Success for All's "Getting Along Together" Program Commended by CASEL for Effective Social and Emotional Learning in Elementary Classrooms

BALTIMORE, Feb. 6, 2018 /PRNewswire/ -- Success for All's "Getting Along Together" program has been reviewed and approved as a SELect program by CASEL (Collaborative for Academic, Social, and Emotional Learning), the world's leading organization advancing one of the most important fields in education in decades: the practice of promoting integrated academic, social, and emotional learning for all children in preschool through high school. The program also received CASEL's highest ratings for practices that promote SEL in classroom, school-wide, and family contexts.

"We are extremely pleased that Getting Along Together was selected as a SELect program by CASEL. This validates our work at Success for All, and furthers the evidence-based movement in education. There is a lot of choice out there for educators, and it is important to use what works, and not experiment with kids," said Dr. Robert Slavin, Chairman, Success for All Foundation.

CASEL adopted rigorous criteria derived from a research-based framework. SELect programs are well-designed, classroom-based programs that target all five areas of social and emotional competence, including:

• Self-awareness
• Self-management
• Social awareness
• Relationship skills
• Responsible decision-making skills

The program also provides opportunities for practice. It offers multi-year programming including initial training and ongoing support to ensure high-quality implementation.

Getting Along Together: Getting Along Together is a yearlong social, emotional, and cognitive learning program. It was developed in partnership with Harvard University, University of Michigan, and Success for All Foundation. Weekly lessons taught throughout the school year provide students with strategies to focus their thinking, manage their behavior, build positive social relationships, and understand and cope with their feelings. The program includes schoolwide training and support for teachers, paraprofessionals, and parents to ensure that skills become part of schoolwide culture and are used throughout the day. For information go to:

http://www.successforall.org/our-approach/targeted-programs/getting-along-together/

https://casel.org/getting-along/

https://casel.org/guide/ratings/elementary/

Boones Mill Elementary, in Virginia, saw a 92% decrease in the number of discipline referrals as a result of the entire staff and student population implementing Getting Along Together in 2016.

"Getting Along Together gave our school a common language and common expectations for how students would treat each other. Every single student and staff member is familiar with the concepts and steps to regulate emotions and resolve conflicts.  By putting the program in the hands of the classroom teacher and conducting class councils, students understand that their behaviors directly impact those around them. This program has helped to build a sense of community within the school," said Amy Shaver, Principal, Boones Mill Elementary in Boones Mill, Va.   

"Our school needed to address particular issues regarding student behavior and conduct. In analyzing our student discipline data, it was very clear that the majority of issues in the school revolved around student conflict and the inability of students to be able to resolve these issues. Getting Along Together has given our students and staff a tool box to self-recognize their feelings, stop and think before they act, brainstorm solutions and use a Peace Path to solve interpersonal conflicts. Getting Along Together gave us a targeted response to address the social-emotional issues so that we could focus on instruction," she said.

"I can feel and I can see a change in the way they come to the class motivated. They're eager to lean more," said Lina Brake, Teacher at Washington Elementary, in Kansas.

About SEL
For a growing number of schools and districts, SEL has become a coordinating framework for how educators, families, and communities partner to promote students' social, emotional, and academic learning.

SEL is embedded in their strategic plans, staffing, professional learning, and budgets. It guides their curriculum choices and classroom instruction — both direct practice in SEL as well as integrated instruction with reading, math, history, and other core subjects.

It drives many of their schoolwide practices and policies. It informs how adults and students relate with each other at all levels of the system, creating a welcoming, participatory, and caring climate for learning.

It shapes their partnerships with families and community members, highlighting engagement, trust, and collaboration.

About Success for All
Success for All seeks to break the cycle of failure with thoroughly researched, proven-to-work literacy programs. Partnering with pre-kindergarten to 8th grade schools across the country, Success for All has helped millions of children to read, achieve and gain a new vision for their futures.

For 30 years Success for All has worked directly with educators in thousands of schools in disadvantaged communities to help their students achieve reading levels at or above the norm. In hundreds of these institutions, SFA students attain the highest reading levels statewide.

For information, go to successforall.org.

Contact 
Kenly Novotny
Coaching Resources Manager 
SUCCESS FOR ALL
800-548-4998 x2440

SOURCE Success for All

Related Links

http://www.successforall.org