The Education Collaboratory Celebrates 1-Year Anniversary

Spotlight on: Project Flourish

Project Flourish is a collaboration between Yale University, Trajectory of Hope, and The Urban Assembly to ensure that SEL and assessments are harnessed for good - to promote equity and help identify and eliminate racism and other exclusionary practices in research, in programming, and policy.

We are currently preparing a series of public stories illustrating the impact of SEL assessment tools in schools. Here’s a first look:

“So, what we are seeing here are Black students in the eighth grade tend to exclusively hang out with one another?” I asked the team for clarification. They all agreed was something they too had witnessed. I thanked them for their contributions to the conversation and suggested that they may be the perfect time to introduce the disaggregated data. After about fifteen minutes of reviewing the data, I asked them to share anything that stood out to them. A few members of the team said that they were impressed with the fact that LGBTQ-identified students reported feeling safe on campus. Another member of the team also seemed pleased that sixth-grade students reported feeling safe on campus and connected to their teachers – a feat they said was a direct result of their onboarding process for students entering middle school.

“What about your Black students?” I countered. “Your eighth-grade Black students show significantly low responses for safety and inclusion. What are your thoughts on these scores?”

Silence ensued. Many members looked down at the data in front of them as if they could not escape the information on the pages. One social worker, a Black woman, and the only other Black person present at the meeting outside of myself looked at me nodding her
head, as if to say finally.” Read More

- Trajectory of Hope’s SEL Specialist, McKenzie McClain

“I just want everyone to feel supported,” the Principal told me as we stood in the middle of the library at Literacy Night, a mixer for multilingual learners and their families. Every September, the Speech and English as a New Language team would create an event for parents to learn how the school intentionally supports their students and connect with leadership and faculty in a more intimate setting. Amidst the music, food, and festive decorations, parents, students, younger siblings, and even alumni, moved through different literacy stations, collecting stamps as they completed activities in both English and Spanish. As she stamped literacy night “passports”, we talked about some of the initiatives that came out of a recent meeting about school culture and climate. Kindness challenges. Having juniors and seniors speak to middle school students. Professional Development for the teachers. And more SEL.” Read More

- Urban Assembly’s SEL Specialist, Lynn Jeudy

We intend to share these updates quarterly to your inbox. We consider feedback a gift, and we welcome your thoughts and reflections on how we can continue to learn together.

In community,

Chris

Dr. Christina Cipriano, Director of the Education Collaboratory at Yale

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