Our Impact
CRTWC has been working for 14 years to bring about a paradigm shift in the way that we prepare teachers. Most educators receive little training in social and emotional development nor are they taught how to integrate this focus into their practice across the entire school day. For instance, a national scan of the state standards for teacher preparation found only 6 states had high standards for addressing all areas of the CASEL competencies (Schonert-Reichl et al., 2017). Additionally, the report highlighted a lack of consistency in attention to the CASEL competencies in teacher preparation programming. Many programs had no established curricula or best practices for guiding teachers to implement SEL in their classrooms nor for developing their own skills to support their professional growth and well-being.
There is no better time to help teachers develop a social, emotional, and cultural lens than in teacher preparation – a time when teachers are developing their competencies, mindsets, and beliefs about teaching and their students. Intervening during the teacher preparation is an important window of opportunity, as it begins the development of this lens early on and sets teachers on an upward trajectory of continuing to develop these skills, mindsets, and beliefs throughout the professional development pipeline.
Below are some examples of CRTWC’s impact at the state, teacher preparation program, and district level.
State-Level Policy Impact
Oregon
- The CRTWC Anchor Competencies Framework was used to guide the creation of the state standards for Educator Preparation Programs (EPPs). These new SEL standards are now mandated as a part of the accreditation process for EPPs.
- A group of professors of education from multiple Universities in Oregon created the Oregon Collaborative of SEL in Educator Preparation (OCSEP) to infuse social, emotional, and cultural competencies into their courses and field work with pre-service teachers. OCSEP leaders have participated in a two-session Book Club focused on Dr. Markowitz’s recent book.
- OCSEP is working with CRTWC to create an Oregon Teacher Educator Institute (TEI), designed to bring together a cohort of up to 30 teacher educators from each of the 16 different teacher training programs across Oregon and engage in an interactive, collaborative, year-long institute.
Washington
- Supported by the legislatively mandated SEL Advisory Committee in Washington State, teacher educators from several universities and colleges participated in a two-session Book Club focused on Dr. Markowitz’ recent book (Markowitz & Bouffard, 2020).
- As a result of participation in the Book Club, 17 teacher educators representing 7 universities and colleges decided to attend the online year-long Teacher Educator Institute in 2022.
- Moving forward, Washington State is looking to develop state standards for educator SEL and seeks to integrate the Anchor Competencies Framework in that effort.
California
- CRTWC was selected for representation on both California Department of Education Task Forces regarding SEL in California.
- CRTWC was invited to participate in the California Collaborative States Initiative (a 2-year project that aimed to create a set of SEL guidelines for the state of California). A set of SEL guiding principles were developed in 2019, which include specific attention to the importance of preservice teacher education and ongoing professional development in developing teachers’ social, emotional, and cultural competencies.
Teacher Preparation Program Impact
Teacher Educator Institutes (TEI):
- CRTWC developed the yearlong Teacher Educator Institute (TEI) to engage university faculty and provide a framework and tools for teacher credential programs to embed SEL and culturally responsive/sustaining practices throughout their standard curriculum.
- Participation in the Teacher Educator Institute (TEI) involves learning about, engaging in, and practicing the implementation of the CRTWC’s Anchor Competencies Framework. The TEI provides a professional learning community (PLC) and space for teacher educators, mentor and cooperating teachers, and teachers to reflect on their own knowledge, skills, SEC, and culturally responsive and sustaining practices.
- Since August 2017, CRTWC has worked with 5 cohorts of the yearlong TEI – a total of 138 university faculty from 32 Institutions. Prompted by the COVID pandemic, the third cohort, started in June 2020, was offered entirely online (See figure below).
Hover over the map to see the institutions of our Teacher Educator Institute (TEI) participants.
District-Level Work
Sunnyvale School District (SSD):
- CRTWC has worked for over 7 years with university supervisors from SJSU and cooperating and mentor teachers from SSD. Over the course of these years, CRTWC has worked with 10 schools in the district and provided resources and training to nearly 25 teachers in each school for a total of 300 teachers.
- CRTWC provided promotional material to and offered a new foundational course in employing the CRTWC social, emotional, and cultural lens for all district educators in September and October of 2020.
