Readiness to Implement School-Based Social-Emotional Learning Interventions: Using Research on Factors Related to Implementation to Maximize Quality

In the past several years, interest in social and emotional learning (SEL) has grown significantly. What was once a specialized domain of educational research and practice is now a significant movement with greater numbers of practitioners, policy-makers, and researchers recognizing the importance of social and emotional competence for students’ success in school and life (Durlak et al. 2015). SEL involves fostering social and emotional competencies in children through various strategies including direct instruction and studentcentered practices that create engaging learning environments nurturing students’ development of analytical, communication, and collaboration skills (CASEL 2013; Jones and Bouffard 2012). Social and emotional interventions have evolved out of different traditions including education, social work, child psychiatry, public health, psychology, and prevention (Catalano et al. 2004; Greenberg et al. 2001; Hahn et al. 2007; Wilson and Lipsey 2007). The evidence base for these programs has grown steadily since rigorous trials first established their positive impact on behavioral and academic outcomes; there are now several meta-analyses summarizing this body of research (Durlak et al. 2011; Sklad et al. 2012). As non-academic competencies are increasingly incorporated into learning standards at the preschool and elementary levels, and federal and state funding agencies require the use of evidence-based interventions (EBIs) as part of their accountability requirements, early childhood education programs and schools are implementing SEL interventions more frequently than in the past. Interest in SEL interventions has also increased internationally (for examples, see Kam and Yick 2013; Yoshikawa et al. 2015). Using evidence-based SEL interventions, however, is not enough to ensure positive outcomes. The success of an intervention on children’s social emotional competence depends on how it is implemented (e.g., Durlak and Dupre 2008; Durlak et al. 2011; Elias 2006; Greenberg et al. 2003, 2005). Recent research has increased understanding of this process by identifying a number of factors that enhance and undermine implementation success. The primary goal of this special issue is to feature research examining factors that were assessed prior to the delivery of an SEL intervention, and their relations to implementation. Specifically, by highlighting the state of schools and teachers before they begin implementing a SEL intervention, it may be possible to understand which schools are more or less likely to implement successfully, and see opportunities for increasing that likelihood. Given that the factors researched in this special issue were evident prior to intervention delivery, we believe it is appropriate to conceptualize them as aspects of readiness to implement EBIs. Included in this special issue introduction is a definition of readiness, an overview of how the findings from the papers included in this special issue have implications for understanding this concept, and examples of existing initiatives that might be used to improve readiness to implement EBIs. Influenced by the increase in type II translational research, many funding agencies that endorse the use of evidence-based interventions (EBIs), such as the U.S. Department of Education’s Institute for Educational Sciences, now require researchers to include measures in research proposals to monitor intervention implementation. Intervention developers are * Shannon B. Wanless swanless@pitt.edu