Middle School Advisory Program - Why I voted NO
The middle school advisory program may create an avenue for indoctrination. The supplemental materials offered to board members do highlight positive features of such a program. However, I suspect this surface level approach may be misleading (see “transformative” mission statements of BASE Education and CASEL) and there are philosophical and ethical concerns of pursuing such programming for minor children in the public school system, especially if Tier II and Tier III are to be considered for the future.
Research is varied. There are claims that these three programs are evidence-based but the data comes from a sole source: the proprietor of SEL known as CASEL. The methodology of SEL is also contested in corresponding research (see White Paper by Pioneer Institute below). There is also research out there (possibly repressed information) that demonstrates these types of programs are actually causing mental health manifestations. Below are links to corresponding SEL research. Research on the 7 Mindsets program, specifically, is limited to 6-month studies and one instance where there is a two-year meta analysis of the program. Only mental health professionals can adequately determine the overall benefits to such programming, and I believe it is safe to assume this would be a case-by-case determination as each individual is different. Links to these articles are also below. This program grants access to minor children being psycho-analyzed by the company if granted Tier II and Tier III access.
The public school system is not a mental health facility. Mental health education in any form should be incorporated into the health department in all fairness if it is taught in public schools. If the information is absolutely necessary, then the proper avenue is for a state standard to be developed by the Department of Education, approved by government officials, and then the curriculum would be adjusted accordingly to include such teachings. It would be helpful to gain more feedback from the teaching staff to determine whether the program is absolutely necessary or beneficial. If a humanitarian program is what we are after, there are alternatives!
The middle school advisory program is to utilize ESSR funding. There has been a lot of talk that this funding is expiring, and any programs that will be needed to gain additional funding will shift from ESSR funds to grants and taxpayers if they are expected to continue.
My Preliminary SEL Research
Resources from public databases regarding structure/nature of SEL:
Comprehensive Review of SEL by the non-partisan organization Pioneer Institute:
Social-Emotional Learning: K-12 Education as New Age Nanny State
In Kevin Ryan's Foreword of Social-Emotional Learning: K-12 Education as New Age Nanny State, SEL is described as the "secular replacement for what parents used to instill in children according to their faith, and to cultural and family beliefs and values.” In essence, SEL seeks to become the only source of moral authority according to its data-mining methodology conducted on the children it serves. Young minds are persuaded to believe that moral decision-making is subjectively determined by “inner feelings'' of one’s own perception rather than the objective wisdom of reality. A serious ethical question arises: does the government's public education system have the right to restrict the intellectual freedoms of individuals to think independently about the world?
In the Executive Summary of this paper, Karen Effrem and Jane Robbins explain that SEL shifts the focus of education from academic excellence to character-education transformation. The analysis further provides details on the weakly significant scientific research behind the claims that SEL is effective while highlighting concerns in robustness, validity, and reliability in the methodology. The use of technology improves the results, but it also deeply violates the personal freedoms of these impressionable young minds by actually persuading the thought patterns to align with the desired outcome. I'll end this summary with a quote: “SEL goes well beyond encouraging students to do their best and believe in themselves; instead, it constructs a government-and-corporate-controlled edifice to measure, assess, and draw predictions from students’ most fundamental private and personal characteristics.
The Trouble with Social Emotional Learning | American Enterprise Institute - AEI https://www.aei.org/research-products/testimony/the-trouble-with-social-emotional-learning/
Social Emotional Learning in Middle School: Developing Evidence-Based ... - ERIC https://files.eric.ed.gov/fulltext/ED625570.pdf
(Specifically, look at page 2 on “Transformative SEL”)
SEL with Marxist ideology:
https://newdiscourses.com/2022/03/critical-education-transformative-social-emotional-learning-sel/
SEL data-mines your child:
https://courageisahabit.org/#selsurveys
SEL as a choice for Trading Academics for FAR-LEFT SEL:
https://illinoisfamily.org/education/trading-academics-for-far-left-social-emotional-learning/
Mental health manifestations research:
SEL causes depression:
Social media is the driving force behind mental health concerns:
Over-scheduling causing mental health:
Excessive screen time & mental health concerns:
Mental health data attracts cyber attacks: “Student data can comprise sensitive information, such as mental and behavioral health records, making schools attractive targets for hackers, he said. They’ll even go as far as calling parents to pressure schools into paying a ransom.”
I honestly believe that one cannot support transformative SEL and the HASD mission statement simultaneously.