# data[].attributes.body
When students feel that attending school is not a business transaction, but in fact, it is a family atmosphere filled with people that care about them. That is when they can enjoy attending school and attempt to do their best.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.readable_text
This simple exercise has become standard at Cold Springs, located on the rural outskirts of Reno-an area where wild horses sometimes roam the roads and the first dentist's office opened just a year ago. The activity pushes staff to look beyond their lessons to reflect on how well they actually know their students, driving them to build real connections that can make a difference in a child's future. The practice is also the entry point for a larger focus on social and emotional learning (SEL) at the middle school and more broadly within the 64,000-student Washoe County district.

A District Approach

After a decade of high school graduation rates that hovered around 55 percent, Washoe school leaders realized they needed to do something different to put their kids on the path to colleges and careers.

"Two big reasons students leave school are that they have no meaningful connection to an adult in the building, and no one knows their name or how to pronounce it," said Trish Shaffer, the district's SEL coordinator. "This SEL work isn't just feel-good: We know through research that relationships and connections keep kids in school."

Inspired by data showing that social and emotional skills like perseverance and empathy can improve academic and overall student success, Washoe County launched a district-wide SEL program in 2012, adopting a mission statement of "Every Child, by Name and Face, to Graduation." The goal was to have 90 percent of students graduating by the year 2020, or "90 by '20," a phrase that has become a mantra around the district.

Leveraging a grant and supportive partnership with the Collaborative for Academic, Social, and Emotional Learning (CASEL)-a nonprofit organization that supports SEL programs in nine other districts in the nation-Washoe has worked to improve school climate and culture, parent engagement, and student voice in all 98 schools in the district.

An annual Student Climate Survey gauges how students feel about their school, for example, while Parent University nights train caretakers in how to use social and emotional practices like growth mindset and resilience in their homes. Administrators track students' absences, suspensions, and truancy, assigning each student a risk level for dropping out and then identifying what SEL measures could help them before it's too late.

In the five years since adopting the SEL-oriented approach, Washoe schools have seen higher rates of attendance and scores on state reading and math tests, and fewer disciplinary infractions and suspensions among students with higher social and emotional skills. Graduation rates have gone up 18 percentage points across the district.

Into the Classroom

For many teachers in Washoe County, the seemingly simple practice of combing through rosters can be a needed wake-up call, representing the first step toward integrating SEL practices more deeply in their classrooms, according to Shaffer, Duvall, and other Washoe administrators.

At Cold Springs in particular, it's helped teachers to recognize that it's not always the students they were already concerned about that need extra support.

Fifth-grade teacher Stephanie Horne realized during the library session that one of the students she didn't know anything about was actually one of her best students-a girl who always finished her work and never asked for help.

Once teachers perceive these gaps in their knowledge of students, they're directed to look for ways to get to know the students better based on the district's three signature SEL classroom practices: welcome rituals and routines, more engaging or interactive teaching methods, and end-of-class reflections.

Horne, for example, has taken steps to close the distance with her high achiever since the library session. She calls on the girl more and has started conversations about the toys or stickers the girl brings to class-anything to make a personal connection. Horne also created a role-reversal math game that integrates SEL with academics, giving her reserved student, and the rest of the class, a chance to move from the periphery and talk in front of the room.

Fifth-grade teacher Kaly Krentz, on the other hand, now holds a Feel-Good Family Circle every Friday morning to promote a sense of community and belonging. Students write anonymous compliments about their peers on Post-its and put them in a box, and Krentz reads them aloud. Compliments serve to make each student feel known and appreciated within the group, and also help Krentz learn more about the students herself.

And seventh-grade science teacher Chris Ewald has found that integrating SEL practices can be as simple as a greeting. Ewald has his students line up outside his door and greets each one individually, often with a fist bump or a high five, and what he calls an ice breaker-a simple question like, "What's your favorite flavor of ice cream?"

"I want to find out what their interests are, and that kind of opens the door. Then that moves to, 'What challenges are you currently facing?'" Ewald said. "We are developing trust and loyalty, and then students are no longer a piece of data, but a real human being."

