2020 Ready by 21 National Meeting

Developing powerful environments where youth can thrive requires coordination, critical backbone services, supports, and continuous quality improvement. Join the American Institutes for Research (AIR) and The Opportunity Project (Tulsa, OK) for this interactive session focused on integrating learning systems through quality expanded learning opportunities. AIR and The Opp will highlight promising practices in coordinating strategy alignment with a focus on SEL. Participants will have the opportunity to learn how effective coordination of quality improvement activities can establish a collaborative culture, enhance cross-sector alignment, and develop collective responsibility. The session will provide practical facilitation tools, tips, and research-based strategies for engaging quality improvement teams.

This workshop will cover a variety of topics including learning about personal space, managing feelings, understanding sensory needs, creating community, and conflict resolution. The goal is to build a toolkit to create an environment that supports the social-emotional needs of youth and families.

Since 2017, school districts and out-of-school time intermediaries in six communities have been working to help children develop critical social and emotional skills, such as self-awareness, relationship skills, and responsible decision making.  This multi-year initiative, launched by The Wallace Foundation, takes an integrated, holistic approach to SEL throughout the school and afterschool day and includes building adult capacity, integrating SEL instruction into academics and out-of-school programming, incorporating explicit SEL curriculum and instruction, and learning from data to improve implementation. This session will preview early findings from the RAND Corporation, in advance of the first public report’s publication later in 2020.

In this session, a team of California Technical Assistance providers will share the story of how they used Compassionate Systems tools layered with a lens of equity and adult social-emotional learning to begin to “build something new.” Participants will discover new tools and learn about this emergent strategy around capacity building for a system that supports nearly 900,000 of the most vulnerable children, youth, and families in California’s Expanded Learning programs.

Weikart Center staff will use an activity from the new Social Emotional Learning (SEL) methods to illustrate its approach to supporting “adult SEL” in a new suite of SEL training workshops and resources. Self-awareness work in social, emotional, and cognitive development is a foundation skill if youth workers, program managers, and administrators are to effectively model, name, and support SEL competency development in youth. Psychological safety, human development knowledge, introspection, community building, personal goal setting: join the conversation about the role of these practices in professional development that translates to most effectively supporting learning and development in young people.

Childhood experiences of abuse, neglect, or witnessing traumatic events can impact the development of a child’s brain and lead to lifelong health and social issues. Fortunately, the presence of a stable, caring adult can help children increase resiliency and recover from exposure to traumatic events. Big Brothers Big Sisters is committed to being a part of the solution toward ending violence and victimization in children’s lives. BBBS has developed and implemented trauma-informed practices that focus on building resilience and strengthening social emotional learning skills through one-to-one mentoring. Attendees will have the opportunity to review trauma-informed care training materials and resources.

Boston & Providence will present on inspiring middle and high school youth to value, grow and document SEL skills in order to own their successes, earn them credit, find a job and get into college. Through three years of targeted work, Boston and Providence have focused on youth skill development efforts with the use of rubrics, portfolios, and badge systems. These systems take a youth-centric perspective on the development of SEL and college and career readiness skills through intentional program design, identified outcomes, regular check-ins with youth, and refined tools. Come learn how to bring this to your community.

What does it take for staff and managers to engage in SEL work with young people? How do you help staff build self-awareness, reflect on and improve their own SEL skills, adopt an SEL curriculum, and then apply everything to their work with youth? What ongoing supports are needed to keep SEL skills instilled yet fresh? What can be done at the system and organization level to support staff and managers in efforts around SEL? This session will give participants an opportunity to explore strategies to build staff readiness to create environments where youth have opportunities to practice SEL skills.