This report draws cross-cutting lessons from studies of six school-OST program partnerships.

The case studies are one part of a larger mixed-methods study of 38 school–OST program partnerships. They were part of the Partnerships for Social and Emotional Learning Initiative, a Wallace-supported initiative that took place over four years in six cities. The partnerships developed and carried out intensive, mutually reinforcing SEL activities and instruction in schools and OST programs.

Another 38 demographically similar school–OST program partnerships from the same six communities continued business as usual. They could elect to implement any new SEL effort of their choosing in the third year of the initiative and beyond.

Based on interview and observation data from fall 2017, spring 2018, and spring 2019, researchers identified school–OST program partners with unique, high-quality approaches to their SEL work. They proposed these as candidates for case studies to the district and OSTI leads of the initiative and sometimes changed the partnership in response to the district and OSTI leads’ suggestions.

 By fall 2019, researchers finalized the six case study sites. Each highlighted a particular aspect of the initiative, such as a focus on racial equity within SEL or a strong school–OST partnership. They then expanded data collection activities at the sites to get a more in-depth understanding of their approaches. The report drew on a large amount of data collected, including interviews, extensive observations, and surveys of staff.