Abstract
An urban public school system in the northeastern United States implemented the RULER Program, an evidence-based social emotional learning program, into schools in 2014. This case study investigates the impact of the RULER Program on school climate at one pre-K-8 school within that larger urban system. The study sought to determine if there are statistically significant changes in student suspensions, attendance, and academic achievement at that school since the initial implementation of the RULER Program by performing 2-proportion z tests. This study also sought to determine faculty and staff perceptions of school climate at the subject school by performing a descriptive analysis of survey data and coding interview and observation data for themes. The quantitative and qualitative data merge to provide a comprehensive explanation of the impact of a school wide social emotional learning program on school climate.
Highlights
Schools have a responsibility to address student behavioral, social, and emotional needs in order to better serve all students
The results of this study demonstrate that the presence of a school wide Social Emotional Learning (SEL) program has impacted school climate positively as evidenced by a decrease in student suspensions, a decrease in chronic absenteeism among students, staff and faculty positive responses on the “Panorama Staff Survey”, and the emergence of the main analytical themes of relationships, shared vision, belief in social emotional education, school leadership, and student-centered outcomes from the qualitative data
Based on the results of the suspension data analysis, the chronic absenteeism data analysis, the survey data analysis, and the interview and observation data analyses, the researcher concluded that the presence of a school wide SEL program impacts school climate by decreasing disruptive student behaviors, decreasing chronic absenteeism, and improving faculty and staff perceptions of school climate
Summary
This study provides information to school administrators regarding how a school wide Social Emotional Learning (SEL) program impacts teacher perceptions of school climate and student outcomes in one K-8 urban high-needs school. The purpose of this case study was to determine how a school wide SEL program impacted school climate at a high-needs urban public school by measuring faculty and staff perceptions of school climate as well as changes in student suspension data, attendance data, and standardized test scores at the PK-8 school since implementation of the RULER Program. 3) Has there been a statistically significant change in percentage of students scoring at Level 1 on the Smarter Balanced math assessment at the subject school since implementation of the RULER Program? The researcher utilized a coding process to analyze the data and was able to identify relationships among the codes and pare down to fourteen axial codes, four of which were main analytical concepts
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