Background: Implementation of evidence-based practices (EBPs) in schools is fraught with challenges. Even when EBPs are initiated, deterioration of implementation efforts often hinders their long-term success. School leadership behaviors can influence teachers' EBP implementation. Our study tested an implementation strategy called Helping…

Background: The Evidence-Based Practice Attitudes Scale (EBPAS) is widely used in implementation research, but it has not been adapted and validated for use among general education teachers, who are most likely to deliver evidence-based prevention programs in schools, the most common setting where youth access social, emotional, and behavioral…

Background: Strategic implementation leadership is a critical determinant of successful implementation, hypothesized to create a more supportive implementation climate conducive to the adoption and use of evidence-based practices. Implementation leadership behaviors may vary significantly across contexts, necessitating studies that examine the…

The "Promoting Alternative THinking Strategies (PATHS®)" program is a curriculum that aims to promote emotional and social competencies and to reduce aggression and behavior problems in elementary school children. "PATHS"® is delivered through short lessons given two to three times a week over the school year. The program is…

Most districts help teachers use data to improve student learning, often supporting this effort with federal funds. But many teachers feel unprepared to use student data to inform their instruction -- referred to as data-driven instruction (DDI) -- and there is little evidence of whether it improves student achievement. This report assesses an…

A growing number of schools are adopting social-emotional learning (SEL) programs to address students' social, emotional, and academic needs. The proliferation of school-based SEL programs has spurred more research to investigate the ways in which educators enact SEL in schools. However, very few studies have considered the role school leaders…

The "Promoting Alternative THinking Strategies (PATHS®)" program is a curriculum that aims to promote emotional and social competencies and to reduce aggression and behavior problems in elementary school children. "PATHS"® is delivered through short lessons given two to three times a week over the school year. The program is…

On June 11, 2020, the Office of Superintendent of Public Instruction (OSPI) released the "Reopening Washington Schools 2020 District Planning Guide" (ED606044) as a resource for local education agencies in planning for a safe and healthy start to the 2020-21 school year. The guidance was developed in collaboration with the state…

The Wallace Foundation's Partnerships for Social and Emotional Learning Initiative is a six-year initiative that The Wallace Foundation launched in 2017 to explore whether and how children benefit when schools and their out-of-school-time programs partner to improve social and emotional learning (SEL), as well as what it takes to do this work.…

A core function of district leadership is providing instructional vision and support for school leaders and teachers. In this article, a Research-Practice Partnership focused on the improvement of elementary mathematics teaching and learning provides the context to study leadership development. We examine the process of one design team within the…

The purpose this study was to examine the implementation of The Leader in Me, a school-wide positive behavior intervention system (SW-PBIS), and analyze its impact on 5th grade students based on student achievement and office discipline referrals in a rural elementary school in North Central Washington state. The school was in the first year of…

Low staff support for schoolwide positive behavior interventions and supports (SWPBIS) is a barrier to implementation and sustainability. In this qualitative study, we identify staff opposed to SWPBIS among staff in 36 schools across 9 districts in western Washington. Nonsupportive staff (n = 44) are compared to supportive staff (n = 1,166) on…

Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to describe how elementary school principals adjust their leadership practice in response to Washington's new teacher evaluation policy. Design/methodology/approach: The authors conducted a modified content analysis of open-ended survey responses collected from elementary school principals in Washington State.…

The Wallace Foundation's Partnerships for Social and Emotional Learning Initiative (PSELI) is a six-year initiative that The Wallace Foundation launched in 2017 to explore whether and how children benefit when schools and their out-of-school-time programs partner to improve social and emotional learning (SEL), as well as what it takes to do this…

This case was written to help prepare central office leaders who are expected to design systems and lead toward instructional improvement in the context of both educational accountability and implementation of standards with increased rigor. The intent of this case study is to encourage educators to examine the complex and multiple challenges of…