Education is no longer about just traditional learning. It’s also about social and emotional learning - the skills that make you able to function well in society.
Social and emotional learning (SEL) got a foothold in the 1990’s and it has only grown since then.
Carroll County Schools is no exception.
SEL is being measured with a new stick this year - the Devereux Student Strengths Assessment (DESSA). Within the Aperture Education program, high school students perform self-assessments based on a series of questions and they are also evaluated by their teachers using the DESSA. Students in K-8 are solely evaluated by their teachers.
The district is searching for eight SEL competencies in its students: Self awareness, self management, social awareness, relationship skills, goal-directed behavior, personal responsibility, decision making and optimistic thinking.
CCHS Guidance Counselor Laura Beth Neff has spearheaded this project, which actually began as her professional growth plan. The first round of evaluations was completed in September with future evaluations planned for January and April.
“I feel like, as an educator, it’s our job to produce the whole child,” Neff said. Data collected through this program will drive SEL instruction throughout the district.
“We are very proud of their work in this area and their passion for helping others,” said Carroll County Schools Superintendent Casey Jaynes. He added that mental health awareness is an important topic for the schools and the community as a whole.
“The enrichment we provide is based on strengths,” Neff added. “We’re going to capitalize on student strengths and how we can further build upon them.”
She explained that providing academic intervention and enrichment is imperative to a child’s success, but providing the same tactics for SEL is equally important. “We have as much responsibility to meet the kids’ strengths as we do to provide intervention,” she said. “My hope, my dream, for this is that every child in our district is able to articulate a strength of theirs and something they are working on. I want students to be able to tell anyone who asks that ‘I’m really good at this and I’m currently working on this.’”
In addition, this program allows counseling staff to track student development throughout their career in Carroll County Schools, rather than just at one school.
All schools have been working on formulating small groups. These small groups will meet with counselors to identify their strengths and areas of opportunity and formulate a plan to further develop their SEL skill sets.
“SEL competencies are all the skill sets you want your child to possess in order to be a contributing member of society,” she said.
Jaynes added that, “This is a prime example of our vision to be a top 10 district in the Commonwealth for all areas of our school system. We are trying to make this topic a central focus for all of our community members, students, faculty and staff and our families.”