Mitch Lyons is President of the Social-Emotional Learning Alliance for Massachusetts and coordinator for www.SEL4Newton.org
If you ask your children, “how are you feeling?”, most likely you’ll get “Fine” back as a response, but if you go a bit deeper, my guess is that you’ll find the same deep anxiety that we all feel. These times will not be just forgotten and your children won’t just move on as if this all never happened. We need to start planning now for our post Covid-19 response.
Much to the credit of the School Committee, there will be a zoom meeting on Monday, April 27th to re-visit the school budget in light of the changed circumstances caused by Covid-19.
The School Committee voted on April 6th to approve the 2020-2021 school budget as presented, which was planned for a regular school year, with the caveat that the budget would be discussed again at the end of the month. In re-visiting the budget, the School Committee has the opportunity to reallocate funding with an eye toward tending to the emotional well-being of Newton students who have been traumatized, as we all have, by these dramatic and novel turn of events.
It’s been explained to me by the School Committee that there is a “finite amount of money” while at the same time, “the district is acknowledging the emotional trauma that students are experiencing.” We all acknowledge that these are unusual times, hence, the need for unusual solutions to acquire increased support for students in September or whenever school is restarted.
I encourage the School Committee to go through the budget as presented to look for funds that might be elective or delay spending perhaps on items where they can be put off to a later time so that those funds may be re-directed to provide additional support services for our students this September.
The School Committee’s email address is [email protected], should you chose to express your opinion about planning for a certain rise in mental health issues.
One of the behavioral precepts the author holds as a sign of emotional intelligence is speaking out.
Allocating less of the NPS’s budget to core instructional curricula in favor of the author’s preference would be to society’s disadvantage and should be avoided. The problem, for which the author seeks to take Newton’s time and money, is neither to the degree requiring such government intervention nor a problem NPS is uniquely or even particularly suited to achieving. Other higher impact responses are available at lower cost to those parents with children attending NPS. Concerned parents should exhaust those alternatives before turning to the public schools for solutions.
And, the deleterious effects of doing as the author advocates have not been clearly put to parents. Parents will assess those through different lenses and develop preferences in light of their household’s sense of balance.
The balance in at least some Newton households might sound like”
a. “25 Newton deaths and 360 people diagnosed is not a Columbine High School or World Trade Towers moment; double those numbers still won’t be.
b. “My kids and friends from school are not victims except to the degree that they have been asked to accept falling behind generally accepted proficiency targets. Doing their part is important, but we need to keep them focused.
c. “Using any stress, especially when imposed from the environment, for productive ends is more important that quieting.
d. “Why does what is proposed feel like ‘grooming’ and something I need to protect my kids from?”
Superintendent Fleishman, in another context, acknowledged a propensity, some Newton residents have, to game the NPS for a greater share of resources dedicated to one special topic or another, to one special group or another. Let’s hope the School Council, when searching for a superintendent, endorsed the view that a successful superintendent needs to have a backbone and not bend too far or too quickly to every breeze blowing through town.
Resilience is a demonstrative outcome of the kind of emotional intelligence the author should hope for. I for one hope for a NPS that can fight off contagions regardless of how natural they might appear to be. And I know that parents are the best teachers and models of resilience.
Respectfully, this comment is not responsive to my article which calls for more student support services in the post Covid-19 school year.
The comment ends with “I know that parents are the best teachers and models of resilience.” In this I agree, which is the whole mission of http://www.SEL4Newton.org which supplies resources for parents to use as they see fit in their own homes.
Please see a national survey of educators where they, like the 2700 members of the Social-Emotional Learning Alliance for Massachusetts (www.SEL4MA.org), believe that SEL is critical to achievement in school and in life.
https://casel.org/the-missing-piece-a-national-teacher-survey-on-how-social-and-emotional-learning-can-empower-children-and-transform-schools/
I am concerned with focusing on the unproven to the detriment of the proven. I have asked SEL advocates in the past if there is any evidence in a peer-reviewed journal of a benefit of SEL, and the have always come up empty handed. By “evidence,” I mean a study where half of the classes are taught SEL and the other are not, and the researchers compare an outcome, or a study that looks at hundreds of school districts, some that teach SEL and some that do not, and relate SEL to an outcome.
NPS are a poor job with math, english, and science. Let’s fix basic learning first before we chase whims.
Honestly I think the focus of NPS when the kids return to school will be getting them back on track academically. The kids should be supported with understanding and flexibility. Resources need to go towards that effort rather than a broad based social approach. As far as the school budget is concerned adding money in one area means trade offs in another. Definitely support the School counselors (& teachers/aides) as they address individual need. I would rather have the appropriate number of teachers and aides supporting academic learning and meeting immediate individual needs than using funds for a social curriculum. Consider referring families to outside resources if needed for social emotional support. Frankly it is a bit offensive to refer to the students as traumatized by this time when others are experiencing losses within their families. I’ve found with my own kids even the routine of online school has reduced their anxiety. Going back to regular school will help a great deal. Let’s focus the finite resources towards getting the kids back on track with the flexibility to address different needs. I think some of these broad based programs get ignored by the older kids and just don’t resonate with them. We will need the Teachers focusing on getting the kids back to a “normal” way of life.
Jeffrey – here are five links to help answer your reasonable question about whether the value of SEL is proven or unproven. The first one is a meta-analysis that you seek.
https://casel.org/2017-meta-analysis/
https://casel.org/impact/
https://casel.org/research/
https://casel.org/from-casel/
https://casel.org/research/from-the-field/
Newton Highlands Mom
You bring up many interesting opinions.
The reason NPS, as well as thousands of school districts across the country, find that SEL is a foundation for academic learning is based on the fact that obstacles to learning are largely due to emotional and social factors. I refer you to the cites above in my response to Jeffrey but also for an enjoyable read called “Emotional Intelligence” by Dan Goleman.
Social emotional learning is the education process that teaches how to manage emotions and build long-lasting relationships. They also build district-wide efforts to create a positive school climate, where children perform better. Just a like a ball team or an office, positive environments improve achievement. I refer you to http://www.eiconsortium.org which garners research on emotional intelligence in organization, like businesses.
Effective SEL in middle and high schools are embedded into regular academic subjects. For example, in English, it is exploring the emotional reactions of characters in stories. In history, it is looking at how wars start, many times because of the emotional reaction of a nation’s leaders. In math it is having students work in groups to learn how to listen to others and share responsibilities.
I do not think it is offensive to say that all – everyone – has been traumatized by these turn of events. My heart goes out to all those who have lost people or are sick due to Covid-19, including those in my own family, but to think that only those who have lost someone are the only one who are traumatized.
I am very happy that your children having online school reduces their anxiety. Of course, not everyone feels that way.
Lastly, SEL is not a “program”, it the way a teacher teaches. As we continue our work at SEL4Newton, we will make these skills more apparent to parents as this is ongoing work within NPS with long range goals.
I thank you for your comments. They illuminate how much work has to be done in the future. I’m afraid that there will be a new “normal” after this is over, whenever that may be.