How Washington State Supports School Improvement

Supportive. Flexible. Locally sustained.

That’s how education leaders from Washington public schools identified for school improvement supports describe the improvement process now in place.

“We’ve been given the freedom to do what we know is best for our kids — steeped in science,” said Gloria Widener, Principal of Harrah Elementary School in the Mount Adams School District.

The Washington School Improvement Framework (WSIF) was originally released in March 2018. Since the process is a newer one — and differs significantly from the process that came before it — there can be questions about how it works and stigma attached to the schools identified for improvement supports.

Education leaders from those schools, though, make it clear that the WSIF is not about placing blame.

“All kids have assets, no matter what ethnicity, no matter what socioeconomics — no matter what they have,” said Teri Martin, Director of Federal and State Programs for the Toppenish School District.

Social Emotional Learning: What It Is and How It’s Taught in Washington’s Schools

Jean-Paul Theriot starts his physical education classes by asking his students to give him a thumbs up or a thumbs down.

It’s a quick way for him to check on the emotional state of his students as they enter. If he sees a lot of thumbs down, he makes a shift to “tread lightly” during class. He also offers the “break box” to his students.

“This is the first year I actually created two opposite corners in the gym where I’ve got a step-up box and I just call it my break box,” said Theriot, who teaches at Cascade Elementary School in the Renton School District. “If they come in and they are not in their thinking brain … you can just walk over to that box. … And they know I’m going to give them about 3 minutes to be left alone, and at that point I’m going walk over and check in with them, see how they’re doing.”

Theriot’s strategies are a part of Social Emotional Learning, or SEL, which can be likened to “soft skills” that all people learn so they can lead successful lives. Although SEL has been a part of public education for decades, it can be a confusing term that generates some misconceptions. Below, OSPI describes the facets of SEL with input from two Renton School District teachers.