
Consistently, the highest performing countries or economies also had the lowest percentage of
level 2 or below performers. For example, Finland, Chinese-Tapei and Korea all had level 2 or
below performers of less than 4 percent of those tested, while the United States’ level 2
component was 24 percent comparatively (Carnoy & Rothstein, 2013; Zhang & Lee,
2011). Girls also consistently outperformed boys in reading, with the smallest gender gaps being
in the Netherlands and the UK. Hong Kong-China was intentional in addressing this reading gap
by improving 11 points in 2003 from the 2000 PISA by focusing on their lowest performing
students (Carnoy & Rothstein, 2015).
Current trends
OPTIMAL SEL FOR AP 15

Shifts occurred in the 2009 and 2012 PISA giving way to a modified global educational
landscape in 2015. Finland slowly lost its footing as a world leader while Australia, Estonia and
Macao-China made significant gains. Shanghai-China gained the top spot in mathematics as a
separate economy, but by 2012, Finland had dropped to 12
th
in mathematics, and Macao-China
had risen to 6th (OECD, 2012). Singapore was now number 2 in math and number 3 in
reading. While many previous OECD partners were now full member countries, the U.S. still
performed at a relatively low level scoring between 23
rd
and 29th in math, and between 14
th
and
20
th
in reading which are at or below the mean OECD math and reading scores (OECD,
2012). The 34 participating OECD countries and 31 partner countries and economies
represented more than 80 percent of the global economy with 25 countries improving in math
and 32 improving in reading. The delta between the lowest and highest scoring countries can be
more than 40 percent of the lowest score. Economic resources, gender, IQ, institutional
characteristics and immigrations status have all been used to explicate this disparity (Danju et al.,
2014; Hanushek, Link, & Woessmann, 2013; Zhang & Lee, 2011; Zhao, 2016).
International assessment critiques
PISA results have influenced the educational policy of many OECD countries, but
questions remain regarding the validity of some PISA conclusions (Berliner, n.d.; Torney-Purta
& Amadeo, 2013). Due to the impact of SES on all scores, ranking countries by their average
score has been contested since the family academic resources (FAR) vary widely both within and
between countries. When scores are corrected for FAR, greater year to year gains are observed
with TIMMS scores compared to PISA scores (Carnoy & Rothstein, 2013). The heavy global
emphasis on PISA scores is now being balanced with TIMMS performance, especially since the
TIMMS examines the teaching methods of instructors more deeply (Carnoy et al., 2015).
OPTIMAL SEL FOR AP 16

Additionally, it is observed that Shanghai schools systematically exclude their migrant students
which typically impact their scores negatively (Carnoy & Rothstein, 2015). For this reason,
some of the teaching methods employed by PISA leading schools are now being reexamined in
the context of demographics and reporting methods. Additionally, the United States has
demonstrated improvement on a per state level, but this is only observed on the TIMMS which
has ten years of per state data compared to the PISA which has only been recording U.S. state
data since 2012 (Carnoy et al., 2015).
The United States Achievement Gap
Due to the strong performance of centralized governments on the PISA, the United States
has been exploring degrees of centralization in education. The objective has been to address
both national and international achievement gaps. In 2009, then U.S. secretary of education Arne
Duncan responded to the relatively poor U.S. academic performance calling it “unacceptable”
and demanding improvement (Duncan, 2009). New national policies were developed with
remarkable speed, establishing competition for funding, and new policies were in place for state
acceptance in 13 months (Zhao, 2009). Despite broad acceptance, concerns arose regarding the
rudimentary nature of the curriculum, causing some to coin the new Common Core Standards
(CCS) as a back to basics curriculum (Wilson, 2013). Despite these efforts, PISA scores did not
improve in the 2012 PISA, decreasing from 500 to 498 in reading and 487 to 482 in mathematics
(OECD, 2012). Some school districts expressed concern that CCS lacked the flexibility for
optimal implementation in their locales , and Wilson (2013), further noted that both the PISA
and TIMMS do not necessarily support the premise that governments with national standards
perform better on international standardized tests. While this may appear to be true when
observing that 8 out of the top 10 nations on the 2007 TIMMS had national curricula, 9 out of the
OPTIMAL SEL FOR AP 17

bottom 10 also had centralized education systems (Kohn, 2010). For example, countries with
decentralized education systems such as Canada and Australia rose to the top 10 in the 2009
PISA. Moreover, countries with more educational autonomy performed better on international
tests if they were among the wealthier and developed countries, but performed better with a
centralized education system if they were among developing countries (Hanushek etal., 2012).
With the U.S. being highly autonomous due to the independent educational governance per state,
it could be hypothesized that CCS contributed to stagnated PISA performance via decreased
autonomy.
Socioeconomic influences
Using books at home as a metric, PISA students were disaggregated into six groups.
Groups 1and 2 together represented up to 50 books at home, while groups 5 and 6 represented
over 250 books at home (BH). BH was used because the researchers felt that this was the most
neutral SES marker, and tracked well with other socioeconomic metrics such as parental
education and income. For purposes of the study, groups 1 and 2 were considered
“disadvantaged”, and groups 5 and 6 were considered “advantaged”. Some have suggested that
the U.S. PISA scores would be competitive with China and Singapore if students from
households in the socially disadvantaged groups were removed from the U.S. national average or
redistributed similarly to leading countries (Carnoy & Rothstein, 2013; Torney-Purta & Amadeo,
2013). This is because students from the lower social class distribution perform worse than those
in the higher distribution (Carnoy & Rothstein, 2013) in every country. This however, would
imply that all members of a society should not be included in any of the PISA national averages
despite national class distribution patterns. If the world’s leading economies and countries have
achieved the highest average national scores while including the scores of their lowest
OPTIMAL SEL FOR AP 18

performing groups, then the U.S. would need to improve the performance of their respective
demographic in order to compete equitably with global leaders. The U.S. has made some gains in
this area. Between 2000 and 2009, the test scores of students in the disadvantaged category
improved significantly, raising an average of 17 points in reading, compared to Finland’s
average decrease of 20 points during this same time period (Carnoy & Rothstein, 2013).
According to the 6
th
edition of the kids and family reading report, families that make $35,000 or
less annually have an average of 68.4 books in the home. When compared to the chart in figure
1, the bottom 20% of earners are also those making less than $35k. This gives insight to the
racial plurality of the U.S. achievement gap and suggests that the disadvantaged group in the
above study are also those in the bottom 20% income category below.
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Figure 1 United States income by race.
This graph shows the racial population composition of each economic demographic. The
bottom 20% and middle 40% of earners represent the lowest scoring demographic on the PISA,
both of which are primarily Caucasian. Both income demographics demonstrate the racial
plurality of income and academic performance in the U.S. The bottom 20% represents those
earning $35,000 or less, with Caucasians comprising 62%, African-Americans 22% and
Hispanics10% (Carnoy & Rothstein, 2013; Reeves & Busette, 2018)

Urban demographics
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Household income is higher in U.S. suburbs compared to strictly urban areas. According
to the National Education Policy Center (NEPC), the percent of children 5 to 17 years of age in
poverty was 15% in suburbs, but 35% in large cities in 2012 (Baker, 2015). In the same study,
when low income is defined as less than 130% of the poverty level, large cities were 58% low
income, where suburbs were 37% respectively in 2011. Based upon the census data and analysis
of Carnoy and Rubenstein (2015), the economic group that makes up the urban demographic also
contributes to the lower half of the U.S PISA scores. Interestingly, households belonging to the
advantaged group match the academic performance of the equivalent socioeconomic strata in the
world’s leading countries (Author, Caro, Mcdonald, & Willms, 2009; Carnoy et al., 2015; Perry
& Mcconney, 2010). Conversely, U.S. students from the bottom 20 percent income bracket had
more than double the percentage of level 2 performers compared to leading countries (Clark,
2013; Zhu & Zhu, n.d.).
Causes and interventions
Decomposition analyses have been performed to identify contributing influences of the
U.S. achievement gap (Zhao, 2016). Interestingly, 34 percent of academic achievement could be
attributed to the educational level of the parents, and 17 percent to the quality of the institution. It
is clear that parents, teachers, school resources and methodologies all significantly impact
academic performance. The strong performance of Finland, Ontario, Hong Kong, Singapore and
Long Beach has drawn interest to their methodologies. Finnish education has been intentional
about addressing their social inequities, understanding the detrimental impact that lower SES has
on overall student performance. This is often addressed at the primary grades so that early
intervention can establish a foundation that benefits the student over long time periods.
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Long Beach also emphasized early learning, but was able to overcome inequities through
a high per student expenditure, and efficient translation of strong school funding into
improvements in academic performance. This was also demonstrated in the Wyoming school
district where a realignment of funding with programming deemed to yield the greatest increases
in academic performance resulted in sizable gains over a ten-year period (Odden & Picus, 2015).
Key successful interventions have coalesced into the following:
o An emphasis on Pre-K learning, and ongoing intervention
o Personalized education that engage students according to their career interests
o Teacher quality and autonomy
o Rigorous curriculum with student feedback
o Education linked to global economic competitiveness
o An educational culture that is student centric
A variety of improving countries or economies have been studied to see how these factors are
successfully implemented. In many cases, leaders of improving school systems often did not
know why their schools were improving. Among the sustained improvers, Aspire public
schools, Boston, and Long beach could be compared to the world’s strongest improving school
systems such as Singapore, South Korea, and Ontario, Canada (Barber, Chijoke, & Mourshed,
2010). This was evidence that despite the relatively low U.S. PISA national average, there were
yet high performing areas, some of which were middle class. All organizations that demonstrated
sustained improvement did so in roughly three stages. First, there was an assessment and
decisions to get most schools up to a minimal level of performance. Second, teachers were
motivated to acquire new teaching methodologies through forums and in-service training
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programs. Thirdly, the leadership that ignited the change stayed on to manage them through the
process of moving from poor or fair performance to excellent performance. A change in
leadership was seen as the most important factor in the sustained improvement of educational
organizations as well as an understanding that strategies must be adapted to the local and work
together systematically.
Socioemotional Learning as an Effective Achievement Gap Intervention
Addressing the student’s character, emphasizing values, and promoting creative
expression formed the basis of a whole child emphasis (“A Holistic View of Education,” n.d.;
Cefai & Cavioni, 2015). This requires an understanding of the diverse cognitive abilities of
students, and supporting their individual talents and interests through individualized learning
(Brackett, Rivers, Reyes, & Salovey, 2012). Teaching social awareness, community service and
organizational responsibility translated to improved academic performance (Frydenberg &
Muller, n.d.). By learning collaboratively and increasing motivation through emotional
engagement and formulating curriculum to stimulate a broader spectrum of cognitive modalities,
nascent abilities in students are often awakened resulting in improved academic performance
(Corcoran, Cheung, Kim, & Xie, 2017). While socio-emotional learning (SEL) may be
expressed through a plethora of implementations, SEL is fundamentally built upon the
application of emotional intelligence (EI) in learning environments (Elbertson, Brackett,
Weissberg, & Brackett, n.d.; “SEL-TEd-Executive-Summary-for-CASEL-2017-02-14,” n.d.).
Core Competencies
The Collaborative of Social and Emotional Intelligence Learning (CASEL) has identified
five core competencies through which SEL may be implemented (Schonert-Reichl et al., 2017).
Self- awareness, self-management, social awareness, relationship skills, and responsible decision
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making represent their five-fold approach to SEL implementation. Built upon the foundational
underpinnings of emotional intelligence, self-awareness encompasses the ability to recognize
one’s own thoughts and emotions as well as objectively assess one’s own strengths and
weaknesses all within a mindset of continual improvement. Self-management emphasizes the
ability to regulate emotion including impulse control, self-discipline, motivation and
organizational skills. Social awareness highlights the ability to view situations from the
perspective of others, and includes cultural appreciation, empathy and respect of others.
Relationship skills are interactive and collaborative skills that empower individuals to
communicate clearly, engage socially, and work with teams constructively. Finally, responsible
decision-making involves the capacity to make ethical decisions in the context of safety and
social norms. All five competencies concretize aspects of emotional intelligence theory into
readily applicable topics.
SEL Implementation and Results
The implementation of SEL has taken many forms. Some schools or districts may have a
multi-tiered character based approach to developing emotional competencies in their students,
while others may have a more structured curriculum based model with EI components tightly
integrated into lesson plans. The use of SEL in public schools is relatively recent having begun
within the last fifteen years in most instances. Nevertheless, performance data on the
effectiveness of SEL as a method of both behavior and academic improvement is becoming
available from research studies and district feedback (Oberle & Schonert-Reichl, n.d.). In the
Washoe county school district comprised of 98 schools and 6,400 students, SEL has been
implemented throughout the district shaping curriculum and has integrated SEL objectives with
school activities. Beyond overall improvements in behavior that reduced suspension rates from
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8.8% to 3.0%, graduation rate increased from 73% to 89% (CASEL,2017). Compared to
students not involved in SEL activities, math scores were 21 points higher and English scores
were 20 points higher (Neimi & Weissberg, 2017). In a comprehensive SEL meta-analysis
covering 213 schools, overall academic performance increased by 11 percentile points among
participating schools (Durlak, Weissberg, Dymnicki, Taylor, & Schellinger, 2011). Given the
myriad of SEL implementations both globally and in the U.S., it is useful to understand the key
facets of successful SEL programming. When SEL programs are Sequenced, Active, Focused
and Explicit (SAFE), the probability of success is increased (Oberle, Domitrovich, Meyers, &
Weissberg, 2016). Sequenced programming is systematic and follows a particular order that is
routine. Active programming intentionally integrates SEL into school activities. Focused
programming designs sequences and activities around specific SEL components. Explicit
execution of SEL programs communicates and reinforces the focused emphasis. This basic
model of implementation may also take a nested form, where federal, state, district and school,
all incorporate their own SAFE designs.

Emotional intelligence in learning
All SEL pedagogy is fundamentally based on emotional intelligence theory. Salovey and
Mayer (1990) through their research discovered “a form of social intelligence involving the
ability to monitor one’s own feelings and the feelings of others.” They coined this form of
cognition “emotional intelligence” and stated that it serves to “guide one’s thinking and actions”.
Daniel Goleman later advanced the idea that human cognition may function in a plurality of
forms beyond traditional mathematics and language processing (Goleman, 1995). Goleman
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highlighted self-control, zeal and the ability to motivate oneself as key aspects of emotional
intelligence. He pointed out that people of high IQ often flounder while others with a moderate
IQ may do exceptionally well on a task. He eventually built his argument on the need for self-
restraint and compassion in society, and that these characteristics when refined can form the
basis of high productivity. Goleman notes that while IQ can be a fair predictor of academic
performance, it poorly predicts success in life, which is the goal of education. Gladwell (2008)
further posits that the emotional framework of one’s upbringing can be the defining element of
success for even those possessing a very high IQ. EI gained traction as a learning construct
when EI could be quantified. Assessments such as the MSCEIT and DANVA were employed to
determine a persons’ EI aptitude.

Table 1
The Four-Branch Model of Emotional Intelligence
Emotional Intelligence Definition
Perceiving emotion Being aware one’s own emotions
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Thinking with emotion Allowing emotion to govern thought
Understanding emotion Perceiving the emotion of others
Managing emotion Exhibiting self-control and motivation

Instruments. Common testing instruments for ability EI include the MSCEIT (Mayer-
Salovey-Caruso Emotional Intelligence Test), JACBART (Japanese and Caucasian Brief
Affect Recognition Test), and DANVA (Diagnostic Analysis of Nonverbal Accuracy). Each
assessment is designed to provide its own emphasis, yet all measure what is known as trait
based EI (Mayer, Robert & Barsade, 2008). In contrast to ability EI that is scored by an
observer of the participant, trait EI is scored by the participant directly. The self-scoring test
asks the participant various questions about how she perceives her own capacity for emotional
perception. While it may appear that there would be little difference between a test that is self
scored or researcher scored, correlation studies reveal that the two forms of emotional
intelligence are statistically distinct (Sanchez-Ruiz et al., 2013).
Trait EI. Trait EI is determined by a person’s ability to perceive his own emotions and
is comprised of a collection of personality traits (Mavroveli, Petrides, Sangareau, & Furnham,
2009; Petrides & Furnham, 2001) Specific modes of thoughts, feelings and behaviors are
described through such trait labels. (Qualter, Gardner, Pope, Hutchinson, & Whiteley, 2012;
Russo et al., 2012). Trait EI serves as a “low level construct which provides the foundation of
the broader aspects of personality”. (Petrides, Pita, & Kokkinaki, 2007). This has been
substantiated in behavioral genetic studies. Univariate model fitting has demonstrated the
heritability of trait EI, and phenotypic (genetic expression) variance in trait EI has succeeded
OPTIMAL SEL FOR AP 27

in predicting the expressed trait EI of progeny (Siegling, Vesely, & Saklofske, 2013).
Behavioral genetic studies also demonstrate an overlap of trait phenotype and
personality factors of up to 80 percent suggesting that trait EI can code for personality.
(Vernon, Villani, Schermer, & Petrides, 2008; Veselka et al., 2010). These data support a
genetic basis for trait EI influencing scholastic performance through personality characteristics
such as attention to detail and follow-through. Although there is no demonstrated correlation
between trait EI and IQ however, trait EI may interact with IQ through genetic sub-regions
and mediating routes.
Ability EI. Ability EI in contrast is measured by an observer, and is quantified by one’s
ability to both recognize emotion and apply it meaningfully in appropriate situations. Mayer and
Salovey (1997) describe this form of EI as the ability to perceive emotion, understand emotion,
manage emotion, and use emotion as a thought resource. These abilities may be measured by
asking a participant to describe a facial expression or correctly match two emotive phrases of
close meaning.
EI and academic performance. Several key studies demonstrate a correlation between
emotional intelligence and academic performance (AP). A statistically significant correlation
between EI and test scores was shown by Cindea (2014). Agnoli et al. (2012), also showed a
predictive correlation between GPA and trait EI, but not EI and IQ. Ferrando et al. (2011)
examined the influence of EI on AP, and EI was shown to correlate with AP, but only with
students of average IQ. This study looked at EI as both a global trait and trait subcategory, and
also examined the personalities and IQs of the students. IQ was measured with the TIDI/2 test.
IQ was found to be unrelated to trait EI, global EI was positively related to self-concept, and IQ
was positively related to AP. Ultimately, the authors found a stronger correlation of EI to AP
OPTIMAL SEL FOR AP 28

than even IQ to AP. These studies were among the first to establish a direct connection between
emotional intelligence and increased academic performance.
EI neurophysiology. Emotion originates in a region that has been traditionally called
the limbic system. This encompasses organs in the mid brain that process motivation,
memory, purpose, reward and hierarchical discrimination. The central organ is the thalamus,
which is covered by the anterior cingulate gyrus and the corpus collosum. Surrounding this
system is the hippocampus which penetrates the temporal lobes, and the amygdala which is
beneath the hypothalamus. This central complex is covered by the occipital (rear), parietal
(top), and frontal lobes (front). Just beneath the frontal lobe lies the Orbitofrontal cortex
which receives information from the limbic system and passes on processed data to the
prefrontal cortex. While it was originally thought that emotion was contained within the
limbic system, it is now known that emotion permeates in different forms throughout the
brain (Brown & Stern, 2014). Moreover, memory, decision making and hierarchical
prioritizing are all modified through a first pass emotional process (Li et al., 2014).
The typical sequence of learning involves information first entering the senses before it
is routed to the Amygdala to determine if the information is urgent. If the information is
deemed emotionally significant, it is sorted to the hippocampus with special reference for long
term storage (Taylor & Lamoreaux, 2008). Therefore, emotional impact can highlight
memories needed for ready retrieval.
The frontal lobe and executive functions. The prefrontal cortex (PFC) is one of the
brain’s most advanced structures. It is postulated that during the modernization of the human
brain, total brain mass has increased three-fold, while the frontal lobe has increased in mass
six fold. The frontal lobe is believed to be the seat of creativity as well as planning, short term
OPTIMAL SEL FOR AP 29

