Over 50% of our nation’s K-12 students now come from low income households. Leader in Me encourages schools to provide all students with the same opportunities to become life-ready leaders.
Below is a comparison of student outcomes that are a result of a high vs. low socioeconomic status (SES).
are more likely to:
Self-Advocate
Believe They Belong
Have Positive School Culture
Graduate From High School
are more likely to:
Get Suspended
Struggle with Attendance
Have Emotional Issues
Move Schools Multiple Times
Social-emotional learning (SEL) skills like perseverance, self-control, and optimism are critical tools for improving outcomes for low-income students.
– How Children Succeed, Paul Tough
Leader in Me equips teachers with much more than academic toolkits. By building their social and emotional capacity, teachers can model and effectively develop the social-emotional learning (SEL) of their students and successfully address the paradigms that limit potential.
Limiting Paradigms |
Leader in Me Paradigms |
|---|---|
| Control student behaviors with punishments and rewards. | Empower long-term student success by tapping into students’ internal motivation and unique talents. |
| Reinforce limiting paradigms about low-SES students’ abilities and potential. | Foster an optimism for personal and academic growth through goal achievement and SEL skill development. |
| Teach SEL in disjointed lessons by teachers who have been given little or no training. | Invest in building the SEL capacity of all teachers and staff so they can model and empower student SEL development in a unified and supportive school culture. |
| Focus SEL approach within the school. | Provide SEL development to families and the community to reinforce student development and maximize opportunities for application of SEL skills. |
Teachers and staff develop their personal and professional SEL capacity through in-depth training and collaborative support. Training workshops establish new paradigms and behaviors that help staff model and communicate equity among students.
Students are taught SEL through:
Students apply SEL principles in the classroom and schoolwide leadership opportunities. It is common at Leader in Me Schools to see students resolving their own conflicts without adults intervening.
Students are empowered to lead their own learning through:
As the school engages in SEL behaviors, the school culture encourages an atmosphere that is safe, supportive, and engaging. Students help create a culture of equity that a visitor can see, hear, and feel throughout the school.
Leader in Me encourages schools to help students recognize their great potential and vision for college, career, and life-readiness.
Leader in Me Schools address a variety of common challenges that educators face as they continue to improve equity and provide opportunities for all students.
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