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Social emotional learning curriculum implementation: an evaluation study of fidelity
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Social emotional learning curriculum implementation: an evaluation study of fidelity
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Content
Running head: SOCIAL EMOTIONAL LEARNING
Social Emotional Learning Curriculum Implementation: An Evaluation Study of Fidelity
by
Shastity Driscoll
_____________________________________________________________________________
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
May 2019
Copyright 2019 Shastity Driscoll
SOCIAL EMOTIONAL LEARNING 1
DEDICATION
To the best thing that has ever happened to me, for me, and through me, my son. You are the
pride and joy of my life.
SOCIAL EMOTIONAL LEARNING 2
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
Thank you to my son for being the joyful force that encourages me to be the best person I
was created to be. Your unconditional love is an inspiration that impacts all you come in contact
with. My accomplishments always begin with you in mind. To my mother who has been a
consistent force in my life beyond carrying me in the womb. You have carried me through each
phase in life, all while motivating me by your strength. I am the person I am because of you. To
my brother for being a supportive force in my life and a creative walk of diligence. Thank you to
my close friends, second mothers, fathers, confidant, extended family, and fellow OCL support
group for the culture who encouraged me at each USC Immersion and regular group messaging
that brought us along the way. Every influence of resilience pushed me to fight on through this
journey. Thank you to my professors, dissertation committee, and chair, Dr.Freking who made
sure this journey was possible from beginning to end.
SOCIAL EMOTIONAL LEARNING 3
TABLE OF CONTENTS
Dedication 1
Acknowledgements 2
List of Tables and Figures
Chapter One: Introduction 7
Introduction of the Problem of Practice 7
Organizational Context and Mission 7
Related Literature 9
Organizational Performance Goal 9
Importance of Addressing the Problem 10
Description of Stakeholder Groups 11
Stakeholder’s Performance Goal 13
Stakeholder Group for the Study 13
Purpose of the Project and Questions 14
Conceptual and Methodological Framework 15
Organization of the Study 15
Chapter Two: Literature Review 16
Review of the Literature 16
Underserved Student Gap in Academic Achievement 16
History of Social Emotional Learning 18
Social Emotional Core Components 18
Psychological Influences in Student Learning 20
Key Social Emotional Strategies Used to Promote Academic Success 22
SOCIAL EMOTIONAL LEARNING 4
Social Emotional Learning Curriculum’s Correlation with Academic
Gain
23
Career Development Student Outcomes Under Social Emotional
Learning
25
Advocacy for Social Emotional Implementation 26
The Clark and Estes (2008) Gap Analysis Conceptual Framework 27
Stakeholder Knowledge and Motivation Influences 28
Knowledge and Skills 28
Motivation 32
Organizational Influences 36
Conceptual Framework: The Interaction of Stakeholders’ Knowledge and
Motivation and the Organizational Context
40
Chapter Three: Methods 44
Participation Stakeholders 44
Qualitative Data Collection and Instrumentation 44
Data Analysis 48
Credibility and Trustworthiness 49
Ethics 50
Limitations and Delimitations 53
Chapter Four: Results and Findings 54
Participating Stakeholders 54
Findings 55
Knowledge Influences 56
SOCIAL EMOTIONAL LEARNING 5
Motivation Influences 62
Organizational Influences 69
Synthesis 76
Chapter Five: Recommendations 77
Recommendations for Practice to Address Knowledge, Motivation, and
Organization Influences
78
Knowledge Recommendations 79
Motivational Recommendations 83
Organizational Recommendations 86
Integrated Implementation and Evaluation Plan 89
Organizational Purpose, Need, and Expectations 90
Data Analysis and Reporting 99
Strengths and Weaknesses of the Approach 100
Limitations and Delimitations 100
Future Research 102
Conclusion 103
References 106
Appendix A 115
Appendix B 117
Appendix C 119
SOCIAL EMOTIONAL LEARNING 6
LIST OF TABLES AND FIGURES
Table 1. Organizational Mission, Goal, and Stakeholder Performance Goal 13
Table 2. Assumed Knowledge Influences 32
Table 3. Assumed Motivational Influences 36
Table 4. Assumed Organizational Influences 37
Table 5. Participant Stakeholder Demographic Information 55
Table 6. Assumed Knowledge Influences, Concluding Validation, and
Indicated Findings
57
Table 7. Assumed Motivation Influences, Determination, and Indicated
Findings
64
Table 8. Descriptions of Degree of Confidence and Level of Fidelity 68
Table 9. Assumed Organizational Influences, Description, and Summary of
Findings
70
Table 10. Summary of Knowledge Influences and Recommendations 81
Table 11. Summary of Motivation Influences and Recommendations 84
Table 12. Summary of Organization Influences and Recommendations 87
Table 13. Outcomes, Metrics, and Methods for External and Internal
Outcomes
92
Table 14. Critical Behaviors, Metrics, Methods, and Timing for Evaluation 93
Table 15. Required Drivers to Support Critical Behaviors 95
Table 16. Evaluation of the Components of Learning for the Program 97
Table 17. Components to Measure Reactions to the Program 98
Figure 1. Conceptual Framework 42
SOCIAL EMOTIONAL LEARNING 7
CHAPTER ONE: INTRODUCTION
Introduction of the Problem of Practice
The United States is noted as having one of the highest depression rates of any developed
nation in the world, reaching 20% (Sznitman, Reisel, & Romer, 2011). This rate implies nearly
one-fifth of American students are suffering from depression, which multiplies the risk of
attempting suicide by 12 (Sznitman et al., 2011). Percentages increase as we explore the needs
separating underserved communities. For the first time in history, the suicide rate of students
living in poverty ages 5 to 11 doubled between 1993 and 2013, while the suicide rates of students
not living in poverty declined (Hair, Hanson, Wolfe, & Pollak, 2015). As a result of a lack of
social-emotional emphasis in school curriculums, the inability to release common stressors in
school through social-emotional support leaves students unwilling to remain engaged with
instruction (Slaten, Rivera, Schemwell, & Elison, 2016). Research indicates that a student’s
emotional well-being directly correlates with educational achievement (Sznitman et al., 2011).
Providing consistent social emotional standards in schoolwide curriculums increases academic
achievement by 11 to 17 percentile points (Engle & Black, 2008). Inconsistent access to
adequate social-emotional support leaves a student at risk of depression and damages their
capacity for self-care (Sznitman et al., 2011).
Organizational Context and Mission
The School of the Whole Child (SWC) is a non-profit charter school comprised of fifth-
to eighth-grade students located in the western region of the United States (organization website,
n.d). The mission of SWC is to deliver educational opportunities that transform marginalized
students by strengthening the whole child: their intellect, character, and spirit (organization
website, n.d). The School of the Whole Child creates solutions that implement holistic education
SOCIAL EMOTIONAL LEARNING 8
foundations and successful practices of collaboration that will eliminate the achievement gap
(organization website, n.d).
The organization was founded in 2011 and currently serves over 400 inner-city students.
Each student, regardless of their background, receives an education that includes an emphasis on
technology and centers on providing strong literacy and math skills (organization website, n.d).
The School of the Whole Child currently employs 48 staff members who work in various
departments including administration, technology, counseling, social skills, physical education,
and electives (organization website, n.d). Staff members value each other, engage in teamwork,
maintain integrity, work hard, and encourage students with accomplished collaboration
(organization website, n.d).
The founder began SWC with a passion for providing excellent educational access to
underserved students (personal communication, June 16, 2017). When SWC opened in 2011, in
the inner city of the west coast, 51% of the population did not graduate high school and only
14% had a high school diploma or GED (personal communication, June 16, 2017). Students
attending SWC are 81% Hispanic and 13% African-American. Over 78% of these students are
eligible for free or reduced lunches (organization website, n.d). The majority of students who
enroll at SWC come from academically challenged schools and are three or more grade levels
behind in reading and math (organization website, n.d). The mission and goals set for SWC
bring underserved students up to grade level and prepare them to graduate high school
successfully despite barriers(organization website, n.d).
SOCIAL EMOTIONAL LEARNING 9
Related Literature
Social-emotional learning (SEL) examines the influence of emotions on self-regulated
learning and how emotions motivate student performance. For the past decade, more schools
have adopted SEL into their curriculums due to the demonstrated correlation of academic
achievement and positive emotional support for students (Mega, Ronconi, & De Beni, 2013).
Specifically, schools implement SEL by selecting a social-emotional-centered curriculum with
paced lessons to model for students during classroom instruction. Each lesson focuses on a
specific emotion, competencies to navigate through the emotion, and resources to support
overcoming challenging stressors (Sznitman et al., 2011). Furthermore, students who are
underserved experience consistent marginalization, meaning they rarely feel socially included
within school and society (Mega, Ronconi, & De Beni, 2013). Implementing social-emotional
learning schoolwide creates equitable environments led by democratic behaviors advocating
emotional qualities.
Organizational Performance Goal
In the early years of SWC, the founder focused on SEL in order to prepare students for
high school, college, and life (personal communication, June 16, 2017). The organizational
performance goal supports holistic student improvements, as SEL constitutes the student success
focus area. The initiative of increasing social-emotional development by 20% among students
attending The School of the Whole Child is a critical component in the founder’s aspirations
(personal communication, June 16, 2017). This goal is measured by evaluating the fidelity of
social-emotional learning curriculum implementation, as teachers model curriculum lessons to
advance SEL development. As students learn SEL competencies, teachers measure emotional
behavior improvement through classroom interaction. If the SWC’s goal is not achieved, there is
SOCIAL EMOTIONAL LEARNING 10
a risk of inconsistent access to adequate social-emotional support. Sznitman et al. (2011) argue
that inconsistent structures of learning lead a student on a path to poor academic achievement. If
all students attending SWC are not exposed to social-emotional learning competencies with
practiced fidelity, there is a risk of simply widening the social-emotional gap for students.
Importance of Addressing the Problem
The lack of SEL within curriculums and strategies to improve the whole child
educational experience was discovered by SWC as a major contributor to the nation’s
achievement gap (personal communication, June 16, 2017). The achievement of this goal will be
assessed by schoolwide disciplinary data and administrative referrals related to social-emotional
support at the end of the academic school year (personal communication, June 16, 2017). There
are numerous reasons why it is important to evaluate the organization’s performance in relation
to implementing SEL competency lessons with fidelity to improve social-emotional learning by
20%. If SWC does not implement social-emotional learning within school curriculums, as noted
in SWC’s charter petition, the organization risks losing annual funding specified for whole-child
strategy implementation (personal communication, June 16, 2017). The importance of knowing
how to practice SEL lessons with fidelity builds awareness in meeting the needs of whole-child
learning (Durlak, Dymniki, Taylor, Weissberg, & Schellinger, 2011). Social-emotional learning
is a strategy designed to target specific areas of cognitive and social advancement (Magnuson &
Duncan, 2006). Those fixated on equal progression for all students need to realize that academic
growth and social-emotional skills are not unrelated to underserved student access (Evans &
Rosenbaum, 2008). Social-emotional skills promote frameworks to manage emotions, establish
and maintain good relationships, set and accomplish goals, create strategies to make responsible
decisions, value the views of others, and handle interpersonal matters positively (Engle & Black,
SOCIAL EMOTIONAL LEARNING 11
2008). The stakeholders will be able to gather current data through evaluating SWC’s fidelity,
which can be used to drive the organization forward in making decisions that greatly influence
overall student achievement.
Description of Stakeholder Groups
Stakeholders are members of organizations with an active role in the success of the
company. The stakeholders for this research study include teachers, students, and administrators.
The importance of stakeholder relationships is in facilitating mutual understandings in vital
decision-making (Denning, 2005). The decision-making process revolves around stakeholder
influence with different directions of focus (Lewis, 2011). For example, each stakeholder can
influence the shape of an organization’s journey through their impact on the development of the
company’s goal. Lewis (2011) describes how stakeholders can make or break future and current
implementations based on stakeholder contributions. Stakeholder relationships must be managed
with the organization’s mission and vision as top priority. If stakeholders do not have accurate
perceptions of their role in the organization, relationships may be considered liabilities instead of
assets (Lewis, 2011). Each stakeholder serves as a signal of the company’s position in the
marketplace, in addition to setting the pace of progress.
Students contribute to the achievement of the organization’s performance goal by
learning social awareness, self-management, self-awareness, relationship skills, and responsible
decision-making (Ashdown, Maree, & Bernard, 2012). These skills allow children to recognize
their personal emotions and thoughts, which influences behavior and academic preparation
(Ashdown et al., 2012). Teachers contribute to the School of the Whole Child’s performance
goal by accurately introducing students to self-regulating behaviors in different situations and
demonstrating SEL competencies used to communicate personal emotions to others. Teachers
SOCIAL EMOTIONAL LEARNING 12
implementing lessons of social-emotional learning with fidelity also contribute to the
organization’s performance goal. Teachers develop direct relationships with students, which
impact student achievement.
Administrators endorse social-emotional leadership styles when selecting SEL
curriculums to support students. Administrator stakeholders work toward the organizational goal
by practicing social-emotional frameworks that reinforce the importance of positive relationships
among administrators, teachers, and students (Van Velsor, 2009). Administrators serve as
important contributors to overall achievement for both teachers and students. For example, as an
administrator for the SWC, selecting a specific SEL curriculum for students to experience and
teachers to model with fidelity is a way of advancing toward the organizational goal. As the
leading administrator for curriculum instruction, the need to support teachers with at least 25
hours of SEL professional development contributes to teacher preparation and culture-setting
within program implementation.
SOCIAL EMOTIONAL LEARNING 13
Stakeholder’s Performance Goal
Table 1.
Organizational Mission, Goal, and Stakeholder Performance Goals
Organizational Mission
To deliver entrepreneurial and innovative educational opportunities that transform the learning
potential of marginalized students by strengthening the whole child: intellect, character, and
spirit.
Organizational Performance Goal
By June 2019, the social-emotional development for students attending The School of the
Whole Child will increase by 20%.
SWC Administrators SWC Teachers SWC Students
By August 2018, administrators
will support teachers in
implementing the PATHS
curriculum school wide and
provide teachers with at least 25
hours of PATHS professional
development.
By August 2018,
teachers will model
four lessons per
month from the
PATHS curriculum
that address SEL
competencies.
By June 2019, students who
were taught PATHS curriculum
lessons will increase social-
emotional competencies by
20%.
Stakeholder Group for the Study
Although a complete analysis would involve all stakeholder groups, for practical
purposes, teachers are treated as the stakeholders for this study. Teachers spend the most time
with students on a daily basis. Teachers have specific roles in relation to students, offering in-
depth experiences with both social-emotional learning and academic achievement. Data
collected from teachers will support accurate representation of student development in relation to
the June 2019 performance goal.
The process used to determine the stakeholder goal involved school board members,
parents, and the president and vice president of the organization. These stakeholders gathered
local and national data representing schoolwide disciplinary techniques and academic
performance. The stakeholders concluded that poor social-emotional learning curriculum
implementation contributes to widened achievement gaps across the west. To track the progress
SOCIAL EMOTIONAL LEARNING 14
of fidelity within social-emotional implementation, teachers measure individual students’ daily
interactions with others and themselves. Teachers note specific competencies used when certain
behaviors are observed, how the teacher addressed the behavior accurately while using social-
emotional learning strategies, and list patterns relating to noted incidents with students during
curriculum implementation. Teachers also track academic achievement by means of the
electronic Illuminate tracking system provided by the school district.
Purpose of the Project and Questions
The purpose of this project is to evaluate the degree to which the School of the Whole
Child is meeting its goal: to implement SEL competencies with fidelity in order to improve
social-emotional learning by 20% before June 2019. The analysis focuses on knowledge,
motivation, and organizational influences related to achieving the organizational goal. While a
complete performance evaluation would focus on all stakeholders, for practical purposes the
stakeholders considered in this analysis are teachers.
The questions that guide the evaluation study, addressing knowledge and skills, motivation,
and organization influences for teachers, are as follows:
1. To what extent is the organization meeting the goal of having teachers
modeling four lessons per month from the Promoting Alternate Thinking
Strategies (PATHS) curriculum, with fidelity and that address SEL
competencies, by August 2018?
2. What is the stakeholder knowledge and motivations related to each month,
teachers modeling four lessons from the PATHS curriculum with fidelity that
address SEL competencies?
SOCIAL EMOTIONAL LEARNING 15
3. What is the interaction between organizational culture and context and
stakeholder knowledge and motivation?
Conceptual and Methodological Framework
This study uses the Clark and Estes (2008) conceptual framework for conducting a gap
analysis to determine the causes of the performance gaps noted above. The factors contributing
to the performance gap are identified using personal background knowledge, a review of
empirical research, and thought experiments (Maxwell, 2013). These factors will be validated
using five interviews, three observations, and an analysis of social-emotionally focused PATHS
curriculum documents. Recommended solutions are based on the findings of this study, and
supported by empirical evidence.
Organization of the Study
This study is divided into five chapters: the current chapter, and four more. Chapter Two
provides a literature review of topics surrounding the underserved student gap in academic
achievement, poverty influences on underserved academic gaps, the history of SEL, social-
emotional core components, psychological influences in student learning, key SEL strategies
used to promote academic success, SEL curriculum correlation to academic gains, career
development under SEL, and advocacy for SEL implementation. Chapter Three describes the
influences that are presumed to be preventing the organization from meeting its goal. The
methodology for the study will also be described. Chapter Four presents the data, an analysis of
the data, and the results of the study. Chapter Five focuses on approaches to closing the
perceived gaps in organizational performance. The recommended solutions are based on
empirical evidence found in the data and the literature.
SOCIAL EMOTIONAL LEARNING 16
CHAPTER TWO: LITERATURE REVIEW
Review of the Literature
This literature review examines the effects of social-emotional learning on student
achievement in the United States. The review begins with notable research on the academic
challenges facing educational systems across the nation, specifically students in underserved
communities. More than one third of underserved students enter kindergarten not ready for
school (American Psychological Association, 2015). The American Psychological Association
also claims that 50% will not be at grade level in reading before entering middle school. The
high school dropout rate for underserved families increases yearly when compared to other
students (Hartas, 2011). This research is followed by an overview of literature on the correlation
between SEL and increasing academic success for underserved students. The review presents an
extended discussion on scientifically based SEL curriculums implemented in daily lesson plans
by teachers as core instruction. This section includes current research discussions on best SEL
practices used to promote positive learning experiences for student academic and emotional
growth, particularly students in underserved communities. Following the noted research
literature, the review addresses the Clark and Estes Gap Analytic Conceptual Framework, in
which knowledge, motivation, and organizational influences are examined in daily SEL
implementation with fidelity by classroom teachers.