Room to Grow

Before adopting the SEL strategy, Duvall says, it was more difficult for staff to get to know students and their families because their rural community is so spread out and unconnected-even, at times, antisocial. She estimates that up to half of Cold Springs students could be at the federal poverty level even though state Department of Education data puts the number at 42 percent, because some families are too proud to ask for help or don't want to share their private information with the government.

But today, Cold Springs is seeing signs of progress: Students are attending school more and having more success in class, especially students who previously had difficulty in school or come from more challenging circumstances at home.

There's also been a whole-school culture shift that's gone beyond improved student-teacher relationships. Administrative staff, cafeteria workers, custodians, and volunteers are becoming more engaged and connected with students, too.

Donna Selyn, known at Cold Springs as "Grandma Donna," for example, originally volunteered to assist teachers and office staff during the school day, but now much of her work involves the students. Often during breakfast and lunch, Grandma Donna can be found in the cafeteria helping kids with homework, settling disputes, and giving out hugs.

And four days a week, the Cold Springs Student Leadership Team, a group of 30 eighth graders, hosts games for younger students to get to know them individually and help them learn SEL skills like cooperation and communication. Eighth grader and Student Leadership Team member Moises Aguilar said that he feels responsible to set a good example of how to be a team member, while Katie Lawrence said she tries to remember not to "talk to them like a teacher, [but to] talk to them like a friend."

There's still work to do, says Duvall, pointing to the need to improve test scores and the results of last year's Student Climate Survey, in which 18 percent of Cold Springs students reported that they believed an adult at school wouldn't notice if they were absent, and 40 percent said that teachers didn't understand their problems. Likewise, the district has to make some gains to hit "90 by '20," but school leaders say they "are on the right path" to get there in two years.

For teachers, it's often less about the numbers and more about the budding one-to-one connections they're forming with students.

Librarian Joshua Kolbet says he got to know his student aide when the shy, lanky eighth grader was just a fifth grader struggling to get along with both peers and teachers. Over the last four years, Kolbet has helped the student through challenges with bullying and learning to identify and acknowledge others' emotions-and his own.

Now, when Kolbet hosts SEL activities in the library, that same student openly shares his social challenges with others who are struggling.

"He talks about how he feels awkward around others, but how he still puts himself out there and finds those that have commonalities," Kolbet said. "It has been exciting to see him grow, and I know the relationships he developed within the school will help him be successful in high school next year."

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
This simple exercise has become standard at Cold Springs, located on the rural outskirts of Reno-an area where wild horses sometimes roam the roads and the first dentist's office opened just a year ago.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
Gun Control Walkout Just The Start, Students at One Maryland School Say

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
With a moment of silence, 17 balloons and calls for gun control, students at one Maryland high school explain why they joined the nationwide walkout one month after the Parkland, Fla., shooting. (March 15, 2018)

# data[].attributes.body
Hi, I'm Jessica Auguste.
As an aspiring school counselor it is important to equip ourselves with resources and tools to help be effective in our role.

# data[].attributes.headline
Results From Emotional Intelligence Test

# data[].attributes.subject
Results From Emotional Intelligence Test

# data[].attributes.body
Transactional vs. Transformational

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
Cheer my friend + creator of this Awesome #Quick-Clip to victory! Like/Share to help them win the Powtoon #Slides Competition

# data[].attributes.body
Here's A Great Resource

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.readable_text
You can also watch our APA vidcast series on the Purdue OWL YouTube Channel .

General APA Guidelines

Your essay should be typed and double-spaced on standard-sized paper (8.5" x 11"), with 1" margins on all sides. Include a page header (also known as the " running head") at the top of every page. For a professional paper, this includes your paper title and the page number. For a student paper, this only includes the page number. To create a page header/running head, insert page numbers flush right. Then type "TITLE OF YOUR PAPER" in the header flush left using all capital letters. The running head is a shortened version of your paper's title and cannot exceed 50 characters including spacing and punctuation.

Font

The 7th edition of the APA Publication Manual requires that the chosen font be accessible (i.e., legible) to all readers and that it be used consistently throughout the paper. It acknowledges that many font choices are legitimate, and it advises writers to check with their publishers, instructors, or institutions for guidance in cases of uncertainty.