Coaching Institutes:
- One of the key pressure points for systemic change within school districts is to provide professional development for the coaches who work directly with teachers in the classroom. We offer a yearlong Coaches Institute that provides:
- the foundational knowledge base in development of the coaches’ social, emotional, and cultural lens
- guidance and support for coaches to use an asset-based approach to develop teachers’ social, emotional, and cultural lens through both individual coaching and school-wide professional development sessions
- We have worked with several school districts including Morgan Hill, Oak Grove, Santa Clara Unified, and Palo Alto School Districts, as well as the Santa Clara County Office of Education
“The Book”: Teaching with a Social, Emotional, and Cultural Lens
CRTWC has held Book Clubs that involve 2 online sessions with Dr. Markowitz about her recent book, “Teaching with a Social, Emotional and Cultural Lens: A Framework for Educators and Teacher Educators” (Markowitz & Bouffard, Harvard Education Press, 2020). Book Clubs have been conducted with some of the following:
- Washington State teacher educators and state-level officials
- Oregon teacher educators and state-level officials
- CalState TEACH teacher educators
Practice: Examples of Integrating the Framework Throughout Teacher Preparation
- Cal State TEACH: CRTWC contracted with CalState TEACH to integrate the Anchor Competencies Framework across their online modules. Since the beginning of this partnership, the Framework has been fully integrated into all CalStateTEACH online curriculum modules and instructional lesson designs, supporting the development of pre-service teachers’ social, emotional, and cultural lenses as they enter the profession. Thirty teacher educators from CalStateTEACH have attended TEIs and have developed action plans for further integrating the Framework into their teaching practice.
- San Jose State University: Beginning in 2011 and supported by CRTWC, seven Multiple Subject Credential Program faculty and two student teaching supervisors committed to embedding the teaching of SEL skills in their courses. In 2014, the work shifted from a focus on individual courses to mapping the integration of SEL across the entire curriculum. This work continued to this day.
- University of Dayton: At the request of the College of Education Dean, the University of Dayton sent a team of 6 teacher education faculty members to the 2017-18 year-long TEI. Using the professional learning communities (PLC) model, faculty members took our Framework back to their department and dean and received “buy-in” to integrate social, emotional, and cultural competencies across their teacher education program. They gathered baseline data from faculty on what they were currently doing. This data then informed what they needed to do within courses to integrate a focus on social, emotional, and cultural competencies across the curriculum. Faculty also involved cooperating teachers in workshops to learn about the Framework. Data were collected to track progress of this integration.
- Minneapolis School District: Teacher Preparation Program: CRTWC recently responded to a request from the Office of Accountability, Research and Equity in Minneapolis Public Schools to provide a TEI for educators working within the new District Special Education Teacher Preparation Program. The TEI will provide the foundational understanding for incorporating the Framework within the new Special Education Teacher Preparation program.
Practice: Workshops and Interviews
In the past several years, Dr. Markowitz and other representatives from CRTWC have been invited for interviews, workshops, and screencasts. Below are just a sample of some of the work that has taken place.
- Pre-Conference Workshop titled “Social, Emotional, and Cultural Competencies and One District’s Preservice Licensure Program” at the CASEL Exchange
- Interview on Sheldon Eakins’ Leading Equity podcast
- Interview with Peter Brunn, Collaborative Classrooms
- Interview with CEEDAR (Collaboration for Effective Educator Development, Accountability, and Reform)
- 3, 2-hour screencast presentations for Michigan Association of Non-Public Schools Conference
- 4-hour Pre-Conference workshop for Learning Forward National Conference
- 2-day workshop with University of Dayton Teacher Education Program
Practice: Invited Think-Tank and Conference Presenter(s)
- American Association of Colleges of Teacher Education
- American Education Research Association (AERA)
- BRANCH Alliance for Educator Diversity
- California Council on Teacher Education
- California Induction Conference
- California School Board Association
- CASEL Learning Exchange Conference
- National Governor's Association Conference on SEL and School Climate
- Spencer-funded Think Tank on “Addressing Racial Equity Through Infusing Transformative Social and Emotional Learning into Educator Preparation.
State and National Recognition
State and National Recognition
- Ashoka-Packard Foundation’s Changemakers Award
- Aspen Institute Commission on Social, Emotional, and Academic Learning
- CASEL Collaborating States Initiative
- Learning Policy Institute
Partnerships and Associations
Partnerships and Associations
- California Council on Teacher Education
- California Commission on Teacher Credentialing (CTC)
- California Lutheran University
- California State University
- Chancellor’s Office
- Children Now
- Greater Good Science Center
- Kids in Common
- Sunnyvale School District
Past and Present Supporters
Past and Present Supporters
Morgan Family Foundation
S. D. Bechtel Jr. Foundation
Silicon Valley Community Foundation
1440 Foundation
Silver Giving
HopeLab Foundation
Applied Materials
David and Lucile Packard Foundation
S. D. Bechtel Jr. Foundation
Silicon Valley Community Foundation
1440 Foundation
Silver Giving
HopeLab Foundation
Applied Materials
David and Lucile Packard Foundation
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