memory, and complex sequencing. This sequencing is known as Executive Function (EF), and
involves the planning and execution of tasks to achieve a desired goal. While there is some
disagreement as to how all components of EF work together to achieve a desired task, the PFC
is believed to be the central processing area for this form of cognition as well as controlling
inhibition. Interestingly, the prefrontal cortex is also directly influenced by the structure
beneath it: the orbitofrontal cortex (OFC). The OFC matures between the ages of 16 and 30,
and assimilates emotional input from the limbic system with cognitive and sensory data.
Output is then fed to the PFC, so that only emotionally pretreated info is used for planning and
sequencing. Consequently, emotional circuitry modifies hippocampal archival memory
storage as well as the higher order cognitive functions of creativity, short term memory
sequencing and goal achievement.
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Figure 2
Figure 2. Emotional signaling originates in the limbic system which is the center of
emotion, and flows through the hippocampus to the prefrontal cortex. Information is
processed, then sent to the frontal lobe for higher order processing. Emotional centers may
also directly stimulate the parietal lobe.
An unusual case
The independent executive functions of the frontal lobe were first observed through the
study of Phineas Gage by J.M. Harlow in 1868. Gage was a highly skilled foreman,
exercising impressive management skills, shrewd business acumen, and exceptional
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leadership traits, despite being uneducated. While planting an explosive charge, a large iron
rod thrust through his lower jaw and out through the front left of his upper skull. After 32
days in a local hotel, and another 5 weeks in the hospital he somehow managed to survive
with all of his long term memories, language and mathematical skills intact (Coolidge &
Wynn, 2001). Gage however, was indeed quite different. He now went to the market spending
without concern for price, made decisions on capricious whim, and reveled about with wanton
abandon (Harlow, 1868). He had so changed, that he could no longer keep his management
job having lost his ability to make executive decisions.
The case of Phineas Gage highlighted the unique properties of the frontal lobe. It
operated independently from the logical language and memory parts of the brain, yet greatly
influenced inhibition, decision-making and complex task oriented sequencing. His physician
J.M. Harlow wrote:
“In this regard his mind was so radically changed, so decidedly that his friends and
acquaintances said he was ‘no longer Gage’”. (Harlow 1868, 340)
Social inhibition. With a clear understanding that restraint and inhibition are processed
in the frontal lobe, further studies sought to examine whether inhibitory processing was
integral to social skills. A well designed experiment that pretested a group of participants for
their literary inhibitory capacity, and subsequently tested them for their social inhibitory
capacity discovered a correlation between the two. The classic Stroop test that writes a series
of color names in colors incongruent with the words meaning was used to measure literary
inhibitory capacity. Although this test was developed in the 1930s, it is surprisingly effective
in uncovering the time delay required to actively inhibit an automatic response which is to
OPTIMAL SEL FOR AP 32

read the name of the color rather than respond with the actual color of the printed word. The
faster the correct printed color of a list of such words were accurately recalled, the greater the
subject’s inhibitory capacity. Participants were then brought to a dinner where the entrée was
a red chicken’s foot. When the waiter was Asian and explained that it was a delicacy, those
who performed well in the Stroop test were also most able to exhibit cultural respect and
inhibit their true emotions. Those who performed poorly on the Stroop were most likely to
verbalize their displeasure. A control was also used with an American waiter who gave no
preference.
These studies together with the neurocircuitry of emotional cognition suggest that the
frontal lobe is as important to socially acceptable interaction as it is to restraint and planning.
As a modern and highly innervated lobe of the brain, it is no wonder that higher order
thinking resides here, but some are surprised that this lobe has more linkages to emotional
centers than any other lobe of the brain. Compared to our closest cousins, the great apes, the
frontal lobe is three times larger, but more importantly exhibits much more white matter
convolutions than would be expected (Teffer & Semendeferi, 2012). Further studies have
shown that the distance between neurons is greater than this lobe, allowing room for more
complex circuitry (Miller, 2010). Ironically, the mathematical and language processing
centers located in patches within the temporal and parietal lobes are termed “cognitive”, while
the emotional processing of more complex frontal lobe is often called “non-cognitive”.

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Multiple Intelligences Theory and Learning
In 1983, cognitive psychologist Howard Gardner published Frames of Mind: The
Theory of Multiple Intelligences, which detailed his robust research on human cognition and
discovery that the mind was both diverse and discrete in information processing (Howard
Gardner, 2011). This was in contrast to the traditional Piagetian approach that viewed human
cognition as a singular generalized form of intelligence (H. Gardner, 2003). Gardner deeply
examined the biological and behavioral sciences for discoveries that explain human potential.
His resulting modular model of the mind was well received by educators primarily due to his
commentary on the educational implications of his work near the end of his book. Prior to the
varied forms of intelligence in emotional intelligence theory, Gardner proposed a series of
unique yet discrete intelligence modes that collectively worked together to form the totality of
human cognition. In his model, an individual may be very strong in one or more multiple
intelligences, while being weaker in others. This was in stark contrast to the previous notion
of generalized and singular intelligence (Al-Kalbani & Al-Wahaibi, 2015).
Criteria for intellectual differentiation
Gardner identified several criteria for the identification of discrete intelligence. These
criteria were based upon his extensive study of savants, anthropology, psychometrics and
neuroscience. Through synthetic analysis of diverse of diverse fields, Gardner developed the
following criteria for determining discrete intelligence:
o He thought that it should present itself in isolation among prodigies, savants, or other
unique populations.
o There should be a distinct neural representation for the associated cognitive mode.
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o The rate of development of one intelligence should differ from that of another.
o An evolutionary basis for the intelligence should be established with a rationale for
survival necessity.
o Psychometric intelligence tests should yield evidentiary support for the intelligence.
o Experimental psychological tasks should distinguish it other forms of intelligence.
o There should be distinct mental processes that process information related to a given
intelligence.
(Davis, Christodoulou, & Seider, 2011; Howard Gardner, 2011)
Based upon these guiding principles, eight distinct intelligences were initially identified by
Gardner, and a ninth was later added.
Multiple cognitive modes of intelligence
Emerging from the research were nine distinct modes of cognitive function, each with
its own behavioral, neurological and psychometric basis. These intelligences are summarized
in the table below (Douglas et al., 2008; H. Gardner, 2003; Yaghoob & Hossein, 2016).

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Table 2
Nine distinct intelligences
Multiple Intelligence Definition
Verbal-linguistic Sensitivity to written and spoken language
Logical/mathematical Ability to comprehend situations logically
Visual/spatial Ability to perceive and create images
Musical Ability to identify emotion of sound
Bodily/kinesthetic Ability to use the body for expression
Interpersonal
Intrapersonal
Naturalistic
Existential
Ability to appreciate the emotions of others
Ability to interpret one’s own feelings
Ability to comprehend the natural world
Ability to question the nature of existence

Beyond the two traditional intelligences of language and mathematics, Gardner extends
intelligence into seven new areas. He emphasizes that two individuals may have similar
training and opportunities in dance, but one advances much more quickly than the other (H.
Gardner, 2003; Howard Gardner, 2011; Stanford, 2003). Another person may be an unusually
expressive writer, yet her friend may be even more expressive through a violin. George Lucas
once said that “music can be half of the movie.” One can see how a visual genius partnered
with a gifted composer like John Williams could together create art that neither would
produce alone. Studies have been performed to confirm the existence of these separate
OPTIMAL SEL FOR AP 36

intelligences according to the afore mentioned criteria, and the results have aligned with
Gardner’s findings (Al-Kalbani & Al-Wahaibi, 2015; Hatch, 1989; Kumlu & Yurttas, 2012;
Strategies, 2015; Yaghoob & Hossein, 2016). Multiple intelligence theory, therefore exhibits
overlap of traditional and emotional intelligence. The intrapersonal intelligence parallels the
self-reflective EI, and the interpersonal intelligence mirrors the EI ability of understanding
emotion in others. Naturalistic intelligence addresses a unique ability among some to classify
and comprehend nature, such as physicists or biologists. Those with exceptional existential
cognition, can ponder the nature of existence and communicate their comprehension
effectively to others.
Multiple intelligences in education
Studies have been performed to compare the effectiveness of teaching with an MI
based curriculum verses with a standard direct information (DI) curriculum (Douglas et al.,
2008). The DI lesson plans involved the typical lecture, with overheads, blackboard, and
copious notes taken by the students. The MI lesson plans in contrast integrated hands on
learning, memorization through artistic expression (poetry, art), and creative problem solving.
After the two groups were evaluated, those taught using MI methodologies performed 10
percent better than the DI group. The students were not prescreened for their preferred MI
aptitude, so part of the improvement may be attributed to the engagement of higher order
reasoning in the lesson plans. Nevertheless, a global application of MI based curriculum
seemed to improve engagement among the students.
MI has been evaluated among specific age groups and disciplines with generally
similar results. Mathematics, Language, STEM, communications, art, and dance have all been
OPTIMAL SEL FOR AP 37

taught using MI based methodologies (A. Abdi et al., 2013; Garner et al., n.d.; Kim, Roh, &
Cho, 2016). In some instances, a student’s MI modality was helpful in predicting their future
academic performance, if the mode was interpersonal, verbal-linguistic, or visual spatial
(Yaghoob & Hossein, 2016). This highlights the need to better understand how MI serves
learning so that both MI and EI based pedagogy may be refined.
As an SEL vehicle, MI is unique in that it incorporates aspects of both EI and
traditional instruction (Hatch, 1989; Şener & Çokçalışkan, 2018; Wee, Shin, & Kim, 2013).
MI also preceded EI, and in many ways formed the basis of both EI and SEL development. A
school that has been implementing MI over an extended time span (decades), may therefore
offer a window into the future for current and future SEL schools, offering best practices for
future implementations.
Educational Paradigms
The definition of educational paradigm has continually evolved. Traditionally, six
primary education paradigms were recognized. The Behaviorism educational paradigm is based
on the work of Pavlov and Skinner that sees the student as a product of the positive and negative
reinforcements of the instructor with and objective of producing specific and measurable
outcomes. Cognitivism is focused on information: its storage, retrieval, processing and
application. Cognitive constructivism is based on the work of Piaget and Vygotsky which builds
upon cognitivism by encouraging the student to create new knowledge through problem solving
and contextual variation. Social constructivism is broadened to invite collaborative communities
to co-create new knowledge in a relationship centric learning environment. Humanism focuses
on developing the potential of the individual and emphasizes personal growth and dignity. The
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Transformative educational paradigm pioneered by Kincheloe emphasizes societal improvement
and equity, encouraging students to be active catalysts of change.
So where does social and emotional learning fit in to the six major educational
paradigms? SEL borrows from aspects of all six major paradigms. Behaviorism and
cognitivism are least emphasized, while there is greater emphasis on the sociocultural,
humanistic and transformative paradigms. SEL therefore represents a weighting of the six major
paradigms that engage multiple forms of cognition for improved intellectual development.
Even within SEL, there are a variety of approaches that have been categorized as paradigms. At
least 25 implementations of SEL have been compared by the Harvard Graduate School of
Education, each with a different set of objectives and emphasis (Jones, 2017). Each of the
mentioned SEL paradigms are composite of multiple parameters with varied emphasis. Since
improvements in academic performance from SEL implementation also vary widely,
determining the optimal application of social and emotional learning paradigms and their
associated parameters is essential for achieving maximum improvements in academic
performance.
Many have espoused an educational paradigm shift away from the strictly Piagetian
model of language, math and science to an egalitarian pedagogy that embraces the arts and
creativity as equal components of the learning palette . In this sense, not only is virtually any
novel approach to learning a new educational paradigm, but a didactic method with a specific
desired learning outcome and a metric for determining the success of the program for ongoing
improvement is in its purest form an educational paradigm.
Optimization
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With an understanding of how Roeper SEL paradigms interact to encourage
improvements in academic performance, the natural question regarding implementing such a
complex interaction of paradigms is where to begin. Since there are seven themes each with up
to four sub themes, and the survey result detailed both the importance of each theme and its
relative difficulty of achievement, a weighted network can be generated that models how the
teacher moves through each sub-theme to implement RSEL. The resulting network serves as a
useful starting point in developing a strategy for Roeper SEL implementation. Since the network
reveals how categories relate to themes, and the frequency indicates a measure of importance to
the teacher, this information can be used to generate a framework for efficient SEL
programming.
To accomplish this, the qualitative and quantitative data are combined so that the
connection of nodes, weight of each node, and distance from the teacher to each of the nodes is
calculated. Node weight is characterized by the total frequency of codes used to generate the
given category. Distance between nodes is calculated on a relative scale based on the survey
results. Teachers were asked about the difficulty in achieving each of the categories. The
resulting data were used to generate a relative “distance” of each thematic element from the
instructor. One might assume that calculating the network flow is a simple task at this point.
After all, there are only 34 points, and one need only chart the shortest path between them all to
determine the most efficient recommended course of implementation. There is however, a very
big problem with this approach that will be explained below.
Charting the most efficient path from node to node, even without taking the node
frequency into account is an extraordinarily difficult computation. The algorithm is simple:
measure the distances between all paths, and choose the shortest one. The number of paths that
OPTIMAL SEL FOR AP 40

leave and return to the teacher however are many more than one might guess. The total number
of paths is the factorial of 34, which is an extremely large number. If this were attempted on even
a very powerful computer, one would not live to see the answer. As an example, if the length of
each route were calculated in .005 seconds, the time required to complete the entire calculation
would be 4.68 years – time 10 to the 29
th
power, which is trillions of times longer than the
universe has existed.
This problem is well studied and heuristics have been invented, but all yield rough
estimates for problems of this class. Fortunately, there is a way to find a more accurate solution
to our problem. This is known as a combinatorial optimization problem, and it is ideally suited
for a new type of computer that specializes in these types of calculations. Quantum Annealing
(QA) has been advancing in recent years and the results have been promising. Compared to the
general use computers commonly used today, it is not appreciably faster for some problems, but
with combinatorial optimization problems such this, the results can be superior. As long as there
are less than 50 variables, a 2019 QA computer can use the physics of quantum mechanics to
find the shortest path much more quickly, and with our 34 variables, the D’wave can process our
problem.
Very few of these computers are available at the time of this writing, but the University
of Southern California is one of the few institutions in possession of a QA computer. Thanks to
assistance from the USC Information Sciences Institute in Marina del Rey, California, and
D’wave systems in Vanvouver, BC, a program was written to process the optimal
implementation sequence of RSEL sub-themes on a D-Wave computer.
One might think that a teacher should address one theme at a time, and only concentrate
on which sub theme to deal with first, but interestingly, the optimization algorithm recommends
OPTIMAL SEL FOR AP 41

what most Roeper SEL teachers actually do: combine various sub-themes of each theme together
within a given time frame. In other words, they do not focus solely on equity for a week. They
are artfully blending various aspects of love, community, emotional awareness and so forth on a
daily basis. The optimization simply gives teachers a road map to get started in their
experimentation with Roeper SEL. The results will be shared in chapter 4.
Conclusion
According to the PISA assessment, the United States’ international academic
performance is average among OECD participating countries largely due to its internal
achievement gap (Carnoy & Rothstein, 2013). Compared to OECD leading countries, the U.S.
competes favorably when the top 20 percent of income earners are compared, but when the
bottom 20 percent are compared, nearly a quarter of the of the test takers performed at the
basic level, compared to less than 5 percent in leading countries (Carnoy & Rothstein, 2013,
2015). This broad stratification is driven by household income, parental education, and
geographical location, while remaining racially plural (Condron, 2013; Gustafsson et al., 2018;
Ip et al., 2016; Jehangir, Glas, & van den Berg, 2015; Torney-Purta & Amadeo, 2013). Large
cities represent high concentrations of this target demographic in the U.S. (Reeves & Busette,
2018). While many leading countries have centralized education systems, education autonomy
has been shown to be more effective in wealthy countries (Hanushek et al., 2013). Presently,
common core has not meaningfully raised the national average PISA scores (Wilson, 2013).
Socio-emotional learning has shown promising results in improving academic performance
among middle and lower SES students, but implementation has been gradual (CASEL, 2017).
Study of a school that has been implementing SEL strategies for decades can potentially
provide insight on how to refine SEL pedagogy for widespread adoption.
OPTIMAL SEL FOR AP 42

Stakeholder Knowledge, Motivation and Organizational Influences

Knowledge and Skills
In order to validate the effectiveness of the senior faculty of TRS in achieving their stated
stakeholder goal, it is necessary to determine the knowledge and skills of this group as pertains
to their objective. In this setting, we are investigating how socio-emotional learning (SEL) is
implemented at TRS, and how this may translate into improved academic performance. Since
SEL encompasses a broad range of education approaches external to traditional IQ including but
not limited to emotional intelligence, social-cognitive theory, community service, character
development, and personalized education, it is important to focus on the primary forms of SEL
that are implemented at TRS.
Declarative Knowledge of SEL
TRS has chosen Socioemotional learning (SEL) as their primary construct. In 1983,
Howard Gardner published frames of mind which addressed the emotive capacity of an
individual in relation to a group, and their emotional role in that group. This was expanded upon
with Emotional Intelligence by Daniel Goleman in 1995 refining the categories of EI. Gardner
also famously coined the term “Multiple Intelligences” defining seven categories of intelligence
that were separate from IQ and would later overlap with EI (Howard Gardner & Hatch,
n.d.)(Shearer, 2004). In order for TRS faculty to have the fundamental knowledge base to
implement SEL in the classroom, they would need to know how MI and EI contribute to SEL,
and how they are typically expressed in the child. According to Gardner, the seven intelligences
are Intrapersonal, Interpersonal, Bodily-kinesthetic, Spatial, Musical, Linguistic, and Logical-
mathematical (Stanford, 2003). TRS teachers will need to understand that intrapersonal
OPTIMAL SEL FOR AP 43

intelligence refers to the student’s ability to access her own feelings and draw upon them for
behavior modification and sound decision making. They would also need to know that
Interpersonal intelligence is a capacity to discern the feelings of others, bodily kinesthetic is
physical skill and body control, spatial is an accurate visual-spatial perception of the world,
musical is sophisticated perception of pitch and timbre, linguistic is sound and meaning
intelligence, and logical is numerical and pattern intelligence (Chen, 2004).
Due to the interplay between EI and MI, TRS teachers should also possess basic
knowledge of EI. They should know that EI is separated into the categories of trait EI and ability
EI. They should know that trait EI is pliable, and composed of adaptability, affective
disposition, emotion expression, emotion perception, emotion regulation, low impulsivity, self-
esteem, and self-motivation. They should know what all of these categories of emotional
intelligences mean in the classroom context, and the ways in which EI impacts academic
performance. Fundamental knowledge of both MI and EI is declarative or factual knowledge.
This type of knowledge is a prerequisite for more advanced knowledge types.
Conceptual knowledge of SEL
Within the greater context of SEL, both EI and MI have social and emotional
components. Emotional intelligence emphasizes the value in perceiving and managing one’s
own emotions as well as understanding and navigating the complex emotional environments in
which we operate. Multiple Intelligences also acknowledges two intelligence types (interpersonal
and intrapersonal) the basic tenets of EI. TRS teachers will then need to understand the
similarities and differences between EI and MI, and how they both fit into the larger conceptual
framework of SEL. This knowledge is a conceptual declarative knowledge that requires basic
facts to build upon.
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Procedural knowledge of SEL implementation
Teachers at TRS who understand the declarative facts and concepts of EI and MI, will
need the procedural knowledge required to translate theory into practice in the classroom. With
a variety of intelligences dynamically interacting within a class environment, how does a teacher
optimally engage all of them? How are the unique perspectives of each student shared with the
whole for expanded learning? How should group projects be balanced with traditional
worksheets, and what is an effective use of hands on activity? TRS teachers will need to know
this procedural knowledge which typically involves some interaction with other teachers who
have greater experience in SEL implementation.
Metacognitive knowledge of performance
Teachers will not be on a path to mastering SEL at TRS without a commitment to
continual improvement. At TRS, students are assessed through observation as well as exercises.
Also, since the school values diverse forms of advancement such as behavior improvement,
assignment completion, and school community involvement, a standard method of assessing
these improvements should be implemented. The evaluation of one’s own performance based on
feedback is metacognitive knowledge (Ambrose, Bridges & Lovett, 2010). This is an advanced
form of knowledge where the teachers reflect on their procedures, evaluate their effectiveness on
a per student basis, seek feedback, and modify future approaches based upon this feedback.
When properly implemented, the process is ongoing creating an upward spiral of continual
improvement. Table 3 represents the assumed knowledge influences and their respective
knowledge types.