Underserved Student Gap in Academic Achievement
Education gaps are a widespread phenomenon throughout the nation, but students from
underserved communities consistently face major obstacles to academic achievement. Only 30%
of U.S. eighth-grade students scored high or advanced in mathematics on standardized tests,
compared with a minimum of 61% of students at high or advanced levels in the five top-
SOCIAL EMOTIONAL LEARNING 17
performing countries (Boston & Wilhelm, 2017). In the NAEP 2011 Trial Urban District
Assessment, an average of 26% of eighth-grade students demonstrated mathematical proficiency.
Differences in curriculum implementation between schools and between teachers within the
same school provide different opportunities for learning that generate significant differences in
student achievement (Budd, Garbacz, & Carter, 2015).
For example, Boston and Wilhelm (2017) suggests the opportunity gap in students’
access to qualified teachers between students of high and low socioeconomic status (SES) was
among the largest in the world. Differences in instructional quality between school districts with
different demographic and socioeconomic conditions are widening in many nations (Gorski,
2016). Underserved populations remain underserved, and the children who need the most
academic support and the best instruction do not receive it (Orr, 2003).
Most of the achievement gap between urban and suburban students can be explained by
differences in family background and race. The U.S. Department of Education (2002–2007)
reports that urban schools, compared to the rest of the nation, have significantly more students
testing below the basic level in reading, math, science, and writing (NAEP) test. Underserved
children are more likely to face limitations to their educational experience such as parents who
are more likely to be divorced and unemployed, have difficulty with English, or suffer from
emotional and learning disabilities (Sandy & Duncan, 2010). The current national high school
graduation rate remains between 65 and 70% in underserved communities, suggesting that
approximately one third of urban youth do not complete high school (Lee & Lubienski, 2016).
Although many states, districts, and individual high schools have attempted to find solutions to
the problem of students dropping out, there has been little success in producing meaningful
improvements in academic achievement for underserved students.
SOCIAL EMOTIONAL LEARNING 18
History of Social Emotional Learning
The history of SEL is rooted in areas of growth beyond the intellect. Social and
emotional development refers to a process by means of which children and adults acquire and
effectively apply the knowledge, attitudes, and skills necessary to understand and manage
emotions, set and achieve positive goals, feel and show empathy for others, establish and
maintain positive relationships, and make responsible decisions (Corcoran, Cheung, Kim, & Xie,
2017). Cristovao, Candeias, and Verdasca (2017) recount the historical meeting of a group of
professors, researchers and healthcare professionals held in 1994 at the Fetzer Institute. The
group reflected on how to improve students’ social and emotional competences and school
performance; the concept of SEL emerged from this meeting.
Social Emotional Learning uses a student-centered approach that encourages student
participation in the learning process and in the development of analytical communication and
collaborative behaviors (Cristovao et al., 2017). This approach to learning defines a strategy to
nurture students’ social and emotional competences by way of explicit teaching in SEL
curriculum competencies. The development of social and emotional competences in the SEL
approach occurs inside and outside the classroom in a school context, but also at the family and
community level (Corcoran et al., 2017). The SEL curriculum advocates for positive interactions
with others and self through purposeful components.
Social Emotional Core Components
The five SEL components of self-management, self-awareness, relationship skills, social
awareness, and responsible decision-making form the cycle of managed behaviors with regulated
emotions (Stern, 2010).
SOCIAL EMOTIONAL LEARNING 19
Emotions can facilitate or impede children’s academic engagement, commitment, and
ultimate school success, since relationships and emotional processes affect how and what we
learn (Cristovao et al., 2017). The Collaborative for Academic, Social and Emotional Learning
(CASEL) recommends that SEL programs encourage five direct key competencies:
● Competence in self-awareness—the ability to understand one’s own emotions,
personal goals, and values. This includes accurately assessing one’s strengths
and limitations and possessing a well-grounded sense of confidence and
optimism.
● Competencies in self-management—the ability to regulate emotions and
behaviors. This includes managing stress, controlling impulses, and setting
and working toward achieving personal and academic goals.
● Competence in social awareness—the ability to take the perspective of those
from different cultures and backgrounds.
● Competence in relationship skills—providing children with the tools they
need to establish and maintain healthy and rewarding relationships.
● Competencies in responsible decision making—the ability to consider ethical
standards, safety concerns, and accurate behavioral norms for risky behaviors,
to realistically evaluate the consequences of various actions, and to take the
health and well-being of self and others into consideration.
Researchers and practitioners have asserted that SEL components support key social-
emotional skills that young children need as they enter school, including self-confidence, the
capacity to develop positive relationships with peers and adults, concentration and persistence on
challenging tasks, an ability to effectively communicate emotions, an ability to listen to
SOCIAL EMOTIONAL LEARNING 20
instructions and be attentive, and skills in solving social problems (Ashdown & Bernard, 2012).
The emergence of these social-emotional skills helps students to feel more confident and
competent in resolving conflicts, persisting when faced with challenges or stressors, coping with
anger and frustrations, and managing emotions.
Psychological Influence in Student Learning
Emotions triggered by poverty have a lasting effect on cognitive development among
children living in poor conditions (Hair et al., 2015). The condition of living in uncomfortable
surroundings leaves unmanaged emotions for low SES children and less stimulation for brain
functionality when compared to higher SES households (Hair et al., 2015). While parental
investment is imperative in closing the social-emotional divide, on average lower SES students
who are underserved have greater difficulty with regulating their emotions and behaviors when
compared to higher SES students (Evans & Rosenbaum, 2008). Hair et al. (2015) state that
emotional behavior is parallel to crucial brain development that can be restricted due to the
adversities associated with poverty. Their efforts to understand social-emotional influences on
the human brain structure within students of low SES point to specific areas barriers effect
(Elliot, 1992). Areas of development include language, connected to the temporal lobe, and
executive functioning, corresponding to the frontal lobe (Hair et al., 2015). Previous research
studies using neuroimaging discovered that underserved children had smaller volumes in the
frontal and temporal lobes (Hair et al., 2015). The differences of construction tied to social-
emotional barriers within areas of the brain for low SES children correspond with school
readiness and academic achievement (Hair et al., 2015). Gray matter volumes of students below
1.5 times the governing poverty level were three to four percentage points under the
developmental norm. A wider gap ranging between 8 to 10 percentage points was documented
SOCIAL EMOTIONAL LEARNING 21
for underserved children (Blum, 2005). The developmental decrease leaves underserved
children scoring four to seven points lower than wealthy students on standardized testing
material, adding up to an average gap of 20% described by maturational deficits in the frontal
and temporal lobes (Hair et al., 2015).
Stressors become evident in the brain’s stress management system, and as a result,
cognitive advancements stagnate for underserved children when compared to high SES children,
due to the brain’s overall negative function (Sznitman et al., 2011). A child underserved in
social-emotional development cannot be expected to attain an education of the same quality,
learning to effectively manage emotions like higher SES children, when SEL competence is
disrupted by stressors on the brain (Coleman, 1966). The brain contains intricate systems
controlling social-emotional behaviors that cannot produce quality achievement without effective
support.
School staff who effectively implement social-emotional support for underserved
children improve student test scores by 11 to 17 percentile points when compared to staff not
implementing social and emotional practices (Engle & Black, 2008). Attempts to include social
emotional strategies in curriculums are overlooked within schools teaching underserved students
when compared to wealthier schools’ curriculums (Sznitman et al., 2011). Recent research
found that only 53% of underserved middle and high schoolers have access to mental health
assistance (Aikens & Barbarin, 2008). Stressful adversities are structural occurrences in
underserved environments, leaving challenging conditions taking a toll on their psyche
(Sznitman et al., 2011).
SOCIAL EMOTIONAL LEARNING 22
Key Social Emotional Strategies Used to Promote Academic Success
Key SEL components promote academic success when consistency aligns with classroom
rigor in teacher instruction. Three aspects of self-regulation are addressed in the first lessons
within Unit One at each grade: attention, working memory, and inhibitory control (Low, Cook,
Smolkowski, & Buntain-Ricklefs, 2015). Low et al. (2015) refer to attention as the ability to
direct, focus, and shift attention while screening out or ignoring distractions (Bethell,
Newacheck, Hawes, & Halfon, 2014). Working memory involves the ability to remember and
use information, such as a teacher's directions or the instructions for an activity, while inhibitory
control helps students to avoid inappropriate responses that may come automatically and
remember appropriate behaviors (Merrell, Juskelis, Tran, & Buchanan, 2008).
For example, the simple gesture of raising a hand before speaking may be hindered by
automatic sensors. Separate curriculums for each grade allow teachers to deliver instruction that
are developmentally appropriate and relevant to their students (Rimm-Kaufman, 2006).
The School of the Whole Child uses the PATHS SEL program with scripted, teacher-
friendly lesson cards; posters that outline learned skills; video content that illustrates particular
skills; brain-builder games designed to increase retention and use of skills; and a material binder
that includes lessons for teaching and reinforcing skills.
Weekly Implemented Social-Emotional Learning Classroom Lessons
Most successful social-emotional approaches focus on social skills and emotional
development on a daily basis, with a systematic and intentional approach to teaching critical
skills. There are 22 lessons organized across four units of skills for learning empathy, emotion
management, and problem solving. Teachers implement lessons once a week as part of normal
classroom activities. Each lesson takes roughly 25 to 40 minutes to complete, depending upon
SOCIAL EMOTIONAL LEARNING 23
grade level, once per week (Low et al., 2015). Each unit begins with a comprehensive book
reading and discussion, ensuring students understand the primary themes of the story and
allowing them to connect the themes to their own lives (Jones, Brown, Hogland, & Aber, 2010).
Teachers must be the engine that drives SEL programs. The most successful SEL
implementation trains teachers to deliver explicit lessons that teach social and emotional skills
(Cristovao et al., 2017). Teachers undergo at least 25 hours of training, followed by ongoing
coaching from administration, to support them in teaching the SEL curriculum with fidelity.
Jones et al. (2010) claim that the most effective SEL efforts use comprehensive, multi-year, and
multi-component approaches from professional developments focused on training teachers for
SEL implementation.
Social Emotional Learning Curriculum’s Correlation with Academic Gain
Classroom learning climates have interrelationships with academic gains and SEL
variables directly related to powerful impacts for underserved students. Research has shown that
students' SEL skills are a better predictor of future academic performance than prior academic
performance (Low et al., 2015). Ashdown and Bernard (20102) discuss a meta-analysis of 34
universal and targeted pre-school prevention programs, which found that SEL programs had
positive effects on both cognitive and academic outcomes in the short term (pre-school), medium
term (elementary school), and long term (high school). Other work has shown similar cross-over
effects, primarily in the case of impacts in the academic domain linked to exposure to a school-
based SEL intervention (Jones et al., 2010). Social-emotional learning programs implemented
with fidelity are an evidence-based approach that not only improves students’ academic,
behavioral, and personal adjustment, but also prevents some important negative outcomes
SOCIAL EMOTIONAL LEARNING 24
(Rimm-Kaufman, 2006). Social and emotional learning is critical in improving children’s
academic performance and lifelong learning.
Teachers and students relate increased academic success to classroom settings where
emotions are recognized as important behavioral elements in determining learning outcomes.
Mega et al. (2014) propose a theoretical model linking positive emotions to academic
achievement after testing the model with over 5,800 students. The study concludes that student
enjoyment relates positively to achievement, while anxiety relates negatively. Both the Clear
Minds Institute (2016) and CASEL (2017) infer that any negative arousal of emotions impedes
on a student’s ability to attain higher academic performance (Ashdown et al., 2012). The more
SEL exposure with fidelity students receive in learning environments, the less behavioral
distractions occur and the more academic learning outcomes improve (Engle & Black, 2008).
Measurable outcomes that evaluate academic progress and school performance include
student attitudes toward motivation, belonging, and responsibility (Van Veslor, 2009).
Attendance, study habits, and level of engagement with the curriculum also affect school
behaviors when assessing SEL impact (Elias, 2003). Policymakers over several decades have
sought solutions to low academic achievement in schools across the United States. Schools are
struggling to keep students engaged in the learning process, but past solutions overemphasize
academic instruction, while disregarding the social process of learning (Van Veslor, 2009). For
example, research supports the connection between emotional management and academic
functions. The more aware students are of how they feel, the more positive learning can be if
guided under SEL competencies. A student who is distressed about negative interactions will
disengage from the classroom learning task. Various research studies find that students who are
socially and emotionally supported achieve better outcomes in classroom tasks (Bowers &
SOCIAL EMOTIONAL LEARNING 25
Lemberger, 2016). Further research finds significant gains in academic test scores from 270
schools implementing SEL curriculums (CASEL, 2007). The findings of a relationship between
SEL and academic achievement influence outcomes in the development of SEL in students.
Career Development Student Outcomes Under Social Emotional Learning
Positive career outcomes for students are also influenced by social-emotional
interactions. Students who are not actively engaged in the learning process tend to drop out
(Bowers & Lemberger, 2016). Consistent schooling leads to graduation and is a prerequisite to
earning a living while working at a job. Stressors leading to student dropouts include low
academic accomplishments and underserved conditions (Van Veslor, 2009). The literature
indicates that the students who remain in school despite stressors and behavioral problems are
typically students who were provided some type of SEL support (Norris, 2003). When students
feel supported by social and emotional learning, they are more likely to graduate high school and
embark on a positive career path (Benner, Nelson, Sanders, & Ralston, 2012). Due to their
experience with making responsible decisions highlighted within SEL implementation with
fidelity, students instructed under SEL programs are able to make responsible career choices
upon graduation.
Career development begins with preventing school dropouts, preparing students to
choose positive career paths, and building positive relationships with potential coworkers. Self-
awareness, along with relationship skills, is another SEL competency needed to support students
in career development as they reflect on personal strengths and weaknesses (Van Veslor, 2009).
Social-emotional learning competencies prepare students for positive human relations when
working in a field of their choice. Harmonious working environments depend on the level of
social and emotional competence workers display (Bowers & Lemberger, 2016). An
SOCIAL EMOTIONAL LEARNING 26
underserved student experiencing stressors needs social and emotional competence to prepare for
career success and constructive working relationships (Jones et al., 2010). Bowers and
Lemberger (2016) argue that, just as students are distressed about challenging situations that
keep them away from classroom learning tasks, adults fail at work if outside factors impede on
their completion of job requirements. By promoting SEL schoolwide with fidelity, stakeholders
are preparing students to graduate as members of society who are able to consistently manage
emotions.
Advocacy for Social Emotional Implementation
There is a growing focus on how academic and emotional influences on learning are
addressed in relation to overall student success. Schools that acknowledge the various stressors
threatening student performance seek SEL curriculums in combination with improved academic
practices (Bowers & Lemberger, 2016). The paradigm shift toward whole-child educational
experiences is more popular in school systems addressing the SEL problem of practice. For
example, Bowers and Lemberger (2016) note that SEL adds to the humanistic bases of learning,
focusing on increasing the student’s internal resources of development. Social-emotional
learning curriculums do not support students from the top-down style of school environment
challenges only, but remain rooted in what others experience and facilitate environments for
authentic learning. The presence of SEL resources promotes a community of both external
academic improvement and internal emotional support, while encouraging the qualities of self-
awareness, self-management, social awareness, relational skills, and responsible decision-making
(Andreou & Rapti, 2010). Transformative schools that implement SEL attempt to prevent
students from feeling isolated when approaching social and emotional functioning (Van Veslor,
SOCIAL EMOTIONAL LEARNING 27
2009). Social-emotional skill sets in schools can be supported by numerous resources outside
the classroom for successful outcomes.
While SEL represents a necessary bridge toward whole-child education, the schools that
have implemented the program successfully are those committed to ongoing development.
Initial goals of implementation with fidelity combine promoting success for students in
emotional wellness with increasing academic development. Social-emotional programming on a
schoolwide scale requires stakeholder commitment to the process (Aydin & Ceylan, 2000). The
organization can eventually achieve significant change and years of sustainability when goals are
reasonable and achievable.
The Clark and Estes (2008) Gap Analytic Conceptual Framework
Clark and Estes (2008) provide a research-tested conceptual framework for performing
gap analyses to determine the causes of performance gaps. A five-step process model is used to
describe the approach developed by Clark and Estes to perform a gap analysis, identify solutions,
and evaluate implementation results. The first two steps of the process focus on goal orientation.
It is important to understand the goals that an organization has declared; equally important are
the performance goals for individuals in the organization that contribute to goal achievement.
Step three uses the results of steps one and two to determine whether a performance gap exists,
and step four provides an analysis of the gap to determine its causes. Step five focuses on
potential solutions to practice and is described by Clark and Estes (2008) as three parallel
activities focusing on the knowledge and skills, motivation, and organizational solutions to be
implemented. Lastly, step six is the performance feedback reflection, in which the results are
evaluated, the system can be revisited, and goals can be revised.
SOCIAL EMOTIONAL LEARNING 28
At the core of the Clark and Estes (2008) framework is the assertion that the most
common causes of performance gaps are knowledge and skill deficits, lack of motivation, and
organizational barriers. Individuals can use four types of knowledge to meet a performance goal:
factual, conceptual, procedural, and metacognitive (Krathwohl, 2002). Motivation is the
necessary catalyst for individuals to use their knowledge to achieve a goal (Mayer, 2011). The
three facets of motivation are active choice, persistence, and mental effort (Pajares, 1996). In
addition, organizational factors such as value alignment, work processes, and available material
resources can also prevent individuals from achieving their performance goals (Clark and Estes,
2008).
Stakeholder Knowledge and Motivation Influences
Knowledge and Skills
Knowledge-related and motivational influences pertinent to achieving a stakeholder goal
include awareness of SEL competence and confidence in modeling specific lessons with fidelity.
Factual and procedural SEL knowledge supports the August 2018 stakeholder goal for teachers
to implement four PATHS lessons with fidelity each month addressing SEL development skills.
Knowledge and skills help organizations achieve goals while analyzing indicators of
effectiveness. The organization’s commitment to stakeholders encourages a culture of
performance growth. Strategic skills within an organization accelerate knowledge-related
outcomes for employees and customers (Aydin & Ceylan, 2000). For example, innovative
organizations consistently practice improvement skills that reinforce the organization’s vision
and expand the performance knowledge base (Buckingham & Coffman, 1999).
