Social Emotional Learning
May 4, 2023
Click or tap the image below to see the video, or follow this link: Elevating Student Voice
Involving students in decision-making committees is an effective and empowering path for them to build upon their social and emotional competencies. Centering student voice through experiential learning is beneficial to young people, adults, and organizations. When youth are engaged in critical service-learning communities with adults, they are able to identify issues that they want to address and can demonstrate adaptation, responsibility, and perseverance, all while uncovering and addressing these issues. Adults can enhance their own competencies, learn to better understand and value youth, and increase their commitment to their organizations. Social emotional learning (SEL) prepares youth and adults to be successful contributors to society, providing a way to advocate through meaningful co-design.
For more information, read Elevating Student Voice: Adding Student Representation to School Boards from the Washington State School Directors' Association (WSSDA).
House Bill 1890 (2022) allowed the School-based Behavioral Health & Suicide Prevention (SBBHSP) Subcommittee to offer members with lived experience stipends for participation in meetings, for the first time since the group’s creation in 2019. The Subcommittee launched a recruitment effort in December to identify youth and young adults with lived experience navigating school-based behavioral health supports. The Subcommittee onboarded 11 new youth/young adult members, representing five of the state’s education service district.
Subcommittee meetings are bi-monthly, from 9:00AM–12:00PM on Friday mornings. Led by increased youth interest, we created a separate bi-monthly Zoom space for our new youth and young adult members, tentatively called the SBBHSP Youth Advisory Committee (SBBHSP-YAC). The first YAC meeting on March 14, allowed youth to discuss initial thoughts on school-based mental health supports in the state. Several YAC members attended the April full Subcommittee meeting to share takeaways from the March kickoff meeting. Moving forward, the YAC will continue to meet bi-monthly, providing feedback on topics discussed in the larger Subcommittee meetings, and offering ideas for focus areas for the larger Subcommittee.
The Subcommittee’s primary task is to harness the power of its membership to create annual policy recommendations to the State Legislature aimed at making school-based behavioral health supports in the state more accessible, equitable, and effective. Ultimately, the goal of the SBBHSP-YAC is to embed the voices of students with lived experience in every stage of that process. Interested in following along with this work? Email christian.stark@k12.wa.us and read the updates from the larger Subcommittee and its parent group at CYBHWG.
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To ensure the inclusion of youth voice, the School Safety and Student Well-Being Advisory Committee - Youth Advisory Council (SS-SWAC-YAC) was created in 2019 to convene youth perspective and voice from students across the state and demographic groups. SS-SWAC-YAC members are considered members of the SS-SWAC and their convenings provide a platform for youth to discuss school safety and student well-being topics that are important to them.
For questions or more information about the SS-SWAC-YAC, contact ella.deverse@k12.wa.us, School Safety and Student Well-Being Program Supervisor.
Click the image below or follow this link: NTPS Native Programs on YouTube.
 Washington State Teacher of the Year in 2022, Jerad Koepp is the Native Student Program Specialist at North Thurston Public Schools. For the May SEL Newsletter, Jerad reflected on Youth Co-Design within the Native Student Program and beyond.
How do you incorporate the voices of Native students in your programming?
JK: Our Native Student Program supports numerous programs from Title VI and Title III Native American to our dual-credited Native Studies course. Student voice and leadership shape scheduling, activities, help with school improvement goals, and often co-design projects and coursework. The language of incorporating student voice can imply it’s supplemental rather than foundational. As Native peoples, co-learning, co-creating, and co-ideating are essential. We also seek knowledge, teachings, and council from other-than-human relations to guide and inform our work. These approaches to student voice have the added element of honoring individual and collective agency of those involved.
For example, our annual Billy Frank Jr. Day celebration, which we co-host with the Nisqually Tribe, a large portion of the event showcases to community members how students are learning and engaging with tribal history and sovereignty. Schools from across our district highlight student work and often have students co-presenting with their teachers.
What are some opportunities students have to become more involved in curriculum and programming development?
JK: In Native Studies, topics and projects are often presented to students during circle to address and design. Other times, students request circle time to plan, vision, and work on projects. Honoring student agency and their active role in their own education creates authentic spaces for student voice to be foundational, rather than supplemental. We see education and student learning as generative. Or, as the students put it, doing “real work.” The products of their learning contribute to community through school-wide educational work, assembly presentations, teaching in university education programs, or creating educational videos with TVW.
When asked how to support Native students in areas such as academics or attendance, our first response is usually to assemble Native student leaders to address the issue. They’re the stakeholders and on the receiving end of education practice and policy. They’re the experts on what may be meaningful and effective in supporting students like them. We evaluate data, create surveys, and make recommendations to school leaders as a team. Anyone can incorporate student voice today. We encourage everyone to share in the joy of incorporating student voice as part of greater meaningful student participation.
