Student Support System
Templates & Tools
Guiding Principles for Creating Safe, Inclusive, Supportive, and Fair School Climates
Summary
All students deserve learning environments that are safe, inclusive, supportive, and fair. Schools can both keep their school community—including students and school staff—safe while ensuring every student is included, supported, and treated fairly. Consistently applied, evidence-based approaches to discipline are important tools for creating learning environments that are foundational to the success of all students.
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This resource identifies five guiding principles and suggests actions schools and school districts can take to create inclusive, safe, supportive, and fair learning environments.
District and building leaders might choose to complete the assessment tool and formulate an action plan for addressing the five guiding principles.
ISD/MDE partners might choose to support their districts as they work to implement these principles for creating a safe, inclusive, supportive and fair school climate.
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Student Support System Practices
#1, #2, #3, #4, #5, #6, #7, #11, #13
U.S. Department of Education. (March, 2023). Guiding principles for creating safe, inclusive, supportive, and fair school climates.
CASEL’s Personal Social and Emotional Learning Reflection
Summary
The reflection of one’s own Social and Emotional Learning competencies is the first step in supporting leaders to strengthen practices that promote equity by offering a way for leaders to examine their identity, bias, and mindset. As a leader, you set the tone for your staff and leadership team. Your ability to model and promote social and emotional learning skills will have an important impact on those around you.
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District and building leaders might use the self-assessment to acquire and effectively apply the knowledge, attitudes, and skills necessary to understand and manage their own emotions, set and achieve personal goals, feel and show empathy for others, establish and maintain positive relationships, and make responsible decisions. Leaders could use CASEL’s 5 SEL Competency Areas article to ground the leaders in their understanding of each of the five competency areas prior to using the Personal Social and Emotional Reflection.
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Collaborative for Academic, Social, and Emotional Learning (CASEL), (2020) CASEL’s SEL framework: What are the core competency areas and where are they promoted? Retrieved from https://casel.org/casel-sel-framework-11-2020/.
Family Feedback Reflection Tool
Summary
We all want to feel heard when sharing our opinions or suggestions. Whether you’re seeking out feedback from families or receiving it, reflecting on and incorporating what you hear is essential to understanding your experiences as an educator, improving your family engagement practice, and acting in the spirit of good teaching. Use this tool to spark great conversations with your students’ families about how you can best support your students.
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District and building leaders along with teachers might choose to use this tool for guidance on how to seek feedback from families, suggestions for how to respond to feedback families share with you, reflection questions for incorporating feedback, and a sample feedback form to get started. Leaders and teachers might choose to view the 1:00 minute video, REAL Talk About Family Engagement found in supporting resources. Additionally, leaders and teachers might read the PDFs, Five Roles Families Play to Accelerate Student Learning and What Kinds of Family Engagement are Most Effective? to gain additional information on engaging families .
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Flamboyan Foundation. (2022, July 21). REAL talk about family engagement [Video]. YouTube. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3LBnzo8KM5g&t=5s
© 2023 Flamboyan Foundation. www.FlamboyanFoundation.org
Student Support System Implementation of Practices Tools
Summary
Your district may be well on its way to implementing the practices within the Student Support System or you may be just starting out on your journey.
These tools mirror the documents found on the Implementation of Practices page for Readiness and Planning and Practices and Progress Continuum. The tools are downloadable and can be used for assessing where your district is within the Student Support System.