SEL Surveys and Alex's Data
Part 7 - Satchel Pulse
Figure 1: Alex’s dashboard
https://www.satchelpulse.com/products/skills/universal-screening.html
Disclaimer: This is my clearest understanding, as of publication time, of how SEL surveys play out nationally and in our local school districts. I am not an expert and my vision of what is happening is constantly changing as new information comes in. If I am wrong about any of this, please leave your corrections in the comments or email me at JoyceU@protonmail.com. Thank you — Joyce
Meet Alex
Alex is a young student in a public school that uses Satchel Pulse for it’s Social and Emotional Learning (SEL) survey and data collection program. This program will be used by the Menomonie school district in K - 8th grade next school year according to the following document (click title below to view.)
SDMA Social Emotional Student Screener
This document was presented by Tonia Kowieski, Director of Student Services for the School District of the Menomonie Area (SDMA) at the June 26, 2023 school board meeting.
In Figure 2, which is an enlargement of the bottom right square of Figure 1 above, it appears that what we know about Alex comes from three main data sources. Alex, himself, produced some of the data. He probably took an SEL survey in class. Two data sources were provided by Naimish Gohil, who is presumably either Alex’s teacher or another school employee.
Figure 2: Close-up of the bottom right section of Alex’s dashboard
Red dots indicate problematic areas to be addressed, so Alex thinks he is coping better than does Gohil, who is flagging intervention with the score given. (See red arrow in Figure 2.)
The pentagon in Figure 3 from the bottom left of Alex’s dashboard, is a “radar chart.” I hadn’t seen one before. My son recognized the concept from Pokemon, where they are used to display innate and effort-raised qualities related to Pokemon training. Zero is basically in the middle and values get higher toward the outer points. Here you can easily see the difference between Alex’s self-assessment and the teacher’s assessment of Alex.
Figure 3: Radar graph close-up from bottom left
Pokemon training radar graph
Credit: Sportskeeda.com
Pokemon values six things: attack, defense, speed, special defense, special attack and hit points (the amount of damage it takes to knock them out.)
SEL values five things: self-awareness, self-management, relationship skills, social awareness and responsible decision making. CASEL - the Collaborative for Academic, Social, and Emotional Learning - came up with those five things. They are called the “CASEL 5.” I cannot find online the process by which they picked those five things. Someone please put it in the comments if you know.
Figure 4: Close-up from top left
Figure 5: Close-up from top right
Looking at the dashboard portions in Figures 4 and 5 above, we can see that Naimish Gohil assessed Alex as having issues with his relationship skills. And . . .
MTSS and Mental Health Care for All
Another red dot in Figure 4 indicates that Alex is in “Tier 3,” the most intense level of the MTSS - Multi-Tiered System of Supports. My understanding is that MTSS is a mental health intervention system into which ALL students are placed. Students in Tier 1 receive mental health support in classroom settings. Tier 2 students, additionally, receive small group support. Alex will get all that PLUS individual intervention in Tier 3.
So all students are receiving this mental health intervention? Is that true? This is my understanding. If not, please clarify this in the comments below. If it is, here are some considerations.
If the schools receive extra money from government grants based on the number of students with special needs, and EVERY student has been declared in need of school-provided mental health intervention . . . ka-ching!
Who is providing these mental health services to the students and do they have licenses to do so? School counselors may have some “training,” but training is not licensing for mental health intervention.
Have parents been told that their children are receiving mental health care at school?
Non-licensed staff providing mental health services to students at school without parental knowledge or permission may not be legal.
Alex’s Data
Once or twice a year, Alex and other public and charter school students take an SEL survey in class. For example, here is a sample survey for 3rd - 5th graders in a Virginia school district (website source.) Satchel Pulse will provide the SDMA survey(s) next year.
Besides producing Alex’s dashboard data with the survey results, this chart shows what Satchel Pulse will also do with the information.
Source: Courage is a Habit
SEL companies interpret the questions they ask through the lens of Critical Race Theory and “equity” and then use the data to justify more social justice activist interventions in the schools to fix perceived failings in the school “climate.”
So it seems that the results of all SEL surveys by all SEL companies (there are many) is likely, THIS SCHOOL NEEDS MORE SEL! Not a bad business model if you can get it.
Follow the Data
The surveys told us some pretty personal stuff about little Alex. Where does that information go? Besides going to Satchel Pulse, it is used internally at the school level, and some goes to the federal government in, perhaps, identity-redacted form. You can read this 39 page DPI document on where the data goes if you want. I confess, I did not. My understanding is that this is a PERMANENT file on Alex being stored at various levels of our government.
Alex’s data is mostly managed by the state. The Wisconsin Department of Public Instruction (DPI) has what is called an SLDS - a Statewide Longitudinal Data System called WISE.
Source: WI DPI
Follow the Money
WISE was apparently funded by the federal government to the tune of over $31,000,000 between 2006 and 2019.
Wisconsin, in turn, funded grants to individual school districts for what sure looks like SEL. In Kowieski’s SDMA document at this article’s beginning it says the cost of Satchel Pulse is “$5.50 per student per school year for a total of $27,835.00 for two years (based on 2100 student count)” and “Get Kids Ahead Initiative money will be used for this purchase.” (GKAI source and allocation amounts)
What the SDMA Administration plans to do . . .
Video Source: wis.community
What you can do . . .
Opt out of all SEL surveys. Realize that there may be teacher assessments and DAILY cute little surveys on the Chromebooks at school still feeding into your child’s data file. (Which Disney princess are you most like? Which character of the book you just read are you most like? Take this fun little survey.) Four survey answers a day for a year gives a lot of information to people who want to know your child and how they think.
Learn more . . .
