Some of us are fortunate to have principals that love every idea we bring them. Others of us have principals that don’t always see the value in the counseling program. Many of us fall somewhere in between. No matter your situation, we will break down the ways for you to obtain principal buy-in for an SEL Program.
I was working in chaos when I first started working in a middle school. We had no real counseling program, and you could tell! The assistant principal and I were putting out fires all day. It was so bad; the running joke was, “how many people did you make cry today?” A day did not go by that a student was crying in my office.
Our assistant principal did not have people crying in her office; instead, students would start yelling. They had no control over their emotions. Students did not have the skills to resolve conflict on their own or manage their emotions.
Finding the Need
Maybe your story is similar to mine? Your students are struggling, and you are overwhelmed. Perhaps your program is more established, but you need some help taking it to the next level. The first step is showing the need.
Pull your data. Look at the data on absences, office referrals, and counseling requests. Collaborate with your school nurse to take it to the next level. Dig into their data and see how many students are coming to see her due to anxiety.
Survey your students. There are companies you can use to survey your students, you can find a free needs assessment online or create one yourself. Send the survey to your students. Use their answers to show you what they feel they are struggling with. Likewise, you can send a survey to staff. Get a few from the classroom perspective.
Develop a Data-Driven School Counseling Program
Take the time to look into becoming an ASCA RAMP school. Your state might also have an equivalent. The process is arduous, but so many things will come out of it.
Get help! Go to the presentations at conferences, scour the ASCA website, and find a consultant. Building a data-driven school counseling program from the ground up is a lot of work!
Don’t go it alone! As we said above, this is a lot of work. You are going to want some help. If you are the only counselor in your building, talk to the other buildings in your district and work together. Your data will be different but having someone to discuss the process is extremely valuable.
Ensure that the counselors in your department are willing to help. You are already busy, and while this will make great strides for your program, it is a tedious process in the meantime.
Form a focus committee. This is a small group of people willing to put in the work. They will help you comb over the data and do all of the background work. Look for a committee of around six people. People to consider would be your counseling department, a building administrator, and a teacher or two that have a passion for your counseling program. You can also look at your district’s behavior specialist or character education liaison. Anyone in a student services role.
Why look at ASCA RAMP?
Even if you don’t submit your application and the fee to become a Recognized ASCA Model Program, the process will greatly benefit your program. You can use your work and efforts to obtain principal buy-in for an SEL program.
ASCA lays out the framework for you to become a data-driven program. You will collect and look at your time-use data. Collecting this data can be a challenge, but the rewards you will reap can be boundless.
You know where your time goes, but do your administrators? How much time do you spend supervising students? Do you spend time arranging testing, subbing in classrooms, doing classroom lessons, meeting with students, or doing paperwork? This data is a valuable tool for you and your administrators.
ASCA will also help you define goals. You will look at your data to see what you can do to improve your program and improve student outcomes.
We know that the research shows us that SEL improves student outcomes. When you have defined your goals, and an SEL program is a way to reach those goals that will add value to your request. You are no longer asking for one more thing, but your request is researched and thought out.
Show the Benefits
In the counseling world, many of us are aware of the benefits of SEL. We hear it at conferences, we read it in articles, and we see it during professional development. Your principal might not see all of the information that you see.
Take the time to share the benefits of SEL with your principal to obtain principal buy-in. CASEL is an amazing resource that highlights the benefits of SEL. They even have videos you can share. Here are a few more resources to get you started.
Early Intervention Report reports that Universal social and emotional learning (SEL) interventions have good evidence of enhancing young people’s social and emotional skills and reducing symptoms of depression and anxiety in the short term.
CASEL reports that Students participating in SEL programs showed improved classroom behavior, an increased ability to manage stress and depression, and better attitudes about themselves, others, and school.
Columbia University published an article in the Journal of Cost Analysis that reports SEL as an 11:1 return on investment. For every dollar invested in an SEL program, the school will see an 11-dollar return on that investment.
Be Prepared with a Solution to Obtain Principal Buy-in
You have gathered the data, proven a need, and shown the benefits. Now is the time to close the deal. Most administrators and supervisors like it when you come to them with a solution to your problem.
Here is your chance to give them that solution. Show them the program that you want to use and why.
Know your needs and your resources. Find a program that fits your resources and meets your needs. Share this with your principal. We strongly recommend trying The Mind Trek Program for SEL. This program offers a curriculum for 6-12th grade. It even includes an amazing program for students with special education needs.
SEL Unfiltered
Do you want to hear more? Check out Episode #1, Obtaining Principal Buy-in, on our SEL Unfiltered podcast, wherever you stream your podcasts.
You might also be interested in the rest of our series on buy-in. Check out our other episodes: Teacher Buy-in, Student Buy-in, and Community Buy-in.
Game of the Week
Every week on SEL Unfiltered, we like to bring you a game or activity. You can use the game with your students, in the classroom, or in a small group. This week Kaitlin and I played a great round of Would you Rather. We debated the pros and cons of having mouse poop on your desk vs. a spilled bottle of glitter. We were split on the decision!
This is an excellent game to get students engaged and talking with one another. It is just silly enough that they can’t help but share their opinions! You can find hundreds of questions online, make them up or purchase a premade set of cards.
If you are unfamiliar with Would you Rather, it is a simple question game. Would you rather. . . or . . .? Pose the question to the class, then allow them time to discuss it with a neighbor, share in a small group, share with the entire class, or write a journal entry about it.
Would you rather is also a great way to practice disagreeing respectfully. Designate a side of the room for each answer. Then have students stand on the side that represents their answer. Once they have done that, you can give them a chance to debate their answer with the other group.
