The School Climate Resource Center

Webinar: The Nation’s Dropout Crisis: The Educators’ Perspectives
If you’re at the computer next Tuesday at 2pm EST, tune in to Ed Week’s webinar about the rising tide of high school dropouts. You’ll hear from teachers, principals, superintendents and school board members and have an opportunity to share your thoughts about all the stats, controversy and steps for change. The Nation’s Dropout Crisis: The Educators’ PerspectivesWhen: Tuesday, July 7, 2 p.m. to 3 p.m. Eastern timeClick here to register On a related note, if you’ll be in New York next week, we’d love to see you at our annual Summer Institute at Fordham University. There’s still some space left, so click the link below to learn more and register for the 3-day event of workshops, expert keynotes and networking sessions: Comprehensive School Climate Reform and Bully Prevention: Promoting Healthy and Democratic K-12 School Communities NEW YORK CITY—July 7 - 9, 2009 at Fordham University, Lincoln Center If you’re at the computer next Tuesday at 2pm EST, tune in to Ed Week’s webinar about the rising tide of high school dropouts. You’ll hear from teachers, principals, superintendents and school board members and have an opportunity to share your thoughts about the stats, controversy and steps for change. The Nation’s Dropout Crisis: The Educators’ Perspectives When: Tuesday, July 7, 2 p.m. to 3 p.m. Eastern time Click here to register On a related note, if you’ll be in New York next week, we’d love to see you at our annual Summer Institute at Fordham University. There’s still some space left, so click the link below to learn more and register for the 3-day event of workshops, expert keynotes and networking sessions: Comprehensive School Climate Reform and Bully Prevention:Promoting Healthy and Democratic K-12 School CommunitiesNEW YORK CITY—July 7 - 9, 2009 atFordham University, Lincoln Center

Nineteen Minutes: Bullying and School Violence
“In Peter’s case, I saw an extreme emotional vulnerability, which, in fact, was the reason he was teased. Peter didn’t play by the codes of boys. He wasn’t a big athlete. He wasn’t tough. He was sensitive. And difference is not always respected – particularly when you’re a teenager. Adolescence is about fitting in, not standing out.”— Nineteen Minutes When you hear the mention of Columbine or Virginia Tech, what are the first two words that pop into your head? School shooting. It is a sad reality that all schools, no matter size or location, must take safety precautions against the threat of a school shooting. Jodi Picoult, an author famous for writing about controversial and prevalent issues in society, writes about a high school shooting that takes place in a small New Hampshire town in her novel, Nineteen Minutes. By writing from the perspective of the shooter, the victims, and other members of the community, Picoult goes beyond the statistics and offers a complete picture of the events that lead up to the shooting and its aftermath. Interestingly enough, Picoult presents the story so that the reader sympathizes with the shooter, Peter, who is bullied terribly from kindergarten through high school and is driven to seek revenge. It leaves the reader pondering, who is really the victim? “In Peter’s case, I saw an extreme emotional vulnerability, which, in fact, was the reason he was teased. Peter didn’t play by the codes of boys. He wasn’t a big athlete. He wasn’t tough. He was sensitive. And difference is not always respected – particularly when you’re a teenager. Adolescence is about fitting in, not standing out.” -Nineteen Minutes When you hear the mention of Columbine or Virginia Tech, what are the first two words that pop into your head? School shooting. It is a sad reality that all schools, no matter size or location, must take safety precautions against the threat of a school shooting. Jodi Picoult, an author famous for writing about controversial and prevalent issues in society, writes about a high school shooting that takes place in a small New Hampshire town in her novel, Nineteen Minutes. By writing from the perspective of the shooter, the victims, and other members of the community, Picoult goes beyond the statistics and offers a complete picture of the events that lead up to the shooting and its aftermath. Interestingly enough, Picoult presents the story so that the reader sympathizes with the shooter, Peter, who is bullied terribly from kindergarten through high school and is driven to seek revenge. It leaves the reader pondering, who is really the victim? Picoult’s portrayal of how a lifetime of bullying can lead someone to commit such a violent act is a written testimony of the harmful effects of bullying. Rightfully so, Picoult also uses this story to call attention to the social issues that children and adolescents deal with in school, as well as point out how bullying is often ignored by teachers and parents, allowing the problem to worsen over time. Nineteen Minutes is an emotional and riveting book that can be read by both adolescents and adults to get a look into the life of a bullied teenager and the lengths he is willing to go to make it all stop. It is important to teach kids, from a young age, that bullying has detrimental and lifelong effects, and can result in violence. I think that Nineteen Minutes would be a great addition to any high school classroom or library in order to open up discussion about sensitive subjects such as social cliques, bullying, and school violence. To further address the issue of bullying and violence in schools, there are great resources available through Jodi Picoult and the recently launched Bully Bust 2009 campaign. In Nineteen Minutes, no one is willing to take responsibility for causing Peter’s actions. What responsibility do you have, as a student, teacher, or parent, to reach out and help a struggling student who is bullied?

