Why a Districtwide Approach to SEL is our Best Hope for Managing COVID-19 Mandates for Home-based Learning: A Case Study of RULER

Presented by Marc Brackett, Ph.D., Founding Director, Yale Center for Emotional Intelligence, and Professor, Child Study Center, Yale University; Melissa Moore, Ed.D., Superintendent, El Segundo School District (CA); and Alice Lee, Ed.D., Principal, Richmond Street School, El Segundo School District (CA)
Hosted by Barbara Pape, Policy and Communications Director, Learner Variability Project, Digital Promise

Sponsored by Digital Promise

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 Understanding emotions is an even more critical aspect of teaching and learning when schools are shuttered, sometimes statewide, due to crises like COVID-19. How do we manage anxiety and build relationships while we are forced to socially distance ourselves from our neighbors, friends, teachers, students, and even our families? How do we ensure that social and emotional learning is carried on as students and teachers meet over Zoom, or don’t get to see nor hear from each other at all?
In this edWebinar, Yale professor and emotional intelligence researcher Marc Brackett discusses insights from his new book Permission to Feel and his nearly three-decade-long pursuit of implementing RULER, his Center’s whole-school approach to SEL into thousands of our nation’s schools. RULER has been shown in research to create more positive and safe learning environments, stronger relationships, and enhanced academic success and well-being. Marc also will highlight innovative strategies to help us all become “emotion scientists” and inspire us to bring out the best in ourselves, each other, and our students – especially in these trying times.

Marc is joined by Melissa Moore, superintendent, and Alice Lee, principal of Richmond Street School, both from the El Segundo (CA) School District. They share how they’ve incorporated RULER into their district and provide an on-the-ground report to demonstrate how to introduce and nurture SEL and sustain it districtwide. Together they also discuss how having a districtwide SEL program in place has significantly helped teachers, students, and their families/caregivers pivot to home-based learning.

This recorded edWebinar will:

• Ground you in an understanding of what the research says about the mental health and well-being of our nation’s educators and students
• Show how SEL can improve the academic life and well-being of students and their teachers
• Demonstrate what it takes to start and integrate a systemic approach to SEL like RULER, including what pitfalls to look out for, and how to measure success
• Discuss how SEL can be continued in a distant-learning environment

This recorded edWebinar will be of benefit to teachers, librarians, and school and district leaders of all grade levels.

About the Presenter

Marc Brackett, Ph.D., is the founding director of the Yale Center for Emotional Intelligence and professor in the Child Study Center at Yale University. His research focuses on the role of emotions and emotional intelligence in learning, decision making, creativity, relationships, health, and both academic and workplace performance. Marc is the lead developer of RULER, a preK to high school evidence-based, whole-school approach to social and emotional learning that has been adopted by over 2,000 schools across the United States and in other countries. He has published 125 scholarly articles, received numerous awards, and is on the board of directors for the Collaborative for Academic, Social, and Emotional Learning (CASEL). Marc consults regularly with corporations like Facebook, Microsoft, and Google on integrating emotional intelligence principles into employee training and product design and is co-founder of Oji Life Lab, a digital emotional intelligence learning system for businesses. His research has been featured in popular media outlets such as the New York Times, Good Morning America, and The Today Show. Marc is the author of Permission to Feel: Unlocking the Power of Emotions to Help our Kids, Ourselves, and our Society Thrive.

Dr. Melissa Moore is Superintendent for El Segundo Unified School District in California, where she joined in July 2014. She previously served as the assistant superintendent of human resources for the Yucaipa-Calimesa Unified School District. She has a background in employee-employer relations, community and educational foundations and student instruction, including the International Baccalaureate (IB) World School program that was implemented at El Segundo Middle School in 2014. Dr. Moore was one of 15 superintendents selected to attend a summit in Texas to provide feedback on educational innovation and was awarded a Leading Educator Scholarship to Arizona State University’s Global Silicon Valley Summit. She has been recognized for her leadership and community involvement through the 8th Congressional District Woman of Distinction Award, City of Yucaipa City Council Certificate of Commendation, USC Dean’s Superintendents Advisory Group Merit Scholarship Award, and the California Human Resources Administrator of the Year by the Association of California School Administrators. She earned her doctorate degree in educational leadership from the University of Southern California, a master’s degree in education with an emphasis in reading and language arts from California State University, Los Angeles, and a bachelor’s degree in liberal studies from the University of Redlands.

Dr. Alice Lee is the lead learner and proud principal at Richmond Street School in El Segundo, California. She is an avid reader of children’s books and passionate about literacy, learning, education, and instructional pedagogy. She has served as principal, assistant principal, teacher, instructional coach, professional developer, and school site coordinator across the Los Angeles region. She has also taught abroad in Korea and Thailand as an English teacher. She is a three-time UCLA graduate and completed her doctorate in educational leadership with her dissertation focused on exploring lesson study as an improvement strategy for high-stakes accountability schools, students, and teachers.

About the Host

Barbara Pape is the policy and communications director for the Learner Variability Project at Digital Promise. She has 20 years’ experience in strategic communications, writing, and policy analysis, primarily in education. Previously, she served as the executive producer of the award-winning Teaching & Learning conference, sponsored by the National Board for Professional Teaching Standards, where she developed content and oversaw outreach and communications. As a writer, she has written for numerous publications, including Harvard University, the National Education Goals Panel (U.S. Department of Education) and Parents magazine. Barbara also served as editor and publisher of the first electronically delivered education newsletter, the Daily Report Card. She served on the Advisory Board of the Kennedy Center’s Intersection of Arts Education and Special Education Committee, serves as a judge for the Miliken-Penn Graduate School of Education Business Plan competition, and is on the Boards at the Education Writers Association and Potentia. She earned an Ed.M. at Harvard University’s Graduate School of Education and launched her career as a middle school language arts teacher.

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