County-Level Efforts to Facilitate Systemic and Transformative Social and Emotional Learning in California

Social and emotional learning (SEL) has been shown to have positive impacts on the academic success and behavioral health of students. The success of SEL relies on effective implementation. CalHOPE Student Support is an initiative aimed at advancing the equity- oriented, systemic implementation of SEL statewide. This brief report describes the activities of SEL leaders (n=98) from County Offices of Education (COEs) tasked with providing implementation support for SEL across California. This analysis focuses on 30 items related to the structures and routines that undergird SEL implementation. COEs reported success in creating many of the internal structures and routines needed to support SEL implementation (e.g., establishing leadership teams, creating a shared vision of SEL). However, COEs reported relatively less success on items related to equity and to feedback loops for data-based decision- making and continuous improvement. Surveying COE leaders reveals areas of strength in California’s regional system for SEL implementation support, and also where to focus improvement efforts. This study holds lessons for building statewide infrastructure to support the delivery of SEL, the use of county offices in the provision of implementation support, and the delivery of other youth services at scale.