Cracked Foundations: Dallas Independent School District (TX)

Granting Foundation(s): Wallace Foundation, Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation

Grants Total: $4,398,711

US News and World Report Test Score Proficiency:

In 2016, Dallas Independent School District entered into an agreement with the Wallace Foundation’s Partnerships for Social and Emotional Learning Initiative. The goal of the initiative is “to foster children’s social and emotional learning (e.g. emotion management and social skills) through partnerships between school districts and out-of-school time intermediaries (OSTIs) that enable leadership and staff in schools and OST programs to effectively teach and develop these skills.” As part of the initiative, the district will work jointly with CASEL to “develop a detailed, multi-year SEL plan for implementation.”

As part of the initiative, the school district partnered with out-of-school time organization Big Thought and Dallas Afterschool in order to develop systemic “social and emotional intelligence skills.”

Dallas Independent School District’s Social and Emotional Learning mission is to “foster collaborative communities that promote social and emotional development through in-school and out-of-school programs.” The district utilizes several SEL explicit skills curricula based on CASEL criteria for quality SEL skill development in kids. SEL curricula the district is either using or recommends schools use include Second Step, Harmony, and QuaverSEL.

A June 2021 board review of the district’s “Re-Defined Discipline” programming states that the district implemented a holistic approach that featured “deconstructing the current punitive infrastructure and replacing it with a restorative foundation.” The district added structures to support the efforts, including a “Reset Center.” The center features calming colors, restorative circles, flexible seating for “emotion processing,” and “sensory tools.”

In 2018, the district formed a partnership with the University of Pittsburgh and became a participant in the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation’s “Network for School Improvement.” In order to drive equity, the funding supports partnerships between “networks of schools and school support organizations so they can collaboratively solve common problems by using evidence-based interventions that best fit their needs.”

The district received a sub-grant from the university for $72,000 as part of the partnership. In a June 13, 2019, update, the presentation detailed how the district was implementing a “theory of improvement” to bring about equity.