How do you, or how can educators and school staff support and facilitate student co-design?
JK: In Native education, we often see ourselves as facilitators. Students carry knowledge and their participation in their education creates strong learning communities. Facilitators don’t stop at student voice, though. Facilitators also tend to elevate community-based education that creates opportunities to center and elevate diverse knowledge, voices, and experiences in the classroom all the time.
The work isn’t always easy. Mindset shifts take time and developing the classroom culture requires authenticity, trust, patience and tending. Yet, there are many things educators can do today. In our Native STEAM program, for example, students guide almost all our key choices. Likewise, teachers can see students as partners in education and offer students with meaningful decisions to make and support them.
Lastly, consider student voice on the output side of education, too. Engage students with course and program evaluations, reflections, and celebrations. Whether starting fresh or building on current work student voice will never fail to inspire.
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The next SEL Advisory Committee meeting is May 23, 2023, 9:00AM–12:00PM. During out next meeting, we will discuss how to incorporate authentic student voice into our committee. The meeting will be held via Zoom (link attached).
We encourage the public to attend and provide time for public comment. You may also share public comment to the SEL Advisory Committee at any time by using the comment link on the SEL website.
More information is available on the SEL Advisory Committee webpage. If you have questions, please email tammy.bolen@k12.wa.us.
OSPI will not be able to continue the evidence based SEL curriculum grants. The recently released state operating budget removed funding for the SEL Curriculum.
Districts and LEAs who received the grant during this fiscal year will still need to spend their awarded funds and receive materials by June 30, 2023. For any questions or concerns, please reach out to Ben Everett at ben.everett@k12.wa.us.
Washington SEL Network Exchange
Tuesday, June 27, 2023
9:00AM–5:00PM
Highline Community College
2400 S 240th St.
Des Moines, WA 98198
The SEL Professional Learning Network (PLN) is planning an in-person learning opportunity! Washington State educators will gather to share highlights of lessons learned across the network, share resources, and discuss future directions and sustainability of SEL Implementation. The event will include instructional activities and presentations by the American Institutes for Research (AIR), Education Northwest, SEL Advisory Committee members, Demonstration Site participants, and OSPI partners.
For additional information, please contact Debra Parker at debra.parker@k12.wa.us or (360) 972-4074.
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“Mitigating Effects of Intergenerational Trauma and Strengthening Social Emotional Development within Education for American Indian and Alaska Native Children, Youth, and Families”
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Washington school staff is invited to attend a one-day training, made in collaboration between OSPI's Office of Native Education and the Social Emotional Learning team, facilitated by Arlie Neskahi. Due to a limited budget, priority for registration will be given to ESSA schools requiring Tribal consultation and State-Tribal Education Compact schools (STECs).
Wednesday, May 10 in the Spokane area
Tuesday, May 16 in the Omak area
Topics will include:
- Impact of generational trauma on student experience
- Indigenous social/emotional development
- Inviting social emotional development activities and programming into the school
- Forming alliances with local Tribes or Native community
For more information and to register, please contact Joan Banker, Office of Native Education, (360) 725-6160 or joan.banker@k12.wa.us.
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Open Educational Resources (OER) are teaching and learning materials that are free to use, adapt, and share. In last month's SEL newsletter, we featured the Animating Civic Action series whose elementary lesson aligns with SEL standards for Social Engagement, Social Awareness, and Self-Awareness.
On Wednesday, May 24, 3:00–5:00PM, explore other resources developed by Washington OER Project grantees in financial education, health and fitness, science, social studies, special education, and world languages. Register for this event through pdEnroller; Clock Hours are available.
For more information, email barbara.soots@k12.wa.us
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 The next Graduation Equity Webinar will be Wednesday, May 10, 10:00–11:30AM. Youth co-design is a process that shares the development of a program or a project with the students who will be impacted from it. Instead of consulting students, they are involved as curators, equals, and experts of their own lives. This month's webinar features Sam Martin, CEO and Head Lobbyist at SDM Consulting, who will talk about youth co-design and the importance of youth voice in their learning process.
Registration is available via Zoom. For more information on this series and to review previous sessions, visit the Graduation Equity Webinar page. If you'd like to receive Clock Hours, you will need to register in pdEnroller. Questions on Clock Hours? Contact ronnie.larson@k12.wa.us.
On Wednesday, May 17, 4:30–6:30PM, experts from across the state will share their experiences incorporating SEL best practices to support students and help them thrive, both in the classroom and out. Physical and Health educators, and anyone invested in promoting Whole Child Health are encouraged to join. Click the image to register for Clock Hours or visit the pdEnroller event page. |
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