Beyond the Policy

Date: October 22, 2026

Time: 4-5:30pm CT

About the Session:

When students feel that they matter at school, they are more likely to feel connected to their classrooms and to the broader school community. Mattering means feeling valued by others and having real opportunities to add value, and  teachers are uniquely positioned to foster both. Teachers foster mattering through small, everyday choices, such as how they greet students, follow up after an absence, and create meaningful roles in the classroom. 

In this interactive ECHO-like session, participants will reflect on their own experiences of mattering, learn practical, research-informed teacher practices drawn from a recently published conceptual model, and apply those practices to realistic classroom scenarios. Teachers will leave with concrete strategies for building classroom and school environments where every student feels seen, valued, and like they truly matter.

Presenters:

• Jennifer L. Caruso, Ed.D., University of Michigan School of Public Health

Learning Objectives:

• Define mattering and describe its two dimensions: feeling valued and adding value.
• Explain how students' sense of mattering relates to their connection with the classroom and school community.
• Identify everyday teacher practices that help students feel valued and practices that help students add value.
• Apply mattering-oriented practices to a realistic classroom scenario and plan at least one strategy to use in their own classroom.

Date: November 5, 2026

Time: 4-5:30pm CT

About this session: 

This session will provide an overview of 40 years of mixed method, longitudinal research investigating the social and emotional development of teenagers and young adults. It will highlight a crisis of connection not only for them but for us as well, and explore the roots of the crisis, the health and behavioral consequences, and the solutions that can be implemented in school settings to increase wellbeing.

Presenter: Niobe Way, PhD., Professor of Developmental Psychology at NYU 

 Learning Objectives

• Define the roots of our crisis of connection through the intersection of social and emotional development, cultural ideologies, and wellbeing 
• Identify the consequences of the crisis of connection on human development and how the crisis leads to loneliness and its long term impact
• Apply the solutions that are necessary to effectively address connection in schools, homes, and workplaces to foster the core competencies of care, cooperation, and curiosity

Date: November 19, 2026

Time: 4-5:30pm CT

More information to come!

Date: December 3, 2026

Time: 4-5:30pm CT

More information to come!