Reading in Elementary Grades

of the school’s population, on school indicators like report cards, and with high principles for everyone.

The attributes of each SEL competency serve as a goal for students and adults to practice when they are working with others. It is in the context of interaction that one can become self-aware and aware of others, manage difficult situations, grow one’s own dispositions and skills, build relationships, and make good decisions.

Different SEL Perspectives and Approaches

In addition to the methods we’ve already described, there are other approaches to addressing the core competencies. The RULER method was created by the Yale Center for Emotional Intelligence (YCEI) and is an acronym for the five skills of emotional intelligence: (1) recognizing, (2) understanding, (3) labeling, (4) expressing, and (5) regulating (YCEI, 2022). Their approach begins with the teachers and other education professionals, then addresses the students, and finally the families and communities (YCEI, 2022). Another program, Character Strong (characterstrong.com), focuses on the whole child with lessons and activities that incorporate the five SEL competencies.

SEL is not new, and educators have addressed it in various ways. Since 1978, the Johns Hopkins University models of cooperative learning have included what they call social norms for learning and interacting with others. Programs such as Success for All/Éxito Para Todos (SFA/EPT), Cooperative Integrated Reading and Composition (CIRC), Bilingual Cooperative Integrated Reading and Composition (BCIRC), and Expediting Comprehension for English Language Learners/ Acelerando la Comprensión en Español: Lectura, Escritura, y Razonamiento Académico (ExC-ELL/ACE-LERA) have all taught dispositions and behaviors for learning, self-regulation, tenacity, creativity, voice and choice, collaboration, diversity, and critical thinking, along with language processing, reading comprehension, and information-acquisition skills.

SFA/EPT and CIRC preK to sixth-grade reading and writing programs were developed by Robert Slavin and colleagues. The U.S. Department of Education’s Institute for Education Sciences (USDOE IES) funded the research and development of these whole-school implementation programs that Slavin and colleagues designed to help all students develop reading and writing skills.

The BCIRC program for English learners in dual-language elementary schools and the ExC-ELL/ACE-LERA for grades 6–12, developed by Margarita Espino

Calderón and colleagues, were researched and developed specifically for English learners and for use in multilingual learner classrooms. Since the BCIRC program meets the Institute for Education Sciences criteria, the Carnegie Corporation of New York asked Calderón to conduct a five-year empirical study in several middle and high schools to train core content teachers on how to integrate language, reading comprehension, writing skills, and content in all classrooms.

In addition to the Johns Hopkins models, several prepackaged curricula and models have been created to focus on SEL. However, some of the ways in which educators have modeled and implemented SEL are now recognized as inequitable and, in some instances, harmful to children of color, as research by the National Equity Project (n.d.) indicates. Some models use a deficit mindset and focus on classroom discipline. They force students to self-regulate or self-manage when they may not yet have attained the skills to do these things, and some seek disciplinary measures when students are noncompliant (National Equity Project, n.d.).

CASEL (n.d.c) addresses these issues of inequity as follows:

SEL advances educational equity and excellence through authentic school-family-community partnerships to establish learning environments and experiences that feature trusting and collaborative relationships, rigorous and meaningful curriculum and instruction, and ongoing evaluation. SEL can help address various forms of inequity and empower young people and adults to co-create thriving schools and contribute to safe, healthy, and just communities.

Educators must view addressing the social-emotional needs of English learners through a lens of equity and academic achievement. Some recently arrived English learners or newcomers come with trauma, fears, and intense emotional issues due to their war-torn country, experiences with extortion, and so on. On their way to this country, they may have suffered violence and even loss of family members. Some come with cultural beliefs that do not align with the five competencies, such as finding value in showing assertiveness, differing ways of showing respect, and ways of solving conflict. Therefore, educators must explicitly teach those competencies to adults in a school and to newcomers to help them feel supported in their new learning environment.