It is important to examine knowledge and skills when addressing the lack of social-
emotional learning instruction in schools, because students face emotional barriers across the
SOCIAL EMOTIONAL LEARNING 29
nation influencing academic potential (Norris, 2003). Social-emotional learning is learning to
recognize and manage emotions, care about others, develop positive relationships, and avoid
negative behaviors (Zins, 2007). Examining the importance of knowledge with fidelity enhances
a teacher’s ability to address psychological and educational needs (Century, Rudnick, &
Freeman, 2010). Teachers find it more difficult to help students succeed in formalized academic
settings due to the social realities embedded in the school’s culture and significant personal
experiences brought into the classroom by students (Slaten et al., 2016). Schools are social
places, and learning is a social process (Zins, 2007). Zins (2007) stresses that prosocial behavior
in the classroom is linked to positive intellectual outcomes, while antisocial conduct leads to
poor academic performance.
Social-emotional knowledge and skills increase cultural responses with adaptive success
both inside and outside the classroom. For example, the problems of student drop-out rates and
failed instructional engagement decrease when teachers focus on SEL competencies (Norris,
2003). Slaten et al. (2016) recognize that expanding teacher SEL knowledge results in enhanced
teacher-student inter- and intrapersonal skills. Both teacher and student benefit from focused
SEL implemented with fidelity. In order to implement SEL in classrooms, teachers need to
know the five SEL competencies and how to implement PATHS curriculum lessons with fidelity
during classroom instruction. These two knowledge influences promote the SEL intervention
concepts necessary for increased teacher SEL knowledge and skills.
Each influence is categorized by factual and procedural knowledge types. Organizing
influences by knowledge types allows opportunities for contributing factors when approaching
proper SEL teacher skills. Each practiced knowledge type contributes to increased teacher
performance and knowledge-related improvements.
SOCIAL EMOTIONAL LEARNING 30
Teachers Must Know the Five SEL Competencies
Self-awareness, responsible decision making, self-management, social awareness, and
relationship skills are the five areas of SEL competency (Elias, 2003). In order for teachers to
model four SEL lessons with fidelity that address SEL development skills, they must first be
familiar with the five SEL competencies. Factual knowledge of SEL strategies is relevant when
implementing curriculum lessons. Universal school-based efforts that promote SEL
competencies have promising approaches to enhancing student emotional expression in school
and life (Durlak et al., 2011). Proficiency in SEL competencies contributes to greater well-being
and better school performance (Durlak et al., 2011). Durlak et al. (2011) conclude that when
teachers master SEL competencies, development in student progression eventually ensues.
When students display negative behaviors, SEL competency allows teachers to achieve
long-term changes in student interactions (Sznitman et al., 2011). Knowledge-related SEL
implementation leads to better classroom adjustments with less emotional distress (Aydin &
Ceylan, 2000). Sznitman et al. (2011) describe the shift that occurs when teachers consistently
adopt SEL competencies. Students are no longer controlled by external factors, instead
internalizing SEL values, making good decisions, and taking responsibility for their own
behavior. For example, a teacher experienced in the five SEL competencies produces students
who are self-aware and confident.
Self-awareness, responsible decision making, self-management, social awareness, and
relationship skills are factual knowledge types leading to procedural knowledge. When a teacher
predicts corresponding SEL skills in order to accurately describe which competency a student is
communicating, they model awareness of SEL factual mastery (Ashdown et. al, 2012).
Emphasizing the culture of SEL while discovering which competency best fits individual student
SOCIAL EMOTIONAL LEARNING 31
needs leads to practiced procedures of integration (Sznitman et al., 2011). The factual SEL
correspondence develops by precise SEL actions in which teachers mediate between internalized
beliefs.
Teachers Need to Know How to Implement PATHS Curriculum Lessons with Fidelity
In order for teachers to implement four PATHS lessons that address SEL development
skills, teachers must also know how to implement PATHS curriculum lessons with fidelity.
Durlak et al. (2011) discuss how procedural curriculum knowledge integrates teacher instruction
by applying SEL in development-, context-, and culturally appropriate ways. Teachers who
model PATHS curriculum lessons connect the important relation between educational
achievement and emotional well-being (Sznitman et al., 2011). Teachers have an important role
in raising successful students, not only in terms of cognitive development, but also SEL
motivations. Implementing PATHS curriculum lessons with fidelity prevents the disconnects
present in student progress from elementary, middle, and high school (Durlak et al., 2011).
Through systematic instruction, teachers model diverse SEL situations so that students
can use them consistently. Social-emotional curriculum lessons provide a foundation for better
academic performance, fewer conduct problems, and improved test scores (Slaten, 2016). For
example, a teacher who models PATHS lessons every day under accurate SEL curriculum
subjects provides students ample opportunity to monitor personal behavior and feel valued in
school environments. Teachers with modeled PATHS curriculum lessons also promote greater
utility for students (Zins, 2007).
Table 2 below shows what teachers need to know, and the knowledge types geared
toward gap analysis exploration. The organizational global goal of implementing SEL strategies
to increase student social-emotional development by 20% supports the stakeholder goal by
SOCIAL EMOTIONAL LEARNING 32
developing whole child character, as well as intellect. In order to meet the stakeholder goal,
teachers need to know the five SEL program competencies and how to implement PATHS
curriculum lessons with fidelity. When teachers recognize the effect of conceptual and
procedural knowledge types, it helps to attain the goal of implementing four SEL addressing
SEL development skills by August 2018.
Table 2.
Assumed Knowledge Influences
Organizational Mission
To deliver entrepreneurial and innovative education opportunities that transform the learning
potential of marginalized students by strengthening the whole child: intellect, character, and
spirit.
Organizational Goal
By June 2019, the social-emotional development for students attending The School of the
Whole Child will increase by 20%.
Stakeholder Goal
By August 2018, teachers will model four lessons per month with fidelity from the PATHS
curriculum that address SEL competencies.
Assumed Knowledge Influence Knowledge Type
Teachers need to know the five
SEL competencies.
Factual
Teachers need to know how to
implement PATHS curriculum
lessons with fidelity.
Procedural
Motivation
Increasing the motivation of stakeholders accelerates operational productivity, beginning
with individual behaviors (Aydin & Ceylan, 2000). Motivation is a strong influence on
satisfying customer behavior and collaboration with others (Zins, 2007). Organizations gain
different points of view as stakeholder actions increase overall company satisfaction. For
example, when a person is motivated to adapt to organizational beliefs, the workplace benefits as
a whole.
SOCIAL EMOTIONAL LEARNING 33
The reviewed literature suggests that motivated behaviors can be led by theories of goal
orientation, self-efficacy, attribution, interest, and expectancy values (Pajares, 1996). Each
theory studies comprehensive models linking cultural norms, personal beliefs, and experiences
that result in the achievement-related choices of individuals (Wigfield & Eccles, 2000).
Motivation is important because it attaches an individual’s perceptions of self or environment to
either the achievement or avoidance of a task. The outcome of the task relies on the person’s
self-concept or on the task itself.
Motivational-related literature helps bridge the knowledge and skill domains of the
stakeholder goal at SWC. Focusing on motivation-related influences can help drive teachers to
implement PATHS lessons that address SEL development skills each month by August 2018.
The expectancy value and self-efficacy theories are both pertinent to the achievement of the
teacher stakeholder goal. Teachers also have higher chances of achieving the stakeholder goal
when they believe themselves capable of instructing students about SEL through self-efficacy
(Pajares, 1996).
Expectancy Value: Utility
Teachers need to see the importance of teaching social-emotional skills with fidelity to
students. Expectancy value theory presents the question “Do I want to do the task?” More
specifically related to this study, Galla, Amemiya, and Wang (2018) explain that utility value
focuses on long-term goal accomplishment when anticipating task completion beyond immediate
results. Teachers must determine the value of implementing SEL curriculum competencies with
fidelity in advancing long-term academic goals for students (Norris, 2003). Studies show that
individuals value goal completion when they believe that their tasks contribute to future success
(Wigfield & Eccles, 2000). For example, the success of organizational and stakeholder goal
SOCIAL EMOTIONAL LEARNING 34
completion depends upon whether teachers value implementing PATHS curriculum lessons with
fidelity when seeking goal attainment. To complete the task, a person must feel that the activity
is necessary to fulfilling overarching goals of success (Galla et al., 2018). The perceived cost of
relating to the task is influenced by the fact that assumed long-term rewards matter more than
short-term attributes. Teachers need to expect accurate PATHS curriculum implementation to
support SEL fidelity longer in the presence of distinct expectancy-value beliefs.
Teachers with high utility value SEL activities with meaning derived from potential
organizational and stakeholder goal success. This expectancy value contributes to the
stakeholder goal by motivating teachers to see how important PATHS curriculum
implementation fidelity is to long-term desired student aims. Teachers will do the task when
they expect student performance to improve as a result.
Self-Efficacy Theory
Teachers need to feel confident in their ability to model PATHS curriculum lessons to
students. Self-efficacy theory states that the self-perceptions and judgments a person makes
about him- or herself lead to the predictions he or she makes about his or her capabilities
(Pajares, 1996). Individuals form their beliefs by internalizing mastery experience, vicarious
experience, social persuasions, and physiological reactions (Pajares, 1996). Pajares (1996)
argues that individuals may avoid participating in activities or persevere through challenges
according to whether they believe their actions can produce positive outcomes. Task success
increases self-efficacy and failures lower it.
Self-efficacy presents the question “Can I do the task?” Mastery experiences develop
confidence in achieving the task with a sense of inspiration (Pajares, 1996). The interpretations
of the task help to create increased efforts when difficulty arises. A person may be challenged by
SOCIAL EMOTIONAL LEARNING 35
conflicts, but they strive to perform as a result of visualizing success. Receiving encouraging
messages and observing others achieving a similar task may motivate individuals to persevere
(Zins, 2007). Pajares (1996) discusses how the importance of peer modeling powerfully
influences self-efficacy beliefs.
Teacher confidence influences other teachers and students to achieve related tasks.
Regular SEL implementation nurtures a teacher’s perceived self-efficacy (Zins, 2007).
Modeling four PATHS lessons each month to increase student SEL development skills builds
teacher confidence through practice. The focus on SEL increases teacher commitment to the
task by allowing them to experience better relationships with students and improved behavioral
issues in classrooms (Collie & Shapka, 2011). The stakeholder goal is accomplished when
teachers consistently ensure accurate SEL implementation. For example, inconsistent PATHS
implementation leaves teachers feeling unsure whether they can successfully construct SEL
developmental skills for students.
Teachers can answer the question of “Can I do the task?” successfully when they
consistently model SEL curriculum lessons as integral parts of overall student achievement.
Teachers who take the time to instruct PATHS curriculum lessons find that SEL skills are gained
as they become routines. Confidence of completing the activity increases as teachers experience
mastery in modeling PATHS curriculum lessons with fidelity.
Table 3 below shows motivational influences and assessments. In order to meet the
stakeholder goal, teachers must see the importance of teaching social-emotional skills to students
with fidelity and must feel confident in their ability to model PATHS curriculum lessons to
students. These influences will be used to recognize the effect motivation has on teacher
stakeholders implementing two PATHS units each month.
SOCIAL EMOTIONAL LEARNING 36
Table 3.
Assumed Motivational Influences
Organizational Mission
To deliver entrepreneurial and innovative education opportunities that transform the learning
potential of marginalized students by strengthening the whole child: intellect, character, and
spirit.
Organizational Goal
By June 2019, the social-emotional development for students attending The School of the
Whole Child will increase by 20%.
Stakeholder Goal
By August 2018, teachers will model four lessons with fidelity per month from the PATHS
curriculum that address SEL competencies.
Assumed Knowledge Influence Motivational Type
Teachers need to see how
implementing SEL competencies
is important to long-term academic
student success.
Expectancy Value: Utility
Teachers need to feel confident in
their ability to model PATHS
lessons with fidelity to students.
Self-efficacy
Organizational Influences
Organizational cultures include dimensions critical to complex change efforts. Clark and
Estes (2008) consider organizational culture to be a dominant force behind performance and a
way to review the core values and beliefs stakeholders learn as cultural settings and models
shape overall working environments. Cultural settings and models mediate internal and external
contributions leading to organizational change. For example, cultural models assess internal
areas of potential competition, resistance, compliance, and stakeholder actions leading to
productive organizational practices. Stakeholders share a common mental schema toward
cultural practices imbedded within the cultural model thread (Gallimore & Goldenberg, 2001).
Cultural settings provide stakeholders with concrete applications to gain social context relating to
how work is being performed within the organization (Gallimore & Goldenberg, 2001). Goals,
SOCIAL EMOTIONAL LEARNING 37
communication, and resources are present within cultural settings to assess external contributions
toward stakeholder organizational performance (Burke & Litwin, 1992). Gallimore and
Goldenberg (2001) mention how cultural settings and models account for visible techniques and
systematic structures that develop stakeholder actions toward meeting the organizational goal.
Assumed cultural model and cultural settings influences on SEL performance are included in
Table 4 and discussed further below.
Table 4.
Assumed Organizational Influences
Organizational Goal
By June 2019, the social-emotional development for students attending The School of the
Whole Child will increase by 20%.
Stakeholder Goal
By August 2018, teachers will model four lessons with fidelity per month from the PATHS
curriculum that address SEL competencies.
Assumed Organizational Influence Organization Influence Type
The organization needs to provide
teachers with PATHS curriculum
resources.
Cultural Setting
The organization needs to
communicate the importance of
SEL development when
implemented within academic
instruction.
Cultural Setting
The organization needs to create
an environment of trust for
teachers to fully support PATHS
curriculum implementation.
Cultural Model
Cultural Setting Influences
The organization must provide teachers with SEL curriculum resources to meet
organizational and stakeholder goal success. Considering growing attention from researchers,
emotions are critical for social interactions with others and cognitive development (Pekrun,
2011). Progress toward SEL development depends on the attention and resources SWC provides
SOCIAL EMOTIONAL LEARNING 38
as an organization to teacher stakeholders in classrooms. Teachers experience a lack of
accomplishments when tasked with implementing PATHS curriculum lessons without proper
resources modeling SEL functions of learning. Social-emotional learning curriculum resources
define the subconscious effects emotions can have on academic achievement, while describing
specific concepts relating to implementation (Pajares, 1996). When SWC provides a setting in
which teachers have proper SEL curriculum resources, the organization constructs SEL
principles accurately modeled by teachers to support consistent emotional regulation for
students. Buckingham and Coffman (1999) suggest that in effective organizations, a relevant
factor is stakeholders’ possession of the materials and equipment they need to perform their job
correctly.
When providing teachers with SEL curriculum resources, it is beneficial for SWC to
communicate the importance of SEL development when implementing within traditional
academic structures (Berger, 2014). Empirical research shows the importance of the fact that
learners regularly experience a wide variety of emotions in classroom dynamics (Pekrun, 2011).
For example, students may experience stress, boredom, anxiety, joy, and anger within moments
of each other and without signals of awareness (Norris, 2003). Teachers who acknowledge the
importance of SEL in student development pay close attention to the reciprocal causation of
emotions in academic progression (Berger, 2014). The School of the Whole Child as an
organization must communicate to teachers how SEL can create a better learning environment
for students, and the impact emotions have on functions of learning. Pekrun (2011) argues that
emotions may be the most important complexity relating to learning and cognitive development.
He mentions that students experience activities according to the emotions they inspire, which
lead to results influencing learning outcomes. When SWC communicates important SEL factors
SOCIAL EMOTIONAL LEARNING 39
impacting academic achievement, teachers understand the importance of emotions in relation to
learning. Organizational settings of SEL importance and resources to attain curriculum
implementation with fidelity implies the support teachers need to accomplish stated goals.
Cultural Model Influences
An organizational model that creates an environment of trust for teachers to fully support
PATHS curriculum implementation is needed to guide SWC goal success. External and internal
events teachers experience at SWC are perceived differently according to the trust they place in
organizational influences (Gallimore & Goldenberg, 2001). Teachers must support participating
in PATHS curriculum implementation and trust SEL attributes to overall student development
(Peyton, Weissberg, Dymnicki, Taylor, Pachan, & Schellinger, 2008). Creating a climate of trust
develops norms which help to endure challenges imbedded within any social system (Burke &
Litwin, 1992). Teaching a new curriculum may challenge stakeholders, but as teachers evolve
through PATHS curriculum implementation, organizational trust provides acknowledgement of
security and support.
Administrators at SWC set the tone to update teachers on student achievement as teachers
model PATHS lessons with fidelity. Updated information from administrators provide
environments of guided assistance during the process and assure teachers of how implementation
with fidelity actively contributes to student achievement. According to Norris (2003), trust is
having confidence in the reliability of what the organization provides, and this proves to be
critical for individual participation. He implies that stakeholders must feel trust in the
effectiveness of the organization’s internal culture. When modeling PATHS lessons to students,
teachers must trust that SEL development is important to student achievement.
SOCIAL EMOTIONAL LEARNING 40
Conceptual Framework: The Interaction of Stakeholders’ Knowledge and Motivation and
the Organizational Context
A conceptual framework provides integrative approaches to research design with
interconnecting logical consistency for overarching principles (Maxwell, 2013). Maxwell (2013)
specifies the system of concepts, explanations, beliefs, and theories working together to build
relationships among key factors in framing research. He explains that a conceptual framework is
mainly used as a model to highlight what the research plans to study and how relevant research
questions lead to the interaction of key factors in the current research. For example, in order to
select realistic research questions, appropriate methods of potential research designs must be
taken into consideration to identify current practices and how they influence the study. Not
every research study has explicit inquiry statements, but good research designs identify a
potential problem and other influences contributing to the importance of the study. The
conceptual framework influences both the data collection and the analysis of a research study
(Maxwell, 2013). As data is collected, the strategies used to gather participant information are
relevant when discussing relevant patterns in the study.
Each potential knowledge, motivational, and organizational influencer is independent of
the others, but they are not isolated. The way teachers attain knowledge, practice motivation, and
use the cultural setting resources provided by the organization, all align to adequately inform the
study in examining validity (Doerschuk et al., 2016). The construction of influencers produces
more well-supported ways in which each idea frames the issue or research problem.
Demonstrating the way influencers interact with each other makes a deeper understanding of
how the world works from a transformative worldview evident (Creswell, 2014).