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Table 3
Assumed Knowledge Influences

Assumed Knowledge Influence

Knowledge Type

Teachers have the didactic knowledge of Multiple
Intelligences Theory, and the discrete components of trait
and ability Emotional Intelligence as applies to learning.

Declarative (Factual)

Teachers understand how MI and EI pair, overlap and
influence each other within the greater context of SEL.

Declarative (Conceptual)

Teachers possess the skill to effectively implement both MI
and EI in both the classroom and the educational
community.

Procedural

Teachers assess the effectiveness of their implementation
of both EI and MI on a per student basis, and modify their
approach based on performance feedback.

Metacognitive

Motivation Influences
The motivation of the teachers to implement SEL in the classroom directly impacts their
effectiveness. In order to achieve optimal motivation, instructors will need to appreciate the
importance of their pedagogy, believe that they are capable of successfully implementing these
strategies, and have goals that will govern their direction of progression (Dembo & Seli, 2016).
OPTIMAL SEL FOR AP 46

Incorporating these three aspects of motivation will best position the instructors to effectively
implement their didactic strategies.
Utility Value. In order to be highly effective at implementing SEL in both curriculum
and teaching practice, instructors at TRS will need to intrinsically value SEL as an important
component of the school’s mission. As instructors internalize the aspects of SEL used in their
curriculum, they are better prepared to communicate these skills both verbally and behaviorally.
While this form of utility value is potentially desired in any discipline, the natural expression of
SEL to students can in turn increase in their own intrinsic motivation .
Teachers valuing the importance of SEL at TRS begin with opportunities in the school
environment for their individual interest in SEL to be increased. This situational interest, if
strategically implemented, can serve as a framework for sustained individual interest. Teachers
who have developed an individual interest in SEL will be more motivated to expand their
knowledge and experiment with new implementations that may result in experiential learning.
Teacher motivation is often infectious, and students can potentially become more engaged
ultimately serving the stakeholder goal of increased academic performance. In this sense, the
enthusiasm for SEL can permeate throughout the school.
Self-Efficacy. The performance of TRS instructors will also be affected by their belief in
their ability to successfully implement SEL (Pajares, 2014) . Since it is possible for an instructor
to have the knowledge to implement SEL, appreciate its value, but still lack the confidence to
execute the program, a strong belief in the ability to successfully implement SEL in the
classroom is essential. TRS teachers will need to have sufficient self-efficacy for high
performance without being overconfident. While an inadequate amount of belief in a teacher’s
competence can hinder performance, a teacher who believes he is capable of performing a task
OPTIMAL SEL FOR AP 47

that is well beyond his own zone of proximal development may suffer setbacks. Self-regulations
offers an avenue for modifying self-efficacy by through behavior modification (Dembo & Eaton,
2000).
Goal Orientation. TRS instructors will also demonstrate optimal performance with
maximum effort. There are two types of goal orientations. The first type is mastery. When a
teacher at TRS is mastery goal oriented, she seeks to sharpen her skills in SEL for the purposes
of self-improvement (Yough & Anderman, n.d.). In this scenario, the teacher is intrinsically
driven to improve, working to better herself and comparing her current performance against her
own past performance. The second type of goal orientation is performance. Here, the teacher is
driven by competition against peers to better himself, and is therefore extrinsically motivated to
improve. Although both types of goal orientation can be effective, mastery goal orientation best
aligns with SEL. By focusing energies on an intrinsic performance goal, the teacher’s efforts can
be translated into persistence (Rueda, 2014). This is best accomplished when the teachers are
encouraged to improve their competency. Various factors can influence an instructor’s desire to
improve. Since mastery driven improvement fosters intrinsic motivation as compared to
performance driven improvement, instructors can be encouraged to pursue mastery of SEL. This
would entail ongoing learning of current research, incorporating such new information into
practical tasks, and valuing the process as self-improvement. When a teacher seeks to pursue
mastery primarily for the sake of self-improvement, this is termed approach mastery. A teacher
may also be intrinsically driven to improve, but the driving force behind their motivation is
avoidance. be preferred over avoidance mastery. The assumed .They may want to avoid some
type of failure or loss. Further refining goal orientation to align with SEL, approach mastery
OPTIMAL SEL FOR AP 48

would be preferred over avoidance mastery. The assumed motivational influences are outlined
in table 4.
Table 4
Assumed Motivation Influences

Organizational Influences
Although knowledge and motivational influences strongly impact the performance of
teachers at TRS, organizational influences can also impact performance in nonobvious ways.
Organizations function within a cultural context specific to that group. This culture represents
the way things are done in a given environment (Rueda, 2014)). Some of the elements that
compose the overall culture of a society may be more obvious than others. The apparent aspects
of an organizations culture are collectively referred to as the cultural setting. This would be the
culmination of every day tangible events that together make up the physical experience in an

Motivation Construct

Assumed Motivation Influence

Utility Value

Utility Value –Instructors appreciate the importance of implementing socio-
emotional intelligence (SEL) and multiple intelligences (MI) theory in
instruction

Self-Efficacy Self-Efficacy - Instructors need to believe that they are capable of successfully
implementing SEL and MI in their teaching practice

Goal Orientation Goal Orientation - Instructors should seek mastery in SEL and MI for ongoing
self-improvement, going beyond basic requirements

OPTIMAL SEL FOR AP 49

organization (Gallimore & Goldenberg, 2001). Conversely, a cultural model is the combination
of values specific to a given organization (Gallimore & Goldenberg, 2001). This would be the
attitudes, expectation, styles, and other nontangible yet impactful aspects of societal function.
While cultural models and settings at a school can influence each other and have equal influence
in the performance of teachers, the model and settings at every school are unique
Environmental Cultural Models at TRS. An effective cultural model at TRS would
present an environment conducive to the implementation of SEL by the teachers. Since SEL
emphasizes emotional expression and interpretation, the school would promote the arts in the
curriculum (Hoerr, 2004). This would mean that the dramatic arts, poetic recitation, musical
performance, visual arts, dance performance and music composition would be encouraged and
supported by administration and lead teachers. Collaboration between senior and newer teachers
would be encouraged while maintaining teacher autonomy, and an inclusive family like
atmosphere would serve to establish a framework of that would support MI implementation. An
SEL friendly cultural model at TRS would also appreciate the diverse personalities among both
faculty and students, and would authentically acknowledge the many ways in which faculty
members can be valuable contributors to the society (Dubois et al., 2011). Those that serve
others in the community, model the values of the community, and lead by example receive
recognition which is deservedly given to any faculty member regardless of tenure, age, race, or
gender. The socio-cognitive context of teacher learning also informs MI development through
informal modeling (Schunk, 2012).
Cultural Setting for Professional Development. Given the complexity of SEL, and the
skill needed to implement SEL in the classroom, training in SEL will need to be an established
part of the professional development curriculum. By providing resources for ongoing learning in
OPTIMAL SEL FOR AP 50

both SEL, teachers who are motivated to deepen their understanding will not be hindered by a
lack of organizational support. Mentoring programs partnering senior teachers with new hires
would also be a part of a cultural setting that supports the successful implementation of SEL.
Ongoing meetings between mentor pairs would be a regular meeting in the cultural setting that
refines application of theory on a daily basis.
Cultural setting of material resource. The non-visible values of TRS along with the
ongoing education of teachers are both influential aspects of TRS’ organizational culture, but the
acquisition and management of material resources is also a tangible aspect of this cultural setting
(Gottfried & Johnson, 2014). In some organizations, material resources may be seen as
noninfluential, but having a proper alignment of materials with the organizational goal can be
crucial to the success of an organization (Clark & Estes, 2008).
TRS teachers will need to have the appropriate materials on hand to execute customized
programming. Since MI theory posits that optimal engagement can be achieved by tailoring
curriculum to their multiple intelligence profile of each child, equitably educating every child in
a multiple intelligences school can place a heavy demand on resources (Javed Fouzia Naeem
Khan, 2010). Cultural models and their respective settings do interact, so the values of teacher
autonomy impact resource ordering since each teacher will customize her budget based upon
each unique class composition. Therefore, a cultural setting of sufficient material resource is
essential for the smooth and unimpeded implementation of MI at TRS. The following table
outlines the organizational influences for TRS teachers.

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Table 5
Assumed Organizational Influences

It is expected that a faculty community that is successful in implementing SEL will
model the culture that they wish to create for their children. Additionally, the administration
would invest in their teachers through ongoing training. Budgets would also be set to adequately
meet the needs of their teachers so that they may execute their program without hinderance.

Organizational Influence

Assumed Organizational Influences

Cultural Model Influence 1

TRS creates a collaborative atmosphere conducive for socio-emotional learning and MI
implementation.

Cultural Setting Influence 1 TRS administration provides SEL training for faculty members throughout the year.

OPTIMAL SEL FOR AP 52

CHAPTER THREE: METHODS
The purpose of this study is to advance the effectiveness of socio-emotional learning
(SEL) in urban and suburban U.S. schools by examining a high performing school that
implements SEL. By comparing the strategies and outcomes of this school with comparable
methodologies, optimal practices for implementing SEL as a method for improving academic
performance in schools may be identified. An independent school was chosen due to its greater
autonomy with curriculum design that has allowed the selected school to implement SEL
paradigms since 1941. Modern implementations of SEL only began at the beginning of the 21
st

century, so the school of study offers insight into a mature SEL educational community.
Study Design

This case study is designed to validate a high level of educational performance for the
Roeper School as pertains to social and emotional learning, evaluate the teaching methodology
of TRS, and to recommend optimal implementation strategies of TRS pedagogy. To accomplish
this, interviews of stakeholders, and observations of their teaching session serve as the primary
study resource. Documents such as school philosophy will serve as additional resources. The
observations will be primarily used to evaluate the Knowledge, Motivation and organization of
the stakeholders and their organization. The interviews will mostly be used to discover the
underlying thematic relationships in their pedagogy according to grounded theory. After the
KMO performance and pedagogical themes have been elucidated, a survey will be designed to
further clarify relevant remaining questions. The resulting data will then be used to optimize a
model for recommendations and implementation. The study design and process is shown below.

OPTIMAL SEL FOR AP 53

Figure 3
Figure 3. Study design of the Roeper School SEL.

Participating Stakeholders

For the purposes of this study, the lower school faculty of TRS has been chosen as the
participating stakeholder group. The lower school faculty of Roeper will most likely have the
greatest understanding of how social and emotional learning is implemented at the school since
this is most strongly emphasized in their lower grades. Since some members of this stakeholder
group have been with the school for over twenty years, focus on this population will also
potentially offer insight into how the school’s strengths and values developed over time.
TRS’ lower school faculty are of varied age and similar gender. Nine teachers will be
chosen with the criteria being subject diversity. The goal is to gain deep insight into the
innerworkings of TRS while sampling across multiple subject areas.

STUDY DESIGN

OPTIMAL SEL FOR AP 54

Interview Group Sampling Criterion and Rationale
Criterion 1. Longevity at TRS is the primary characteristic I am seeking in my
participants. Teachers with more than 10 years tenure at TRS offer the highest probability of
understanding how socio-emotional learning has been implemented, and how it has developed
over time. Often, these senior faculty perpetuate many aspects of pedagogy and organizational
culture to newer teachers, and are therefore a higher quality source for information rich data.
Criterion 2. Identifying teachers within the above criteria that also represent a diverse
sampling of grade and subject offers an opportunity for broader data collection. Art and music
are as instrumental to the educational approach at TRS as language and mathematics. In order to
gain a comprehensive sampling of how socio-emotional learning is implemented, interviews of
teachers from both the arts and the core subjects (math, language and science) is preferred.
Interview Group Strategy and Rationale
This is a purposeful sampling (Merriam & Tisdell, 2016) with a goal of targeting the
teachers with the greatest experience in socio-emotional learning at TRS. Of the 42 teachers at
the school approximately five teachers are considered “senior faculty” in that they have been at
the school for more than ten years, and often mentor new teachers. These teachers also represent
a sufficiently broad sampling of subjects which allow the study of how SEL is implemented in
different curriculum frameworks and grades. For this reason, five senior lower school faculty
have been induced among the nine total teachers in the interview group.
The interviews are scheduled to take place in the fall of 2018 with a follow-up visit in the
late fall. Interviews will take place in person during the first visit, with observations and any
needed follow-up interviews taking place during the second visit.

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Observation Sampling Criterion and Rationale
Criterion 1. In order to fully address the above research questions (Maxwell, 2013,
observation of the SEL implementation in a classroom setting is preferred. The objective would
be to choose a class with a lesson plan that emphasizes SEL as it is typically employed at the
school.
Criterion 2. Since SEL can be implemented in different ways, observations in at least
two different settings will be made. Observing SEL in a core subject such as language or
mathematics would constitute “core subject observations”, and observing SEL in music, art or
drama would constitute “arts observations”. This would provide a good contrast of how similar
pedagogy is used in diverse settings potentially resulting in a greater understanding of the core
tenets of their educational approach.
Observation Sampling (Access) Strategy and Rationale
The observations are scheduled to take place prior to the interviews so that follow-up
questions may be posed after the initial protocol is completed. Access to classrooms for
observation will be obtained by the lower school head. A video conference with the school head
has already occurred and preliminary access has been granted. Since the head of school has also
granted access..
Explanation for Choices
The purposeful selection of participants in my study is two-tiered in that my promising
practice organization is what I consider to be an ideal representation of a school implementing
socio-emotional learning. Although not mentioned above, the criteria governing the selection of
the case was a school with more than 30% students of color, strong implementation of socio-
emotional learning paradigms, and high academic performance as measured by the SAT10
OPTIMAL SEL FOR AP 56

assessment tool. Since the case study itself has been purposefully selected, and the participant
group within this case again selected based on the above criteria, this study is strongly non-
probabilistic.
A 21 question survey was administered through Qualtrics. The questions were
formulated after the interview text was analyzed to clarify sub-themes. The survey was only used
to verify emergent themes from interview analysis. Survey data will be triangulated with
interview and observation data for added reliability.

Table 6
Sampling strategy and timeline
Sampling Strategy Total number of
lower school
faculty at TRS
Number of
Proposed
participants
Start Date
for Data
Collection
End Date for
Data
Collection
Interviews: 41 9 10/2018 1/2019
Observations: 41 9 10/2018 1/2019
Documents: N/A N/A 10/2018 1/2019

Data Collection and Instrumentation

This study will employ qualitative methodology. Institutional Review Board approval
will be obtained from the University of Southern California, and approval will be obtained from
TRS to collect data by conducting interviews of selected lower school faculty, reviewing
documents and performing observations. A visit will be conducted in October, 2018 to hold
OPTIMAL SEL FOR AP 57

interviews with key stakeholders. A second visit will be held in January 2019 for any needed
follow-up.
Interviews
Confidential interviews were conducted on campus with nine
key faculty members between October 2018 and January of 2019. All interviews were recorded
and later transcribed verbatim. One interview was administered per participant according to the
semi-structured protocol (Maxwell, 2013) found in Appendix A. This protocol was chosen so
that similar questions would be asked to each faculty member for data comparison, while
allowing for new data that may emerge (Merriam & Tisdell, 2016). All participants were over
18 years of age and interviews began with general demographic questions to establish years
served at TRS.
Observations
Observations were conducted just prior to the scheduled interview times beginning with
general school observations of student interactions during peak hours. Nine 90 minute
observations were conducted with the objective of observing how the school’s educational
philosophy is integrated into their curriculum. Additionally, two 2 hour observations of general
school life were conducted. Observations began with a 30 minute visit per participant to
familiarize myself with the surroundings and educational context. This was followed up with an
hour of intensive observation focused on observing how SEL is integrated into lesson plans, how
students respond in the areas of motivation and learning in relation to observed SEL
methodologies. Field notes were taken, and a and all observations were video recorded for later
analysis.
Survey
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A small survey was conducted to confirm emerged themes from qualitative analysis. The survey
was a multiple choice questionnaire designed to identify the participant’s preferred SEL
methodologies, and how they may most optimally are implemented. The survey was designed in
Qualtrics and emailed to recipients.
Documents and Artifacts
During data collection, the school’s academic achievements, mission, vision and
statement of philosophy were reviewed that relate to the school’s academic performance and
pedagogy. The schools mission articulates TRS’ commitment to social and emotional learning,
and academic performance records add substantiating data to the effectiveness of their approach
as outlined in research question 2. The five-year strategic plan, and ISACS accreditation report
was reviewed since these documents direct the organization toward its goal. Finally documents
relating to graduation rates and middle school entrance were reviewed, since entrance into first
choice school is also a primary goal of TRS.
Data Analysis

Data analysis will commence during the interview with general impressions and
comments. After the interview, analytic memos were taken while the experience was still fresh.
This included a detailed impression of key aspects of the interview in relation to my research
questions, and within the context of my own experience in private school administration
(Harding, 2013).
After the interviews were transcribed and indexed, I will began with a priori codes,
aggregate these into axial codes, then further categorized data into themes in relation to the
research questions (Merriam & Tisdell, 2016). Documents and artifacts, and a follow-up survey
were then analyzed for patterns consistent with those identified in the interview analysis.
OPTIMAL SEL FOR AP 59

Credibility and Trustworthiness

Triangulation of interview data and observations served to strengthen the credibility of
the qualitative analysis. Although the stakeholder group only represents one source, the
triangulation of methods still added credibility. Member checking was also employed through
the follow-up survey as a method of strengthening the credibility of the data (Merriam & Tisdell,
2016). Reflexivity was be used to manage my own inherent subjectivity as a former private
school head. While it may not have been possible to achieve complete objectivity, I sought to
evaluate my own judgements through the lens of a person unfamiliar with the field. Finally,
emergent themes were compared with documentation to look for consistencies which would add
to the dependability of the data.
Ethics

As principal investigator in this study, selected faculty members of The Roeper School
(TRS) were interviewed regarding their views on the impact of socio-emotional learning on their
student’s academic performance. Since information from interviews may be of a sensitive
nature, it is important to protect the participants and potentially any students from harm (Glesne,
2011). In order to respect the wishes of all participants, informed consent forms were obtained
from all participants prior to the onset of the investigation (Merriam & Tisdell, 2016). This
ensured that the participants understand that their participation in this study is entirely voluntary,
and that they are free to withdraw at any time without penalty. The identity of all participants
were kept confidential, and my study was submitted to the University of Southern California
Institutions Review Board (IRB) which provided rigorous guidelines for the protection and
welfare of all participants. The study did not commence until after IRB approval. Permission to
audio record interviews was obtained prior to the beginning of each interview session, and the
OPTIMAL SEL FOR AP 60

data was kept confidential and stored in a secure location.
I have no relationship or authoritative role with any of the participants in the study, so
they should not have felt coerced into withholding negative responses. Recorded interviews
were numerically coded to maintain the anonymity of the participants. I have previously served
as headmaster of a private school with a diverse population. While this will aid in interview and
observation planning for rich data collection, it may also introduce biases that could introduce
unwanted subjectivity.
Limitations and Delimitations

Although the identities of the participants will be coded so that interview and observation
data cannot be directly linked with any one participant, the head of the lower school will know
the identities of the pool of participants which is small (nine). For this reason, there may yet be a
reluctance for participants to be fully forthcoming with any information deemed negative in the
view of upper administration since the participants may believe that it would still negatively
impact them. Another limitation is the lack of corroborating data from parents. The interviews
are self-reported data, and the parents may have a different view of the effectiveness of SEL at
TRS.
As a delimitation, a private school was chosen due to the flexibility for implementing
novel methods compared to most public or charter schools. Although using a private school as a
promising practice organization is delimiting in that many of these changes might be difficult to
rapidly implement in public school settings, the performance data may still offer reason to chart a
long-range plan for implementation.