While the APA Manual does not specify a single font or set of fonts for professional writing, it does recommend a few fonts that are widely available. These include sans serif fonts such as 11-point Calibri, 11-point Arial, and 10-point Lucida Sans Unicode as well as serif fonts such as 12-point Times New Roman, 11-point Georgia, 10-point Computer Modern.

Major Paper Sections

Your essay should include four major sections: the Title Page, Abstract, Main Body, and References.

Title Page

Note: APA 7 provides slightly different directions for formatting the title pages of professional papers (e.g., those intended for scholarly publication) and student papers (e.g., those turned in for credit in a high school or college course).

The title page should contain the title of the paper, the author's name, and the institutional affiliation. A professional paper should also include the author note. A student paper should also include the course number and name, instructor name, and assignment due date.

Type your title in upper and lowercase letters centered in the upper half of the page. The title should be centered and written in boldface. APA recommends that your title be focused and succinct and that it should not contain abbreviations or words that serve no purpose. Your title may take up one or two lines. All text on the title page, and throughout your paper, should be double-spaced.

Beneath the title, type the author's name: first name, middle initial(s), and last name. Do not use titles (Dr.) or degrees (PhD).

Beneath the author's name, type the institutional affiliation, which should indicate the location where the author(s) conducted the research.

A professional paper should include the author note beneath the institutional affiliation, in the bottom half of the title page. This should be divided up into several paragraphs, with any paragraphs that are not relevant omitted. The first paragraph should include the author's name, the symbol for the ORCID iD, and the URL for the ORCID iD. Any authors who do not have an ORCID iD should be omitted. The second paragraph should show any change in affiliation or any deaths of the authors. The third paragraph should include any disclosures or acknowledgements, such as study registration, open practices and data sharing, disclosure of related reports and conflicts of interest, and acknowledgement of financial support and other assistance. The fourth paragraph should include contact information for the corresponding author.

A student paper should not include an author note.

Note again that page headers/page numbers (described above for professional and student papers) also appear at the top of the title page. In other words, a professional paper's title page will include the title of the paper flush left in all capitals and the page number flush right, while a student paper will only contain the page number flush right.
Student APA title page

Professional paper APA title page

Abstract

Begin a new page. Your abstract page should already include the page header (described above). On the first line of the abstract page, center and bold the word "Abstract" (no italics, underlining, or quotation marks).

Beginning with the next line, write a concise summary of the key points of your research. (Do not indent.) Your abstract should contain at least your research topic, research questions, participants, methods, results, data analysis, and conclusions. You may also include possible implications of your research and future work you see connected with your findings. Your abstract should be a single paragraph, double-spaced. Your abstract should typically be no more than 250 words.

You may also want to list keywords from your paper in your abstract. To do this, indent as you would if you were starting a new paragraph, type Keywords: (italicized), and then list your keywords. Listing your keywords will help researchers find your work in databases.

Abstracts are common in scholarly journal articles and are not typically required for student papers unless advised by an instructor. If you are unsure whether or not your work requires an abstract, consult your instructor for further guidance.

APA Abstract Page

Please see our Sample APA Paper resource to see an example of an APA paper. You may also visit our Additional Resources page for more examples of APA papers.

How to Cite the Purdue OWL in APA

Individual Resources

The page template for the new OWL site does not include contributors' names or the page's last edited date. However, select pages still include this information.

In the absence of contributor/edit date information, treat the page as a source with a group author and use the abbreviation "n.d." for "no date":

Purdue Online Writing Lab. (n.d.). Title of resource. Purdue Online Writing Lab. http://Web address for OWL resource

Purdue Online Writing Lab. (n.d.). General Writing FAQs. Purdue Online Writing Lab. https://owl.purdue.edu/owl/general_writing/general_writing_faqs.html

The generic APA citation for OWL pages, which includes author/edit date information, is this:

Contributors' names. (Last edited date). Title of resource. Site Name. http://Web address for OWL resource

Note: This page reflects the latest version of the APA Publication Manual (i.e., APA 7), which released in October 2019. The equivalent resource for the older APA 6 style can be found here.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
You can also watch our APA vidcast series on the Purdue OWL YouTube Channel . General APA Guidelines Your essay should be typed and double-spaced on standard-sized paper (8.5" x 11"), with 1" margins on all sides. Include a page header (also known as the " running head") at the top of every page.