Transformative worldviews raise the consciousness of important experiences shared by
SOCIAL EMOTIONAL LEARNING 41
individuals who may suffer inequalities based on disenfranchisement (Creswell, 2014). The
issues to be discussed in this research study connect the changes needed to advance an agenda of
change in SEL for underserved students with a focus on equity in improved learning experiences.
Organizations with a cultural setting providing PATHS curriculum resources to
stakeholders with social-emotional concepts lead to beneficial instruction for students.
Organizations that provide teachers with SEL curriculum resources provide the structures needed
to enhance student achievement. The organizational model includes creating a cultural setting in
which SEL behavior is immediately detected through curriculum expectations without bias
assumptions. Teachers of the organization use specific PATHS curriculum strategies to guide
their daily interactions with students in refining achievement goals. Without a cultural setting
designed for SEL curriculum resources, teacher knowledge and motivation are affected. The
cultural setting of the organization connects curriculum resources to identify SEL deficits in the
world of education, and the problems teachers can potentially encounter if SEL is not properly
implemented in their classrooms.
Figure 1. Interaction of Stakeholder Knowledge and Motivation within Organizational Cultural
Models and Settings
SOCIAL EMOTIONAL LEARNING 42
Each concept builds upon the others to establish connections of conceptual framework
elements. The School of the Whole Child provides resources supported by stakeholder
influencers, represented in a rectangle. The role of the organization is important. The School
of the Whole Child functions as an organization providing an SEL cultural setting to teachers in
order to properly implement PATHS curriculum lessons with fidelity. Teacher stakeholders
develop factual and procedural knowledge types with the motivation of self-efficacy and the
expectancy value of utility, as represented by the four rectangles. The brackets on the left and
right represent organizational cultural setting resources surrounding each knowledge type and
motivational indicator on the conceptual framework figure. The organizational cultural setting
resources withhold the skills and motivation that teacher stakeholders need in order to meet the
August 2018 goal.
Teacher knowledge and motivation are grouped within four rectangles inside the two
brackets of organizational cultural setting representations in Figure 1. In order for teachers to
meet the August 2018 stakeholder goal of implementing four lessons each month that address
SOCIAL EMOTIONAL LEARNING 43
SEL developmental skills, all concepts must connect with each other, as illustrated by the
intersecting lines dividing the rectangles. The rectangles include teacher motivation which
expect SEL utility value and builds confidence within self-efficacy. The rectangle also
represents teacher stakeholders knowing the accurate procedure of proper PATHS curriculum
implementation. The factual knowledge linked to teachers learning the five SEL competencies
intersects with the motivation teachers experience when meeting the stakeholder goal. All four
rectangles differ in terms of indicator types, but two lines intersect each set, while surrounding
potential stakeholder goal success. This conceptual framework does not consist of independent
terms; instead, all rectangles, lines, and brackets exist only as far as they co-depend on each
other. When one rectangle breaks from the other, the framework does not exist and will not
connect to the August 2018 stakeholder goal.
The conceptual framework builds a feasible method to deal with the seriousness of
answering stakeholder goal research questions. Each shape on the framework design represents
a model integrating operational links to an overall stakeholder goal connection (Maxwell, 2013).
The rectangular shape represented conveys a sense of flexibility in organizational cultural setting
resources, but the rigid four-sided design in indicator types impose the specific structure needed
to fulfill the August 2018 stakeholder goal. If the indicator types inside the rectangles are
violated, the conceptual framework design is ineffective. Creswell (2014) asserts that the
conceptual framework must be relevant to stakeholder goals and research questions highlighting
validity issues. The conceptual figure above displays intersecting components, each having
implications for the others. The more interactive concepts in framework designs, the more
opportunities for relational connections.
SOCIAL EMOTIONAL LEARNING 44
CHAPTER THREE: METHODS
Participating Stakeholders
Teachers were the participating stakeholders targeted throughout this study as constant
perspectives focused on reaching the August 2018 stakeholder goal. Teachers spend a majority
of classroom hours interacting with students on a daily basis. Stakeholder population
observations reflect information shared and gathered with consistent methods of data collection
(Johnson & Christensen, 2014). For example, teachers with an SEL focus were best suited to
participate in this research study because they met the criteria of whole child instruction
experience to create general SEL advancement. As teachers prepared PATHS lessons, they
became more involved in the process of collecting specific data concerning classroom
achievement for student SEL adaptations. Sampling classroom teachers as participants for this
study supported student perspectives in the role of accurate PATHS lesson implementation by
hearing and seeing modeled SEL competencies in real time.
Qualitative Data Collection and Instrumentation
Qualitative data collection methods add depth to what the researcher experiences while
conducting the study (Merriam & Tisdell, 2016). Johnson and Christensen (2014) highlight how
interviews study the characteristics of a population while gathering specific information about
selected participants. Interviews supported observations by creating a pacing guide to accurately
describe what the researcher noticed while participants were in action within learning
environments (Maxwell, 2013). Interviews and observations were used in this study to examine
how SEL strategies support holistic curriculum implementation. Semi-structured interviews
allowed examples of population characteristics to be collected as data to support generalized
themes (Johnson and Christensen, 2014). Interviews examined the motivation and
SOCIAL EMOTIONAL LEARNING 45
organizational culture regarding SEL, along with observations that verified the knowledge
needed to implement lessons with fidelity that address SEL development skills.
Interviewing Criteria and Rationale
Criterion 1. The first criterion for participants of this study was that the participating
teachers must be full-time and must lead a classroom of students at SWC. Participants must lead
students on a daily basis and implement four PATHS curriculum lessons each month. Teaching
on a daily basis was important to the process of repetition and consistency in mastering SEL
competencies. Modeling PATHS curriculum lessons with fidelity supported the importance of
the topic and its relevance to the SEL subject. Curriculum lessons modeled by full-time
classroom teachers allowed for any necessary adjustments after the first lesson was modeled.
Teaching three or more lessons on a daily basis created potential confusion on which SEL
concept was being modeled. Four PATHS curriculum lessons each month was preferred when
fostering a guided pace for accurate implementation.
Criterion 2. The second criterion for participants of this study was that the participating
teachers must be trained in implementing PATHS lessons. This criterion was important to the
validity of the study. Teachers who are trained in SEL competencies are experts in how student
emotions affect student performance. Teachers trained in PATHS implementation can quickly
apply SEL strategies to observed student behavior.
Johnson and Christensen (2014) suggest that semi-structured interviews allow examples
of population characteristics to be collected as data to support generalized themes. Instead of
studying each individual at SWC, purposefully selecting teachers implementing PATHS
curriculum lessons allowed the gathering of data regarding specific issues of stakeholder goal
interest. Johnson and Christensen (2014) also stressed that it was recommended to sample
SOCIAL EMOTIONAL LEARNING 46
populations familiar with the study to promote credibility in qualitative studies. The School of
the Whole Child could provide participants who are familiar with teaching SEL to students,
which was crucial to accurate population value representation. The number of participants
selected depended upon the research questions and the quality of the information proposed to be
used in the study (Guetterman, 2015).
For this research study, five teachers out of the SWC population of 37 teachers were
interviewed by purposeful sampling procedures. The five teachers were selected for the study
because they met both criteria for the research. Purposeful sampling allowed generalizations
from teacher participants to be formed. After interviewing five participants, the sample size
could have increased if more teachers wished to be interviewed, but only after verifying that both
criteria were met. Sample sizes tend to fluctuate according to the needs of both the study and
participant interaction (Creswell, 2014). Participants were recruited by verifying that teachers
completed at least 25 hours of PATHS curriculum instruction and were trained to implement
social-emotional skills. If teacher stakeholders were not fully trained in PATHS curriculum
implementation, they did not meet the sampling criteria.
Participants must have had SEL training to be considered as participants in the study.
Guetterman (2015) argues that the more experience participants have in the chosen field of
potential data collection, the more substance is attributed to the overall research design. The
purposeful sample method from SEL-trained teachers allowed equal opportunities for each
participant selected to include expert perspectives. Interviews took place at the beginning of the
data collection process to create a foundation for the three observations to follow. After five
participants were given an equal chance of being included in the research by interviews, the
responses were analyzed to prepare for three observations. The three observations were selected
SOCIAL EMOTIONAL LEARNING 47
according to the teachers who had the most experience in teaching PATHS curriculum lessons.
The teachers with the most experience was discovered after interviews were conducted and the
data collected confirmed SEL expertise.
Observation Sampling (Access) Strategy and Rationale
Criterion 1. The first criterion for observations was that teachers knew which SEL
competency to use when students display specific emotions. Interactions between students and
teachers during classroom instruction guided authentic observations. When a student was
anxious, sad, or angry, noting which SEL competency the teacher implemented to support the
student during the specific interaction added data to the study. The researcher’s role during this
process was to gather as many examples of participant interactions as possible (Guetterman,
2015). In observing how teachers interacted with students the research gained the depth of
participant perspective. For example, if a student was displaying multiple emotions, noting
whether the teacher used the responsible decision-making, self-management, self-awareness,
social awareness, or relationships skills strategy to guide the student was important to the overall
theme of the study. Noting how the student and teacher engaged during PATHS implementation
was an important aspect of the research.
Criterion 2. The second criterion for observations was that participants must possess at
least five years of experience teaching SEL competencies. Teachers who have at least five years
of knowledge and experience are no longer considered novices. Five or more years of SEL
curriculum strategies and training highlight teachers as experts. Social-emotional curriculum
expert teachers know specific behaviors and skills needed to attain SEL success. Five years of
SEL experience imparts the accurate knowledge necessary to implement curriculum lessons for
students with fidelity. Expert SEL teachers with at least five years of experience drove the basis
SOCIAL EMOTIONAL LEARNING 48
of PATHS observations from a trained professional perspective.
Observation Sampling (Access) Strategy and Rationale
Observations gather individual viewings of other perspectives toward a generalized
degree of setting experiences (Creswell, 2014). Guetterman (2015) claims that observations tell
the story of a common theme of the experiences of stakeholders involved in the research study.
The intention of the study was to find actions displayed by the participants that paint a picture
representing current interactions within specific SEL settings. The literature guided the study
toward a broad set of interactions to observe in the setting (Creswell, 2014). Gaining access to
an SEL setting required SWC to create classrooms where teachers have PATHS curriculum
resources visible to stakeholders. Teachers created a setting where SEL knowledge was
displayed through modeling SEL competencies in lessons with fidelity. Observations required
convenience and availability in a setting in which SEL strategies could be documented as they
were noticed. Asking teachers the best time to observe PATHS curriculum lessons implemented
in classrooms facilitated a level of consistency. Approaching teachers with a choice gave
participants a voice in the research study and allowed the study to be conducted at the time most
convenient for the stakeholder. Observations began after interview data responses from
participants were collected.
Data Analysis
The researcher transcribed specific notes during the observation and interview sessions.
Notes from interviews align with shared participant experiences voiced during audio-recorded
interview period. Additional field notes taken during and after interviews were to ensure
accurate conclusions from the participant perspective. Observation notes were written during
classroom implementation viewings and at the end as appropriate to support the classroom
SOCIAL EMOTIONAL LEARNING 49
interactions seen during visitations. Documented notes for interviews and observations include
thoughts, concerns, and initial conclusions about the data in relation to the conceptual framework
and research questions. In the first phase of analysis, the researcher used open coding, looking
for ways to group five interviews into smaller sets categorized by interpretation. A second phase
of analysis broke down observation transcriptions to draw conclusions and compared the
observed actions and behaviors to PATHS curriculum documents outlining SEL implementation
fidelity. In the third phase of data analysis, theoretical coding identified the patterns and themes
that emerged in relation to the conceptual framework and research study questions.
Credibility and Trustworthiness
Credibility is a founding criterion for building the significance of qualitative research
studies (Maxwell, 2013). Credibility distinguishes clear links between current research studies
and the reality faced by participating organizations (Maxwell, 2013). Salkind (2017) describes
how research study credibility demonstrates the truth behind research findings while establishing
trustworthiness consistent with the study’s conclusions. For example, qualitative research
observes rich, dense, and well-developed experiences, examining multiple data sources and
guided by true research findings. The concluding phenomenon of a research study involves
comprehensive types of triangulation suitable for credible data collection. To increase the
credibility and trustworthiness of the study, triangulation is used to connect interviews,
observations, and document artifacts to create consistency among findings (Maxwell, 2013).
Using interviews, observations, and document analysis ensured that data collection was valid and
represented what was observed and heard from participants.
Multiple techniques of analyzing data from participants were used to ensure that the
study is protected from misinformation (Merriam & Tisdell, 2016). Interview questions were
SOCIAL EMOTIONAL LEARNING 50
asked according to preselected questions on hand, although a semi-structured framework was
adopted to allow flexibility in interview participation. The researcher used a guided list of what
to look for each day during the transcription of the observation. The results from the observation
were used as a triangulation step to support previous shared interview viewpoints from
participants. The collected PATHS curriculum documents confirmed whether the interview and
observation data collections indicated fidelity when implementing SEL lessons.
Participant perspectives were analyzed by member-checking. Member-checking is the
second most important strategy researchers implement to create credibility (Merriam & Tisdell,
2016). Maxwell (2013) argues that when participants share their voices, it adds depth to the
qualitative study. Member-checking is a technique that the researcher uses in data collection to
allow participants to clarify the thoughts shared, amend errors, or add additional comments to the
overall study. Having participants as active members of the qualitative study indicated
credibility to readers and establishes participant trustworthiness.
Ethics
Collecting research data maximizes the different perspectives needed to support patterns
of information (Rubin & Rubin, 2012). The more information gathered through observations
and interviews, the more participant voices are heard. Patton (2002) explains that we interview
participants to discover depths to the research that may remain unseen by outsiders. In research,
reliability, validity, and ethics are major factors contributing to accuracy and trustworthiness
(Glesne, 2011). Research without aforementioned qualities is questionable due to unethical
practices. Merriam and Tisdell (2016) highlight how the best researcher is conscious of the
potential ethical issues that pervade the research process. To avoid unethical findings,
examining personal perspectives first and preparing a structure for trust before seeking
SOCIAL EMOTIONAL LEARNING 51
participant information are productive practices.
The researcher’s responsibility to participants was to create an environment in which
authentic conversation and observations are supported throughout the duration of research. From
the beginning of inquiry, each participant experienced respect, honored promises, the release of
pressure, and safety when sharing personal dynamics for the study (Rubin & Rubin, 2012).
Participation in the research was voluntary. Questions were asked in confidentiality with meeting
the needs of the participant. When collecting data, the researcher secured responses. As
indicated by Glesne (2011), researchers who prioritize confidentiality prevent unethical harm
during the research process. Participant and data confidentiality was maintained by replacing the
names of teacher participants using a unique identifier known only to the researcher. The file
that maps the identifier and transcriptions was password-protected. Data security provided by
the features of Google Drive has a cloud-based service reducing the risk of hardware
inconsistencies and potential theft. When gaining permission to record, the researcher considers
the effects of the research on participants and provide the option to stop at any point (Glesne,
2011).
The researcher addressed the purpose of SEL research with participants before conducted
observations and interviews. The researcher was invested in SWC achieving the organizational
goal of increased social-emotional development for students by 2019. Providing research details
about the basis of the study before beginning created opportunities for credible ethics. The
researcher’s relationship to goal attainment could have made potential participants question
overall intentions if experiences are collected without sharing the details of underlying themes
(Merriam & Tisdell, 2016). Allowing participants to meet outside of school grounds helped
promote a more relaxed environment for teachers to discuss important topics. This strategy
SOCIAL EMOTIONAL LEARNING 52
helped facilitate clear boundaries and transparency. To avoid any conflicts of interest or
compromising ethical behavior, the researcher used peer debriefing as an added practice
encouraging accountability.
When teachers chose to participate in the research study, the researcher defined a role of
sole researcher during the inquiry process. A clearly defined researcher role during observations
and interviews prevents researcher-researched relationships that may harm the organization
(Glesne, 2011). The less pressure participants of a familiar organization experience, the lower
the chance of unreliable research (Rubin & Rubin, 2012). The researcher respected the culture
of SWC without seeking organizational advancements or prestige (Glesne, 2011). Teacher
participants knew that their participation in the study was completely voluntary.
Researcher bias is a threat to study credibility, but the researcher used ethical practices to
manage potential assumptions and biases by allowing participants to share personal experiences
without rushing to judgment. The SEL research collected benefits the underserved students in
the researcher’s organization. Potential interest in researching the correlation between SEL
fidelity and academic achievement for underserved students outweighed potential ethical
deception.
The trustworthiness of research was founded on leaving assumptions and biases out of
the inquiry. Taking on a new perspective was encouraged when practicing ethical research and
noting all observations (Rubin & Rubin, 2012). As Merriam and Tisdell (2016) conclude, the
researcher bears the burden of producing a study with ethical content and a level of
trustworthiness. The basis of research was valid inquiry and balanced reliability, while
protecting the information shared by active participants.
SOCIAL EMOTIONAL LEARNING 53
Limitations and Delimitations
Limitations exist in research studies both externally and internally. Researchers can
minimize study limitations by explaining the importance of issues that cannot be controlled
(Salkind, 2017). For example, in the current research study, teacher stakeholders may have tried
to report their implementation of SEL via electronically tracked Illuminate classroom data in
order to prevent the researcher visiting classes to conduct observations. In this qualitative study,
observation data collection addresses the fidelity of SEL curriculum implementation. If tracked
teacher SEL data were the only evidence of accurate modeled lessons, a potential limitation may
have occurred. Salkind (2017) describes how qualitative researchers need to be present during
observations in order to preserve the truthfulness of the study. During these negative events, it
remains important to balance member-checking participation influence and control over data
collection (Maxwell, 2013). Self-reported data that is not verified may have represented possible
limitations on credibility and trustworthiness.
Bias telescoping and the retelling of SEL memories may have led to the exaggeration of
actual events to support the research study. To ensure an accurate qualitative study, the
researcher interpreted the data collected realistically. Controlling the number of observations
conducted during the study implicated a delimitation choice eliminating negative outcomes.
Unique to this SEL study, observations captured the fidelity of PATHS curriculum
implementation in real time while creating a structured space for the researcher to take notes.
The qualitative study was prepared to conduct one 90-minute observation per teacher to focus on
external factors leading to significant teacher-led actions. Having sufficient time to observe how
PATHS implementation guided meeting the stakeholder goal for each stakeholder participating
in the study balanced delimitation while acknowledging limitations. Research studies gather
SOCIAL EMOTIONAL LEARNING 54
information, while limitations and delimitations frame potential outcomes.