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CHAPTER FOUR: RESULTS

In this chapter the results of the study will be detailed. This will begin with general
findings that will have a short description of the initial observations of the educational setting.
Following will be the Knowledge, Motivation and Organizational findings. These are primarily
based on the observation field notes taken during the visit with ancillary references to interview
quotations and document analysis. Following the KMO findings is a section on thematic
analysis. As addressed in chapter 3, the KMO analysis is used to validate the competency of the
teachers in SEL as well as the overall organizational performance in regard to SEL teaching
methodology. This is distinct from an understanding of how TRS implements SEL, and how the
components of their implementation contribute to academic performance. To understand this,
interview transcripts, observations and documents were emergently coded, and axial codes were
generated based on the emergent codes. Resulting data were analyzed to formulate pedagogical
themes which were used to develop the RSEL educational paradigm. Finally, all participants
were surveyed to clarify how RSEL contributes to improved academic performance, and how
RSEL can be most efficiently implemented.
General Findings
Initial Observations
The Roeper school is comprised of a pre-k through grade 5 lower school, and a grade 6
through 12 upper school. This study has focused on the lower school, since this is often the age
group that is most impacted by SEL pedagogy.
The lower school campus is nestled in a natural environment yet easily accessible from a
primary thoroughfare. Grass, small hills, and aged trees that encompass several buildings that
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chart the architectural evolution of the campus. Approximately 240 students populate the lower
school, 128 in the middle sch and another 184 in the upper school. There is a sense of serenity
on the campus, and the countenance of both the teachers and children is often joyful.
Development of Roeper pedagogy in context of overall SEL is shown below.

Figure 4
Fig 4. Roeper SEL timeline
Timeline of Roeper pedagogical development. Roeper SEL precedes modern implementations.

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Validation of Knowledge, Motivation and Organization Influences
Knowledge Findings
Common SEL teaching strategies used across subjects. Teachers at Roeper were keen
to implement many basic SEL teaching strategies. Self-awareness was modeled by the team
teachers and their interactions. Often both teachers would interact before the class saying, “we
are putting our books away, now it’s your turn.” The children would follow, unaware that they
were being taught awareness of their surroundings and self management SEL through teacher
modeling. Students were also often encouraged to self-manage. Reflection was stimulated
through their writing exercises, with journal prompts that caused the children to reflect on their
decision during the week, and how their assessment on improvement. The objective was always
independence and self-management. Across all classes, the teachers were encouraging the
students to develop and trust their own instincts, and learn how to successfully apply them to
varied situations. Collaborative learning was also observed across all observed classes. Students
were frequently paired or in groups during class exercises, and lessons were often open ended,
allowing students to discover solutions as a team. Team members would naturally gravitate to a
role within the assigned groups allowing each student to learn from the discoveries of others in
the group. This created a framework where the valuing and awareness of others was integrated
into the learning experience.
Activities that reinforce SEL in the school environment. Activities were intentionally
designed to serve multiple purposes. For example, students in physical education class were
given a hula hoop, but there was never a demonstration on how to use it. The instruction instead
was to create multiple uses of the hula hoop. This again was done in assigned groups, so teams
made cars, buildings works of art and so forth. While this was seen as a physical education
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activity by the children, the SEL teaching strategies of collaboration and creative problem
solving were reinforced through the lesson.
Similar approaches were observed in the dance and music classes. Students in dance
were placed in groups of four after watching an educational video on electronic music. They
were then asked to create a group dance that expressed the music. Students collaborated on the
dance, then integrated aspects of the music in their routine as the music played. Students were
observed to physically express different aspects of the electronic music, and would also
creatively integrate what they had learned about electronic music in the dance. Thus, there was a
cross-disciplinary learning that occurred through collaboration and physical expression.
This similarly occurred in the music class. The music teacher began with a music history
lesson about the choral selection they were learning. The choir was also singing as part of a
school play, so dramatic reading was integrated into their rehearsal. As they practiced their
singing parts, the teacher would emphasize how to express each line according to the meaning of
the phrase, and how it related to actual historical events. Students then were learning history by
engaging multiple cognitive forms through drama, music, and reading.
Practices designed to build student character. Character building is a common
component of SEL, however the definition of “good character” may be different among various
communities. Roeper emphasized trust, transparency, serving others, respecting diversity of
thought, and independence as characteristics that they valued. While there were no specific
activities observed that were designed to build these characteristics in children, many actions of
the teachers reinforced their emphasis on these characteristics through the culture of the
educational community. Regarding an incident where one student did not want to participate in
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an activity, a teacher explained how she emphasized freedom of choice and awareness of the
feelings of other in how she handled the situation:
“"If we can't figure out a solution, then you're gonna miss this activity, and that's okay with
me, but I don't want you to feel bad that you missed out because you're being hard on
yourself. You only have control of what you can do. I can't pick you up and make your legs
run around the track, and I wouldn't do that, but you're the one in control right now, so you
have to decide. If there's some way I can help you figure out a solution, I will."
He chose to sit out. I didn't talk to him. We moved on to the next activity, and he joined
right in. That emotional piece kept him from moving forward.”
The teacher modeled free choice, respect of the student’s space, and encouragement of
independent decision-making by the child in the form of a typical daily interaction.
Programs that engage the parent community in SEL. Multiple events are held
throughout the year for parent education and engagement. Typically, an expert is brought in to
speak on an aspect of the school’s educational philosophy. At a diversity event, a movie was
shown on the facts and myths of intelligence, emotional intelligence, multiple intelligences,
character, and talents play a role in overall effectiveness. The discussion was lively, and the
parents were well engaged with a panel of experts on the subject. This was observed at more
than one gathering.
Supplemental Instruction. In some instances, students were in need of extra help.
Teachers were observed to make appointments with students during their break time to help them
with questions. While this was not the case with every teacher, the practice was fairly
widespread. The overall impression was that teachers treated the students more like family
members, and looked forward to finding time to help them.
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Professional development program. TRS invests heavily in professional development.
At least two PD opportunities are presented annually, and classes and seminars are paid for
during the summer. One teacher noted that the training program she was attending was $4,500,
for tuition, and the school paid for this plus plane fare and a week of housing. TRS is not
necessarily a wealthy school as their tuition is significantly less than those of surrounding private
schools, but they believe that the investment in teacher education is essential.
Knowledge summary. The following table summarizes the validation of stakeholder
knowledge in SEL methodology.

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Table 7

Validation of knowledge influences

Assumed Influence

Knowledge Type

Validation

Teachers have didactic
knowledge of RSEL and EI

Declarative (factual)

YES

Teachers understand how
the components of RSEL fit
within the larger context of
SEL
Declarative (conceptual) YES

Teachers possess the skill to
implement RSEL
Procedural YES

Teachers assess the
effectiveness of their
implementation of SEL

Metacognitive YES
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Based upon the interview responses and observations, all teachers were fully
knowledgeable of the larger context of SEL as well as the specific version being used at Roeper.
They were all highly skilled at implementing their version of SEL and could fluidly switch
subthemes as the occasion demanded. The strongest skill noted especially during observations
were their metacognitive strategies. Although most of the teachers observed had more than ten
years of experience executing SEL, even the new teachers seemed effortlessly adroit at switching
modalities as a result of on the fly assessment of their approach. It therefore seems that a deep
understanding of the needs of each child aided in their ability to quickly assess the effectiveness
of their own approach and make adjustments for optimal effectiveness. Most impressively, they
were often able to anticipate the needs of different children and meet that need before it arose.
This was clearly the result of much time spent with a small class size, and would be expected
from a leader of any family.
Motivation Findings
Influence of SEL on student study time
The lower school students received little homework. Traditional homework assignments
were deemphasized, but students often received projects, where they had a role with a team for
an assignment. Students seemed excited about these assignments. In observations, students on
more than one occasions spoke of not wanting to miss school the following day because of the
opportunity to work with their friends on a project or activity. Therefore, “study time” was
almost seen by children as an extensions of play.

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Influence on student engagement
The highly social environment and organized play like atmosphere made for an
environment where most children seemed to be having fun. There times when some felt left out,
needed help and even cried, but the approach of the teachers were patience and inclusion.
Including a student without forcing them to participate was a careful balance, but most of these
teachers had been teaching in this way for decades, so the seemed to handle the situations
adroitly.
Inclusion initiatives
Roeper heavily emphasizes inclusion. Human rights is a part of their philosophy
statement, and it extends beyond race and gender. They emphasize freedom of thought, and
encourage individual perspectives from the children. The corollary, is that the respect of
differing opinions are likewise encouraged. This was evident in several observations through the
teachers tendency to encourage the child to exercise free choice in the learning process. Also,
teachers showed a willingness to find ways to appreciate children regardless of their differences
which in turn seemed to motivate them to learn. One teacher commented, “Well, I think they
know how you feel about them as a teacher because you can always find things to love about all
your students. You just can.”
Team teaching
The lower school home rooms are lead by two teacher. One is the lead teacher and the
other is the team teacher. Both carry a significant load in both teaching and administration, but
the lead teacher is the primary instructor. Classes are typically under 18 students, but are still
broken down into smaller groups that allows greater engagement between teacher and student.
In one class I observed, both the lead and team teachers had six student each in their groups.
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One was teach math, and the other language, but the strategies were the same. The students had
manipulatives, were given and open ended assignment with the materials, and the teacher
worked with each student to help them solve problems through self-discovery. It appeared that
the team teaching of small groups improved student engagement and motivation.
Motivation summary. The below table summarizes the validation of motivational
competency amongst Roeper instructors.
Table 8
Validation of motivational influences

Motivation Construct

Assumed Influence

Validation

Utility Value

Utility Value –Instructors
appreciate the importance
of implementing socio-
emotional intelligence
RSEL in instruction

YES

Self-Efficacy Self-Efficacy - Instructors
need to believe that they are
capable of successfully
implementing RSEL in their
teaching practice )

YES

Goal Orientation Goal Orientation -
Instructors should seek
mastery in RSEL for
ongoing self-improvement,
YES
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Motivation is central to RSEL pedagogy, and it comes as no surprise that every teacher
interviewed and observed appreciated the importance of RSEL, believed they were capable of
implementing RSEL, and were engaged in the ongoing improvement of their craft. Roeper
heavily invests in their teachers through professional development. Several noted that the school
paid for summer programs and multiple trips throughout the country annually to further equip
them. The intrinsic motivation of the faculty serves as an impetus to stimulate motivation in the
students.
Organizational findings
SEL in teacher interactions
Team teachers that modeled SEL in their interactions was an effective tool in teaching
SEL to the students. This seemed prevalent in all of the team taught classes. Even when the
teams had disagreements, they were keen to employ the problem solving strategies taught to the
students. In interviews however, several teachers noted that their interaction with other students
outside of their classroom was much less than they liked. All of the teachers who had been at the
school for more than 20 years had commented that there was a broader sense of collegiality in
the earlier years, and that the tight schedules had reduced the frequency of those interactions.
going beyond basic
requirements

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The broader lower school teacher interactions, were still quite positive, but the more tenured
teachers longed for an experience that the newer teachers might not have been aware of.
How SEL influences Roeper culture and community. Although the pressure of a
purely academic focus has challenged the SEL foundation of Roeper, the school continues to
operate according to the guiding principles of equality, non-hierarchical governance, student
voice and parent engagement. Gatherings are held with the school community simply to hear the
opinions of students regardless of age. This foundation is laid in the lower school, and expanded
when students graduate to the upper school, where students may sit on school boards. Parents sit
on the school board, and there is significant gender and racial diversity. Despite being a
predominately white school in relatively wealthy suburban areas, both the lower school and
middle school heads are African American, and the lower school head is female. The school also
caters to gifted children, but it should be noted that many of the families in the surrounding area
would fit into this classification if only IQ were considered. Essentially, the emphasis on equity,
inclusion, and emotional awareness, are of less interest to newer parents who are often most
interested in their child getting into a top tier university, but the school leaders remain convinced
that SEL produces students that are both socially and academically strong in the long run. The
administration works at explaining this to newer parents, but is not always successful.
Financial support systems
Being an independent school, TRS is primarily tuition driven. They have had serious
financial struggles in the past, but their new Head of School was hired to help address this
problem and has been largely successful. The alumni support is strong, the annual fund has a
high level of parent participation, and the balance of tuition, salaries and financial aid has
recently been sustainable. When teachers were asked if they had the necessary materials and
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budget to execute their programs, all said that they did. Also, when the teachers were surveyed
on their reasons to continue working at Roeper, the response was strongly that they either were
there for autonomy in teaching, or to help children. None seemed driven by compensation nor
did they complain about it. It appeared they understood that although they might make more in a
wealthy public school district, they could risk sacrificing their autonomy and purpose for it, and
this they were unwilling to do.
Organizational summary. Below is a table summarizing the organizational support of
SEL at The Roeper School.
Table 9
Validation of assumed organizational influences

Organizational Category

Assumed Influence

Validation

Cultural Model Influence 1

TRS creates a collaborative
atmosphere conducive for
SEL implementation

NO

Cultural Model Influence 2 TRS provides SEK training
for faculty members
throughout the year
YES

Cultural Model Influence 2 TRS teachers are equipped
with the necessary materials
to execute SEL
programming
YES

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The teachers at Roeper all said that they had no problems with material resources.
Despite the latitude given to each teacher to develop her own curriculum, the administration was
eager to materially support the plan. As previously stated, ongoing training was provided, but
several teachers noted that the faculty collegiality had decreased. Those who had been at the
school for more than 30 years longed for the days when the teacher community was as much of a
family as the classrooms, but they confessed that with the increased work-loads and tighter
schedules, socio-emotional interaction between faculty members was limited. The quality of the
interactions they shared were positive and supportive, but the message was that they wished they
had more. Therefore, the cultural setting influences were confirmed, but the cultural model
influence was not.
Now that the competency of SEL implementation at The Roeper School has been validated
through the KMO metric, the data can now be further examined through a grounded theory
approach so that the categories and themes that compromise their pedagogy can be identified.
Theoretical Developmental Overview
Using the predefined categories of knowledge, motivation and organization as a
framework for validating organizational performance is ideal, since the performance levels of
similar organizations are known and can be used as a benchmark. If however, elucidation of an
organizations unique program is sought, then a predefined framework could potentially
contaminate discovery through bias. In this instance, a grounded theory approach is preferred.
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For qualitative grounded analysis, interview text, field observations and document
artifacts are all emergently coded, then subsequently categorized. These categories are further
consolidated into several main themes upon which the theory naturally emerges. This approach
allows latitude for new discovery through rich qualitative analysis. This study leverages both
organizational validation and emergent qualitative analysis to reveal novel pedagogy. This
developed theory is termed RSEL, which is the Roeper School’s implementation of social and
emotional learning.
Nine teachers were both interviewed and observed. Interviews were conducted according
to the protocol in Appendix C, and observations were video recorded for later analysis.
Photographs were taken of supporting artifacts, and several documents including the school
mission, vision and statement of purpose were included for analysis. This information was
emergently coded according to grounded theory, axial codes were subsequently generated, and
the resulting thematic codes served as the primary components of the final theoretical synthesis.
In all, 125 distinct grounded codes emerged, 26 categories were formed from these codes, and
seven themes were generated from these categories to comprise the developed pedagogical
theory. Comprehensively, over four hundred data sections were coded across all data types.
The following table details the 27 categories that were identified through the coding process.
After carefully studying the codes and transcripts, seven main themes emerged from the
categories. The themes were generated from commonalities among the categories, and the
categories were generated from code relationships. A complete list of the code to category
organization can be found in Appendix D. Documentation supporting each theme is provided
with quotations from transcripts or artifact references.
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Table 10
Emergent categories organized by theme

Category

Theme

Academic interactions Child Centered Education
Individualized Instruction Child Centered Education
Intellectual Stimulation Child Centered Education
Relaxed Culture Child Centered Education
Shared discovery Child Centered Education
Shared discovery Child Centered Education
Welcoming Environment Child Centered Education
Administrative Support Community Emphasis
Comprehensive Community Emphasis Community Emphasis
Relational Education Community Emphasis
Creativity in Learning Confidence Goal
Foundational Character Elements Confidence Goal
Self-efficacy Confidence Goal
Emotion - cognitive integration Emotional Awareness
Emotional Awareness Emotional Awareness
Physical learning Emotional Awareness
Appreciation of the individual Equitable Education
Equitable Education Equitable Education
Equity as a learning facilitator Equitable Education
Valuing Independence Equitable Education
Valuing Independence Equitable Education
Love as a cultural characteristic Pervasive Positivity
Positive emotions Pervasive Positivity
Relational demonstration Pervasive Positivity
Historical anchors SEL Anchoring
SEL Paradigm shifting SEL Anchoring
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Further analysis revealed 21 distinct sub-themes within the seven primary themes. The
relationship between theme and subtheme is detailed below.
Intrinsic Passion as a Cultural SEL paradigm
Passion for Teaching
A key characteristic of the educational environment at TRS was a relentlessly passionate
approach to all aspects of academic life. Teachers consistently conveyed a love of teaching that
was inherent prior to their arrival at Roeper. They all had a deep love for working with young
children, leading them to discovery, partnering with them through hardships, and celebrating
their victories. One teacher commented that “many of my friends don’t understand why I would
choose the hardships of early childhood education, but I wouldn’t rather do anything else”.
Teachers expressed effusive joy when a child grasped a new concept, and this was evident in
physical education and dance as much as science, mathematics and reading. The physical
education teacher presented structured play opportunities for the children that involved novel
uses of a hula hoop. As the children invented new ways to use the hoop, the teacher would share
in the child’s excitement and encourage them to do more.
Love of Learning
The teachers also consistently expressed a love of learning. Professional development is
robustly supported at the Roeper school, with teachers often attending four sessions per year
including multi-day summer sessions. All are paid for by the school largely due to their strong
belief that students are encouraged to become life-long learners when teachers are doing this
Value-centric Influences SEL Anchoring
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themselves. Moreover, teachers spend significant personal time in research, staying at the
cutting edge of their profession. They confess that time is at a premium, yet they understand the
value of being experts in their field and how this impacts their students.
Love of Children
Teachers most consistently conveyed a love of children. While social and emotional
learning is often seen as an organizational program, the teachers implemented SEL effectively by
establishing a familial atmosphere. One teacher said, “we just really love being with kids”. As
simple as it sounds, none of these teachers were taught to love kids. Nearly every teacher
interviewed came to Roeper with an inherent love of children. Another teacher said “I have a
passion for helping kids be the best that they can be. And I don't want to give up until I think
we've gotten there.” Therefore, teachers define their love of children as the patience and
perseverance required to achieve a learning goal. When teachers of sequential age groups share
this same passion, a teacher of a single grade does not feel rushed to achieve a specific level of
attainment with a given child if they know the journey will continue for this child with their next
teacher. In this way, the authentic passion for helping children is linked with an appreciation of
individualized instruction and the need for each child to progress at their own pace.
Authentic Compassion
Compassion was also a key aspect of the broad application of love by teachers toward
children. When children with academic or social problems were referred to counseling and
eventually did not stay in the school, some teachers still expressed sadness saying ‘If I could
only have done more’. The teachers so believed in each student that they took personal
responsibility for their development regardless of the outcome. More often than not, teachers
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would notice those who were not socially engaged in the class. During a dance class, students
were divided into four groups to plan a dance demonstration. One student who was shy about
expression caught the attention of the teacher who went out of her way to bring the one student
back with the whole. She was patient and loving in her approach, and this particular student
ultimately performed impressively.
Relational Demonstration
Rather than simply telling students to be patient, kind, cooperative or long suffering,
teachers modeled this behavior by their interaction with the students and each other. Many
classes were team taught with an assistant teacher that often bore equal responsibility. Students
would observe their interactions with each other in problem solving and cooperation, and this
often resulted in emulation by the students. Therefore, students were learning advanced social
competencies by immersion and were rarely told how to behave. This underscored a potential
advantage of team teaching that is not readily apparent, but can be leveraged if teachers are hired
based upon their SEL proclivity.