When I Grow Up, I Wanna Be … a “Good Person?”
In this recent article based in the UK, the basic question is voiced: who do you want your children to grow into? Roger Weissberg, professor of Psychology and Education at the University of Illinois and President of the Collaborative for Academic and Social and Emotional Learning (CASEL), posed this question to panels of UK legislators, policy makers, and practitioners and found the answer to be situated on top of a solid foundation: that of social and emotional well-being. The impact of social and emotional stability is staggeringly vital. Completed by Weissberg and Joseph Durlak last year, their meta-analysis examined 700 experimental studies and discovered significant findings. Both the percentage of conduct and emotional disorders dropped with the children in these studies. Furthermore, academic performances improved. In this recent article based in the UK, the basic question is voiced: who do you want your children to grow into? Roger Weissberg, professor of Psychology and Education at the University of Illinois and President of the Collaborative for Academic and Social and Emotional Learning (CASEL), posed this question to panels of UK legislators, policy makers, and practitioners and found the answer to be situated on top of a solid foundation: that of social and emotional well-being. The impact of social and emotional stability is staggeringly vital. Completed by Weissberg and Joseph Durlak last year, their meta-analysis examined 700 experimental studies and discovered significant findings. Both the percentage of conduct and emotional disorders dropped with the children in these studies. Furthermore, academic performances improved. Additionally, as Dr. Jonathan Cohen, President of CSEE, mentioned as the keynote speaker at Fordham University last Wednesday afternoon, high-level coping mechanisms attained through social abilities (in contrast to low-level coping mechanisms, such as denial and repression), are considered to be the single most important marker in overall life satisfaction, according to a 68-year longitudinal study (the Grant Study). In sum, children are happier and performing better in school, due to social and emotional education. A clear relationship exists between what educators are currently teaching their children (math, reading, etc.) and what many are still hesitant to teach (social and emotional awareness). Born as “blank slates,” (if you agree with the philosopher, John Locke), I believe teachers need to be concerned with more than just academic progress for their students. Children may be acquiring the skills necessary for proper writing and mathematical computations, and as important as these skills are, they might be worthless if children do not acquire the relationship skills to become socially responsible adults, or one may even say, “good people.”How much time, though, is being devoted to teaching children to be “good people” in schools? Some may argue that educators have the responsibility to teach academics, while it is the parents’ responsibility to teach proper values and character development. To this point, I would like to reference Cohen’s statement about infants’ transition from crawling to walking: although physical maturation plays an important role in this transition, so too does the support and encouragement received from outside sources like their guardians, family members, etc. Like infants during that important phase, today’s youth still need extra support, both from parents and their schools. We cannot expect them to learn it all on their own. This can be taught at schools, but many of these imperative life lessons are glossed over or not handled correctly in schools. Cohen mentions at the Fordham lecture: “An eight-session program in Health class is not enough.” Weissberg, similarly, thinks many schools need to “pull the weeds before planting the flowers.” Some schools do implement programs with social and emotional focus, but the programs don’t take off and the schools never really stop to consider why or what modifications can be made. (The perfect way to pull the weeds or “examine the landscape” is through school climate measurement. The most comprehensive and empirically-validated of these tools is the Comprehensive School Climate Inventory (CSCI), which has been used across extensive schools and districts to effectively gauge total school climate.) Like Cohen, I agree that there needs to be a change in the school system. It is clear that issues outside of not understanding the academic material affect a child’s grades. At the lecture, Cohen specifically referred to the issue of bullying and how when teachers become frustrated and angry, even they can sometimes inadvertently bully students and impede their learning. Certainly, things like this need to be addressed immediately, through collaboration among educators, parents, and students. Despite the continuous rush to teach our students the necessary curriculum before the end of the school and to prepare them for statewide and national exams, we need to stop and think if they have the skills necessary to perform well on the social and emotional exams they will face throughout their entire lives.