CHAPTER FOUR: RESULTS AND FINDINGS
This chapter outlines the following elements of the research study: participating
stakeholders, interview results, and findings. The modified gap analysis framework emerged by
a qualitative design in which participating stakeholders noted SEL perspectives, observed
PATHS lesson implementation, and examined supporting SEL curriculum documents. The
questions guiding the results and findings of this study were:
1. To what extent is the organization meeting the goal of having teachers modeling four
lessons per month from the PATHS curriculum, with fidelity and that address SEL
competencies, by August 2018?
2. What stakeholder knowledge and motivations relate to this goal?
3. What is the interaction between organizational culture and context and stakeholder
knowledge and motivation?
Participating Stakeholders
Five SWC teachers participated in this research study, including one kindergarten
teacher, one second grade teacher, one fourth grade teacher, one sixth grade teacher, and one
eighth grade teacher. The teaching experience of participants ranged from 3 to 15 years, with
less than 10 months as the mean time spent implementing whole-child SEL within SWC
organization. Four participants were female and one participant was male, representing five
different grade levels. The participants’ professional backgrounds included two teachers with
experience in counseling and other youth developmental disciplines, one teacher with experience
in social-emotional learning, and three teachers with experience in non-traditional whole-child
SOCIAL EMOTIONAL LEARNING 55
learning disciplines. Table 5 identifies the participants’ years of teaching experience, gender,
teaching grade level, and resourceful disciplines.
Table 5.
Participant Stakeholder Demographic Information
ID Teaching
Experience
Gender Teaching Grade Level Resourceful Discipline
P1 5 years Female Fourth Counseling
P2 3.5 years Female Kindergarten Whole Child Learning
P3 15 years Female Eighth SEL and Whole Child
Learning
P4 2 years Male Second Counseling
P5 5.5 years Female Sixth Whole Child Learning
Findings
The findings presented below are data organized by influence: knowledge, motivation,
and organizational. Data is categorized by influence type following the conceptual framework
outline. Knowledge, motivation, and organizational influences were analyzed by considering
validated gaps presented by the data. Evidence gathered presenting at least 75% or more
reaffirmed a potential influence gap needing improvement. Recommendations for influence
areas evident from validated gaps are discussed within Chapter 5. Invalidated gaps are
confirmed when more than 75% of the collected data is shown to be rejected by the assumed
influence. Unvalidated gaps in analyzed data may not determine an immediate improvement, but
may still provide insight for the research study. Undetermined influences less than 75% that
display validated or validated assumed influences may require further research toward solutions
in order to be (in)validated.
SOCIAL EMOTIONAL LEARNING 56
Knowledge Influences
Various types of interview questions were asked in order to accurately assess different
knowledge influences affecting stakeholders’ knowledge of how the five SEL competencies and
implementing PATHS lessons with fidelity influence the organizational goal. Findings suggest
that stakeholders understand SEL factual and procedural influences when approaching
knowledge-related concepts. Teachers routinely discussed SEL knowledge and skills similar to
those referred to in the literature review. Teachers were asked how PATHS professional
development trainings permitted access to knowledge influencing SEL organizational goal
outcomes. When asked to list specific components, teachers were confident in sharing the five
SEL competencies: self-awareness, responsible decision making, self-management, social
awareness, and relationship skills. Teachers knew how implementing the five SEL competencies
led to whole-child development as a result of professional development connected to competency
training. Despite access to the knowledge gained from PATHS curriculum implementation,
teachers were less knowledgeable about how each PATHS lesson should be modeled with
fidelity during academic instruction.
Teachers vaguely described the scheduling conflict between PATHS lesson
implementation and core academic subjects, suggesting they were misinformed about the
strategy behind the organization’s method of increasing student SEL development. When
discussing the PATHS professional development training provided by the organization, teachers
referred to being introduced to lesson implementation, but not in-depth plans regarding when to
specifically teach concepts to students in conjunction with core academic subjects. Modeling
PATHS lessons with fidelity may have been discussed using knowledge development methods,
while teachers lacked training in how to instruct lesson competencies and teach core science,
SOCIAL EMOTIONAL LEARNING 57
math, reading, and humanities subjects. Table 6 identifies the two assumed knowledge influences
and the summary of findings for each assumed influence.
Table 6.
Assumed Knowledge Influences, Concluding Validation, and Indicated Findings
Assumed Knowledge Influences Invalidated, Gap Validated, or Undetermined
Teachers need to know the five SEL
competencies.
Gap Invalidated. Teachers demonstrate
factual knowledge of competencies.
Teachers need to know how to implement
SEL curriculum lessons with fidelity during
academic instruction.
Gap Validated. Teachers do not comprehend
how to model with fidelity due to not knowing
the procedure to model lessons along with
teaching core academic subjects: math,
reading, science, and humanities.
Factual Knowledge
Teachers Know the Five SEL Competencies
During the interview process, teachers were asked to define the five SEL competencies,
both providing definitions and listing traits associated with each strategic competency. Specific
questions outlining the connection between knowing the five SEL competencies by memory and
applying them as social domains assessed their comprehension of social-emotional development.
According to the literature, social-emotional learning competencies require focal points of
memory from the adults who choose to implement the curriculum in order to properly support
emotional development and academic accountability (Van Velsor, 2009). During the interviews,
all teachers defined the five SEL competencies consistently with the examples the literature
provides to support the importance of SEL curriculum design. The collected data indicates that
all teachers are familiar with information of advocacy for SEL when displaying knowledge of
how the five SEL competencies encourage modeling SEL programs with fidelity.
SOCIAL EMOTIONAL LEARNING 58
Upon first entering classrooms, the room walls were filled with posters listing SEL
competencies and images to reinforce emotional management. One poster showed a child red in
the face and arms folded with anger as the highlighted emotion. Next to the image noting anger
in the text was a calm signal shaped similar to a stop sign. Students were arranged in five groups
of four students, each seated in desks aligned in a circular shape. In the circle groups, each
student had red, yellow, and green dots taped to the top of each desk. As P3 began to instruct the
PATHS lesson, students were asked to recite the five competencies from the wall poster. As P3
pointed to each competency, her actions determined she knew the five competencies by memory.
During the interview, P3 likened memorizing the five SEL competencies to “remember
why we are teaching it to the kids in the first place...Each competency has its own place in the
overall curriculum program.” After reciting the competencies as a class, P3 went around to each
student to ask them to point to the circle that represented the way they were feeling. One, by
one, each student stayed seated, shared their name, pointed to a colored circle, and explained
why they chose specific colors to represent their feeling. Some students were hesitant to share.
When all students were finished sharing their feelings, P3 reminded the students how each
feeling could be managed by one of the five competencies. One student raised his hand to ask if
two colors from the circles can be chosen, as he felt sad and happy. P3 had been teaching 15
years and her experience showed when she reassured the student by sharing how all feelings
have a voice and are important. The student nodded his head at her response. P3 then instructed
the class to reflect for two minutes on the feelings shared from other classmates and compare
whole class feelings to individual feelings.
Participants were asked during interviews to detail the process by which information was
shared in the organization, to assess their knowledge of the five SEL competencies. Descriptions
SOCIAL EMOTIONAL LEARNING 59
of the learning process were straightforward. Teachers found it easy to memorize the five
competencies and definitions. Their descriptions of the process are informative regarding their
knowledge of social-emotional terms. Teachers described the approach to the process as social
when describing how each teacher collaborated with the others to test their ability to recite the
five terms. Organizational requirements included listing each competency, accurate definition,
and examples of self-awareness, responsible decision making, self-management, social
awareness, and relationship skills. The “collaborative” approach quickly developed an effort
toward teamwork and stakeholder buy-in as the organization attempted to meet implementation
goals. To promote fidelity, teachers were assigned to other teachers to assist in formally
assessing whether SEL competency terms have been learned successfully. Teachers described
the process as a supportive approach to development whereby they were held accountable for
SEL foundational skills, but performance pressure decreased when stakeholders participated
collectively in an “activity.”
The data suggested that the process the organization used may have contributed to
stakeholder buy-in and PATHS resource development, due to creating a system in which
participants can gain familiarity with implementation with fidelity before modeling lessons in
classrooms. During a classroom observation, the researcher noted a teacher consistently relying
on the five SEL competency assessments from previous collaborative sessions as references
during whole-class instruction. When entering the classroom of P1, students were writing a
reflection on the five competencies. On the reflection activity, students had to match the five
competencies with scenario descriptions. Each scenario description was accompanied by a facial
expression image displaying an emotion of sadness, anger, joy, curiosity, and anxiety. Students
drew lines to match the five competencies with scenario descriptions. The classroom was at a
SOCIAL EMOTIONAL LEARNING 60
quite volume with no talking, the lights were dim, and P1 had a calming melody that can be
heard coming from her laptop. When students completed the reflection activity, they put their
heads down on the desk. When P1 saw a student’s head down, she walked over to pick up the
reflection. As she looked over each reflection, she made notes and checked for accuracy. If the
description matched the scenario, she marked a star. If the descriptions and scenarios did not
match, the teacher marked a square and spent time explaining to the student why the selection
did not match.
During the process of checking the student’s reflection activities, her actions of knowing
the five competencies were evidenced by her quick transitions from student to student. Even
though P1 had notes from the PATHS training, she did not have to frequently stop and revisit
competencies listed on her notes. Her actions determined she knew the five competencies.
During the interview, she stated that “having the chance to sit down with my peers who were
responsible for doing the same thing I was doing was comforting. I did not feel like a mean boss
was staring over me testing my knowledge of all terms. Having the notes from our meetings also
made me feel better to use when I had to teach the kids.” Despite having PATHS training notes
available to her during lesson implementation, evidence gathered during the observation
supported P1 had the factual knowledge of understanding the five competencies.
The findings indicate that teachers understand the five SEL competencies; however,
teachers lack procedural knowledge for structuring lesson implementation when also teaching
core academic subjects. The shortfall in communication regarding when to model SEL
competencies while also teaching core science, math, reading, and humanities subjects suggests
that teachers lack knowledge of how to structure their time during the implementation process.
Teachers are aware of five SEL terms and the differences between them, but they may not fully
SOCIAL EMOTIONAL LEARNING 61
comprehend when each competency should be modeled during general academic instruction.
Without knowledge of appropriate strategies of time structuring, teachers may guide students
poorly in proper acknowledgement of social-emotional concepts. While SEL curriculums
involve tracked lesson plan outlines for consistency, more exact guidelines for when to
implement competencies could be valuable for the lesson modeling process.
Procedural Knowledge
Teachers Do Not Know How to Implement SEL Curriculum Lessons with Fidelity
Teachers demonstrated factual knowledge of the five SEL competencies, but they did not
demonstrate procedural knowledge of how to implement curriculum lessons with fidelity.
Limited experience in modeling core academic subjects and social-emotional learning
curriculums simultaneously contributed to the lack of procedural knowledge. Many teachers
indicated that they were experienced teachers and all were certified instructors. While observing
P2, she handed each student a science test on periodic table elements. During the observation,
P2 fumbled through papers on her desk searching for the PATHS lesson plan that focused on
self-management. The self-management focal point for the SEL topic was written on the board,
along with three periodic table hints students can use as an aid for the science test. Students
were told after completing the science test, they had to reflect on a time when self-management
was a challenge for them or a family member. P2 erased the three science test hints off the board
to write the definition for self-management according to the PATHS lesson plan. A student
raised his hand to tell her she erased the hints to help during the test. After realizing her mistake,
she noticeably inhaled and exhaled deeply and apologized to the class. An interruption came
over the intercom reminding all classes were to be dismissed early due to a minimum day
schedule. She instructed the students she would move the test to another day, as she
SOCIAL EMOTIONAL LEARNING 62
miscalculated time, and class was dismissed. A lack of knowing how to implement PATHS
lessons with fidelity while teaching core academic subjects was noted as students exited her
class, P2 stated: “I know how to teach math and reading without a doubt, but teaching both
[social-emotional learning] and real academics is tough.” The areas of concern highlighted by
teacher included requiring additional time for class instruction, conducting assessments, and
providing feedback to administrators.
Though several teachers understood the five SEL competencies, attended professional
development, and were equipped with the PATHS curriculum as a resource, many of the teachers
did not feel secure in implementing lessons with fidelity. Despite this lack of procedural
knowledge, all teachers indicated that learning the five SEL competencies was a necessary first
step in the implementation of SEL lessons from the PATHS curriculum. However, the evidence
suggests challenges implementing lessons with fidelity when incorporating the SEL curriculum
alongside core academic subjects. Describing the adjustments for instructional time, P4
suggested during an interview that “we have our lesson plans for reading, math, and science
outlined in time slots giving each subject its dedicated time. But even though I know how to
teach the PATHS lessons, I struggle with when to do it. I find myself doubting if I’m doing it
right.” Teachers described the importance of administrator accountability during implementation
for potential fidelity improvement. These challenges were more evident for most teachers than
projected, since all teachers in the organization are required to implement PATHS lessons
throughout daily instruction.
Motivation Influences
A list of interview questions assessed the motivation influences affecting stakeholders’
expectancy utility value of implementing SEL competencies and self-efficacy reflections when
SOCIAL EMOTIONAL LEARNING 63
modeling lessons with fidelity. The findings suggest that stakeholders lack self-efficacy when
attempting to teach students curriculum lessons during instruction. Detailing their experiences
when asked to describe their level of confidence in their ability to model PATHS lessons with
fidelity, several teachers described not feeling assured in their practice. Many teachers indicated
that they valued the importance of social-emotional support to promote long-term student
success. The evidence suggests that teachers are motivated by providing social-emotional
resources to students, despite their lack of procedural knowledge when modeling lessons during
instructional classroom sessions. The observations conducted indicated that teachers found value
in SEL student development. Many teachers were observed relying on SEL competencies to
assist in building confidence when attempting to teach lessons with fidelity. Overwhelming
evidence indicates teachers’ reliance on PATHS professional development training resources
systems to facilitate increasing social-emotional success in students. Furthermore, the ability to
model lessons with fidelity develops at a more consistent pace when teachers build confidence in
their ability to implement SEL competencies through PATHS curriculum plans. Findings
indicate that all teachers understand the importance of SEL for their students. Observations
proved that despite the perceived value of implementing PATHS curriculum resources with
fidelity, teachers lack self-efficacy when modeling lessons for students. However, the evidence
also suggests that this lack of self-efficacy can be addressed through related organizational
influences involving cultural settings adjusted to teacher feedback indicating potential gaps.
Table 7 identifies the assumed motivation influences and findings regarding each influence.
SOCIAL EMOTIONAL LEARNING 64
Table 7.
Assumed Motivation Influences, Determination, and Indicated Findings
Assumed Motivation Influence Invalidated, Gap Validated, or Undetermined
Teachers need to see how implementing SEL
competencies is important to long-term
student success.
Gap Invalidated. Teachers value
implementing SEL and see how important
SEL competencies promote student social-
emotional development.
Teachers need to feel confident in their ability
to model PATHS lessons with fidelity to
students.
Gap Validated. Teachers do not feel
confident modeling PATHS lessons with
fidelity.
Utility
Teachers Know How Implementing SEL Competencies Promotes Student Success
Four out of five teachers indicated they were familiar with how SEL competencies are
used as a guide for lesson implementation. Teachers valued executing lessons with teams of
stakeholders, and identifying areas of concern before modeling lessons for students during
required classroom instruction. The opportunity to practice SEL competencies before daily
classroom instruction increased value in securing potential success for student social-emotional
development. Additionally, during classroom observations, three out of five teachers were
observed following SEL competency curriculum guides as if reading directly from a scripted
plan. Findings indicate that all teachers expect improvement from applying social-emotional
learning principles and value PATHS resources for students within their organization. Even
though no participants indicate they are confident in their ability to model PATHS lessons with
fidelity, four out of five teachers valued the SEL training provided by the PATHS instructor.
Teachers expressed the PATHS training was a guide toward student social-emotional
development.
SOCIAL EMOTIONAL LEARNING 65
The evidence suggests that teachers evaluate the five social-emotional competencies as
useful support structures to advance student social-emotional progress. While preparing for a
mindful circle class activity, each student in the classroom of P3 sat on the carpet with legs
crossed over, arms on knees, and eyes closed. P3 in particular instructed the whole group to
whisper an emotion felt during the exercise, but to be mindful about not disrupting others as
students took time to share. P3 suggested this exercise was meant to practice self-control, a focal
competency listed on for the daily PATHS lesson plan she was set to teach. P3 joined the
students by modeling sitting on the carpet and closing her eyes with students as she expressed
emotions. Valuing the social-emotional competencies was not only evidenced by P3 during the
classroom observation, but also in stating during the interview that “each day in the classroom is
different. You never know how students will react and since we don’t have a full-time counselor,
the five competencies support during moments when a student may display alarming behavior.”
The expectancy value of the social-emotional role within student learning was also expressed by
P4 as follows: “Major decisions are made on behalf of children in our care. The fact that our
[organization] requires us to go beyond teaching math and other subjects is priceless. The kids
will surely benefit in the end.”
Data findings indicate that teachers expect SEL competencies to be useful in attaining
student development in focal points of social-emotional domains. When each competency is
addressed in PATHS lesson plans, teachers described how they expected SEL skill development
to occur. The evidence suggests that SEL is seen as valued tool for counseling students. P2
stated during the interview: “Counseling programs are no longer required in schools like in the
past when I was a child. The need for additional services outside of academic support is
extremely useful. I think the [SEL] competencies will help cater to our students needing
SOCIAL EMOTIONAL LEARNING 66
counseling and may not have other options of support.” Social-emotional skills intentionally
focus on mental health development (Bloom, 2005). The impact of emotional deficiencies can
limit both mental and academic gains (Northeast Foundation for Children, 2010).
Self-Efficacy
Teachers Do Not Feel Confident in Their Ability to Model PATHS Lessons with Fidelity
Most teachers indicated that focusing on the quality of social development for students
promoted overall social-emotional change. Despite their advocacy of implementing SEL
competencies, most teachers indicated that their modeled PATHS lessons were not directly or
indirectly supervised by administrators. P2 expressed challenges, stating: “Administrators spent
money to implement the program and I know they believe in whole-child learning. Since I know
what it took to bring the resources here, it frustrates me that I don’t see [administrators] coming
by to check if I’m teaching it correctly.” Lack of supervisor accountability contributes to
participant stakeholder lack of confidence, despite their indicated motivation regarding the
importance of implementing the five SEL competencies to encourage student success.
