Education has grown in complexity. Educational stakeholders are perpetually caught within the debate of what constitutes best practices. However, "the delicate fabric of the civilization into which successive generations are woven has unraveled, . . ." (Bloom, 1988, p. 57). Bereft of much of the traditional social and emotional family support, contemporary students have been yielding diminishing school engagement and waning school success. With students' social-emotional health teetering toward the unhealthy, educators must accept, and therefore learn to thrive in the recursive nature of best practices, all while attempting to salvage their pupils' social and emotional health (SEH). Thus, the lived experiences of educators offer a wealth of knowledge as educational stakeholders seek new perspectives and strategies to mitigate mounting educational impediments. Since social emotional health breeds community, and since community precedes effective education, consequently, educators' voices deserve amplification and a powerful platform. What continues to be far removed from this discourse is a more thorough and more candid account of teachers' perceptions of their students' social emotional health. Social emotional learning curriculums, whether supplementary or embedded in the curriculum, are typically lacking a definite imperative as well as a tried and proven course of action. When the data allow us to excel past the theoretical and become pragmatic with fidelity, education will naturally become more effective and transformative. The results of this dissertation may align educational stakeholders' efforts with positive, reliable strategies and outcomes. [The dissertation citations contained here are published with the permission of ProQuest LLC. Further reproduction is prohibited without permission. Copies of dissertations may be obtained by Telephone (800) 1-800-521-0600. Web page: http://www.proquest.com.bibliotheek.ehb.be/en-US/products/dissertations/individuals.shtml.]