The third in a series of three evaluation briefs, this brief describes how a district in receivership (state takeover) invested in Positive Behavioral Interventions and Supports (PBIS) to: (1) enhance their systems to support staff; (2) implement evidence-based practices to support students; (3) use data to guide their implementation; and (4)…

Given the substantial impact school leaders have on school improvement, the imperative for continuous professional learning for leaders is evident. In this two-year action research study, researchers collaborated with a school division, forming a research-practice partnership, to design and explore a collaborative professional learning and…

The Collaborative for Academic, Social, and Emotional Learning (CASEL) launched the Collaborating Districts Initiative (CDI) with the goal of supporting school districts to build their capacities to promote social and emotional learning (SEL) for all students. Twenty large, urban districts across the country participate in the CDI. Although many…

Providing and using technical assistance for capacity building within educational agencies is a complex endeavor. The U.S. Department of Education funds technical assistance centers to support state education agencies (SEAs) and local education agencies (LEAs) in the capacity-building process. Established in 2018, the Center to Improve Social and…

This qualitative study explores the early implementation of a university school leadership preparation program and school district collaborative effort to develop school leaders and sustain leadership capacity in nine rural school districts. Emerging findings drawn from survey, focus-group, and participant observation data include (a) the…

This study, a process evaluation, examined the inaugural, year-long leadership development program, Developing Collective Change Agents (DCCA), in a rural district in the southeastern United States. The evaluation described the program's organizational design within the context of a review of related literature for education leadership…

Operationalizing practices for equity has eluded the educational community for some time. This exploratory, mixed methods study examined the practices, operationalized by 29 competencies, of ten school leadership teams in one urban, US school district engaged in the initial stages of equity systems change (ICS for Equity™). ICS for Equity is a…

As improving low-performing schools has become a critical strategy to achieve educational equity in China, local educational departments have implemented various school collaboration programs. Drawing on international literature and empirical data from in-depth interviews and policy documents in two Chinese urban districts, this multiple-case…

This Implementation Guide for the Framework for Enhancing Student Learning was developed to support Boards of Education to fulfill the responsibilities as outlined in the "Framework for Enhancing Student Learning Policy" and "Enhancing Student Learning Reporting Order." This document provides the policy requirements and…

Building district capacity for implementing Positive Behavioral Interventions and Supports (PBIS) in high need school districts is challenging. To better understand the level of support needed to successfully implement districtwide PBIS under challenging conditions, the National PBIS Center is conducting several model demonstrations of…

Schools are critical settings in our nation's public health response to the youth mental health crisis. There is strong empirical support that comprehensive, universal programs promote students' social and emotional development and academic success. However, schools, particularly Title I schools, often lack the capacity to implement entire…

This brief is one in a five-part series in which the Collaborative for Academic, Social, and Emotional Learning (CASEL) documents insights from their efforts to understand how educators and researchers can build relationships that support a shared action research agenda around social and emotional learning (SEL). CASEL has developed three theories…

In 2019, the Legislature passed Senate Bill 5082 (SB 5082), which directed the Office of Superintendent of Public Instruction (OSPI) to establish a Social Emotional Learning (SEL) Committee to build upon the work of the previous Social Emotional Learning Indicators (SELI) Workgroup. The purpose of the SEL Advisory Committee is to promote and…

Systems, structures, and practices perpetuate disparities because they reinforce barriers that sort and separate students based on assumed success or failure. When students are disadvantaged in this way, the implicit message is that their learning doesn't matter. The counterpoint to these discriminatory systems is an asset-based approach, which is…

Districts around the country are increasingly experimenting with the design and launch of autonomous district schools as a way to increase innovative, high-quality school options; bring decision-making closer to students; retain talented leaders; and prevent students and families from leaving the district for charter schools. In this report, the…