Closing the U.S. academic achievement gap is as complex as it is comprehensive due to the disproportion of instructional opportunities available to underserved student populations. Underserved student populations are defined as minority and/or students of color from low-socioeconomic families and communities, English language learners and recent immigrants (Wolniak, Flores, & Kemple, 2016). Raising the academic achievement of culturally, racially and ethnically diverse students from high poverty and/or high-risk communities will require more than national and/or state policies and mandates. It necessitates a transformative view of the teacher as a change agent with the ability to alter the culture, climate and level of student achievement in a classroom. This capacity-based method extends beyond what is readily identifiable by acknowledging the variances in approaches to teaching all students through research-based best practices to capitalize on differences. The approach presented allows for the focus on student variation in an inclusive setting to enhance academic achievement.
This chapter will explore a prospective alignment of out-of-school time (OST) and in-school SEL programming to afford students of color the opportunity to develop holistically within in-school and out-of-school settings where they may be disproportionally challenged by conditions of poverty, racial/ethnic stereotyping, history of failure, educator turnover, and a culture where there has been significant pessimism about their ability to be successful in an educational environment of rigorous standards and continuous standardized assessments. A research-based dual capacity building framework will be introduced that will allow for culturally-responsive SEL efforts to be coordinated and linked to in-school academics and in OST programming. The framework will allow for culturally responsive social emotional learning development to be learned, supported, and valued in dual contexts.
The interplay between social/emotional health and student academic success necessitates collaborative partnerships focused on sustainable educational initiatives to meet the needs of the whole child. The most effective approach allows for wide-ranging implementation of Social Emotional Learning (SEL) programs and practices through federal, state and local alliances directed at skill development for school-aged youth. Upon the review of previous and current federal and state efforts, a research-based model consisting of a three-tiered system of wide-ranging implementation of SEL programs and practices is introduced.
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