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Emotional Awareness as a facilitator of physical and cognitive integration
Emotional Awareness
Emotional awareness is a key component of both emotional intelligence and modern socio-
emotional learning pedagogy. Understanding one’s own emotions and the emotions of others
creates opportunities for deeper understanding of the purpose of learning and the meaning of
academic work. The dance teacher related how physical movement and expression are applied
for emotional awareness:
“I think there's an awareness of space, and who's around you, and these social, emotional
connections that for some of these gifted kids is not so easy, like how to collaborate, and
how to share, and how to make choices that can be good for the group and not just
yourself.”
She reveals that awareness of those around you is an instrumental component of collaboration,
sharing and group-based decision making. This highlights a linkage between the physical and
cognitive aspects of emotional intelligence. This also relates to how students feel about their
environment. Several teachers expressed the importance of creating an environment where
students feel safe, and that this was required for optimal social and emotional engagement.
Emotional awareness seemed to influence environment by a reduction of emotional distraction
which allowed both students and teachers to focus more on the emotional state of others and how
it influenced their own.

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Play and Kinesthetic Learning
Play was often used as a vehicle for environmental acclimation. One teacher stated:
“ I think kids needs to have a lot of time in these early grades and throughout their school to
play and to interact and to work on challenges with one another because that's how you get
along in the world. So I think that social emotional learning is the most important thing that we
do.”
There was an understanding that structured play is a potential laboratory for learning problem
solving and teamwork skills which she considered to be invaluable. Play allowed students to
work out the uncertainties of their environment and develop a level of comfort and control that
permitted further risk taking. In one instance, a particularly shy student was asked to integrate
space and electronic music into a dance. In his group, he invented a break dance toward the end
and struck a pose with his hand before his eye like a telescope. In discussion with the teacher
after class, she stated that this creative integration of dance, science and music was a stretch for
him but ultimately a product of his developing emotional awareness from physical movement.
Similar approaches of using emotional awareness to link physical and cognitive modalities
was observed in art class. The instructor would begin with a lecture about Andy Warhol, and his
influence on society. Afterwards, they designed their own soup can labels since Warhol
designed Campbell soup labels. They were given the freedom to invent their own labels, yet
incorporate the philosophy behind Warhol’s designs. By combining individual expression with
both hands-on learning and history, students were again motivated to expand their comfort zone
as well as their proximal zone of learning.
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Figure 5
Fig.5 History and art are integrated with creative design as students learn principles of Warhol
design, then make their own unique labels.
Participatory Instruction
Students were encouraged to participate both in their own learning and that of their fellow
students. This seemed to go beyond typical constructivism or even inquiry, and implemented a
fundamental valuing of the child’s voice. Rather than simply telling the child what to do or learn,
there was a continual emphasis on the child’s view on a matter. While this may induce a slower
rate of learning early on, the relational bond between teacher and student would increase over
time resulting in greater engagement and confidence later. One teacher noted that students “Like
sharing their passions with the class, which we do every day, we have a child that comes in and
does a report on something to teach us, and that's important to knowing that they're [being] heard
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is important.” Another teacher noted “Sometimes with handwriting I'll say, will you do your own
self-evaluation? You're working on writing the letter M, circle the one you think you did the best
on.” Therefore, the learning of subject matter is reinforced through student teaching and
participation which also contribute to confidence building.
Equity as a Catalyst for Individualized Instruction
Appreciation of the individual
Significant emphasis was place on the individual by each teacher. They believed strongly
in individualized learning and took pride in the fact that this required more effort on the part of
the teacher. Their position was that they were there to serve the needs of the child, and this
required an adaptation of their curriculum that could be most readily digested according to each
child’s strengths. One teacher relied heavily on knowing the learning styles of each student and
adapting her curriculum according to such needs:
“I think the kids just need to know what style of learner they are, know what they need best
in our groups, if the kids need to go in the middle room and have some quiet time to do
their thinking, they can do that. If they need manipulatives, I was asking the kids
yesterday what their strategies are. I always want to know what they're thinking, so for
math for example, are you using your fingers to count, do you need a number line to look
at? Do you want some manipulatives to use?”
This inherently required a teacher’s assistant, but also employed a level of trust and
independence of the student. In this sense, an appreciation of equity, diversity and the
individual went far beyond issues of gender, race and socioeconomics. It was individual
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uniqueness that was valued, and this was further served by trusting students to understand
themselves and take control of their personal learning environment.

Figure 6
Fig. 6 An already small class breaks down into two groups with the help of a teacher’s assistant.
At a 1 to 5 teacher to student ratio, highly specific individualized learning is possible.
Valuing independence
Independence was seen as an aspect of maturity. Students were given job charts and
encouraged to complete their assigned tasks independently. One teacher noted that, “You see
them be independent, to be responsible for themselves and with the jobs we might give them to
do.” Learning to work independently was as important to them as working harmoniously in a
group setting. The objective was to teach children the value of both, and how integrate them for
greater overall production. This is an example of the self-regulatory aspects of emotional
intelligence and how they are used in these classrooms.
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Independence was also valued in teacher autonomy. When one teacher was asked why she
had stayed at this school for 27 years, her first answer was the provided autonomy. She stated
that every class was as different as every student, that she had previously taught in a school that
did not provide such freedom, and that the students suffered for it. Therefore, as administration
exercised more trust in the teachers to adapt curriculum to meet the ever changing needs of the
class and students, this culture of trust had a tendency to trickle down to the individual student.
Equitable education
In the Roeper School’s statement of philosophy, they reaffirm their commitment to equity
stating that making equal rights for all people is a priority. This extends through all aspects of
the school. They host ongoing seminars on various diversity issues, promote equity throughout
various school programs, and integrate equity throughout their curriculum. The art teacher was
working on a cartooning project with her students where they were making artistic comic
graphics. Built into the lesson was an encouragement to present a female as the superhero, which
many students did. In this way, equity is interwoven into the curriculum in subtle yet powerful
ways.
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Figure 7
Fig. 7 Hispanics, Asian-Americans, Native Americans and European Americans are routinely
displayed through art and literature in an equal and familial context. This photo was taken
during a time in which no specific culture was nationally celebrated.
Acceptance
Acceptance is a deeper aspect of equity commonly employed at Roeper. A child is
accepted for who they are, which in turn encourages expression and participation. One teacher
stated, “this is sort of a safe haven where they have opportunities to make mistakes and it's
okay.” When the student knows that they will be accepted even if they make a “mistake”, they
are more likely to persist until they get it “right”. Even then, it is not necessarily a matter of right
and wrong. As the dance teacher put it, “I think of improvisation, specifically, like an equation.
There's no wrong answers for this, right? I might give you a prompt to say, "We're going to start
OPTIMAL SEL FOR AP 87

low and slow. Whatever you do is right."” The objective here is to teach children to trust the
authenticity of their own voice and perspective. This transcends language and mathematics and
is a common theme throughout several disciplines. Again, such robust acceptance serves to
further bolster the student’s developing confidence. One teacher even noted that an experience
from her childhood that involved a teacher discarding her work motivated her to accept the work
of her students.
Child Centered Intellectual Stimulation
Relaxed culture
Creating an environment where students feel comfortable is of high priority at TRS. Their
definition of comfort was multi-faceted. Firstly, comfort was described in a familial sense. The
classroom was a home away from home, and a “safe place” where students felt both physically
and emotionally accepted. This sense of home in the classroom was conducive to a more relaxed
atmosphere, and supported their commitment to partner with the children in their learning
process. When asked about moving all the children at the same pace, one teacher responded,”
When you get to know the kids, which I feel we do, you know when they really need that time
and it's like your own children at home.” She went on to explain that every child is different in a
family and a parent knows how to work with each child differently. Therefore, the home like
atmosphere was a component of their approach to individualized learning.
Teachers were also intentional about reducing stress and increasing comfort. One teacher
said, “They can probably learn some things when they are stressed out, but I think to learn at
their highest level, I think they have to be comfortable in their skin.” She again returned to this
theme of comfort explaining further; “They need to be comfortable with who they are and that
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we think they're okay and they think we're okay. Everybody's just okay.” So, their idea of
comfort was not necessarily physical, but an acknowledgement of the value in one’s self and in
others.
They also viewed this relaxed environment as one where the children are heard. This was
more than just allowing them to speak, but was valuing their opinions despite their age. A
teacher commented on this saying, “Oh, I think for at least half this class it would be really hard
on them if they weren't listened to, if they were just … These kids have a lot of questions and if
you were in a school where they don't have time for your questions because you have 35 kids in
your class, I think it would be hard for a lot of them.” So again, there is a connection between
the comfort of being in an environment where the student has a voice, and having a small enough
class where this can be practically achieved.
Welcoming environment
Beyond creating a relaxed environment, TRS is intentional about establishing an
environment that is welcoming to all students. This encompasses comfort, consideration, and
safety. When asked how social and emotional awareness impacted academic performance, one
teacher replied, “Oh, I think it actually helps them. I think if you aren’t comfortable with what
you’re doing and in that moment, you know – kids will often melt down.” The teacher went on
to explain how students need the time and space to process their emotions both with teachers and
peers, and this was essential to the student getting to a place where they can work optimally.
Another teacher spoke of the relationship between student and teacher, and how this impacts
student comfort: “The most important thing was the relationships -the relationship between
students and teachers where there wasn’t the hierarchy, where you could feel comfortable talking
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to a child, and the child in turn would feel comfortable talking to you.” So in the TRS model, a
reduction in hierarchy provides an opportunity for closer relationships between teachers and
students that are conducive to the desired sense of comfort and welcome. Another stated, “They
can probably learn some things when they are stressed out, but I think to learn at their highest
level, I think they have to be comfortable in their skin”
Teaching students to be considerate also contributes to the welcoming environment at TRS.
This can be clearly evident in physical education where selfish desires are often acted out. The
P.E. teacher had an interesting response when asked how social and emotional learning is
implemented in her curriculum:
“I think it's definitely understanding the child's, sometimes I call it, baggage that they come
with, as an individual, perfectionism, the inability to necessarily relate to other people's
needs and wants and being part of a group, "Where am I compared to other people?" and
how that affects you. As I said to the children, I say this often, "In PE, everybody can see
what you're doing, and so you tend to compare yourselves. Either you sometimes compare
yourself because you feel like you're better than everybody and you want to point that out,
but you don't think about how that might make other people feel."
So, this teacher’s emphasis was on the time and effort required to understand the child’s
challenges to fit in. Also, she notes the tension between competition and relationship, and how a
child may want to be accepted for being a stand out, but not ostracized for it. Therefore, a
consideration of others impacts how a student may choose to both relate to her peers and
progress.

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Shared discovery
TRS also emphasized collaborative learning processes as an integral part of their
pedagogy. This stems from their inherent belief in the value of the child, and that this value
should be utilized in the learning process. In this context, collaborative learning is one form of
their shared discovery as expressed by one teacher, “if you have somebody that's very
compassionate and a good teacher-leader kind of child, sometimes you can pair them up with
somebody who's struggling.” In this instance, the teacher understands that peer instruction
requires teacher participation. Pushing every student to instruct another counteracts the
welcoming objective, so they are intentional with offering an awareness of each student’s
abilities, and of freedom and opportunity for expression.
Students are not only encouraged to instruct their peers, but are comparably prompted to
participate in their own instruction:
“I think how you approach things with them, and I think asking them, what do you think? I
think that's an important piece. ‘What do you think about that work that you're doing right
now?’ Or asking them … Sometimes with handwriting I'll say, ‘will you do your own self-
evaluation?’”
So, the student is not only invited to participate in the learning process by choosing their
learning material, but they are also encouraged to self-evaluate. This is evident throughout all
grades, and is an integral component of their curricula due to this being a part of their core tenets,
one of which is: “To be willing to allow children to participate in the shaping of their own destiny
and to consciously prepare them for it.”
In addition to participatory instruction, TPS creates a non-competitive learning
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environment that can be described as cooperative learning. While this is an aspect of
individualized instruction, it further acknowledges that the unique learning profile of each child
invites cooperation over competition. Rather than forcing a child to learn a subject in a
particular way and according to a preset pace, the teacher “cooperates” with the natural learning
preferences of the child.
This cooperation is demonstrated by an intention to avoid unnecessary comparisons
between students based on their learning differences. A teacher stated, “they do have different
learning styles, and some are faster, and some work more slowly and some need a little more and
one concept, and another child might need in another concept, so we also try to tell the kids, we
don't compare between one another that way.” Therefore, the teachers see multiple paths to an
academic destination, and honor the chosen path of the child, modifying their approach
according to the student’s pace and preference. This is also cooperative engagement is also
encouraged between the students: “We lift each other up, we help each other, and everyone's in
the just right place for them. We start that from the first day of school, so there isn't that
competition than comparing, but really just helping one another.” By establishing a cultural
expectation of cooperation and support between student early on, individual differences are
appreciated as students take different paths toward shared goals. One teacher elaborated on the
core aspect of this approach to cooperative learning:
“... I think you're either a teacher of a subject matter or you're a teacher of a child. That's
just my ... I mean, obviously, there's some room, but I really truly believe that. There are
people that wanna teach a subject matter, "I'm passionate about history. We're gonna learn
about history," but it's not about them teaching a person, or a group of people, and having
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kids learn to become part of a group that works cooperatively, and learning how their
behaviors and how their actions impact other people.”
Therefore, in this model a teacher puts the child before the subject matter. This fundamental
decision allows teachers to establish an atmosphere of cooperation with their students that
stimulates inter-student cooperation y simply putting people before their educational program.
Community Emphasis
Comprehensive implementation
The emphasis on community is comprehensive throughout TRS. This is most evident in
the efforts made to include the parent community in all aspects of academic life. One challenge
has been the demand for strong test scores by parents. Since Roeper approaches academic
performance through an SEL lens, parents must be educated on this approach since some may
view their pedagogy as too “soft”, and uncompetitive. Parent workshops, evening classes,
community activities, and educational events are held throughout the year to equip parents with
the understanding of their counterintuitive approach. Although Roeper does not “teach to the
test”, their test scores are significantly higher than the surrounding suburban schools. Parents are
informed that the socio-emotional learning approach develops the child in a rich and complex
learning environment that fortifies student cognition in ways that are measured both in
standardized tests and real world performance. This has helped ultracompetitive parents
understand the value of art, music and drama classes, and how they contribute to their child’s
cognitive development. A teacher added, “So we emphasize it with the parents that to social and
emotional learning is part of their overall development as a child and human being in this world.
It can be sometimes, I mean, even at Roeper, people choose this school often because of the
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philosophy, so they buy in, and they trust it.” The teachers understand that buy in by the parents
is essential to the school’s success. One of the teachers who had been at Roeper for more than
30 years commented, “I think in the past, a lot of times, the families we would get were here
more for our humanistic philosophy. I think sometimes, in recent past, we get people who are
here more because of academic concerns or concerns they've had about their kids at other
schools.” The teachers then acknowledge a changing environment where parents just want there
students to score as high as possible so that they may gain entrance into an elite college upon
graduation. This has presented a challenge to the teachers, because in their decades of
experience, they have discovered that emphasizing the human being before academic results in
superior academic performance over time, yet parent who are new to the school may not see this
within a 2-3 year window. Essentially, the teachers value the dialogue with parents through
ongoing engagement, listening to them, and including them in the process. Over time, the
parents realize that the interactions they are having with the teacher is the same as what their
child is experiencing in the classroom. This results in an accelerated appreciation of their SEL
approach.
Relational education (social relationships, listening, modeling)
Relationships between students, teachers, parents and administrators serve as the backbone
of the educational community. This is established through both listening and modeling. Great
care is taken by both teachers and administrators to provide forums for parents to express their
ideas, questions and concerns. Such gatherings are usually held 3 times per year, and are
considered to be valuable opportunities to improve the school.

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Maintaining SEL Mission
Value-centric commitment to SEL
As more parents become singularly focused on the academic performance of their children,
TRS has increased their emphasis on SEL by focusing on values that they believe transcend
change. In this way, the teachers at Roeper believe that they can maintain a long term
commitment to SEL. One teacher commented, “I think they will never be happy and content and
grounded at school if they don't trust their teachers and know that we love them.” Trust is then a
long range commitment. The teachers understand that establishing this trust can be a difficult
process, but the long term rewards are worth the effort.
Authenticity also served as a transcendent value. Teachers were intentional about sharing
what they didn’t know as much as what they knew, and this laid the foundation for the afore
mentioned participatory instruction and shared discovery experiences. “I'll tell them when I don't
know an answer too and we'll look it up together” stated one teacher. The student in this
experience is not only finding the answer to a question, but learning the value of transparency as
well as enjoying the process of discovery with a friend.
Conflict resolution is also a value that TRS emphasizes. While teachers may directly
instruct students to find peaceful resolutions to their problems, this is most often modeled by the
teachers themselves. “"Empathy, to me, is a big thing. I understand you're upset, but let's try to
figure out a solution." Stated one teacher in response to a situation that upset a student. The two
were then able to resolve the situation together, but this was prompted by the teacher’s initial
empathy which the children notice and eventually integrate into their own approaches to conflict
resolution.
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Historical anchors
SEL at Roeper has also survived changing times by keeping their teachers for many years.
Several teachers had been at TRS for more than 25 years, and spoke of the ground laid by the
original founders. They would often speak of the founder Annamarie Roeper, and her
commitment to a student being able to voice her opinions. One teacher who had been at Roeper
for more than 35 years came to Roeper because of an experience she had as a child where she
was discouraged from sharing her opinions:
“She wasn't very kind. And if you would ask her … She used to say, don't ask any
questions. If you ask any questions I'm going to throw your paper away. And if I asked her
a question she would … All I wanted was reassurance that I was doing what I was
supposed to be doing and a couple of times she just threw my paper away. And then I
would cry and she'd go, don't cry.
This teacher went on to say that she only wanted to get reassurance from her teacher that
she was doing things correctly. She remembers this clearly today, and said that this inspired her
to teach children in a way that would always recognize their voice. Therefore, trust,
transparency and a deep commitment to SEL in the teachers has allowed SEL paradigms to
develop at Roeper over many decades.
Confidence as the Central Goal
Self-efficacy
Of all the paradigms mentioned, confidence building has emerged as the most central goal
of Roeper pedagogy. This is clearly stated in their statement of purpose, and was integral to all
interviews and observations. The encouragement for students to believe in themselves flowed
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naturally and never seemed contrived. When observing the P.E. Class, students were learning
how to hula-hoop. The teacher later commented on a typical interaction she had with her
students,” "Do I make this look easy?" They're like, "Yeah." I say, "Well, I've been doing this for
60 years." They're like, "Whoa." This extra effort to dissuade fear of failure and inspire children
to experiment was pervasive. The art teacher stated, “: I think, even for kids, I think art can also
be, if someone is struggling emotionally, art can be that vehicle for them. I think, you know, art
is one of those things that just is something that can make a child just feel more confident. I think
it can be super important.” Physical education was being used to help children experiment,
overcome fear, and gain confidence, and art was being used similarly, but in the form of healing
through expression. Two entirely different paths to the same goal of a self-efficacy generating
confidence. As stated in the Roeper philosophy statement:
“It requires extraordinary teachers who understand that children learn better when they want to
know; teachers who empower and encourage each child to be adventurous, to take risks and not
to fear failure.”
Creativity
The Roeper School is very intentional with their integration of the creative arts in their
overall SEL based pedagogy. Two of the interviewed instructors were creative arts instructors.
The art teacher had been at Roeper for more than 30 years and exuded the school’s commitment
to equity, diversity, community, emotional awareness and creative expression. For example, she
had developed a curriculum based on cartooning that also empowered girls. Students made their
own superhero comic books, were instructed on how to authentically create through this artform,
but most importantly, the girls were encouraged to make the superhero like them. This resulted
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in students viewing themselves as super, which through artistic expression also supported gender
empowerment. Moreover, the artists studied were largely female, which provided additional
liberty for gender equity. The teacher who is a Caucasian female commented on her passion for
integrating diversity in her curriculum, “I feel that it is something, also, that we try to build in as
part of our curriculum here, … I try to be very conscious of not just having old white men, you
know? Van Gogh, and Rembrandt, and Cezanne, and Picasso were wonderful artists, but there's
so many other artists that people are unaware of.” The dance teacher was also intentional in her
use of physical expression as a vehicle for social and emotional learning.
Survey Results
After the observations, interviews and document collection were performed and analyzed,
a survey was designed to further clarify both pedagogical nuance and optimal performance
characteristics of RSEL. A 21 question survey was designed and distributed via Qualtrics, and
the associated descriptive statistics were calculated. The entire survey questions with responses
in either graphic or tabular format can be found in Appendix C. The response rate was 100%,
and data with the most prominent trends are shown below.
General stakeholder group demographics
The nine teachers who were interviewed for this study were comprised of both senior and
newer teachers for a balanced response. This is demonstrated in the below survey response.
In the following figure, the nine participants were polled for the years of experience at
TRS. This graph shows that 5 of the nine teachers have worked at the school for more than 26
years, with 2 having been at TRS for more than 36 years. Four of the nine have worked for less
than 5 years with 2 having worked for less than five years.
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Figure 8
Figure 8. Participant longevity at the Roeper School

Due to the extensive tenure among many teachers in the lower school, the participants
were polled to determine the primary reasons governing their decision to stay at Roeper for so
long. The results are shown below.
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Figure 9
Figure 9. Causes for teacher longevity.