The literature indicates that effective learning involves supporting stakeholders during the
initial implementation process, while interacting through systems of collaboration (Van Velsor,
2009). However, evidence indicated that 100% of teachers did not feel confident in modeling
PATHS curriculum lessons with fidelity. The data suggests a lack of administrator
accountability contributes to teachers’ lack of confidence. Four of the five participants indicated
that they were not confident in their ability to implement lessons with fidelity due to a lack of
administrator accountability interaction. As evidenced by P2 during a classroom observation, P2
mumbled statements in a low voice to students during a PATHS lesson focusing on relationship
skills. Her face was flushed red during her classroom attempt to model the PATHS lesson. One
SOCIAL EMOTIONAL LEARNING 67
student raised her hand to ask P2 to speak up and clarify what types of relationships help build
self-esteem. P2 asked the student to hold that specific question until the end of class, as she was
unsure in the moment how to accurately answer her question. Another student asked P2 to show
him how to ask someone to be his friend without feeling embarrassed. P2 did not answer the
question from the student, instead P2 shared with the class that she does not feel confident in
answering their questions until she gets more support from administrators. Students stopped
asking questions and P2 stumbled over her words as she attempted to move along the lesson.
During the interview, P2 stated: “I have previous experience in whole-child learning, but
past principals were more available as a support whenever I needed them. Since [administrators]
were around to confirm I was teaching the holistic demands right, I felt more confident to
eventually teach holistic tasks.” P1 shared the similar theme of administrator accountability
concerns during the interview by suggesting: “I thought I would know these lessons out of the
park when teaching, but I didn’t know who was going to help me when I found myself second-
guessing each lesson I taught.” One teacher with less teaching experience described the effect of
absent administrator accountability as “having an expectation of improved student social-
emotional success, but without monitoring for fidelity with interacting with [teachers] beyond
professional developments. Table 9 indicates teacher degree of confidence and level of fidelity
when modeling PATHS lessons.
SOCIAL EMOTIONAL LEARNING 68
Table 8.
Descriptions of Degree of Confidence and Level of Fidelity
Teacher Fidelity
Accountability from
Administrators
Level of Fidelity
During Modeling
Lessons
Degree of Confidence
During Lesson
Implementation
P1 Low Low Not Confident
P2 Low Extremely Low Not Confident
P3 Below Average Extremely Low Not Confident
P4
P5
Low
Below Average
Low
Low
Not Confident
Not Confident
Findings indicate that most teachers are not confident in their ability to model PATHS
lessons with fidelity, despite attending the required professional development training. One
emerging theme was the lack of administrator accountability to reassure teachers that they were
establishing fidelity. Teachers described the need for consistent accountability to leaders of the
organization to gain confidence. P4 said that “if [administrators] watched me more and gave me
feedback on my performance, I think I would be confident. It’s hard to be confident when you
are unsure if the way you conduct lessons is the way the job wants you to.”
Though teachers were hopeful about the potential for student development facilitated by
social-emotional learning, they did not feel confident in their ability to model lessons with full
support. Teachers acknowledged limitations and a need to have more administrator
accountability when modeling PATHS lessons. P2 discussed during the interview a decision to
reconsider implementing the PATHS curriculum, saying: “I hesitate teaching a program I’m not
confident in. The feeling of uncertainty makes me decrease my support and dedication to
implementing lessons for students.”
SOCIAL EMOTIONAL LEARNING 69
Organizational Influences
When interviews were conducted, questions were asked to assess organizational
influences, highlighting the impact cultural models and cultural settings have on overall
organizational goal achievements. Participants were specifically asked to identify and discuss
challenges they faced when implementing social-emotional development for students in the
organization. The findings indicate a theme where teachers are provided PATHS curriculum
resources; however, teachers in the organization appeared unsure of when to implement SEL
competencies in PATHS lessons while still being required to teach core academic subjects
simultaneously. Participants understood the importance of SEL development when
implementing within academic structures, but findings indicate that the organization lacks
communication specifically pertaining to how implementation should occur during core
academic subject instruction.
Additionally, due to the lack of administrator accountability to ensure teachers are
modeling lessons with fidelity, teachers do not fully support PATHS curriculum implementation.
Evidence suggested that the organization is dedicated to social-emotional development and
incapable of renouncing the PATHS curriculum as a learning resource. Discontinuing the SEL
program would misuse funds allocated specifically by the organization to support emotional
development for students. The findings of this study suggested that the organization lacks
experience supervising implementation to assure fidelity and accuracy. Compounding the lack of
administrator accountability with participant fidelity is a lack of communication with
participants. Teachers indicated that during required PATHS professional development trainings,
administrators did not clarify when supervision would be provided to ensure lessons were
modeled correctly. Teachers were aware of the importance of SEL competencies, the support
SOCIAL EMOTIONAL LEARNING 70
SEL lends to academic achievement, and how implementing PATHS lessons addresses essential
emotional development, despite challenges in cultural settings and cultural models. Evidence
identified three barriers hindering implementation of social-emotional development for students
in the organization: lack of administrator supervision and interaction, uncertainty regarding when
to model PATHS lessons during core academic instruction, and a culture of decreasing lesson
implementation fidelity. Table 10 identifies three assumed organizational influences and the
summary of findings for each influence.
Table 9.
Assumed Organizational Influences, Description, and Summary of Findings
Assumed Organizational Influence Gap Invalidated, Validated, or Undetermined
The organization needs to provide teachers
with PATHS curriculum resources.
Gap Invalidated. Findings suggest the
organization provided teachers PATHS
resources during professional development
training.
The organization needs to create an
environment of trust for teachers to fully
support PATHS curriculum implementation.
Gap Invalidated. Findings suggest the
organization creates an environment of trust
for teachers to support PATHS curriculum
implementation.
The organization needs to communicate the
importance of SEL development when
implemented within academic structures.
Gap Validated. Findings suggests the
organization shared with teachers the impact
social-emotional learning has on academic
achievement; however, teachers indicate
uncertainty specifically when to implement.
Cultural Model
The Organization Creates an Environment of Trust for Teachers to Fully Support PATHS
Curriculum Implementation
Research study evidence suggests that the organization may lack experience supervising
SOCIAL EMOTIONAL LEARNING 71
whether PATHS lessons are modeled correctly, however when participants attended the PATHS
training they trusted the implementation process. The evidence suggests trust in the
implementation of SEL competencies through modeling PATHS curriculums is mainly attributed
to attending the training in preparation for curriculum implementation. According to P1,
“administrators do not hold us [teachers] accountable. It’s not that I think they don’t care, I just
think they are assured we went to training and are confident we can execute, since we are
experienced.” P4 mentioned that “the effort toward student development is strong in this
organization, but I cannot trust what I’m doing is impactful if I think there’s no accountability
toward my efforts.” This inability to create an environment of accountability creates resistance to
the organization’s model of PATHS implementation, which teachers trusted would lead to
student social-emotional development.
The evidence suggests teachers trust the organization invested in student social-emotional
development by requiring PATHS training before curriculum implementation. Providing a
PATHS expert instructor to lead participants in SEL guidance contributed to trusting the
organization. According to P7, “the organization plays a role of importance. At times, I think
their role in implementing the [PATHS] curriculum is just as, if not more important than us
teachers teaching in the classroom.”
One factor contributing to trust in the organization’s choice to implement the PATHS
curriculum is the culture of participant trust in organization securing external resources to
support SEL development. The organization hired an outside influencer in SEL to provide
teachers with support in the area of SEL. The shared responsibility for ensuring accurate
implementation, described by P1, contributes to the organization’s ability to improve student
social-emotional development to meet stakeholder needs. “In order to meet all needs, we need to
SOCIAL EMOTIONAL LEARNING 72
adjust to new program implementation strategies to best fit the goals of the organization,” said
P1.
Cultural Setting
The Organization Provides Teachers with PATHS Curriculum Resources
The evidence suggests that the organization provides teachers with PATHS curriculum
resources. The organization requires teachers to attend professional development sessions
outlining SEL competencies and coaching usage of PATHS curriculum lessons. Specific training
in the social-emotional domain contributes to the organization providing a productive setting for
resourceful interventions. Specifically, the organization provides training in social-emotional
advocacy, skill building, pedagogical support, and implementation benefits. In addition to being
provided with professional development training, teachers had an opportunity to collaborate with
other stakeholders during practice sessions.
Evidence suggests that the organization ensures participants are trained in the area of
social-emotional development by hiring a PATHS curriculum coordinator to instruct teachers for
two days. More specifically, the organization ensures that every teacher experiences hands-on
skill set training to ensure teachers are able to model lessons. P3 states:
“If we want people to teach certain comprehensive designs of curriculum, we need to
provide them with useful resources to attain knowledge. The one benefit this [organization] has
is that it not only provided professional development, but also paid for it. I have taught at schools
where I had to pay for my own professional development. Sometimes it may not seem like a big
deal, but an organization that provides specialized training is very important to me.”
The organization assessed current staff and discovered that the school lacked a trained
professional with expertise in SEL. The lack of experts was addressed by hiring a PATHS
SOCIAL EMOTIONAL LEARNING 73
curriculum specialist to conduct two days of training. The evidence suggests that the professional
development training increased organizational expertise in all participating stakeholders, while
promoting social-emotional development. The collaboration between the organization and
PATHS curriculum training establishes a resourceful development process. According to P2:
“The training was required, but in many instances, it added to my professional
advancements. After attending the sessions, I felt like an expert with valuable resources catered
toward focused implementation. With the [PATHS] trainers coming out to develop our efforts, I
think it gives our [organization] a leg up in mental health interventions when compared to other
schools in our area.”
P7 shared a similar experience, saying:
“When you look at other schools in our district, most lack social-emotional support for
students. Here at our [organization], we are going above and beyond academics and reaching
students holistically. When potential parents seek our school as an option for their child, the
expertise and resources in social-emotional development sets us apart.”
Lack of Communicating the Importance of Implementing PATHS Lessons During
Academic Instruction
The findings indicate that the organization does not effectively communicate the
importance of implementing PATHS lessons during academic instruction. The findings also
suggest the leading organizational barrier to communication results from inconsistent
administrator accountability. Administrators do not examine teachers during daily classroom
instruction to confirm core subjects and PATHS lessons are treated as a top priority.
Teachers stated during interviews that they have never had an administrator conduct a
classroom observation during curriculum implementation. Teachers experience little
SOCIAL EMOTIONAL LEARNING 74
accountability or support while being held fully responsible for implementing the core academic
curriculum along with PATHS lessons. The lack of organizational influence resulting from
nonexistent administrator participation contributes to mistrust regarding the implementation of
PATHS curriculum lessons while teaching other core subjects. According to P4, “when I do not
see the administrators in my classroom to help me manage teaching both academic and [PATHS]
lessons, I begin to think maybe the [organization] doesn’t think it’s important to add to our
instructional content. It’s a challenge knowing when to teach math, science, and [PATHS]
lessons each day.” Asked whether the organization conducts formal or informal observations to
guide implementation of either academic or social-emotional content, all teachers agreed that the
organization does not do so. P3 stated: “I never see [administrators]. It’s like they required us to
attend the [PATHS] training, but they are not required to tell us how adding to our other reading,
math, and humanities instructional time is important.” P4 echoed this sentiment, saying: “I feel
like I’m juggling all subjects, including [PATHS] lessons without clear communication of how
to teach during regular classes.” P4’s comments are representative of the belief expressed by
many teachers that the importance of PATHS lesson implementation during academic instruction
is unclear. Additionally, teachers are not provided with a structure for teaching academic and
model PATHS lessons simultaneously.
Teachers were asked whether the organization should require administrators to
communicate the benefit of teaching PATHS lessons alongside core academic subjects during
daily instruction. Most teachers believed it would benefit them and the organization if the
organization communicated this more effectively. P2 said that “advocacy for social-emotional
interventions is important, but so is teaching our core subjects. The more organizational
communication we have during modeling lessons will help us know the true essence of our
SOCIAL EMOTIONAL LEARNING 75
implementation. We are already teaching academic standards, but how is teaching them both at
the same time a benefit?” In contrast to the majority belief among participants that the
organization should communicate how to teach PATHS lessons alongside academic subjects, one
teacher expressed concerns related to flexibility. “We are expected to perform at our highest
peak every day. Not having the organization put me in a rigid box allows me to be creative and
more flexible with how I teach [PATHS] lessons during core academic subjects,” said P1. “I like
not having a strict requirement from administrators. I know the importance of teaching social-
emotional interventions and academic standards.” Nevertheless, the majority of responses
indicate that more organizational communication would benefit teacher ability.
Specifically, teachers were asked whether the organization should provide structure
guidelines to reinforce accurate teaching in all domains, in addition to communicating the
importance of multiple-subject integration. Most teachers believe the organization should
provide a template guideline structure to assist in implementing PATHS lessons alongside core
subjects. According to P7, “as teachers, our work is built of some form of exemplar examples,
lesson plan, or even pacing guides to help us monitor our progress and accuracy. Having a
potential checklist of knowing each step in teaching academic standards and [PATHS] lessons
would be useful.” However, P1 disagreed that the organization should provide a guide for
integrating core subjects and social-emotional PATHS lessons, saying: “I have been teaching
enough to know how to interchange subjects for students.” During an observation, P1 stated that
the ability to teach comes from creativity and that “you have to know how to make each subject
tie in with the next how each which will support the student academically and emotionally.
Creativity is easy when you allow room for flexibility.” P1 went on to say that “the more
subjects the organization requires us to teach, the more I take it as an opportunity to individualize
SOCIAL EMOTIONAL LEARNING 76
my teaching and student development. Every lesson is unique along with subjects and students.
They are all unique when you realize they can work together.”
Synthesis
This research study assumed three influences that may affect the organization’s ability to
achieve the goal of improving social-emotional development among students by having teachers
model four PATHS curriculum lessons with fidelity per month, addressing SEL competencies.
This study identified two areas for improvement related to knowledge influences, one declarative
and one procedural influence. Additionally, this study identified two motivational influences,
utility expectancy and self-efficacy, as potential challenges to the organization’s ability to
achieve its goal. Finally, each of the three organizational influences—two cultural setting
influences, and one cultural model influence—were identified as areas for improvement.
The areas of influence identified are connected in that they may relate to the same issues
and require the same actions to be addressed. For example, the findings indicate that teachers do
not feel confident in their ability to model PATHS lessons with fidelity. The findings also
indicate that teachers lack comprehension of how implementing PATHS curriculum lessons
alongside core academic subjects. The lack of comprehension may contribute to the lack of self-
efficacy expressed by teachers. Contributing to the lack of comprehension is the fact that the
organization does not communicate how to implement SEL competencies through modeling
PATHS curriculum lessons in addition to teaching core academic subjects. Lastly, the
organization does not provide job aid guides for teachers to follow that specifically outline how
to integrate both PATHS and core academic subjects.
Findings cannot conclusively state that teachers understand the relationship between SEL
PATHS curriculum implementation and the student development gained, but the findings suggest
SOCIAL EMOTIONAL LEARNING 77
teachers value the potential impact SEL can have on organizational needs for student
progression. The findings indicate that teachers demonstrated comprehension of SEL
competencies, but they did not know how to teach PATHS curriculum lessons alongside core
academic subjects during classroom instruction.
Despite lacking comprehension on integrated lesson implementation, teachers perceived
value in providing social-emotional resources to students through SEL competencies. Teachers
described the benefits of providing students with social-emotional resources, despite their
inability to describe the importance of implementing PATHS curriculum lessons alongside
academic core subjects consistent with the literature. Teachers demonstrated their
comprehension of the importance of adding PATHS curriculum lessons to core subject
instruction was limited by insufficient job aid or inconsistent administrator accountability.
Without comprehending the importance of implementing PATHS curriculum lessons alongside
core subjects, teachers may limit fidelity in assuring student social-emotional development.
CHAPTER FIVE: RECOMMENDATIONS
Chapter 4 presented the results and findings from data collected through interviews,
observations, and document analysis to provide answers to the study’s research questions,
identifying knowledge, motivation, and organizational influences affecting the attainment of the
organizational goal of improving student social-emotional development. Each influence was
determined to be gap validated, gap invalidated, or undetermined. Additionally, gaps were
determined as organizational priorities or not. If more than 75% of the evidence confirmed or
rejected the assumed influence gap, the identifying influence was marked gap validated or gap
invalidated. If evidence neither validated nor invalidated the assumed influence, the identifying
influence was considered undetermined. Four of the influences initially identified in this research
SOCIAL EMOTIONAL LEARNING 78
through a review of the literature were found to have gaps that contribute to the organization’s
ability to improve student social-emotional development by enhancing effectiveness in achieving
the overall student-led mission. Three influences were invalidated.
This chapter identifies recommendations based on current knowledge, motivation, and
organizational resources to improve the organization’s ability to improve social-emotional
learning and development in achieving its mission. The recommendations outlined in this chapter
are based on validated influences evaluated during data collection and analysis. The
recommendations are categorized under knowledge, motivation, and organizational influence. In
addition, integrated improvement and evaluation recommendations are guided using the New
World Kirkpatrick Model framework (Kirkpatrick & Kirkpatrick, 2016). The recommendations,
implementation, and evaluation plans are connected and structured to work collectively to reduce
or eliminate knowledge, motivation, and organizational influence validated gaps. Finally, this
chapter discusses the limitations of the study and recommendations for future research.
Recommendations for Practice to Address Knowledge, Motivation, and
Organization Influences
One procedural knowledge gap was validated during data collection: teachers did not
know how to implement PATHS lessons with fidelity. A motivation gap was validated relating
to teacher confidence in their ability to model PATHS lessons with fidelity. Additionally, one
organizational influence finding related to cultural setting was validated: a lack of
communication regarding the importance of implementing PATHS lessons alongside core
academic subjects. The lack of self-efficacy is closely related to inconsistent administrator
accountability to ensure teachers are implementing the curriculum accurately. The lack of
knowledge guiding teachers in modeling both PATHS lessons and academic subjects
SOCIAL EMOTIONAL LEARNING 79
interchangeably contributes to decreased confidence. The findings indicate that teachers do not
understand how to implement social-emotional PATHS lessons in addition to teaching core
subjects, nor do they know how to model both domains.
