Schools & Centers

Committee for Children (CfC), the global leader in research-based social-emotional learning curricula, has offered learning resources in preschool classrooms across the country for 40 years. Second Step SEL Early Learning includes a battery of daily, weekly, and per-unit activities that help preschoolers learn social-emotional skills. During the course of the pilot, both the school/center sites and the Play & Learn program integrated Second Step Unit 2: Empathy.

School & Center Experience Rooted in Second Step

Isolating one unit of the Second Step curriculum, Unit 2: Empathy, was a cornerstone for the pilot, both in schools & centers as well as the Play & Learn program
Second Step’s effective, flexible and teacher-friendly curriculum was well-received by all participants.
School and Center teachers and administrators were trained on the use of the Committee for Children’s “Second Step” social-emotional learning curriculum in October 2018.

At the onset, KLRN recognized the importance of identifying a diverse cross-sector of preschool formal care settings (Head Start, parish-based, independently owned & operated, registered homes and licensed homes) and the benefit of engaging administrators, teachers, and families in these settings. KLRN asked CfC “Who is already utilizing the Second Step Early Learning Curriculum in our community?” The answer, a KLRN community partner, Family Service. At the same time, KLRN reviewed our records to identify schools/centers who previously participated in our coaching program tied to our professional development workshops. KLRN mapped the sites, inquired about their capacity and preschool enrollment, and gauged their interest in being part of the project. We set appointments with the sites in early October to tour the facilities, connect with administrators and teachers, and share additional information about the “ask” and the opportunity.

After conferencing with PBS and CfC, 8 pilot sites were selected. This included:

2 Head Start Centers
1 Traditional Preschool
1 Day Care Center
1 Registered Home
3 Licensed Homes

In-School Experience

KLRN created a Memorandum of Understanding to outline expectations and set forth responsibilities of the schools, centers, teachers, and administrators. KLRN’s Learning Neighborhood communicated a specific start date (January 2019) to these sites for Unit 2: Empathy, to align the timing of the pilot’s focus content.

Teachers and administrators attended a half-day workshop in October 2018 to learn about the Second Step Early Learning curriculum.
In Fall 2018, they integrated Unit 1: Skills for Learning to familiarize themselves with the curriculum before the launch in Winter 2019.
On January 12th, they returned to KLRN to learn about the framework of the Learning Neighborhood experience; staff introduced them to digital component and they enrolled in a "Teacher Only" class.
On January 24th, the program launched across sites! Classroom teachers incorporated “Second Step” every day from January 24th to March 1st.

Each week, teachers were asked (via simple google survey) to share their intended Unit 2 Second Step learning content for the following week, including the weekly learning objective(s) and the Brain Builder game they would use with their students. Teachers had an 83% response rate to these weekly surveys. Two registered homes reported abandoning active Second Step instruction due to extenuating personal circumstances, yet both asked to continue to receive content via text message.

Home Connections

KLRN staff visited each school/center in January to enroll families in the at-home texting program. This included presenting at Family Meetings and/or setting up a recruitment/information table at the site.
160 families opted-in to receive text or email messages
94% of family survey respondents reported that the program met their expectations to:
- help their children learn more about empathy and getting along with others,
- help them as parents to learn more about what their children were learning at school and how to support that learning, and
- help to prepare their children for kindergarten
Nadine, a preschool teacher, shared, "Families began to ask more questions surrounding their children's SEL and ways parents could support the teachers in their efforts."

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