As can be seen, teacher compensation was not a driver for longevity, although there were
no complaints about this during the interviews. The data suggest that the teachers were most
interested in helping children in their social development, and they were second most interested
in the freedom and autonomy the school gives them to choose how to best meet the needs of the
children. The importance of autonomy was clear in the interview analysis, but the even greater
preference for helping children was a new discovery.
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Characteristics of Confidence and Academic Performance
Qualitative analysis reveled that RSEL is designed to lead a child to confidence
through a directed passion for learning. It was still unclear how this confidence translated to
academic performance if at all. The following survey items addressed this questions.

Figure 10
Fig. 10. Confidence level and improved academic performance

The teachers clearly felt that confidence is translated into improved academic
performance through an increase in motivation to learn. This supports a self-efficacy basis of
learning that leverages motivation for improved engagement.
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Figure 11
Figure 11. RSEL drivers of academic performance are compared.

Although confidence building emerged as the clear objective in RSEL pedagogy, the
teachers viewed the development of a love of learning in the children to be the most important
SEL characteristic that leads to improved academic performance. Taken together with the
interview data, one can conclude that a love of learning is the SEL component that most readily
leads to confidence.
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Figure 12

Figure 12. Importance of social and emotional learning for academic performance

Table 11
Descriptive statistics for importance of social and emotional learning for academic performance

Query Minimum Maximum Mean
Std
Deviation
Variance Count

How important is social and
emotional learning in your
classroom for a student's optimal
academic performance? (choose
1-10 with 10 being the highest)
8.00 10.00 9.56 0.68 0.47 9
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Of all of the queries, this had the most unified response. All but one respondent
thought that on a scale of 1 to 10 SEL had an importance of 10 for optimal academic
performance. The sole outlier reported a score of 8.

Figure 13
Fig. 13 Impact of Confidence on academic performance

Interview analysis indicated a strong relationship between confidence and academic
performance, so this follow up question was submitted to the faculty for confirmation. On a scale
of 1 to 10, five of 9 participants felt that confidence contributed to academic performance on a
level of 10.

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Contribution of Sub-themes
Qualitative analysis revealed that RSEL is designed to lead a child to confidence
through a directed passion for learning. It was still unclear how this confidence translated to
academic performance if at all. The following survey items addressed this question.

Figure 14
Fig. 14 RSEL Subthemes that translate equity to Child-Centeredness
Qualitative analysis revealed a relationship between the RSEL emphasis on equitable
education and child-centeredness, but the exact connection was unclear. The survey response
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revealed that an appreciation of a plurality of paths was the bridge between these two major
themes.

Figure 15
Fig. 15 RSEL Sub-theme ease of implementation for Child-Centeredness
It is helpful to know which sub-themes of a given primary theme leads to easiest
implementation. According to the survey, creating a welcoming environment is the easiest way
to begin to build a child-centered classroom. It should be noted that although teaching
compassion was listed as the most difficult, it was also revealed to be among the most important
sub-themes in other survey results.

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Figure 16

Fig. 16 RSEL Sub-theme ease of implementation for Emotional Awareness
The data suggest that directed play is the easiest way to begin to develop emotional
awareness in children. Participatory learning was also noted as a useful sub-theme focus toward
developing the form of EI.

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Figure 17

Fig. 17 RSEL Sub-theme ease of implementation for Equity
The teachers felt that the most direct path toward developing equity in the classroom ws
accepting people for who they are. This is not to say that developing such acceptance is easy,
but that it was deemed easier than appreciation of others. The implication is that we can teach
children to accept people for their differences regardless of how we may feel about them.

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Figure 18
Fig. 18 RSEL Passion sub-themes ranked by importance
Passion was a pervasive thematic influence in Roeper pedagogy. While each sub-theme
is of great importance, developing a love of learning in children emerged as the most important
sub-theme. This aligns with other data that suggest this sub-theme to be a primary influencer of
confidence building.

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Figure 19

Fig. 19 RSEL Passion sub-themes ranked by importance
Interestingly, the love of teaching children is revealed to not only be the most important
Passion theme influencer, but among the easiest overall RSEL thematic component to
implement. The implication is that developing a love of learning in children is the optimal first
step in RSEL implementation.

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Optimization
The qualitative and quantitative data were integrated to generate a map of sub- themes
based on both their deemed importance and ease of implementation. The data were processed on
the D’wave 2000 QA computer on Vancouver BC. The optimal combination as given by the
calculation is as follows:
Table 12.
Optimal implementation order of RSEL sub-themes
Sub theme Theme Optimal order
Love of Learning in Children Passion 1
Authentic Compassion Passion 2
Appreciation of the Individual Equity 3
Relational Education Community 4
Equitable Education Equity 5
Welcoming Environment Child Centered 6
Play and Kinesthetic Learning Emotional Awareness 7
Participatory Instruction Emotional Awareness 8
Acceptance Equity 9
Love of Children Passion 10
Love of Teaching Passion 11
Shared Discovery Child Centered 12
Self-efficacy Confidence 13
Comprehensive implementation Community 14
Relational Demonstration Passion 15
Relaxed Culture Child Centered 16
Emotional Awareness Emotional Awareness 17
Valuing Independence Equity 19
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Creativity Confidence 19
Value-centric SEL Maintaining 20
Historical Anchors Maintaining 21

Note that the practical application of this list should serve as a guide to ensure that an
optimal path toward confidence building is taken. Each sequential subtheme represents varied
themes signifying a multi-thematic approach on a weekly basis. Weekly lesson plans can be
designed so that each sub-theme is addressed over a specified period. It should also be noted that
the QA computer gives a set of multiple answers, and the one above was chosen based on
alignment with qualitative results.
Discussion
The Roeper school study utilized qualitative and qualitative analysis to uncover seven
major themes that govern their pedagogy. These themes have parallels in other educational
methodologies including Quaker education, Finnish education, higher performing school best
practices and modern SEL implementation. Closer inspection however, reveals a unique
approach to their implementation of these themes, and the data support their contribution to the
school’s high performance
Pedagogical themes
A consistent theme evident in both the interviews and survey data is that these teachers
love children. One might assume that this is to be expected of any teacher, but their passion ofr
children and their development was deeper than what is commonly observed. Their love of
children was familial. Teachers who had worked at the school for more than 30 years would be
welcomed by continual visits from children they taught decades ago as though it were a family
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reunion. So while many teachers may very well like what they do, these teachers deeply love
what they do and the human beings they were privileged to help develop.
Passion. This love of children was specifically expressed by an inherent love of a socio-
emotional approach to instruction. When interviewed, teachers commonly conveyed episodes in
their upbringing that inspired them to create an environment for children to learn in an SEL
framework. This leads to our first key discovery that is unique from the afore mentioned
comparable programs. The Roeper School is intentional in identifying teachers who already are
SEL teachers. The administration knew which questions to pose in the interview process that
would most readily identify a teacher with a high proclivity to SEL. While aspects of SEL are
taught through professional development and ongoing educational activities for the educational
community, most of the learning takes place through the ongoing interaction between teachers
who come with strength in a specific area of SEL.
Quaker schools work on making SEL teachers, and most schools attempting to replicate
high performing school methodologies focus on professional development, but only the Finnish
and Roeper schools have decided that the best SEL teachers are born rather than made. Principal
of Espoo school in Helsinki stated in a separate interview that her administration had developed
a list of questions specifically designed to identify a teacher who naturally fits into their system
which is highly socio-emotional in nature. TRS does and has been doing the same for many
decades. Therefore, the identification of teachers with a natural proclivity for Roeper’s version
of SEL is paramount to their success. This includes an embodiment of their core tenets which
are expounded in detail in Appendix -. Briefly, Independent thought is foundational to their
pedagogy. They seek to help the child discover her own voice and build trust in the strength and
value of her own opinions. This naturally serves TRS’ additional commitments to equity and
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non-hierarchy and individualized instruction. Therefore, Roeper intentionally identifies teachers
who are deeply passionate about developing the unique personality of each child and celebrating
the resulting diversity.
Community. Secondly, this passion for the individual child penetrates all aspects of
their society through community. In many high-performing schools, parental engagement was
found to be a significant contributor to the academic success of the child. Roeper is certainly
high on parental involvement, but again, it is how they involve their parents that sets them apart.
Usually, parental participation involves attendance at events and participation in annual giving
and fundraisers. At TRS, parents become students. The school is continually learning about
who they are as a school, and as they refine their educational philosophy, parents are part of an
ongoing adult education program. Experts are brought in to teach the parents and the sessions
are well attended. Meetings are held on their core values of diversity, independence, creative
expression and the like. This roughly compares to the Finnish approach in that Finland is always
studying to identify the most effective educational methodologies available, then carefully
integrate them in a way that is readily assimilated by their society. TRS goes a step further by
making experts out of their parents. Now they are even more eager to participate and serve since
they know they are exercising a rare skill in a worthy environ.
This engagement through education approach then serves as a conduit of the school’s
passion through all aspects of their educational society. Teachers learn from teachers, parents
learn from parents, and children learn from both. The greatest learning is not then the core
academic curriculum, but the kind of person that child will become and how he will be a service
to humanity. Once the greatness of purpose is identified, the purpose of academic learning is
greatly amplified which leads to stronger student engagement with the curriculum.
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Values. Roeper’s approach to teacher hiring and community building are unique, but
their emphasis on values is no exception. Values based education has declined due to criticisms
that values are varied, and therefore cannot offer an objective pedagogical approach. For
example, a sectarian school may consider the study of religious history the most important
subject matter, but a non- sectarian school might not give this great importance, yet both can
consider themselves to be value based. Roeper has addressed this issue in a way that in
retrospect should seem obvious. There should really be no disagreement over whether a school
is or is not value based. All that should matter is whether they adhere to the values they claim.
With this in mind, what matters here is not whether Roeper is a values-based school, but the
specific values they have chosen to uphold.
Roeper has emphasized a set of values that are both broad and specific to their mission.
The broad values serve to transcend race, religion, gender, geography and socioeconomic status.
The broad set is trust and transparency. Most everyone can understand and appreciate the
inherent value of raising children who are honest and trustworthy. Their application of these
broad values however, are unique to the institution. Trustworthiness is developed in the child by
the teacher earning the child’s trust over time. In this model, teachers committed to trust build
relationships that later reap rewards in connecting with their students. The trust is built through
consistent teacher transparency. Children are very sensitive to authenticity, and when they detect
this in a teacher they usually become more accessible. Therefore, TRS applies teacher
transparency as a vehicle for trust building in the student, which later serves to strengthen the
student teacher bond. This transparency is established by the teacher often saying that she
doesn’t know the answer to a question, but will then lead the student on a path to independent
discovery. This not only teaches the student how to gain his own understanding, but builds trust
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that the teacher will not be quick to tell the student what and how to think. These two values then
serve as a common foundation upon which the community specific values are built.
Equity. Roeper’s specific values are human rights, non-hierarchical administration,
service to others and celebration of the individual. It is a philosophy that students are
encouraged to apply throughout their lives. Their application of human rights is deeper than a
diversity course. Their statement of philosophy explains that their commitment to human rights
extends beyond theory into daily living, and that education of all humans is one of those rights.
The leadership structure of the community must reflect this universal respect for the value of the
individual, so parents are empowered members of the educational community, and their flat
leadership structure integrates dialogue on multiple levels in the decision-making process. Their
implementation of equity is therefore deeply embedded in their core philosophy and societal
structure.
This type of equity has some parallels with Finnish education. Some balk at the Finn’s
seemingly socialistic approach to education where no one can be a hero. The perception is that
since everyone must be roughly the same, exceptional performance is suppressed. While this
may to an extent be true in Finland, TRS has taken a slightly different approach to equity. Here,
the equity is expressed through an appreciation of student diversity. This is not limited to racial
diversity, and extends to diversity in talents, learning, personality and culture. As a result,
teachers at Roeper equally support all students at a high level, and encourage them to advance at
their own pace without limitation so that they can discover their own genius and make their own
unique contribution to the world. Essentially, everyone is a hero.
Emotional Awareness. Emotional awareness is a key component of emotional
intelligence, and is often highlighted in modern SEL implementations. Some view the very idea
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of emotional intelligence with guarded skepticism. “is that not oxymoronic?”, or “why would a
highly emotional person be inherently intelligent?” Such commentary underscores the many
misunderstandings of emotional intelligence. An emotionally intelligent person possesses
emotional awareness, which is a higher cognitive function that translates complex emotional
perceptions into concrete decision making and information processing. As touched upon in the
literature review, the frontal lobe is arguably the most advanced cognitive center of the human
brain. The areas that process rote language and mathematics represent but a swath of area in the
parietal and temporal lobes, but the frontal lobe is the seat of the most advance forms of
cognition including imagination, creativity, management, socialization, and restraint. It is how
we put aside base instincts to pursue higher ideals, and how we process the complexities of
social interaction for societal contribution and personal advancement. As human beings split
from their common primate progenitor of both us and apes, the frontal lobe saw the greatest
degree of expansion enlarging nearly six-fold according to some accounts . Thus, the frontal
lobe is the greatest cerebral contributor to human character, personality and cognitive
distinctiveness from our primate cousins. Most interesting is the fact that the frontal lobe has the
most cortical interfaces with the emotional centers of the brain. It is here that meaning is made
from feelings, then passed on to other parts of the brain for further processing. Therefore, a
person of high emotional intelligence is not a highly emotional person, but one whose frontal
lobe can process these emotions in a highly sophisticated manner before giving directive for
execution in other brain regions.
Roeper has a strong commitment to compassion, but are also aware that this
exercise is in many ways self-serving. As compassion is developed into a personality
characteristic in children, they advance their ability to process complex emotions in themselves
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and in others that then govern optimal decision making. This emotional awareness serves as a
doorway into situational insight, providing a deeper understanding of context and purpose for
effective problem solving. Emotional intelligence at Roeper is therefore a type of emotional
awareness that enhances the effectiveness of traditional cognition.
Child centeredness. Just as love, community values, equity and emotion have their
unique applications at TRS, child centered education continues with this theme. Roeper teachers
considered child centered education to be among the most desirable SEL paradigms to pursue,
but also the most challenging to implement. For the instructor, this inherently means more work,
as the curriculum is not only tailored to the individual, but to the unique complexion of each
class. The added temporal, emotional and economic expense of creating varied educational
programs for each class and child is likely the biggest deterrent to implementing this paradigm.
Additionally, individualized instruction is presently being discouraged due to recent
research on it’s effectiveness. John Hattie has created what is now known as the Hattie “effect
size”, and it has taken the field of high performing education by storm. Essentially, test scores of
a population that generate a normal distribution curve are compared before and after a specific
intervention is implemented. The difference between the means is divided by the standard error
to give the “effect size”. Hattie observed that the average effect size for a class that has
advanced a grade is .4, so he then postulated that an intervention generating an effect size greater
than .4 is positively impacting the academic performance of the student, and those with a lower
effect size do not. Hattie has compiled the effect sizes of more than 250 education influencers,
and educators have been readily eliminating strategies with proven real-world effectiveness.
Mckinsey and Company studied high performing locales and concluded that parent involvement,
individualized instruction and self-regulation (similar to EI) were among the highest contributors
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to school success, yet Hattie has calculated an effect size of less than .4 for all three. Where then
is the discrepancy?
The Hattie effect is a useful example of the need for qualitative research to balance
quantitative results. When the Hattie effect is calculated, test scores of two populations are used
to compile their distribution curves. The larger the number of test scores, the lower potential
error, and the more reliable the result. However, these are either school wide or district wide
data sets, so there is tremendous variation in the population content due to age differences,
economic backgrounds and so forth. This results in significant intra-school variability to which
Hattie concedes. Many would now say, “well that’s easy to fix”, and simply track the scores of a
single fourth grade class as they advance to fifth grade. You’ve now tracked the same students,
and they are also similar in age, but a new problem is introduced. The sample size is drastically
reduced which now inflates the error to its original state. The problem then, is the absence of
any real solution for reducing intra-school variability to an acceptable level, and this does not
even consider the fact that with so many influencing factors present in any classroom, isolating
one as an independent variable is difficult.
Most educators will simply look at a number and assume that it is associated with a grade
– they are used to doing that. In reality, there are many ways to produce these numbers
depending on the way the experiment is performed. For this reason, consider looking at the
Hattie effect as a call to reexamine how selected strategies are implemented, and choose to
balance statistical analyses with real world performance.
Roeper’s implementation of child centeredness includes individualized instruction, but is
broader in scope. The teachers at Roeper go a step further, and put the needs of the child before
their curriculum. This contrasts with traditional individualized instruction that segregates
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students into aptitude levels or gives advanced students study projects. It is more of a concept
that the teacher is there to teach the child rather than teach a subject. One teacher elaborated as
follows:
“ I also hope that we continue to hire teachers who already have that as part of
who they are, 'cause I don't think that's something you necessarily ... I think you're either a
teacher of a subject matter or you're a teacher of a child. That's just my ... I mean,
obviously, there's some room, but I really truly believe that. There are people that wanna
teach a subject matter, "I'm passionate about history. We're gonna learn about history," but
it's not about them teaching a person, or a group of people, and having kids learn to
become part of a group that works cooperatively, and learning how their behaviors and
how their actions impact other people.”
Another teacher added that she individualizes her instruction by giving children options.
Rather than predetermining their aptitude, she allows the child to choose. She believes that the
child will always make the choice that makes him feel more confident, and that this in turn leads
to optimal advancement. Putting the child before subject matter and creating a choice based
curriculum is hard work, but the teachers believe it is worth it.
Confidence. Both the interview and survey data support confidence building as being
their goal in instruction. Intertwined is an objective to develop a love of learning in the children.
TRS’ model of confidence building is connected to the first theme of love. It begins with the
teacher’s love of children, and ends with the child’s love of learning. They see love and fear as
antagonists, so a growing joy of learning assists students in overcoming apprehension to new
subject material. One avenue used to engage students was identifying and teaching to their
learning styles. One teacher mentioned that this was used to increase students’ motivation and
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confidence. When asked why she uses learning styles she responded, “I think it helps them feel
more confident and successful.”
Learning styles are implemented at TRS in the form of multiple intelligences theory (MI).
The originator of MI Howard Gardner, has gone to great lengths at distancing his work from
Learning Styles. He emphasizes that MI acknowledges a variety of ways that people think, but
that this is not necessarily the way they learn. He further explains that the way information
reaches the brain is different than the circuits that process that information, and that “styles”
should be dropped from the “learning styles” approach since learning pathways are not really
styles. I did not find his argument to be compelling. Those who say that a student is a visual or
auditory learner are in no way implying that something in their eyes or ears makes them learn
better. They are saying that something in their mind gravitates toward information presented in
their preferred format. It appears to me that Gardner is attempting to distance himself from
Learning Styles because several studies show little to no gain in academic performance by
teaching through a student’s preferred learning style.
Again, we are presented with apparently conflicting evidence. Teachers claim
advantages to individualizing instruction according to a student’s preferred mode of engagement,
yet studies say otherwise. As with effect size, the details of these studies should be examined
before dismissing this approach. In every study, the approach was the same. After pretesting a
student for their preferred learning style, an instructor would for example, teach a student the
planets. The student would learn the planets by reading them in order on paper, by listening and
writing them down, and by examining a 3 dimensional mobile of the solar system. In all
instances, there was no statistical difference in their learning. This approach has been tested
many times with the same results. Surprisingly, none of the researchers considered the
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underlying cause of the performance gains claimed by the teachers. The teacher quoted above
was clear that teaching according to a child’s preferred modality increased motivation and
confidence. This would not be detected in a two hour sit-down exercise. Confidence and
motivation are the drivers of long-term perseverance and ongoing engagement. Despite some
disagreements on Learning Styles, researchers are in agreement that motivation can increase
academic performance by up to 50 percent, so according to the Roeper teachers, understanding a
child’s preferred mode of learning is the initial step on the road to confidence building.
Practically speaking, the teachers at Roeper saw no real difference between MI and LS
from a didactic perspective. Given that nearly every child will gravitate to a mode of learning
that aligns with their MI composite, it should come as no surprise that a person with strong
verbal-linguistic MI also tends to prefer learning through auditory communication, and a child
with strong visual/spatial MI prefers to learn visually. Yes, the biological processing of the MI is
different than the biological pathway of the LS, but for teaching and learning purposes, they
there is little if any practical difference.

