Beyond the Buzzwords: SEL, School Climate, and Student Agency
Friday, Feb. 14 | 3:45 PM | Room 7B
2019 AASA National Conference on Education
February 13th – 15th | San Diego, CA
Matt Utterback, M.A. – Superintendent, North Clackamas SD
Dr. Shelly Reggiani – Executive Director, Equity & Instructional Services, North Clackamas SD
Dr. Michael Lewis – Director of Student Services and Special Education, Kenmore-Town of Tonawanda USD
Dr. Jen de Forest – Partnerships, YouthTruth
About the session:
Research confirms that Social and Emotional Learning and school culture are inextricably linked, and that together they can be a powerful catalyst for students’ academic achievement and for promoting equity in our schools. And yet, for all the buzz about SEL and school climate, it remains challenging work to gather reliable data and to strategically apply it to yield school improvement. In this session you will hear from the leaders of an Oregon school district and a New York school district who have tackled these challenges. In particular, we will answer the questions – how can we reliably measure important non-cognitive factors and school climate? How can we turn that data into action to promote student learning and well-being? And, finally – why does it make good strategic sense to go beyond surveying to involve students in this work?
About the speakers
Matt Utterback
Matthew R. Utterback, Superintendent of the North Clackamas School District, was recognized as the 2017 National School Superintendent of the Year. He has over 29 distinguished years in public education all in the North Clackamas School District, the past seven years as superintendent. Superintendent Utterback has served the students of North Clackamas Schools since he began his teaching career in 1989. As a middle school principal from 1998-2004 and working collaboratively with staff, McLoughlin Middle School recorded unprecedented student achievement gains earning the recognition as one of a handful of high achieving middle schools in the region. Utterback served as the district’s Director of Secondary Programs and Assistant Superintendent from 2004-2008 before proudly returning to the school level to serve as the principal of Clackamas High School from 2008-2012. Under his leadership, Clackamas High School was recognized as one of the top high schools in Oregon..
Shelly Reggiani, Ed.D.
Shelly Reggiani, Ed.D., has served as Executive Director of Equity and Instruction since 2010, leading North Clackamas School District’s equity-focused programs. She has led work spanning educational professional development, instructional design, community engagement and outreach, and English Learners and Emergent Bilingual student advocacy and programming throughout her career. She was awarded her Ed.D. in Education from George Fox University.
Dr. Michael Lewis
Michael F. Lewis, Ph.D., is the director of student services and special education at Kenmore-Town of Tonawanda Union Free School District, Buffalo, New York.
Dr. Jen de Forest
Dr. Jennifer de Forest, Ed.D., manager of partnerships at YouthTruth, has a lifelong passion for the art and science of school improvement. Prior to joining YouthTruth, Jen spent nearly a decade in the classroom. She has led schools in California and New York City, and from the perch of a state association, she worked with countless educators on school-based research projects and forged a consortium of more than 50 schools that worked together to assess students’ SEL. Jen earned a masters as a fellow at Teachers College, Columbia and a doctorate from Harvard’s Graduate School of Education. At Harvard, she served as co-chair of the editorial board of the Harvard Educational Review. As a professor at the University of Virginia, Jen published widely about the role of philanthropy in education reform and taught courses on research design. Jen relishes her work at YouthTruth, where she has the opportunity to help school leaders access the insights of their communities — and turn those insights into actionable data.