Welcome new members of the CSEE team!
This summer we have a packed house of visiting fellows and interns who will be helping us realize our mission. Please join us in welcoming the newest additions to the CSEE team: Ana Kalaydzhieva is a visiting fellow at CSEE. She graduated from New Jersey City University in 2008, where she received a BA in Psychology. She has experience as a counselor assistant in Jersey City Public Schools where she helped students with problems in anger management and impulsive behavior. Jennifer Morton is a visiting assistant professor of philosophy at Swarthmore College where she teaches introduction to philosophy, ethics, and political philosophy. She is interested in the relationship between the development of social and emotional skills and social justice. Currently, she is working on various research projects for CSEE. Lauren Featherston, a rising senior at Lafayette College, is a psychology major with an interest in pursuing a career working with special needs children. At CSEE, she is enthusiastically working on the Bully Bust campaign and our annual Summer Institute. Maria Cardone is a senior at Fordham University who is majoring in Psychology, minoring in Business, and is interested in pursuing a career in education. She is working with the CSEE team to help with Bully Bust campaign and other communication initiatives. Rachel Sarnoff is entering her second year at Dartmouth College. While she is still undecided in her course of study, she is dedicated to improving the lives of children everywhere, and returns to CSEE this summer to work on the Breaking the Bully-Victim-Bystander Cycle toolkit.This summer we have a packed house of visiting fellows and interns who will be helping us realize our mission. Please join us in welcoming the newest additions to the CSEE team: Ana Kalaydzhieva is a visiting fellow at CSEE. She graduated from New Jersey City University in 2008, where she received a BA in Psychology. She has experience as a counselor assistant in Jersey City Public Schools where she helped students with problems in anger management and impulsive behavior. At CSEE, Ana is helping organize our annual Summer Institute. Jennifer Morton is a visiting assistant professor of philosophy at Swarthmore College where she teaches introduction to philosophy, ethics, and political philosophy. She is interested in the relationship between the development of social and emotional skills and social justice. Currently, she is working on various research projects for CSEE. Lauren Featherston, a rising senior at Lafayette College, is a psychology major with an interest in pursuing a career working with special needs children. At CSEE, she is enthusiastically working on the Bully Bust campaign and our annual Summer Institute. Maria Cardone is a senior at Fordham University who is majoring in Psychology, minoring in Business, and is interested in pursuing a career in education. She is working with the CSEE team to help with Bully Bust campaign and other communication initiatives. Rachel Sarnoff is entering her second year at Dartmouth College. While she is still undecided in her course of study, she is dedicated to improving the lives of children everywhere, and returns to CSEE this summer to work on the Breaking the Bully-Victim-Bystander Cycle toolkit.

Action Planning with CSEE and Networks of Schools
In the past year, CSEE developed Institutes that support networks of schools in the same region to assess their climate and bring students, parents/guardians and school personnel together to understand current strengths and challenges and create socially, emotionally and civically informed action plans. Last July, we partnered with Nassau BOCES and the New York State Student Suport Services to sponsor the first Safe and Civil Schools Network for seven schools from two separate districts in Nassau County, Long Island. We recently completed this year-long project, which included three-day institutes designed to provide concrete strategies and supports for lasting school climate improvement, including sessions on infusing Social-Emotional Learning into the curriculum (at both the elementary and middle/high levels), revising the Code of Conduct for greater efficacy, and building stronger community relationships. Attendees had high-praise for the network model, and all participants agreed that they would like to continue with the work next year and would strongly recommend the program to colleagues. Here’s what two attendees had to say:In the past year, CSEE developed institutes that support networks of schools in the same region to assess their climate and bring students, parents/guardians and school personnel together to understand current strengths and challenges and create socially, emotionally and civically informed action plans. Last July, we partnered with Nassau BOCES and the New York State Student Suport Services to sponsor the first Safe and Civil Schools Network for seven schools from two separate districts in Nassau County, Long Island. We recently completed this year-long project, which included three-day institutes designed to provide concrete strategies and supports for lasting school climate improvement, including sessions on infusing Social-Emotional Learning into the curriculum (at both the elementary and middle/high levels), revising the Code of Conduct for greater efficacy, and building stronger community relationships. Attendees had high-praise for the network model, and all participants agreed that they would like to continue with the work next year and would strongly recommend the program to colleagues. Here’s what two attendees had to say: “The workshops given by CSEE have been extremely helpful to our entire school. We are in the process of transforming the culture of our building and exposing an entire community to safe and civil school improvement works.“ — Cathy Green, Franklin Schools, Hempstead “The Safe and Civil Schools network was extremely helpful to our school. I was able to use the information provided to our staff and share the information, which was very well received. As a curriculum coach, I was able to implement bully prevention and upstander skills that assisted staff at our school.“ — Miriam Ortiz, Jackson Annex School These institutes are an ideal way to begin building community-wide investment and a sustained plan for improvement. Networks of schools typically begin by meeting for a two-day institute to plan the most appropriate program model for their needs. Over the course of the year, schools have a series of additional network meetings, with the option of more intensive in-school coaching as needed. To learn more about how our Network Institutes can support your school climate improvement efforts, please contact me at (212) 707-8799, ext. 29 or at jonathancohen@csee.net.