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THE ROEPER SEL MODEL (RSEL)

Figure 20
Figure 20. Roeper model of SEL
In the above diagram, the Roeper educational model, or Roeper SEL (RSEL) is depicted as a
series of concentric circles translate love through a value-based community that build confidence
in the child. Confidence promotes the self-efficacy required to maximize academic performance
in the student.

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Passion is a large outermost circle that contains all other components and permeates
through them. Confidence is the target circle which surrounds the centermost circle representing
its support for academic performance. Emotional awareness has a unique role in this model.
This is the vehicle that translates love into confidence. Emotional awareness is what allows
others to understand their value and the value of others in a community which would necessarily
transcend both community and equity. Emotional awareness also reaches individuals in both
directions. The teachers sees the unique needs of the student, and each student sees the unique
needs of all others in the educational community. Also, the specific form of emotional awareness
is value-centric. When the two are combined, the translation of love into confidence is
actualized. In the above graphic, the entire educational model is depicted as a series of concentric
circles representing the interconnectedness of each RSEL paradigm.

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CHAPTER FIVE:
RECOMMENDATIONS, IMPLEMENTATION AND EVALUATION

In order to implement the Roeper model of SEL or, RSEL, the principles that govern a
successful implementation of their model must be translated into the culture of the target
educational society. For this reason, the concentric RSEL model will be revisited here with
additional information that is stated as guidelines rather than concrete directives. The school
administrator must decide how to translate these principles into her own locale.
Implementation Principles
Passion/Love foundation. RSEL is fundamentally founded on a type of love that is
expressed in a very specific form and is action based. Often love is viewed as overly affective or
a subjective state that cannot objectively be translated into a transferrable practice. In the case of
Roeper however, there may be some lessons to be learned here. First, the survey data clearly
showed that the teachers believed that having a love for teaching was indispensable for their
work. They also believed that developing a love of learning in the child was the most important
work, since this is what most readily generated confidence in the child. So, in this model, there
are very specific objectives at the first stage of implementation. Beyond hiring teachers that
already love children, administrator can make developing a love of learning in the child their first
priority. This may be addressed by investing in team teachers as budgetary constraints allow,
establishing small group interaction between teacher and children, and creating open ended
exercises that are exploratory where the teacher shares in the journey with them. This establishes
a framework for bonding during the discovery process.
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Community and values. Even though the RSEL model shows the steps from love to
confidence, it does not explain how to get there. For this reason, the survey was designed to help
uncover this information. The teachers were asked which SEL factors most contributed to
translating community into their school values. The two most prominent responses were school
activities that allow students to exercise their values, and a non-hierarchical emphasis. This
gives insight for transferring their approach to another school. While a school may have
different values than Roeper, activities designed to emphasize those values helped to instill them.
Also, giving students leadership roles, helped to engage them.
Values and equity. The movement from trust to equity required both to be valued by the
society. Trust is one of the school’s primary values, as is equity particularly in the form of
human rights. Their primary action step for this movement was to “trust in the effectiveness of
diverse collaboration.” So the key was a trust not only in one’s own voice, but the voices of
others, and the belief that an inclusion of varied voices will lead to richer decision making in the
long term.
Equity and child-centeredness. According to the survey, school equity was translated
into child centeredness through “an appreciation of a plurality of paths to academic success.”
This made sense since equitable education is required before budgets, staffing and resources are
adjusted to be more child-centric. The appreciation of these multiple paths seemed to come from
teachers believing that they were firs there to teach the child and secondly there to teach a
subject. This can be encouraged by administrators.
Child-centeredness and confidence. Finally, child centeredness created confidence
primarily through a student “learning to trust in his voice.” This was accomplished by giving
children options, giving them a choice. As the child became more comfortable in trusting the
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value of their own decision making, their confidence grew likewise. Nearly every teacher
followed up in the survey agreeing that confidence stimulated an improvement in academic
performance by increasing motivation. By implementing the above steps in moving from love to
academic performance, successful implementation of RSEL is optimized.
Implementation Steps
Implementation of social and emotional learning programs is in many instances the
critical step to program success, and RSEL is no exception. As Sabina Low states, “The current
knowledge of the active ingredients of SEL programming is lacking, and there is a need to move
from a focus on “whether” implementation matters to “what” aspects of implementation
matter”(Low, Smolkowski, & Cook, 2016). To this end, a sample three phase RSEL
implementation plan that specifies which paradigm sub-themes are optimal for each stage is
presented.
Implementing the Roeper SEL Paradigm requires an understanding of the optimal
sequence of theme and sub-theme execution, appropriate activities that promote RSEL, methods
to most effectively provide focus on RSEL sub-themes, and methods of providing the necessary
focus and differentiation that brings clarity to the program. One generally accepted format for
socioemotional learning program implementation is known as SAFE, an acronym for an
effective SEL implementation framework. SAFE stands for Sequenced, Active, Focused and
Explicit, and is a useful format for all SEL implementation. For the RSEL, a SAFE based
implementation is now presented.

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Sequenced
As addressed in chapter 2, implementation of RSEL in an optimal sequence is important
to the program’s success. Each of the seven RSEL themes may be implemented over the first six
months of implementation, but each of these themes are composed of sub-themes which vary in
difficulty of implementation. Additionally, some aspects of the Roeper SEL paradigm may be
more impactful, and therefore require greater attention. The first phase of implementation is
therefore designed to combine the most “important” aspects of RSEL with those that can be most
easily implemented.
Parts two and three of the survey were designed with this end in mind. The stakeholder
group was asked about the importance and ease of implementation of all RSEL themes and sub
themes. From this, it is possible to deduce a basic phase one implementation sequence. This
first takes the most important components, then organizes them according to ease of
implementation. In this way, principals who choose to implement RSEL can have the best
opportunity to see early results.
As the educational community adjusts to the implementation of this new educational
paradigm, phase two can be implemented. There is no specific time frame for moving from one
phase to another, but it is important that it is done at a time that is natural for the community.
They will know when they are comfortable with the first transition and are ready for more.
Developing a love of learning, and teaching compassion were deemed among the most important
sub-themes of RSEL, and were also relatively easy to implement. On the other hand,
confidence building and community building were viewed as very important, yet were among the
most difficult to implement. This means that confidence and community building should be
addressed over a longer time span through smaller and more manageable steps. Since the Roeper
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SEL concentric model shows the steps to confidence building and the survey results show the
linkages between the steps, the following multi-phase implementation plan emerges, placing the
easiest and most important sub-themes early, and spreading the most difficult ones over time.
Implementation steps for efficient RSEL sequencing:
o Emphasize developing a love of learning in children early on.
o Express authentic compassion to the children and teach them to do the same.
o Spread confidence building over longer time spans
o Present community building as an ongoing exercise
Active
Whether in physical education or regular classroom activity, SEL was inherent in nearly
every aspect of school culture. Play and Kinesthetic learning was considered to be among the
easiest sub-themes to implement, and was well integrated throughout a broad range of classroom
lessons and activities. They key to the effective implementation of play in the RSEL method
was freedom of choice. Students would for example be given some items and allowed to
combine them in the way they saw fit toward a specific goal. In this sense, the instructor was
more of a facilitator of the child’s creative development and confidence building.
Instructors also noted that although directed play is easy to implement, it requires
patience to see the desired result. Several teachers noted that they did not witness the desired
level of self-efficacy until the student moved on to another grade. It is therefore essential to
understand that integrating freedom of choice with well designed directed play is a confidence
building exercise that often reaps rewards at later stages of development.
Steps for active RSEL implementation:
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o Employ directed Play as a means encourage confidence building
o Invite students to participate in their own learning
o Encourage children to be peer instructors
o Present opportunities for creative problem solving
Focused
An interesting observation of RSEL implementation is the lack of programmatic focus in
the classic sense. There were no SEL posters with phrases to memorize, or multi-stage manuals
to get new teachers up to speed. Interestingly, RSEL was a cultural phenomenon at the school
that permeated everything they did. This ironically means that they were indeed focused in that
they were very intentional about the cultural embodiment of RSEL.
This focus on cultural RSEL is expressed through community development. Children,
teachers and parents all participate in the growing community, becoming a living part of their
expanded family.
Steps for focused RSL cultural development:
o Focus on relational demonstration by exhibiting cultural values in all activities.
o Focus on creating intergenerational communities that value the individual
o Focus on creating a relaxed culture and welcoming environment

Explicit
Despite an intentional effort to make RSEL culturally pervasive, communicating their
philosophy and creating buy in is likewise intentional. Seminars are held throughout the year
that provide depth on their primary themes of equity, child centeredness and so forth. As parents
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and new teachers become part of a broader community, they learn RSEL the same way that the
children do – experientially. Although the explicit communication of RSEL takes time to
penetrate in this fashion, it appears to be the most effective means of perpetuating the schools
educational philosophy.
Steps for explicit RSEL pervasive communication:
o Hold seminars that reinforce RSEL values
o Create opportunities for the community to experience acceptance
o Highlight historical anchors to school philosophy to maintain values
o Seek to create buy-in with new parents through established families
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Figure 21
Fig. 21 Three phase implementation guide for Roeper Social Emotional Learning based on
SAFE implementation.

Recommendations

The following recommendations are distilled from the aspects of RSEL that will most
readily advance any current SEL educational program.
1. Selectively hire teachers with a passion for social and emotional based instruction.
a. Interviews revealed that the best SEL teachers were those with a passion for
loving and creating relationships with children prior to hire.
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b. This is best accomplished by developing a list of questions with the interview
committee that will ask them about their own childhood, what mattered to them in
school when they were young, and what they think is most important in the
classroom. Give them a conflict resolution scenario that will identify SEL
proclivities.
2. Provide freedom for teachers to create an optimal educational approach for each student
a. Train teachers on the seven steps of RSEL, and the linking activities that
optimally promote movement to confidence building.
b. Rather than requiring teachers to follow a daily step by step curriculum, provide
guidelines for them, and empower them to chart the best path for each child.
c. This will usually require a team teacher so that the class can be broken down into
small enough groups for effective individualized instruction to occur.
d. This in turn will likely require some hard budgeting decision, but team teachers
can be added gradually.
3. Develop an educational community that values student voice and encourages parent
education in the community’s professed values
a. The key difference in community building at TRS was ongoing “parent
development.” Beyond the parent university programs that some school employ,
TRS was intentional about teaching parents the value of their pedagogical
approach which expanded the educational community into the student’s homes.
Teaching parents the purpose of your school’s highest values expands your
community influence.
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b. Student voice is an essential part of their community, therefore students sit on
boards, are a part of high level policy making, and are encouraged to express their
opinions in forums. Scheduling events for student dialog, and placing students on
school boards are initial steps.
4. Integrate respect of multiple cognition forms in an emotional awareness framework.
a. This was observed at TRS as a strong emphasis on equity and diversity, but the
underlying driver was their emotional awareness and appreciation of diverse
forms of cognition. Diversity was not necessarily directed at race or gender, but a
deeper understanding of the value of diverse opinions and perspectives. This in
turn resulted in an increased appreciation of all individuals due to their inherently
unique world view.
b. In the RSEL concentric circle model both emotional awareness and equity
supported child centered learning. Putting the needs of the child before the need to
teach the curriculum is then another acknowledgment of a child’s unique
approach to learning.
5. Present child centered constructs for confidence building.
a. Consider MI and LS evaluations to determine a child’s preferred learning modality
b. Understand that results are usually observed over more than one year, so the exercise is
more about increasing self-efficacy than immediate results. A commitment to meeting
the child where he is and expanding his proximal learning zone was shown to be more
effective at TRS than simply moving on without him.

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Evaluation
In order to evaluate the effectiveness of an RSEL program three components of the
program must be addressed. First, the degree of improvement in SEL related skills must be
measured and assessed. Second, the impact of SEL on academic performance must also be
measured, typically through traditional means. Finally, the effectiveness of the transitional
program must be assessed by the teachers. In order to accomplish this, the well tried four level
evaluation model by Donald Kirkpatrick is used as a template. His standard system of program
evaluation can be adapted to a broad range of disciplines and is presented here as a framework
for RSEL assessment that packages all three of the afore mentioned components into a step by
step system of evaluation.
Level 1: Reaction
It is important to closely monitor the reaction of introducing the RSEL program into a
school. Change is always uncomfortable for some, but cultural change can be the most difficult
and disruptive. For this reason, it is important to gradually introduce this new educational
paradigm to both the teachers and community, and get as much buy in as possible before rapid
progression. A school year may begin with several in-services and seminars on the RSEL
model, the level linkages and the implementation phases. The parent community may likewise
be educated on a less technical level. The teacher in-service may culminate in a retreat with role-
play, and an expert guest.
Reaction assessment may therefore take place at the end of the initial training. Since
RSEL is a pervasive approach, it is recommended that parents be included in reaction
assessments. These an be done with follow-up gatherings or surveys.
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Level: 2 Learning
This level will be focused more on the teachers and students. Typically the principal or
assistant will meet with the teachers near the beginning of they year and let them know what they
will be looking for during observations. Several observations may take place during the first six
months, and the educational leader can assess the aptitude of the teachers in RSEL with a short
meeting. Since the goal of RSEL is increased academic performance, traditional achievement
measurements can be compared to previous year demographics so that any impact of RSEL on
academics can be charted.
Level 3: Behavior
Teacher observations over the second half of the year should now be focused on how
instructors are reacting to their experience with RSEL, which is now a behavioral assessment.
Are they enthusiastic about the program? Are they discovering new ways to implement learned
principles more effectively? Are they modifying the program to better meet the needs of their
students? This can be assessed through observation notes.
Level 4: Results
This is the culmination of the evaluation plan. Results are measured on several levels for
RSEL. Have graduation rates improved? Are there any noted improvements in test scores? Has
there been a decrease in student disciplinary issues? In many instances, these questions may not
be answered in the first year, but they need to be annually addressed so that multi-year trends can
be plotted. Students can also be assessed for any improvements in social and emotional aptitude
through the Devereux Student Strengths Assessment (DESSA) which is a popular web tool.
Although DESSA is aligned to the CASEL SEL model which differs from RSEL, there are
enough commonalities for the tool to be useful. Naturally, this can be a time consuming process,
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and more extensive result level assessments may be implemented at the end of a three year term.
A sample RSEL evaluation outline is provided below.

Figure 22
Fig 22. Sample RSEL evaluation plan charting the four level assessment of four main RSEL
pedagogical components.

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Conclusion

The Roeper School presents several advancements in SEL pedagogy that can serve as
guidelines for the efficient advancement of modern SEL implementations. A revisiting of values
based instruction, an inherent passion for building deep relationships with students, a broader
sense of individualized instruction through child-centered learning, and a relentless commitment
to confidence building can together provide an optimal framework for motivated learning.
Schools that apply the RSEL paradigm in its most efficient sequence of sub-themes will see early
success and gain the confidence to adapt RSEL to their own educational contexts.
Key aspects for early implementation of RSEL are the hiring of teachers predisposed to
RSEL values, teaching children to love learning, modeling compassion, and having the patience
to help children acquire confidence over a multi-year time span. Expanding RSEL into the
community is essential for success, and true adoption is not an informational exercise but an
experiential transformation of school culture. The 21 sub-themes that comprise the 7 primary
themes of Passion, Community, Values, Equity, Emotional Awareness, Child Centeredness and
Confidence when optimally executed provide a high probability of improved student behavior
and academic performance. Both urban and suburban U.S. schools can potentially experience
these improvements, ultimately narrowing the international and domestic achievement gaps that
have thus far been unaffected.

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APPENDIX A

Interview Protocol
Background Questions
For the recording, you would please state your name and title?
How long have you been …
_______ in your present position?
_______ at TRS?
_______ working as a teacher/administrator?
Briefly describe your role as it relates to student success or TRS initiatives.
Inquiry Questions
(1) Tell me what MI theory is? (K)
Probing Questions:
• Beyond the basic facts of MI, can you tell me how you use this in the classroom? (K)
• How do your implementation of MI has affected your student’s academic performance? (K)
• Do you always use the same approach, and if not, what initiates changes in how you implement MI in the
classroom? (K)
(2) How do you feel about the use of MI at TRS? (M)
Probing Questions:
• Do you feel that MI is an important aspect of school curriculum? (M)
• How would you assess your own competence with MI in the classroom? (M)
• Do you seek to improve your competence in MI? (M)

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(3) How does the administration foster collaboration and support among the faculty? (O)
Probing Questions:
• Do you have teacher mentors at TRS? (O)
• How often do you receive training in MI per year? (O)
• Do you feel that you have sufficient resources to carry out your program as planned? (O)
• How is MI integrated into your school’s culture? (O)
(5) Tell me about TRS’ commitment to diversity. (K)
Probing Questions:
• How does MI serve your school’s diverse population? (O)
• Do you see academic improvement immediately or over the long term? (K)
• If these students were in a public school setting that did not implement MI, how do you think they would
perform? (M)

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APPENDIX B

Informed Consent/Information Sheet

Project Information and Informed Consent
I understand that my participation in this research project is entirely voluntary. I may withdraw
from the project at any time without penalty. All of my comments and opinions will be kept
confidential, and all generated data will not be identified to the individual participant beyond
what is stated at the beginning of the interview. I understand that all audio recordings, video
recordings, notes and transcriptions will be kept in a secure location. This document certifies
my consent to participate in this research project.

