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Portland Public Schools reports full elementary uptake and high engagement for Character Strong SEL curriculum
Summary
District staff said fall walkthroughs found 100% of elementary classrooms teaching weekly Purposeful People lessons (goal 90%) and observed 96% student engagement (goal 85%); staff also reported 172 staff survey responses and pilot plans for tier‑2 supports.
Joanna Frankel, director over culture and climate, told the Curriculum & Student Success Committee that Portland Public Schools exceeded two early implementation goals for the elementary social‑emotional learning curriculum Purposeful People (the district name for the tier‑1 curriculum produced by Character Strong).
Frankel said fall walkthroughs in November found 100% of elementary classrooms delivering the weekly Purposeful People lessons, exceeding a district target of 90%. She also reported an observed student engagement rate of 96% during those walkthroughs, above the district target of 85%. The district conducted a staff feedback survey in November with 172 respondents across roles (ESL teachers, classroom teachers, special educators and specialists) and described broadly positive themes: student engagement, ease of implementation, consistent schoolwide language and routines, and high staff buy‑in.
Frankel acknowledged constructive feedback from staff, including time constraints and requests for more translated materials. She said Character Strong provides a Spanish translation on its platform but that the district asked for translations in additional languages to match the diversity of Portland classrooms. Frankel also described a pilot of tier‑2 Character Strong resources at four schools and said the district hopes to scale that tier‑2 support systemwide for 2026–27 to provide small‑group lessons and attendance supports for students needing more targeted social‑emotional and behavioral instruction.
Board members asked whether engagement measures account for multilingual students and external cultural factors. Frankel said engagement observations capture activity across the classroom and that the district is working to strengthen instructional moves to engage multilingual learners, including vocabulary supports and scaffolds that apply across content areas.
The committee heard that Character Strong partners have praised PPS’s implementation and that staff will continue walkthroughs and staff feedback cycles as the district refines rollout and translation priorities.
