Dealing with the Urgent Educational Challenge

Dealing with the Urgent Educational Challenge: Promoting Social-Emotional Well-Being among Teachers, Students, and Families provides readers with key research-based and pragmatically tested approaches and processes to deal with the unprecedented mental health issues prevalent in today’s schools, families, and communities. Practicing educators and researchers representing various backgrounds, leadership roles, and learning contexts provide insights about appropriate and effective personal, professional, and organizational programs, projects, and activities that may be implemented to address the social-emotional learning needs of people within school communities.

Walter S. Polka is professor of leadership and coordinator of the PhD program at Niagara University with over fifty-five years in education, including thirteen years as superintendent of schools. John E. McKenna is an award-winning educator and adjunct professor with over thirty-five years of public education experience as a teacher, building principal, and district-level administrator. Monica J. VanHusen has been an educator for the past eighteen years and currently is the educational technology coordinator for Stafford County Virginia Public Schools.

Table of Contents Foreword - Dr. Jennifer Young Wallace Preface - Walter S. Polka, John McKenna, and Monica Jo VanHusen Acknowledgments Introduction - Walter S. Polka, John McKenna, and Monica Jo VanHusen Chapter 1: Promoting Personal and Professional Well-being in Schools for Happier Teachers, Students, and Parents: Insights from Positive Psychologists - Roselle C. Aranha and Walter S. Polka Chapter 2: Best Practices to Promote and Support Social Emotional Learning and Wellness in PreK-12 Schools - John McKenna and Lori Jonas Chapter 3: One School District's Upstream Approach to Creating Successful Initiatives: The Journey of a Social Emotional Learning (SEL) Program - Paul M. Fanuele Chapter 4: The Rise in Student Behavior Referrals and the Impact on the Social Emotional Health of Teachers Post-Pandemic in Three Western New York High Schools - Salvatore Curella, Alan Ingraham, and Joshua Janese Chapter 5: A Practicing Middle School Principal's Approaches in Creating and Delivering a Culture for Social Emotional Learning - Pete Dobmeier Chapter 6: Intentionally Shattering Silos: Fostering Collaboration and Belonging to Support Well-being in Schools - Monica Jo VanHusen, Daniel Reichard, and Julie Zook Chapter 7: Providing Community Care Services to Children During Crises and Beyond - Olasumbo O. AdelakunChapter 8: Improving Socio-Emotional Experiences for Special Education Students: A Persistent Balancing Conundrum between Fidelity to Regulations and Meeting Student Needs - Lisa Condino Chapter 9: Applications of Multi-Tiered Systems of Support to Promote Social, Behavioral, and Academic Success for Students with Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder - Jennifer Sikov, Carolina Ramirez, Sophia Frontale, Alix Printup, Melanie Rengel-Isea, Emily Sutton, and Gregory A. Fabiano Chapter 10: Social-Emotional Intelligence: A Guide for Parents and Teachers - Sharon Singh Chapter 11: From Overwhelmed to Resilient: The Role of Artificial Intelligence in Reducing Burnout - Caitlin Riegel and Monica Jo VanHusen Chapter 12: The Necessity to Develop, Implement, and Navigate Proven Social Emotional Learning Practices, NOW! - John E. McKenna, Walter S. Polka, and Monica Jo VanHusen Afterword - Michael Cornell About the Editors About the Authors