Effective districtwide implementation of life skills and wellness programs requires high-quality implementation and wellness support for educators.
In recent years, schools have increasingly focused on fostering wellness to address the broader spectrum of students’ social, emotional, and cognitive needs. These initiatives not only help students build strong relationships and self-direction that lead to healthy learning environments but also play a pivotal role in supporting academic success.
Brain science reveals that children’s (and adults') brains are malleable and continue to develop across the lifespan. Learning, then, is not just based on the subject matter placed in front of us but instead on the context in which we learn and the ways that we can make meaning of that subject matter. In other words, it is dependent on the relationships students have with their teachers, their peers, and their connection to the subject matter they study. The Science of Learning Development (SoLD) indicates that effective teaching that supports learning and development incorporates student agency and personalizing learning, beginning at an early age. This also includes culturally affirming learning because students need to see themselves —their culture and backgrounds —in the learning environment to deepen their connection and sense of belonging.
Schools are introducing comprehensive programs that focus on these principles, in part to help improve student wellness and accelerate academic learning in the aftermath of COVID-19. The Council for Chief State School Officers (CCSSO) estimates that more than $1.1 billion of Elementary and Secondary School Emergency Relief (ESSER) state set-aside funds for student and staff well-being as of November 2023 to expand programs that are increasingly being implemented across entire districts. In addition, an analysis by FutureEd has estimated that school districts planned to spend nearly $4 billion from those funds to support the mental and physical health of students.
New research supports the value of these investments. A new meta-analysis that reviewed 12 years of research comprising 424 studies from 53 countries provides significant evidence to support claims that school programs that promote the development of personal social and emotional competencies supporting the psychological health of all students have a positive effect on everything from school climate and wellness to student skill development and learning.
The review, released in 2023 by Dr. Chris Cipriano of the Yale Child Study Center at the Yale University School of Medicine and her colleagues, examined studies conducted between 2008 and 2020. Evaluating the results of 252 discrete interventions involving more than half a million students, the researchers found that, “compared to control conditions, students who participate in [universal school-based] SEL interventions experienced significantly improved skills, attitudes, behaviors, school climate and safety, peer relationships, school functioning, and academic achievement.” The report also notes that the content, intervention features, context, and implementation quality of the programs evaluated often differ and have the result of moderating student experiences and outcomes.
Fortunately, there are many things district and school leaders can do to promote these effects in their schools. I conduct research and develop new tools and resources to support one of the nation’s fastest-growing student and adult relationship-driven SEL programs—Harmony Academy. Our experience suggests that comprehensive programs should include:
- Grade-specific lessons, activities, and stories for students.
- Everyday practices that build learning communities.
- Content that promotes student agency and self-direction through developing personal and class goals, as well as using mindfulness techniques.
- Quick and easy to implement, community-building activities that help students to cooperate, communicate, and problem-solve in academic and social tasks.
- Academic integration strategies that allow students to use their social and emotional skills within academic spaces.
- Educator SEL strategies that center their educator relationships, well-being, and social and emotional competencies.
- Educator supports that support high-quality implementation, including data dashboards, implementation supports, and on-demand professional learning modules.
These elements match what schools, districts, and not-for-profit organizations need most—a high-quality program that builds healthy relationships, is well-liked by teachers, easy to implement, fun and engaging for students, and comes with all the tools and training at no cost.
Over the past 10 years, Harmony Academy has expanded to more than 58,000 schools and out-of-school settings, serving more than 19 million students worldwide. Harmony is now partnering with all 10 of the nation’s largest school districts, received a $4 million U.S. Department of Education Grant to integrate SEL and academic curricula in New York City and other districts, and is being introduced in national early childhood and youth-serving programs such as Head Start, 4H Clubs, Alliance for a Healthier Generation, Communities in Schools, Future Ready Schools, and the U.S. Soccer Foundation. We also have partnerships with school administrator groups across the country through AASA, The School Superintendents Association, the National Association of Elementary School Principals, and the National Association of Secondary School Principals.
In my work, I have seen what makes SEL programs effective and how they can be implemented to support student success.
Key strategies for districtwide programs include:
- Providing on-demand and asynchronous professional learning for educators that are crucial to raising adult skills, competencies, and capacities that are crucial in supporting youth and interacting with others.
- Introducing a comprehensive approach to wellness that includes explicit instruction in social and emotional learning, skills that can be integrated throughout the school day, and brings in family and community voice.
- Using a common language to talk about competencies in ways students, teachers, parents, and families can understand.
- Connecting to students’ lived experiences to be relevant and engaging for students in ways that they can use the skills in other domains of their lives.
- Introducing a tiered structure and system of supports that addresses more than wellness and connects social and emotional skills to academics, jobs, and the workforce.
- Using data, performance indicators, and student observations to support implementation.
- Supporting educator well-being in ways that encourage relationships and reflection, while also building leadership capacity and providing helpful working conditions.
Every one of these elements is crucial. In particular, educator well-being has important implications for educators themselves, student learning, and the education system, including educator recruitment and retention. A 2020 review of research by David Osher and colleagues at the American Institute for Research found that the education system cannot effectively support student learning and thriving without attuning to adult well-being.
In our work with hundreds of districts nationwide, we have found that how programs are rolled out and implemented across the district also makes a major difference in program success. Key lessons include:
- Making available job-embedded professional learning that digs deeply into everyday practices, includes teacher observations and feedback, and supports active learning, student choice, and voice.
- Using cohort models to build initial capacity around early adopters who can advise and support later implementors.
- Providing school leadership support is a critical ingredient in all activities that affect student and educator success. Research says that school leadership is second only to classroom instruction in school-related impacts on student learning.
- Building leadership capacity. In recent research, teacher perception of leadership actions—such as listening to and valuing teachers, facilitating professional development, and providing feedback to teachers about change—strongly influences how educators perceive their well-being.
- Ensuring fidelity of implementation and adequate time to implement by providing necessary resources, coaching, feedback, and support.
School board members, superintendents, and school and district leaders can play a crucial role in the process of selecting programs and implementation. Key questions to consider when investigating a districtwide wellness program include:
- What particular student needs, types of skills and challenges do you want to solve?
- How well does the program address those issues?
- Will the program fit in with the current structure of efforts to engage with students?
- Does the program focus on adults as well as students?
- What is the cost of the program, including hidden costs, if any, for training and ongoing professional development?
- Is the training offered on a regular, job-embedded basis?
- What data is used to support implementation?
- Are there districts like mine that used the program that I can check with?
Effective programs have no shortage of data about their own performance. Look for programs with research studies that evaluate implementation and outcomes and use the data to support local implementation of the programs.
We know so much more about learning today than we did 20 years ago, and we can now deliver effective curricula and instruction that advance learning and development principles beginning at an early age. Districts that want to accelerate student learning can use well-tested programs that provide tools and training for student wellness, provide teacher support for their wellness, and create comprehensive solutions for student social, emotional, and academic development.
Nick Yoder, Ph.D. (nyoder@nu.edu), is the associate vice president for the Center on Whole Human Education and Research at National University.