Our mission is to create and maintain positive climate and culture that is inclusive and safe for students, families, and staff.
While cultivating and empowering the whole child through tiered, evidence-based implementation of social emotional learning programming in order to empower successful, productive citizens and actualize the Jeffco Generations.
During the summer of 2016, the Jeffco School Board created a social emotional learning program that included 31 Social Emotional Learning Specialists (SELS) and a Social Emotional Learning Coordinator. Since this time the number has increased to 43 due to the positive impact social emotional learning has had on our population and the growing needs of our schools. Through the passing of 5A, starting in the 2019-20 school year every elementary school without a current SELS will receive an additional .5 SELS support.
The SELS are mental health professionals across the fields of school psychology, school social work, and school counseling with specific expertise in tiered social emotional learning interventions.
* For a list of schools supported by a Social Emotional Learning Specialist follow this link.
SELS support school-based implementation across positive school climate and culture, SEL direct instruction &/or coaching, and targeted supports utilizing data-based decision making to ensure increased outcomes of implementation as demonstrated by the graphic below.
What does evidence-based implementation of SEL look like in Jeffco?
- Start with culture and climate. Ensure that everyone is on board and ready to create a community of adult and student learners that is positive and has a growth mindset. We must create a host environment that is safe, positive, and predictable so that it is safe to teach and learn new skills.
- Explicit instruction of skills utilizing best practice instruction
- Practice skills throughout the day utilizing teaching practices that promote the use of these skills (e.g. cooperative learning and project-based learning).
- Integration of SEL across the academic curriculum.
- Data-based decision making - utilize data to drive the process from start to finish - universal screen and progress monitoring to reflect and refine.
- Students that need more support in this area will receive extra support and instruction utilizing evidence-based targeted and intensive interventions.
The Jeffco SELS program is modeled on the evidence-based implementation published by the Collaborative for Academic and Social Emotional Learning (CASEL), the American Institutes for Research (AIR), and the National Implementation Research Network (NIRN). More information and links to these organizations can be found on the resource pages.