SEDL in Action - Monroe County
Approaches:
- Outreach to and engagement of families and community
- Attention to school - classroom environment and relationships
- Skill acquisition through sequenced social - emotional learning opportunities and standards-based instruction
- After school, out-of-school, extra curricular and service learning and mentoring
- Alignment of district and school personnel, policies, and practices to support students
- Collaboration between school district and community-based service providers
- Staff development for administrative, instructional, student support staff and willing partners
1. Outreach to and engagement of families and community
There are no programs listed for this approach.
2. Attention to school environment and student-adult relationships
Speech by School Student Council President, from Barker Road Middle School, in Pittsford, NY,
designated as an Essential Elements School-To-Watch:
“… Google the phrase ‘Work hard and play hard’ and up pops ‘BRMS student body.’ …The kids can show
up and the parents can bring them here, but without our teachers to open the doors, we could never walk
through them. “Our motto is: ‘BRMS under construction, we’re building character.’ … Here in Pittsford,
we have the perfect recipe for success: throw in a dash of motivated students, heavily seasoned with
supportive families, and add the main ingredient of the body of exceptional professionals who run and
teach at this school. We know we are lucky to have people all around us who care about us and want to
see us do well. And that truly is a recipe for success. So my fellow students, lets give a standing ovation
for our Barker Road Family.” (CLAP)
3. Skill acquisition through sequenced social - emotional learning opportunities and standards-based instruction
There are no programs listed for this approach.
4. After school, out-of-school, extra curricular and service learning and mentoring
Teen Outreach Program - St. Louis, Missouri (locations in 28 states including Rochester, NY)
The Wyman Teen Outreach (www.wymantop.org
) program involves young people in volunteer work and
then links this work to classroom discussions led by a facilitator once or twice a week. It provides teens a
vision of themselves successfully taking responsibility in the adult world and a chance to shine in their
efforts to help others. One child care site supervisor described a student volunteer, Tonya, an
unassuming 11th grader who had struggled in school for years: "When Tonya comes in on Tuesday
mornings, to the kids she's like a rock star!" Gaining that sense of competence in handling adult
responsibility, and reflecting on that experience in classroom discussions, helps teens start seeing
themselves as future adults. As a result, they want to be prepared to enter that adult world. Teens, like
adults, enjoy being counted on and feeling helpful and important.
In carefully controlled studies (Allen, Philliber, Herrling, & Kuperminc, 1997) the program achieved
consistent reductions in school dropout, suspension, course failure, and even teen pregnancy rates.
From: Allen and Allen (2010) “Giving Students Meaningful Work.” Educational Leadership.
http://www.ascd.org/publications/educational-leadership/sept10/vol68/num01/The-Big-Wait.aspx
5. Alignment of district and school personnel, policies, and practices to support students
Elementary School 22, Rochester
“The old saying, It takes a village, is absolutely true. When you have a building like ours, to really make
an impact it takes not one or two individuals – it takes everybody working cohesively for these children. In
fact, my two administrators in this building were teachers, and they know children. They understand how
children develop. Their input is important to me. So the ability to be able to sit with them and conference
with them is very critical’ says Erminie Izzo, a school psychologist and counselor at 22 School.
“The compassionate, everyday work of educators at all levels in the school culture is the real work that makes a difference. How else can we model creative strategies for children who are swimming in an inescapable, electronic sea of destructive news and entertainment images, as well as coping with the normal challenges of family life and social realities – and whose brains are forming their notions of identity in the midst of it all?” Grondahl (2008)
School Counseling Programs - Rochester City School District (RCSD)
RCSD has selected three high need elementary schools to demonstrate that having Social Workers
available to oversee a continuum of youth development services and supports can lower disciplinary
referrals and improve school performance. In addition to hiring high quality staff, the RCSD will follow
best practices to provide a safe, nurturing disciplined environment and screen students to identify those
at-risk before disciplinary problems emerge. RCSD will also provide early supports to those students with
school adjustment problems and teach all students social competencies, empathy, self-control, and anger
management skills.
The RCSD plan aims to a) increase students’ access to needed mental health services, b) engage
parents whose children have severe behavioral challenges, c) train staff to know the difference between
discipline problems and emotional challenges – and give them the tools and resources they need to
support students with emotional or behavioral challenges.
USED 2010 Grantee Award Abstracts
6. Collaboration between school district and community-based service providers
Monroe County’s Community Health Improvement Process: Maternal / Child Health Report Card
"Improving Social and Emotional Well-being of Children" was identified a Priority for Action in 1998. The
December 2003 report reviewed the progress made on eight priorities including Social and Emotional
Well Being. It documented the collaboration of multiple agencies: Catholic Family Center, Family
Resource Centers of Rochester, Monroe County Legal Assistance Corporation, Rochester City School
District, American Cancer Society, Cancer Action, Monroe County Cooperative Extension, Urban League
of Rochester and The Children’s Institute: www.monroecounty.gov/File/Health/finalreportcardcorrected.pdf
7. Staff development for administrative, instructional, student support staff and willing partners.
There are no programs listed for this approach.