NAME (PRINTED)

NAME (SIGNED)

DATE

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APPENDIX C

SEL Survey Protocol and Responses

ROEPER SEL COMPLETE SURVEY RESULTS

Q1 - Thank you for sharing your expertise for this research project! This survey is short,
and should take less than 10 minutes to complete. Simply make a selection - there are no
narrative responses. For your convenience, I've also designed this survey to be taken on a
smartphone. Okay, here's the first question:

What are the ages of the students that you teach? (click all that apply)

Figure 23

Fig. 23 Ages of students taught
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Q2 - How long have you worked at The Roeper School?

Figure 24

Fig. 24 Tenure at Roeper

Table 13

Tenure at Roeper
Answer % Count
0-5 years 22.22% 2
6-10 years 0.00% 0
11-15 years 22.22% 2
16-25 years 0.00% 0
26-35 years 33.33% 3
36 or more years 22.22% 2
Total 100% 9

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Q3 - Of the selections listed, which has most influenced your continued work at Roeper?

Figure 25

Fig. 25 Tenure influences

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Figure 26

Fig. 26 Tenure influences bar format

Table 14

Tenure influences

Answer % Count
Teacher compensation 0.00% 0
Relationship with colleagues 0.00% 0
Autonomy in teaching
methodology
33.33% 3
Teaching gifted children 11.11% 1
Helping children develop socially 55.56% 5
Total 100% 9

OPTIMAL SEL FOR AP 155

Q4 - How important is social and emotional learning in your classroom for a student's
optimal academic performance? (choose one with 10 being the highest)

Table 15

Importance of SEL

Answer % Count
0 0.00% 0
1 0.00% 0
2 0.00% 0
3 0.00% 0
4 0.00% 0
5 0.00% 0
6 0.00% 0
7 0.00% 0
8 11.11% 1
9 22.22% 2
10 66.67% 6
Total 100% 9

Table 16

Mean importance of SEL

Query Minimum Maximum Mean
Std
Deviation
Variance Count
How important is social and emotional
learning in your classroom for a
student's optimal academic
performance? (choose one with 10
being the highest)
8.00 10.00 9.56 0.68 0.47 9

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Table 17

SEL promotion

Group % Count
Detractor 0.00% 0
Passive 11.11% 1
Promoter 88.89% 8
Total 100% 9

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Q5 - How much does confidence building contribute to the ultimate academic
performance of your students? (choose one with 10 being the highest)

Table 18

Confidence building and academic performance

Answer % Count
0 0.00% 0
1 0.00% 0
2 0.00% 0
3 0.00% 0
4 0.00% 0
5 0.00% 0
6 0.00% 0
7 11.11% 1
8 11.11% 1
9 22.22% 2
10 55.56% 5
Total 100% 9

Table 19

Confidence building and academic performance mean

Query Minimum Maximum Mean
Std
Deviation
Variance Count
How much does confidence building
contribute to the ultimate academic
performance of your students? (choose
one with 10 being the highest)
7.00 10.00 9.22 1.03 1.06 9

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Q6 - Which aspect of social and emotional learning do you feel most contributes to your
students' academic performance?

Figure 27

Fig. 27 SEL influencers of academic performance

Table 20

SEL influencers of academic performance

Answer % Count
Character building 11.11% 1
Confidence building 11.11% 1
Cross-disciplinary connections 0.00% 0
Decreasing stress 0.00% 0
Improving focus 0.00% 0
Developing a love of learning 77.78% 7
Total 100% 9

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Q7 - My research at Roeper revealed seven main themes in learning. While all may be of
great importance to you, please list all seven in order of importance. (drag and drop with
1 being of most importance)

Table 21

Theme importance ranking

Answer Minimum Maximum Mean
Std
Deviation
Variance Count
Love of teaching children 1.00 7.00 2.89 1.85 3.43 9
Emotional awareness of self and others 1.00 7.00 3.78 1.87 3.51 9
Equity (gender, race, economic, etc) in
education and relationships
2.00 6.00 4.11 1.20 1.43 9
Child centered instruction 1.00 7.00 3.67 1.94 3.78 9
Extensive community building
(students, teachers, parents, etc.)
2.00 7.00 4.44 2.06 4.25 9
Building confidence in the student
(both social and academic)
3.00 7.00 5.33 1.49 2.22 9
Values based environment (modeling
trust, honesty, empathy and peaceful
conflict resolution)
1.00 7.00 3.78 2.44 5.95 9

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Figure 28

Fig. 28 Theme importance ranking bar graph

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Q8 - Of the seven main themes listed below, please list them in order of ease for you to
implement in your classroom with 7 being the most difficult.

Figure 29

Fig. 29 Primary theme ease of implementation

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Q9 - The following eight questions are in a similar format. Since all choices will be
"important", try to compare them for a graded response - and try not to get too bored
with their similarity :) Comparing the listed social and emotional learning sub-themes,
How would you rate the importance of each?

Table 22

Sub-theme importance

Question important
more
important

very
important

most
important

Total
Count
Developing a love for
teaching children
22.22% 33.33% 22.22% 22.22% 9
Developing a love of
learning in children
0.00% 0.00% 33.33% 66.67% 9
Teaching authentic
compassion
11.11% 11.11% 44.44% 33.33% 9
Modeling positive
relationships
11.11% 22.22% 22.22% 44.44% 9

OPTIMAL SEL FOR AP 163

Q10 - Comparing the listed social and emotional learning sub-themes, which are
comparatively most challenging to implement in the classroom?

Figure 30

Fig. 30 Sub-theme implementation difficulty

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Table 23

Sub-theme implementation difficulty

Question
least
challenging
challenging
more
challenging

most
challenging

Total
Count
Emotional awareness 0.00% 33.33% 22.22% 44.44% 9
Play and kinesthetic
learning
88.89% 0.00% 11.11% 0.00% 9
Peer instruction 11.11% 44.44% 33.33% 11.11% 9
Students participating
in their learning process
11.11% 55.56% 22.22% 11.11% 9

Figure 31
Fig. 31 Subtheme difficulty

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Q11 - Comparing the listed social and emotional learning sub-themes, which are most
challenging to implement in the classroom?

Figure 32

Fig. 32 Theme difficulty

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Table 24

Theme difficulty

Question
least
challenging
challenging
more
challenging

most
challenging

Total
Count
Appreciation of
individuals
44.44% 33.33% 11.11% 11.11% 9
Valuing independence 33.33% 22.22% 11.11% 33.33% 9
Equitable education 22.22% 55.56% 11.11% 11.11% 9
Accepting people for
who they are
22.22% 55.56% 22.22% 0.00% 9

OPTIMAL SEL FOR AP 167

Q12 - Comparing the listed social and emotional learning sub-themes, which are
comparatively most challenging to implement in the classroom?

Figure 33

Fig. 33 sub-theme difficulty

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Table 25

Sub-theme difficulty

Question
least
challenging
challenging
more
challenging

most
challenging

Total
Count
Developing a love for
teaching children
66.67% 22.22% 11.11% 0.00% 9
Developing a love of
learning in children
55.56% 22.22% 11.11% 11.11% 9
Teaching authentic
compassion
33.33% 22.22% 33.33% 11.11% 9
Modeling positive
relationships
44.44% 22.22% 11.11% 22.22% 9

OPTIMAL SEL FOR AP 169

Q13 - Comparing the listed social and emotional learning sub-themes, which are easiest
for you to implement in the classroom?

Figure 34

Fig. 34 Subtheme difficulty

OPTIMAL SEL FOR AP 170

Table 26

Sub-theme difficulty

Question easiest easy challenging
very
challenging

Total
Count
Relaxed culture 12.50% 62.50% 12.50% 12.50% 8
Welcoming environment 75.00% 25.00% 0.00% 0.00% 8
Teaching authentic
compassion
12.50% 37.50% 37.50% 12.50% 8
Learning in groups 0.00% 25.00% 62.50% 12.50% 8

OPTIMAL SEL FOR AP 171

Q14 - Comparing the listed social and emotional learning sub-themes, which are easiest
for you to implement in the classroom?

Figure 35

Fig. 35 Subtheme difficulty

Table 27

Sub-theme difficulty

Question easiest easy challenging
very
challenging

Total
Count
Parent community involvement 12.50% 12.50% 25.00% 50.00% 8
Modeling healthy relationships in
the classroom
33.33% 44.44% 22.22% 0.00% 9
Teaching values of trust, honesty,
etc.
55.56% 11.11% 22.22% 11.11% 9
Modeling positive relationships 33.33% 33.33% 33.33% 0.00% 9
OPTIMAL SEL FOR AP 172

Q15 - Comparing the listed social and emotional learning sub-themes, which are
comparatively most challenging to implement in the classroom?

Figure 36

Fig. 36 Subtheme difficulty

Table 28

Sub-theme difficulty

Question
least
challenging
challenging
more
challenging

most
challenging

Total
Count
Building relational
confidence in children
25.00% 37.50% 37.50% 0.00% 8
Building academic
confidence in children
11.11% 55.56% 33.33% 0.00% 9
Developing creativity
in children
66.67% 11.11% 11.11% 11.11% 9

OPTIMAL SEL FOR AP 173

Q16 - Which aspect of SEL do you feel most effectively translates child centered learning
into confidence?

Figure 37

Fig. 37 Theme transition

Table 29

Theme transition

Answer % Count
More time to learn 11.11% 1
Increased comfort with material 0.00% 0
Trust in the instructor 11.11% 1
Trust in their own "voice" 77.78% 7
Total 100% 9
OPTIMAL SEL FOR AP 174

Q17 - Which aspect of SEL do you feel most effectively translates equitable education
into child centered learning?

igure 38
Fig. 38 Theme transition

Table 30

Theme transition

Answer % Count
Encouragement that a child may be whomever she chooses to be 22.22% 2
Belief in the high value of every child 11.11% 1
Appreciation of a plurality of paths to academic success 44.44% 4
Emphasis on equal human rights 0.00% 0
School culture of equity and diversity 22.22% 2
Total 100% 9
OPTIMAL SEL FOR AP 175

Q18 - Which aspect of SEL do you feel best translates Roeper values into equitable
education?

Figure 39

Fig. 39 Theme translation

Table 31

Theme transition

Answer % Count
Trust in the ultimate effectiveness of diverse collaboration 33.33% 3
Modeling of cooperation and compassion between lead and team teachers 0.00% 0
Modeling of honesty/transparency by all teachers 11.11% 1
Emphasis on equal human rights 44.44% 4
Philosophy of intrinsic responsibility of each student 11.11% 1
Total 100% 9
OPTIMAL SEL FOR AP 176

Q19 - Which aspect of SEL do you feel best translates community emphasis into
actualized Roeper Values (RV)?

Figure 40

Fig. 40 Theme translation

Table 32

Theme transition

Answer % Count
Education of parents on Roeper philosophy 11.11% 1
Involvement of parents in RV based activities 0.00% 0
School activities that allow students to exercise RV 33.33% 3
Non-hierarchical emphasis 33.33% 3
Intentional creation of diverse community members 22.22% 2
Total 100% 9

OPTIMAL SEL FOR AP 177

Q20 - Comparing the listed social and emotional learning sub-themes, How would you
rate the challenge level of each?

Figure 41
Fig. 41 Subtheme relative challenge

Table 33

Subtheme relative challenge

Question
least
challenging
challenging
more
challenging

most
challenging
Total
Developing a love for
teaching children
77.78% 22.22% 0.00% 0.00% 9
Developing a love of
learning in children
11.11% 66.67% 11.11% 11.11% 9
Teaching authentic
compassion
33.33% 22.22% 22.22% 22.22% 9
Modeling positive
relationships
44.44% 22.22% 22.22% 11.11% 9
OPTIMAL SEL FOR AP 178

Q21 - How do you think confidence level may contribute to improved academic
performance?

Figure 42

Fig. 42 Confidence and academic performance

Table 34

Confidence and academic performance

Answer % Count
Increased motivation to learn 55.56% 5
Increased academic engagement with peers 11.11% 1
Increased value in personal analysis 11.11% 1
Decreased emotional distractions 22.22% 2
Total 100% 9

OPTIMAL SEL FOR AP 179

APPENDIX D

Raw Codes and Associated Categories

(RAW CODES ON FOLLOWING PAGE)

Table 36

Raw codes by category
OPTIMAL SEL FOR AP 180

Code Cat# Category

emotions 1 Emotional Awareness m

emotional 1 Emotional Awareness m

feel 1 Emotional Awareness m

feeling safe 1 Emotional Awareness m

therapeutic 2 Physical learning m

kinesthetic 2 Physical learning k

constructivism 2 Physical learning k

play 2 Physical learning k

hands on 2 Physical learning k

communication 3 Relational education o

social 3 relational Education m

relationships 3 relational Education m

listening 3 relational demonstration m

modeling 3 relational demonstration o

cooperation 3 relational demonstration o

diversity 4 Appreciation of the individual o

individualized 4 Appreciation of the individual o

small class size 4 Appreciation of the individual o

class size 4 Appreciation of the individual o

inclusion 4 Appreciation of the individual o

self-appreciation 4 Appreciation of the individual m

Multiple Intelligences 4 Individualized Instruction k

individualized instruction 4 Individualized Instruction k

individualized learning 4 Individualized Instruction k

whole child 5 emotion - cognitive integration k

participatory instruction 5 emotion - cognitive integration k

child centered 5

o Instruction of classroom interactions that are designed to put the
needs of the child first.

confidence 6 Self-efficacy m Instances where either the student exhibits confidence in her
ability to master a lesson, or the teacher implements strategies to
promote such confidence in the student

self-efficacy 6 Self-efficacy m

inherent knowledge 6 Self-efficacy m

risk taking 6 Self-efficacy m

free 6 Self-efficacy m

empowerment 6 Self-Efficacy m

academics 7 academic interactions k addressing academic centric pedagogy

teacher to student bonding 7 academic interactions k

changing pedagogy 7 academic interactions k

changed parent expectations 7 academic interactions k

engagement 8 Intellectual Stimulation m

OPTIMAL SEL FOR AP 181

motivation 8 Intellectual Stimulation m

Utility Value 8 Intellectual Stimulation m

valued pedagogy 8 Intellectual Stimulation m

maintaining values 8 Intellectual Stimulation m

Teacher support 9 Administrative Support o

mentor support 9 Administrative Support o

limited faculty interaction 9 Administrative Support o

professional development 9 Administrative Support o

mentoring 9 Administrative Support o

reduced teacher interaction 9 Administrative Support o

independence 10 Valuing Independence o

autonomy 10 Valuing Independence o Freedom for the teacher tochart her own pathway toward leading
her class toward the desired objective

freedom 10 Valuing Independence m

parent community 11 Comprehensive Community Emphasis o

supportive community 11 Comprehensive Community Emphasis o

community 11 Comprehensive Community Emphasis o

listening to parents 11 Comprehensive Community Emphasis o

parent engagement 11 Comprehensive Community Emphasis m

culture 12 Relaxed Culture o

atmosphere 12 Relaxed Culture o

stress free 12 Relaxed Culture o

family environment 12 Relaxed Culture o

environment 12 Relaxed Culture o

stress free environment 12 Relaxed Culture o

supportive environment 12 Relaxed Culture o

comfortable 13 Welcoming Environment o

considerate 13 Welcoming Environment o

safe environment 13 Welcoming Environment o

participatory learning 14 Shared discovery o

cooperative learning 14 Shared discovery o

creativity 15 Creativity in Learning k

expression 15 Creativity in Learning k

design 15 Creativity in Learning k

visual 15 Creativity in Learning k

freeform expression 15 Creativity in Learning k

creative 15 Creativity in Learning k

equity 16 Equitable Education m

acceptance 16 Equitable Education m situations where either children feel accepted or the teacher seeks
to promote acceptance within the child

equality 16 Equity as a learning facilitator m

seeking affirmation 16 Equity as a learning facilitator m

integration 16 Equity as a learning facilitator m

OPTIMAL SEL FOR AP 182

loving children 17 Love as a cultural characteristic o

love 17 Love as a cultural characteristic o

love of teaching 17 Love as a cultural characteristic o

loving teaching 17 Love as a cultural characteristic o

love of learning 17 Love as a cultural characteristic o

love of students 17 Love as a cultural characteristic o

loving chlidren 17 Love as a cultural characteristic o

love of children 17 Love as a cultural characteristic o

compassion 17 Love as a cultural characteristic m Instances where the needs of others are recognized or addressed
by either the teacher or the student

valuing legacy 18 SEL Paradigm shifting o

reduced emphasis on SEL 18 SEL Paradigm shifting o

historical 21 Historical anchors k

perseverance 19 Foundational Character Elements k

grounded 19 Foundational Character Elements k

strong 19 Foundational Character Elements k

conflict resolution 20 Value-centric Influences m

trust 20 Value-centric Influences m

honesty 20 Value-centric Influences m

contentment 20 Value-centric Influences m

peace 20 Valuecentric Influences m

Teacher background 21 Historical anchors k

longevity 21 Historical anchors k

Parent SEL 18 SEL Paradigm shifting o

joy 23 Positive emotions m

happiness 23 Positive emotions m

flexibility 24 freedom o

freedom 24 freedom m

resource support 25 Sufficient Resources o

organization 25 Sufficient Resources o

lack of diverse staff 16 Equitable Education

responsibility 26 Uncat m

declarative 26 Uncat k

future vocation 26 Uncat k

developing

Uncat k

OPTIMAL SEL FOR AP 183

Abstract (if available)

Abstract The academic performance of American primary and secondary students is significantly less than other Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) member countries according to the Program for International Student Assessment (PISA) test which measures the scholastic aptitude of 8th graders in math, language and science. The United States scores are routinely mediocre despite being a world economic leader, and this is largely attributed to disparate national test scores that follow a socioeconomic gradient. ❧ In order to raise the academic performance of U.S. urban and suburban schools to that of OECD global leaders, an intervention is needed. Social and Emotional Learning or SEL has shown promise as a successful means of improving academic performance particularly in urban environments. SEL seeks to engage a plurality of cognitive forms in the student and through systematic integration, achieve improved overall academic performance. Despite early success, there has been wide variation in results without a clear understanding of the causal factors driving these varied outcomes. In this study, a high performing independent school that has been implementing SEL since 1948 is examined. Due to the maturity and success of their SEL program, insights into optimal implementations of SEL were gained. The organizational performance was validated using a gap analysis tool by identifying influencing parameters and analyzing them to determine SEL effectiveness. Faculty interviews were additionally analyzed using an emergent qualitative approach to thematically develop their SEL pedagogy. The resulting model was then distilled into recommendations for implementation with a guide for evaluating its effectiveness.

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Asset Metadata

Creator Harris, Edwin Maurice (author)

Core Title Optimal applications of social and emotional learning paradigms for improvements in academic performance

School Rossier School of Education

Degree Doctor of Education

Degree Program Global Executive

Publication Date 12/20/2019

Defense Date 07/19/2019

Publisher University of Southern California (original), University of Southern California. Libraries (digital)

Tag academic performance, PISA, common core,educational paradigms,OAI-PMH Harvest,SEL,social and emotional learning,socioemotional learning,Urban Education

Language English

Contributor Electronically uploaded by the author (provenance)

Advisor Filback, Robert (committee chair), Chung, Ruth (committee member), Krop, Cathy (committee member)

Creator Email edwinhar@usc.edu,edwinmharris@yahoo.com

Permanent Link (DOI) https://doi.org/10.25549/usctheses-c89-260592

Unique identifier UC11675321

Identifier etd-HarrisEdwi-8106.pdf (filename),usctheses-c89-260592 (legacy record id)

Legacy Identifier etd-HarrisEdwi-8106.pdf

Dmrecord 260592

Document Type Dissertation

Rights Harris, Edwin Maurice

Type texts

Source University of Southern California (contributing entity), University of Southern California Dissertations and Theses (collection)

Access Conditions The author retains rights to his/her dissertation, thesis or other graduate work according to U.S. copyright law. Electronic access is being provided by the USC Libraries in agreement with the a...

Repository Name University of Southern California Digital Library

Repository Location USC Digital Library, University of Southern California, University Park Campus MC 2810, 3434 South Grand Avenue, 2nd Floor, Los Angeles, California 90089-2810, USA