Teachers recognize the importance of student social and emotional skill development; however, they often feel as though they do not have the time to support social and emotional learning (SEL). One approach teachers can use to support student social, emotional, and academic skills is through general teaching practices. To support teacher implementation of practices that support the whole child, coaches and administrators can observe teacher practice and provide feedback. The purpose of this toolkit is to support coaches and administrators as they observe practices that support the development of social and emotional skills in classrooms, and hold critical conversations that include SEL.

Although coaching practices—with a specific focus on classroom observations and feedback—are the primary focus of the toolkit, it is important to use the toolkit in combination with other system-level processes that support teachers in developing student social, emotional, and academic skills (e.g., school discipline, curriculum and instruction, and school climate efforts). It is possible to improve the system and improve support for these practices by noting barriers to effective implementation of SEL practices rooted in other levels of the system.