Knowledge Recommendations
Two of the four knowledge types identified by Krathwohl (2002) were analyzed in this
study concerning social-emotional student development as a result of curriculum
implementation, including factual and procedural. A procedural knowledge gap was validated,
and findings indicate an effect the knowledge gap has on the organizational goal to increase
student social-emotional development by 20%. According to Krathwohl (2002), procedural
knowledge is a result of consistent practice in developing a specific discipline and awareness of
how to accomplish a task. Procedural knowledge is not limited to understanding how an activity
is performed, but also encompasses the steps required to meet the needs determined.
Four types of resources to close knowledge gaps are information, job aids, training, and
education (Clark & Estes, 2008). Information is a beginning level of support to close the
knowledge gap and provides detailed facts needed to complete a task or perform required duties.
Job aids include checklists, process diagrams, flowcharts, or other training aids to reinforce
procedural knowledge and provide more in-depth steps to accomplishing job requirements.
Training is a formal process of knowledge application, in addition to presenting information
combined with opportunities to practice learned skills and respond to performance feedback.
The most complex type of support designed to close knowledge gaps is education, which
involves providing theories and strategies to learners that assist in learning more about new or
complex situations.
The recommendations listed in Table 11 are presented to promote closing the procedural
SOCIAL EMOTIONAL LEARNING 80
knowledge gap teachers in the organization face. The table lists the assumed knowledge
influences previously identified through the literature review and validated as presenting a gap
through data collection findings and analysis. The table identifies each knowledge influence,
knowledge type, principle related to the assumed influence, and the recommendation to close the
gap.
SOCIAL EMOTIONAL LEARNING 81
Table 10.
Summary of Knowledge Influences and Recommendations
Assumed Knowledge
Influence
Validated
as a Gap?
Yes, High
Probability
or No
(V, HP, N)
Priority
Yes, No
(Y, N)
Principle and
Citation
Context-Specific
Recommendation
Teachers do not know
how to implement SEL
curriculum lessons with
fidelity. (P)
V Yes Procedural
knowledge
increases
when
declarative
knowledge
required to
perform the
skill is
available or
known
(Clark et al.,
2008).
Effective
learning
involves
supporting
stakeholders
during the
initial
implementati
on process,
while
interacting
during
systems of
collaboration
(Van Velsor,
2009).
Provide job aid for
teachers to promote
curriculum
implementation skill-
building required to
model with fidelity.
Provide job aid that
provides a clear
structure of needed
skills through
consistent
interactions.
Teachers need to know
the five SEL
competencies. (D)
N No Not a priority
SOCIAL EMOTIONAL LEARNING 82
Increasing Procedural Knowledge of PATHS Lesson Implementation with Fidelity
The data indicated that, while teachers are aware of the importance of promoting SEL
competencies through PATHS curriculum implementation, teachers lacked procedural
knowledge. Specifically, the gap in procedural knowledge contributes to teachers not knowing
how to implement PATHS lessons with fidelity while teaching core academic subjects
simultaneously. An effective recommendation for addressing this gap is the social cognitive
theory, which activates sub-personal structures that generate possible solutions (Bandura, 2001).
According to Clark and Estes (2008), job aids assist in providing systematic methods within a
specified context, including concept maps, checklists, or process diagrams. Providing job aids
supports the prior SEL knowledge gained during the professional development training required
by the organization. Additionally, sources of integration include providing job aids for teachers
to promote the curriculum implementation skill-building required to model with fidelity and
clear structures of needed skills through consistent interaction.
The goal of SEL is to approach holistic learning so as to develop improved domains of
mental health and social interactions for students (Ashdown et al., 2012). In order to support
social-emotional progression, teachers need to know the role PATHS curriculum lessons play in
both academic and overall social stability for student success (Collie et al., 2011). In addition to
attending SEL professional development training sessions, teachers need experiences and
accountability that help make sense of the PATHS curriculum, rather than mainly focusing on
SEL competency memorization. To develop mastery, individuals must acquire component skills,
practice integrating them, and know when to apply what they have learned (Clark and Estes,
2008). Clark and Estes (2008) highlight how procedural knowledge is in the discipline of what
one does and how, as opposed to merely repeating steps of implementation. Therefore,
SOCIAL EMOTIONAL LEARNING 83
providing job aids transfers prior training knowledge to action-oriented modeled skills of
practice, fidelity, and detailed steps of implementation integration.
Motivational Recommendations
Findings in data collection for this project define motivational influences that correlate
with the indicators behind motivational behaviors which contribute toward meeting the
organizational goal. The motivational influences in Table 12 represent the complete list of
assumed motivational influences and their probability of being validated based on the most
frequently discussed motivational indicators achieving the stakeholders’ goal. Motivational
influences predict confidence and potential opportunities in overcoming challenges when
expected to achieve performance or mastery goals (Wigfield & Eccles, 2000). Wigfield and
Eccles (2000) suggests that the personal utility value a person attaches to completing a task or
learning subject material is instrumental in his or her ability to master or perform the relevant
skills. Empirical evidence supported by the literature review also suggests the role self-efficacy
plays in the personal expectation of success in specific situations guided by motivation (Pajares,
1996). After identifying the gap in performance when conducting interviews, observations, and
analyzing SEL curriculum documents, utility value and self-efficacy can be named as two
influences contributing to motivational behaviors when meeting the organizational goal. As
indicated in Table 12, it is anticipated that the self-efficacy influence has a high probability of
being validated and has a high priority for achieving the stakeholders’ goal. Table 12 also shows
the recommendations for this highly probable influence based on theoretical principles.
SOCIAL EMOTIONAL LEARNING 84
Table 11.
Summary of Motivation Influences and Recommendations
Assumed
Motivation
Influence
Validated
as a Gap
Yes, High
Probability,
No
(V, HP, N)
Priority
Yes, No
(Y, N)
Principle
and Citation
Context-Specific
Recommendation
Teachers need to
feel confident in
their ability to
model PATHS
lessons with
fidelity to students.
(Self-Efficacy)
V Yes Individuals
usually
select tasks
they feel
competent
and
confident to
accomplish,
which
increases
motivation.
(Pajares,
1996)
Provide teachers
frequent,
structured, and
private feedback
on progress of
learning and
performing five
SEL competencies
and during lesson
implementation.
Teachers need to
see how the utility
of implementing
SEL competencies
is important to
long-term student
success. (Value)
N No Not a priority
Increase Self-Efficacy of Teachers
Data collected from the study indicates that less than 10% of teachers are confident of
being able to implement PATHS curriculum lessons with fidelity. Specifically, teachers describe
a lack of confidence in teaching core academic subjects and implementing PATHS curriculum
lessons simultaneously. The principles of self-efficacy theory may help to close this procedural
knowledge gap. Pajares (1996) finds that providing many opportunities for scaffolded
instructional support, through modeling and frequent private feedback on learning and
SOCIAL EMOTIONAL LEARNING 85
performance, increases self-efficacy. The author’s findings support a recommendation for the
organization to model the behaviors required to implement PATHS lessons with fidelity and
provide consistent structured feedback to build confidence during difficult tasks. This
combination of modeling, practice, and frequent targeted feedback within formal and informal
organizational activities—such as professional development, quarterly performance evaluations,
and weekly interactions involving performance feedback—strengthens self-efficacy.
Unless people believe that their actions can produce the outcomes they desire, they have
little incentive to act (Pajares, 1996). When individuals are confident in their personal
accomplishments, their positive beliefs about their ability to accomplish goals increase their
motivation capabilities. Self-efficacy expects successful individuals to pursue the goal and
increase performance through self-correcting actions, even in the face of difficulties (Pajares,
1996). Cheng and Yeh (2009) posit that in instructional learning environments, teacher
motivation helps to pursue a goal, determine how much effort should be spent on tasks, and
engage in activities willingly. Self-efficacy is helpful in implementing lessons with fidelity and
may foster an emphasis on self-determination. The authors stress that within instructional
learning designs, teachers should experience positive reinforcement through consistent
professional development, multiple opportunities to practice skills, and should receive consistent
feedback under the supervision of administrators (Cheng & Yeh, 2009). The recommendations
suggest that the individual persistence and effort spent on a specific task are determined by the
confidence of personal success, which increases self-efficacy in teacher fidelity performance and
benefits students’ social-emotional development.
SOCIAL EMOTIONAL LEARNING 86
Organizational Recommendations
Data collection for this project measures organizational influence practices to maintain
the overall mission and stakeholder goal. The organizational influences in Table 15 represent the
complete list of assumed organizational influences and their probability of being validated based
on the most frequently discussed organizational indicators of achieving the stakeholders’ goal.
Organizational influences predict how settings and models contribute to the culture of the
organization when choosing to persist in working toward a goal (Clark & Estes, 2008). Clark
and Estes (2008) suggest that the work within an organizational culture either contributes to or
erodes work performance, motivation, and task completion. Evidence from the literature review
also suggests that organizational settings and models motivate values and policies around goal
attainment (Rueda, 2011). After identifying the gap in performance when conducting interviews
and observations and analyzing SEL curriculum documents, three influences contribute to
organizational behaviors related to meeting the stakeholder goal. As indicated in Table 13, the
influence of communication is validated and has a high priority for achieving the stakeholders’
goal. Table 13 also presents the recommendations for these important influences based on
theoretical principles.
SOCIAL EMOTIONAL LEARNING 87
Table 12.
Summary of Organization Influences and Recommendations
Assumed
Organization
Influence
Validated as
a Gap
Yes, High
Probability,
No
(V, HP, N)
Priority
Yes, No
(Y, N)
Principle and
Citation
Context-Specific
Recommendation
The
organization
needs to
communicate
the importance
of SEL
development
when
implemented
within academic
structures.
V Yes Effective
changes are
communicate
d regularly
and
frequently to
all key
stakeholders
(Clark and
Estes, 2008).
Consistently
communicate
message into
professional
development
meetings, staff
newsletters,
teacher
experiences, and
quarterly data
reports to clearly
explain
expectations.
The
organization
needs to create
an environment
of trust for
teachers to fully
support PATHS
curriculum
implementation.
N No
Not a priority
The
organization
needs to provide
teachers with
PATHS
curriculum
resources.
N No Not a priority
Improve Teacher Implementation by Formal and Informal Organizational Communication
Approximately 85% of teachers do not receive regular or frequent formal or informal
communications sharing the importance of SEL development when implementing
SOCIAL EMOTIONAL LEARNING 88
alongside existing academic subjects. This inconsistent communication leads to
ineffective cultural settings, in which stakeholders are uncertain if PATHS lessons
are modeled accurately. A recommendation rooted in communication theory has been selected
to close this organizational gap. Clark and Estes (2008) indicate that organizational performance
improves when individuals communicate frequently and regularly with all stakeholders within
an organization. This principle suggests that teachers need consistent formal and informal
communication about the importance of implementing PATHS social-emotional lessons
alongside core subjects. The recommendation is for the organization to develop a structured
check-list of new and existing formal and informal communication methods to ensure that
teachers receive consistent communication. For example, 10 minutes may be taken at weekly
staff meetings and quarterly professional development to permit teachers experienced in SEL to
describe the key formal and informal communication methods practiced within the organization
to promote implementation with accuracy and fidelity.
Clark and Estes (2008) state that even in unique learning environments, aligned policies
and procedures communicated from the top with all key stakeholders increase organizational
performance. Clear and regular communication emphasizing the importance of SEL and core
academic simultaneous implementation has a high priority in cultural settings. Dogan and Robin
(2008), in their examination of teachers implementing digital storytelling in classrooms, note that
the negative effects of discontinued implementation for some teachers are due to a lack of
communication. Clearly outlining the importance of implementing the technology resource
during instructional class periods is an effective way to promote fidelity. Moersch (1995) also
suggests that restructuring staff curricula to include authentic usage of proposed implementation
is conditioned on extensive and diversified means of on-the-job communication and training.
SOCIAL EMOTIONAL LEARNING 89
The author also highlights a correlation between traditional formal verbal communication and
informal hands-on communication approaches to problem solving (Moersch, 1995). As such, it
appears that the literature supports prioritizing the closing of the communication gap, for the
benefit of both teachers and students.
Integrated Implementation and Evaluation Plan
The New World Kirkpatrick Model informs the integrated implementation and evaluation
plan for the development of the organization’s effectiveness. Specifically designed to measure
the level of effectiveness within organizational factors, the Kirkpatrick Model evaluates the
reactions (Level 1), learning (Level 2), behaviors (Level 3), and results (Level 4) of program
outcomes (Kirkpatrick & Kirkpatrick, 2016). Each level is linear, building upon the next as
target priorities highlight anticipated suggestions related to desired results.
Level 4 establishes the foundation for the model, focusing on target overall outcomes as
a result of consistent measurements of positive impact on desired results. Level 3 measures the
degree to which applications align to provided training. For example, teachers apply what they
learn during PATHS curriculum professional development training. Additionally, during Level
3, the processes and school-wide system are encouraged to reinforce critical behaviors
introduced during PATHS curriculum implementation training. Level 2 measures the degree to
which knowledge acquisition, skills, commitment, and confidence to participate in the
organizational goal are achieved. Level 2 learning promotes Level 1 reactions in measuring the
level of engagement with and relevance to authentic teacher participation. Teachers are more
committed to participate in experiences they find satisfying (Norris, 2003). The New
Kirkpatrick Model aligns the evaluation plan and implements integrated goals for teacher
training beyond classroom instruction. This model is critical for measuring effective training.
SOCIAL EMOTIONAL LEARNING 90
Organizational Purpose, Need, and Expectations
The organization’s mission supports a whole-child learning environment where holistic
values reach students in classrooms and add to integrated life skills. The mission of SWC
delivers educational opportunities that transform marginalized students by strengthening the
whole child: intellect, character, and spirit. Implementing the PATHS curriculum supports the
organizational goal of implementing SEL lessons with fidelity to improve student SEL by 20%.
The SEL competencies address the need for SEL within curriculums and strategies to improve
holistic educational experiences. Teachers are the stakeholders chosen as the group to reinforce
the organization’s mission and goal by modeling four lessons per month from the PATHS
curriculum that address SEL competencies. Teachers implementing SEL lessons with fidelity
throughout instruction contribute to holistic advancements by introducing students to self-
regulating behaviors and demonstrating SEL competencies used to express emotions.
Teachers contribute to SWC’s performance goal by accurately modeling lessons and
teaching students how to communicate personal emotions to others. The expectations for desired
outcomes from the introduced recommendations include social-emotional changes within the
setting of the classroom and effective life skill attainment to aid student progression. The
expectations highlighted in Table 4 recommend relevant methods of support to encourage
fidelity during curriculum implementation, while providing teachers with clear aids for fidelity
performance enhancement.
Level 4: Results and Leading Indicators
Table 14 identifies the desired internal and external outcomes, the metric used to measure
success, and the method for collecting data to evaluate Level 4 results of the recommended
implementation and execution plan. The five desired outcomes—one external and four internal
SOCIAL EMOTIONAL LEARNING 91
outcomes—are presented as indicators leading toward stakeholder results. The four internal
outcomes include increasing teacher engagement, accuracy, and satisfaction, while also
decreasing misguided instructional time and behavior referrals. If the four internal outcomes are
not met, this could prevent the organization from achieving their goal of increasing student
social-emotional development by 20%. The external outcome to decrease parent complaints
related to lack of SEL will also be used to assess whether the organizational goal has been met.
SOCIAL EMOTIONAL LEARNING 92
Table 13.
Outcomes, Metrics, and Methods for External and Internal Outcomes
Outcome Metric(s) Method(s)
External Outcomes
1. Decrease in parent
complaints related to lack
of social-emotional
learning.
Number of student dis-
enrollments cited as related to
lack of social-emotional
learning.
SWC will collect parent exit
data to determine complaints or
causes of disenrollment that
may be tied to SEL (e.g.
competency, fidelity from
teacher implementation).
Internal Outcomes
2. Increased teacher
engagement and accuracy.
2a. Employee engagement
survey results.
2b. Informal PATHS curriculum
implementation observation
findings.
2a. Administrators will survey
teacher engagement quarterly.
2b. Administrators will conduct
informal PATHS curriculum
implementation observations
weekly.
3. Decrease in misguided
instructional time.
Specified minutes implementing
both PATHS curriculum and
core academic instruction.
Administrators will review
teacher log time spent
implementing core academic
lessons and PATHS curriculum.
4. Increased teacher
satisfaction of PATHS
curriculum
implementation.
Employee satisfaction survey
results.
Administrators will survey
teacher satisfaction quarterly.
5. Decrease in behavior
referrals.
Number of behavior referrals
submitted to office
administrators.
Daily logs of individual student
behavior referrals.
Level 3: Behavior
Critical behaviors. Teachers trained in SEL are the stakeholders focused on here. Some
critical behaviors are required as actions to demonstrate the facilitation of Level 4 target
outcomes (Kirkpatrick & Kirkpatrick, 2016). For example, the first critical behavior is teachers’
ability to request information from administrators about strategies to promote fidelity, despite
understanding the five competencies of SEL. This action supports teacher behavior in modeling
SOCIAL EMOTIONAL LEARNING 93
lessons with accuracy in order to promote social-emotional student development. The second
critical behavior is teachers meeting with administrators to review lessons. The final critical
behavior is teachers creating lesson plans with administrators. Teachers must feel confident in
their ability to implement the PATHS curriculum with fidelity. Collaboration in the lesson
creation and review process should help teachers during the implementation process. Table 15
lists the metrics, methods, and timing for each outcome behavior.
Table 14.
Critical Behaviors, Metrics, Methods, and Timing for Evaluation
Critical Behavior Metric(s)
Method(s)
Timing
1. Teachers request
information from
administrators about
strategies to promote
fidelity
1a. Number of
teachers who have
requested information
1b. Number of
teachers who
implement strategies
provided by
administrators
Teacher strategies
compared to
administrator strategies
Every semester
2. Teachers meet with
administrators to
review lessons
Lessons signed by
administrator
Lessons submitted to
administrator office
Every month
3. Teachers create
lesson plans with
administrators that
incorporate (or
demonstrate) the five
SEL competencies
Completed lessons
signed by both
administrator and
teacher
Lessons submitted to
administrator office
Every month
Required drivers. Forming an additional level of accountability, required drivers provide
another level of responsibility to ensure accurate implementation of the proposed solutions
supported through reinforcement, monitoring, and encouragement (Kirkpatrick & Kirkpatrick,
2016). Teachers do not know how to implement PATHS lessons with fidelity. Additionally,
teachers do not have the motivation or confidence to implement lessons with accuracy. The
SOCIAL EMOTIONAL LEARNING 94
identified required drivers will not only provide support to teachers, but also serve to reinforce
the knowledge gained during SEL training and encourage teachers to apply the specific skills
attained. Several required drivers include informational resources, ongoing support, weekly
check-ins to support teachers in the organization, and rewarding performance incentives. Table
16 identifies the recommended drivers to support critical behaviors of teachers and the timing of
each driver.
