Less Fidelity, More Reciprocity: Rethinking Implementation Values for Social-Emotional Learning Programs

Implementation values naturally operate in tension. School psychologists are called to manage the tension between evidence-based programs, the needs of their students, faculty, and leadership. One implementation value, fidelity, has emerged in schools as "first among many" as an indicator of a quality intervention. This conceptual article examines the risks of elevating fidelity in the implementation of social-emotional learning programs. Externally sourced content can provide useful background about stress and personal regulation, but curricula that are disconnected from cultural norms invite resistance or confusion in practice. In addition, fidelity originates from a "delivery" model of social learning that conflicts with evidence from developmental science and distracts from front-end collaboration. This article proposes reciprocity as a guiding value for developing and implementing social-emotional learning programs. Reciprocity aligns with a complex systems framework for learning and the growing field of improvement science in schools. It emphasizes front-end collaboration between psychologist, faculty, and administrators, a prerequisite for buy-in that is underdeveloped in practice. Protocols, rather than adherence checklists, will be a key feature of reciprocity in practice.