Use school climate surveys, suspension rates, and chronic absenteeism as accountability indicators of school supports for SEL¶

Strategy · All strategies
Evidence · 1 claim (1 mixed) · 1 study (1 associational), q2 · 0 of 1 report an effect size · 1 claim rests on one study

Description¶

The report recommends that states consider including measures of school climate, supports for SEL, and related outcomes in federal accountability and statewide reporting. These are more appropriate for high-stakes use because "school climate and supports for SEL are areas that school staff can directly influence, and measurement tools tend to be more advanced." Suspension rates and chronic absenteeism are eligible as measures of school quality and student success under ESSA, and teacher and parent climate surveys may serve as state-reported indicators.

Design Implications¶

Context¶

Requirements¶

• If used for statewide reporting, school climate surveys should be well validated and meet criteria for comparative use

Constraints¶

• States may also opt to report these indicators without using them for federal accountability, i.e., without identifying schools for intervention

Target Learners¶

• K-12 students

Target Learning Goals¶

• monitoring school conditions and supports that foster social-emotional development

Claims¶

• Secondary school suspension rates varied greatly across states in 2017–18, from 15% in Mississippi, South Carolina, and Washington, DC to 3% in Utah [~W]

Related Strategies¶

• Replace exclusionary discipline for low-level offenses with social-emotional skill teaching, educator supports, implicit-bias training, and relationship-centered schools
• Redefine the chronic-absenteeism threshold, monitor attendance bins, and provide targeted academic catch-up supports to prior-year absentees

Examples¶

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Key Sources¶

• Melnick, H., Cook-Harvey, C. M., & Darling-Hammond, L. (2017). Encouraging social and emotional learning in the context of new accountability. Palo Alto, CA: Learning Policy Institute. http://learningpolicyinstitute.org/product/sel-new-accountability