Strong Social-Emotional Program. At I3 Academy the social-emotional learning (SEL) will be designed to support all students. Dedicated time during the school day will be set aside for students to receive instruction in social-emotional learning. Morning meeting, 20 minutes each morning, will be scheduled for students to receive instruction in Second Step, our social-emotional learning curriculum. This provides Tier 1 instruction for all students in social-emotional learning creating a common language and foundation from which additional support can be delivered. In many schools, it is left up to each teacher to develop this curriculum and culture in his or her classroom, but at I3 Academy Second Step curriculum will provide a shared language around student behavior and norms that support behavior. This means that a teacher in the hallway, an administrator, or an enrichment teacher can reinforce those skills throughout the day. In many schools the work of social-emotional learning is left up to the counselor, but by embedding SEL instruction into our daily schedule we guarantee that all faculty and students partner in building the classroom and school culture that is critical to students’ overall success. If a student is in need of additional SEL support, there is a multi-tiered system in place to ensure that interventions are targeted and responsive to each student’s needs. Second Step provides instruction on skills for learning empathy, emotional management, friendship skills, and problem solving. The curriculum is aligned with XXXXX (Collaborative for Academic, Social, and Emotional Learning) SEL competencies of self-management, self-awareness, responsible decision-making, relationship skills, and social awareness. Second Step has been evaluated in multiple randomized and quasi-experimental studies (three randomized control trials and two quasi-experimental). Students have been followed over the course of up to two years. In these studies of grades PreK-6, in urban and suburban environments there was increased positive behavior, reduced student conduct problems, reduced emotional distress, and improved social and emotional skill performance. (xxx.xxxxx.xxx)