SOCIAL EMOTIONAL LEARNING 95
Table 15.
Required Drivers to Support Critical Behaviors
Method(s) Timing
Critical Behaviors Supported
1, 2, 3 Etc.
Reinforcing
Administrators supply a form
for teachers to request
information about strategies
to promote fidelity
At PATHS program kickoff 1
Teachers meet with
administrators to review
accurate curriculum
implementation techniques
Weekly 2, 3
Administrators email teachers
to remind teachers about the
importance of implementing
curriculum with fidelity
Monthly 1, 2, 3
Encouraging
Teachers meet together to
discuss success in
implementing curriculum with
fidelity
Monthly 1
Teacher newsletters
highlighting student social-
emotional development
Semester 1
Rewarding
Administrators share
newsletter to publicly
acknowledge teacher fidelity
gains in correlation to student
progress toward 20% SEL
goal
Monthly 1, 2, 3
Monitoring
Administrators informally
observe for fidelity strategies
teachers during classroom
implementation
Weekly 1
Organizational support. The organization must provide teachers with the necessary resources,
strategies, and support to promote student social-emotional development. First, the organization
should establish a standard of trust that helps teachers to develop knowledge of accurate
SOCIAL EMOTIONAL LEARNING 96
curriculum implementation. This standard of fidelity must be established at the highest level of
administration within the organization and expected of all teachers at SWC. Second, the
organization must provide SEL resources for teachers and prioritize communicating the
importance of teaching SEL competencies in addition to core academic instruction. If the
importance of PATHS lesson implementation is not communicated, teachers are less likely to
fully support SEL initiatives, despite valuing adequate training. Each means of organizational
support ensures teachers are assisted in meeting goals relating to student development.
Level 2: Learning goals. Teachers must have specific knowledge, skills, and attitudes that
support the performance of the Level 3 critical behaviors listed in Table 15. Following
implementation of the recommended solutions, teachers will be able to:
1. Implement PATHS curriculum lessons with fidelity (procedural), and
2. Articulate confidence in their ability to model PATHS lessons with fidelity to
students (self-efficacy).
Program. The identified learning goals will be accomplished by means of shared
information and administrator support designed to increase the knowledge and motivation of
teachers. To develop teacher knowledge and skills, they will be provided with consistent
administrator support, strategic information, job aids, and training from PATHS experts. Since
teachers are hired throughout the school year and many stay in their position for at least two
years, the program must be ongoing, with a refresher training session every five months.
Teachers will experience PATHS training each school year and SEL competency support
through multiple modalities, including regular side-by-side lesson implementation with
administrators. At the beginning of each school year, teachers will participate in training
providing information regarding key SEL concepts and definitions of key terms.
SOCIAL EMOTIONAL LEARNING 97
Additionally, teachers will receive in-person support from administrators conducted
weekly through face-to-face meetings and informal observations, and each semester, a PATHS-
trained instructor will visit the organization for follow ups. The in-person support will also
provide exercises in which teachers practice PATHS lesson fidelity with administrators to
evaluate the knowledge and strategies learned by teachers. Following in-person meetings,
teachers will receive immediate feedback and encouragement from administrators who serve as
support and advisors to teachers.
Table 16.
Evaluation of the Components of Learning for the Program
Method(s) or Activity(ies) Timing
Declarative Knowledge “I know it.”
Knowledge checks through discussions during
competency exercises
During PATHS training
Use of multiple choice questions to test
knowledge during PATHS training
After PATHS training event
Procedural Skills “I can do it right now.”
Demonstrate proficiency of fidelity during
curriculum implementation
During classroom instruction
Demonstrate accuracy during PATHS training
classroom scenario exercises
During PATHS training
Attitude “I believe this is worthwhile.”
Pre and post PATHS training assessments Before and after PATHS training
Attitude of value and significance During PATHS training
Confidence “I think I can do it on the job.”
Discussions during competency exercises During PATHS training
Discussions with PATHS instructor Semester
Commitment “I will do it on the job.”
Individually developed action plan During PATHS training
Level 1: Reaction
Measuring the reaction of teachers to the PATHS training provided is essential.
Assessing the reactions of teachers is necessary to determine whether they are authentically
engaged during PATHS training, perceive the PATHS training as valuable, and consider the
SOCIAL EMOTIONAL LEARNING 98
PATHS training relevant to their job when performing curriculum implementation tasks.
According to Kirkpatrick and Kirkpatrick (2016), reactions can be measured through formal or
informal observations of the leader or instructor, consistent feedback, or surveys. Table 18
identifies the methods used to assess teacher reactions and level of engagement during PATHS
training.
Table 17.
Components to Measure Reactions to the Program
Method(s) or Tool(s) Timing
Engagement
Training modules Semester
In-person PATHS instructor observations After training event
In-person training evaluation After training event
Observations from PATHS instructors
Semester
Relevance
Training evaluations and surveys After training event
Observations from PATHS instructors Semester
Customer Satisfaction
In-person training evaluations After training event
Evaluation Tools
Immediately Following the Program Implementation
Evaluating the program is essential to providing the tools necessary to increase fidelity.
Delayed evaluations also highlight immediate findings, while delayed evaluations will highlight
the results of consistent methods of practice. Following expert PATHS training, in-person
meetings, and observations to support curriculum implementation, participants will complete a
survey (see Appendix B). The survey indicates the participant’s commitment, satisfaction,
attitude, the degree to which the participant valued the training, and the participant’s level of
confidence in applying what was learned (Level 2 evaluation). In addition to the participant
SOCIAL EMOTIONAL LEARNING 99
survey, an observer completes a checklist following the PATHS training (see Appendix C). The
observer indicates noted observations of participants’ attitudes and engagement during training
(Level 1). Finally, teacher participants complete a checklist following monthly discussions with
administrators (see Appendix D). The participants indicate their level of satisfaction,
commitment, attitude, and task mastery of what has been learned (Levels 1 and 2).
Delayed for a period after the program implementation. The organization
administers a survey approximately 60 days after each session highlighting PATHS curriculum
implementation and SEL competency. The purpose of administering this survey is to gather
information from teacher stakeholders on their process toward attaining fidelity when
implementing lessons. The survey contains a combination of nominal, interval, and ratio
questions to assess: teacher satisfaction and the relevance of PATHS training for teachers to
make informed decisions about fidelity (Level 1); attitude, knowledge, skills, confidence,
commitment, and value of applying PATHS training (Level 2); effect of sessions highlighting
PATHS curriculum implementation and SEL competency on teacher ability to make responsible
decisions about fidelity projects (Level 3); and the extent to which they are able to make
informed decisions of accurate SEL development toward students on a consistent basis (Level 4).
Data Analysis and Reporting
Data gathered from the immediate and delayed surveys and by administrators at staff
meetings with teachers remaining anonymous in the information provided. Once surveys are
collected immediately following staff meetings, the administrator computes the data with
measured internal and external outcomes in the metric system suited specifically for the
outcome. Multiple metrics include the number of submitted behavioral referrals, engagement
survey results, specific SEL parent disenrollment data, observation findings, logged instructional
SOCIAL EMOTIONAL LEARNING 100
teacher time spent during curriculum implementation, and teacher satisfaction after curriculum
implementation. The Level 4 goal of this implementation plan is to provide teachers in the
organization with the knowledge, motivation, and organizational support to effectively approach
SEL development for students through curriculum implementation with fidelity.
Strengths and Weaknesses of the Approach
Both the Clark and Estes (2008) Gap Analysis Model and the Kirkpatrick and Kirkpatrick
(2016) New World Kirkpatrick Model provided a comprehensive method for extensively
identifying, validating, and organizing influence gaps. Despite a strong position in developing
organizational influences, the structure of the Gap Analysis model presents challenges in
organizing influences when the assumed influences are related to different combinations of
lacked knowledge, motivation, or organizational influences. Furthermore, the Gap Analysis
model made it difficult to implement external influences that did not easily align with internal
knowledge, motivation, or organizational influences of the stakeholder.
Limitations and Delimitations
There were several limitations to this study, some of which were apparent from the
project’s inception, while others presented themselves in the two years during which the study
was in progress. The limitations of this study known to the researcher include:
● Teacher self-reported SEL student data to confirm implementation
with fidelity;
● The authenticity of teacher performance during observations;
● The study only included teachers trained in SEL within the
organization and may lack generalizability to untrained teachers in the
classroom;
SOCIAL EMOTIONAL LEARNING 101
● The period of time over which the study was conducted with limited
resources preventing a larger sample size.
The teacher stakeholder group for this study was selected based on years of teaching
experience and social-emotional training during the pre-selection recruitment phase of this study.
Despite the fact that teacher selection was based on experience in the classroom, this study may
be affected by participation bias as a result of other teachers not trained in social-emotional
PATHS curriculum implementation, but who still model curriculum lessons daily. The study
focused on teachers who serve as experienced influencers in the field of social-emotional
competencies. It was assumed that teachers had expertise in modeling PATHS curriculum
lessons with fidelity. While the role of professional development training was confirmed during
the study, accountability to administrators to ensure teachers modeled assured fidelity was not
initially detected. Teachers’ ability to rely on consistent interaction with administrators to
validate accuracy may contribute to teachers’ comprehension of PATHS curriculum
implementation alongside core subjects. Furthermore, this study did not seek to identify the
availability of administrators, the desired level of accountability teachers seek from
administrators, or the amount of support administrators provided to teachers before curriculum
implementation. Participants seemed truthful and transparent when providing perspectives on
their personal level of knowledge, motivation, and organizational influences. Additional
participants in administrative roles may have provided a deeper background on organizational
decisions contributing to validating or invalidating organizational influences. Finally, the
researcher must acknowledge their own participation in the study as an instrument of data
collection and analysis through interviews, document analysis, and observations.
SOCIAL EMOTIONAL LEARNING 102
Delimitations, boundaries established by the researcher for this study, which may also
have affected the results include:
● The fact that study participants only included teachers trained in
social-emotional competencies and PATHS curriculum
implementation, and did not include teachers lacking training or
administrators who supervise teachers;
● The fact that teacher study participants may not influence the decision-
making process for the organization’s curriculum development
projects.
Future Research
This study evaluated seven assumed influences in the areas of knowledge, motivation,
and organizational contributions to the organization’s goal of increasing student social-emotional
development by 20%. A total of five teachers in the organization were interviewed during this
study to identify specific influences affecting the organization’s accomplishment of its goal.
Observations were conducted only within the pool of interview participants selected for the
research study. Interviews and observations with additional teachers, stakeholders and
administrators in the organization should be considered to verify the validity of the assumed
influences identified in this study. Additionally, this study did not interview overseeing
administrators in the organization who influence curriculum implementation decision-making.
Future research should identify the role played by administrator accountability when ensuring
teachers are implementing PATHS lessons with fidelity and determine the level of influence
consistent interactions with teachers during implementation have on accuracy. This research
study was also limited to one organization, which impacts the generalizability of the findings
SOCIAL EMOTIONAL LEARNING 103
beyond the organization and to additional schools. Expanding the scope of this research to
include additional schools and organizations modeling social-emotional competencies through
PATHS lesson implementation may confirm the validity of the identified influences or validate
additional influences. Incorporating other teachers, stakeholders and additional holistic learning
organizations within education would also be beneficial in determining whether the validated
influences are isolated to one school or generalizable to other school-wide organizations.
Conclusion
The purpose of this study was to evaluate influences affecting SWC’s goal of increasing
student social-emotional development by 20%. Under the framework of the Clark and Estes
(2008) Gap Analysis model, knowledge, motivation and organizational influences were analyzed
and evaluated through interviews with organizational stakeholders, observations, document
analysis, and a review of literature. Through the identified findings and through data collection
and analysis, selected recommendations were proposed to present methods of closing
knowledge, motivation, and organization gaps affecting the SWC’s ability to accomplish the
organizational goal. To construct an implementation and evaluation plan fit to successfully
incorporate proposed recommendations, The Kirkpatrick and Kirkpatrick (2016) New World
Model was applied.
One concern raised by this research is that teachers lack the knowledge to implement
PATHS curriculum lessons with fidelity. This lack of knowledge causes instructional time
dedicated to SEL student development to be compromised by inaccurate implementation.
Though teachers valued SEL competencies and demonstrated interest in social-emotional gains
among students, they failed to properly implement PATHS lessons during the curriculum
modeling process. Despite several teachers expressing the need for social-emotional
SOCIAL EMOTIONAL LEARNING 104
development resources for the population of students they serve, teachers did not possess
knowledge of how to implement with fidelity. Teachers’ key desire was to obtain procedural
knowledge information concerning how to implement PATHS lessons simultaneously with core
academic subjects. Teachers were unable to accurately teach PATHS lessons, despite displaying
declarative knowledge indicating mastery of SEL competencies. Though teachers could list the
five SEL competencies without hesitation, they lacked confidence in implementing PATHS
curriculum lessons with fidelity, which hindered the attainment of the goal. Lack of
organizational support was a contributing factor to the lack of knowledge and self-efficacy
expressed by teachers. Findings indicate that the organization’s administrators do not provide
teachers with consistent accountability and support to ensure PATHS curriculum lessons are
practiced with fidelity.
Realizing the holistic approach the organization follows as a place of learning seeking to
develop the whole child beyond academic instruction, it is important that teachers be
knowledgeable and possess the necessary information regarding how to implement PATHS
lessons with fidelity. Promoting Alternative Thinking Strategies lessons coexist with social-
emotional competencies. Teachers need consistent guidance regarding both concepts in order to
improve student SEL. Instead, teachers indicated that administrators relied solely on PATHS
professional development training as assurance that teachers knew how to implement with
fidelity, without checking for understanding. This reliance on professional development training
compromises daily teacher PATHS curriculum implementation with fidelity, as teachers do not
receive sufficient organizational reinforcement.
Implementing the recommendations made by this study is one method of contributing to
the attainment of the organization’s goal. Failure to incorporate the recommendations discussed
SOCIAL EMOTIONAL LEARNING 105
in this study may contribute to the inability to close knowledge, motivation, and organizational
gaps and reduce SWC’s ability to successfully accomplish its goal of increasing student social-
emotional development by 20%.
SOCIAL EMOTIONAL LEARNING 106
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APPENDIX A
For each of the questions below, circle the response that best characterized how you feel about
the statement.
Disagree Neutral Agree
1. I was engaged during training. 1 2 3 4 5
2. I found value in the training I
received.
1 2 3 4 5
3. The training clearly related
the information to my job.
1 2 3 4 5
4. Discussions during training
helped me understand how to
apply what I learned.
1 2 3 4 5
5. I will recommend this
program to other teachers.
1 2 3 4 5
6. I believe it is important for me
to incorporate what I’ve learned
in my job and in my classroom.
1 2 3 4 5
7. The feedback I received has
increased my confidence to apply
1 2 3 4 5
SOCIAL EMOTIONAL LEARNING 116
what I’ve learned in my job and in
my classroom.
Please provide feedback for the following questions:
• What part of training was most beneficial for you?
• What part of training was least beneficial for you?
• What were the major themes and concepts you learned today?
SOCIAL EMOTIONAL LEARNING 117
APPENDIX B
This checklist will be completed by observers following PATHS professional development
training.
Rating Scale
1 = Effective Use of targeted behavior
2 = Moderately effective use of targeted behavior
3 = Ineffective use of targeted behavior
Feedback comments may include specific observations that will support the rating.
Feedback to help teachers be more effective when making decisions related to fidelity are also
included to support the organization’s SEL competency needs.
Target Behavior Rating Feedback
Comments
Teacher connected with students by listening and validating student
feedback toward SEL competencies.
Teacher asked open-ended
questions and encouraged discussion with students to express
emotions.
Teacher clarified knowledge with follow-up questions after receiving
student feedback.
Teacher recommended appropriate knowledge and SEL resources
based on student feedback.
SOCIAL EMOTIONAL LEARNING 118
Teacher worked collaboratively
with students to engage students and enhance learning environment
toward social-emotional competencies.
Teacher satisfactorily answered
student’s questions.
SOCIAL EMOTIONAL LEARNING 119
APPENDIX C
For each of the questions below, circle the response that best characterized how you feel about
the statement.
Disagree Neutral Agree
1. I have the opportunity to use
what I learned in my job and in my
classroom.
1 2 3 4 5
2. I believe the training was a
good use of my time.
1 2 3 4 5
3. After training, I have
successfully applied what I
learned on the job and in the classroom.
1 2 3 4 5
4. I have received support from
my administrator to apply what I
have learned on the job and in my
classroom.
1 2 3 4 5
5. I am seeing positive results
from the training.
1 2 3 4 5
SOCIAL EMOTIONAL LEARNING 120
Please provide feedback for the following questions:
1. Describe any challenges you are facing implementing what you learned.
2. Describe possible solutions to overcome the challenges you described.
3. How could this training program be improved?
Abstract (if available)
Abstract
The United States is noted as having one of the highest depression rates of any developed nation in the world, reaching 20% (Sznitman, Reisel, & Romer, 2011). This rate implies nearly one-fifth of American students are suffering from depression, which multiplies the risk of attempting suicide by 12 (Sznitman et al., 2011). Percentages increase as we explore the needs separating underserved communities. As a result of a lack of social-emotional emphasis in school curriculums, the inability to release common stressors in school through social-emotional support leaves students unwilling to remain engaged with instruction (Slaten, Rivera, Schemwell, & Elison, 2016). Research indicates that a student’s emotional well-being directly correlates with educational achievement (Sznitman et al., 2011). Providing consistent social emotional standards in schoolwide curriculums increases academic achievement by 11 to 17 percentile points (Engle & Black, 2008). Inconsistent access to adequate social-emotional support leaves a student at risk of depression and damages their capacity for self-care (Sznitman et al., 2011). To support academic improvement, fidelity from teacher implementation toward student instructional gain is a priority in approaching social-emotional learning gaps.
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An evaluation study: quality contextual professional development
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Driscoll, Shastity
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Core Title
Social emotional learning curriculum implementation: an evaluation study of fidelity
School
Rossier School of Education
Degree
Doctor of Education
Degree Program
Organizational Change and Leadership (On Line)
Publication Date
04/25/2019
Defense Date
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