Resilience In Schools & Educators

RISE is an adult-centered, trauma-responsive prevention program that builds educator social emotional skills, intentional environments, and safe supportive relationships to foster resilience and well-being for everyone at school.

The RISE approach includes a set of practices and strategies that build social emotional and academic competencies. RISE integrates what we know about trauma, resilience, social emotional development and academic achievement to help educators design environments and interactions where students can thrive and learn.

RISE Practices

These core classroom practices are the heart of the RISE approach:

Establishing Intentional Environments

A detailed process for understanding environmental impacts and designing systemic structures that support all students by establishing safety, consistency, predictability and connection through attention to order, routine, ritual, rhythm, roles and responsibilities.

Cultivating Well-Being

Cultivating awareness and daily practices to support individual and community well-being.

Expanding Skillful Interactions

Use of connection and re-connection skills, emotion support skills, emotion coaching and resilience promoting practices to promote positive relationships and emotional intelligence.

What educators have to say about RISE

The Educator Impact

Resilience is cultivated in school communities one positive interaction at a time. Every teacher, administrator, custodian, counselor, crossing guards, cafeteria worker and school resource officer can cultivate resilience through the ordinary magic of connection. We all want to feel valued, seen and heard and when we are, we feel the power of connection. Every time we are recognized by name, in a simple greeting or with appreciation for who are, we feel valued. Each high five, smile and handshake demonstrates we have been seen. When we are able to share our emotions, our stories, our celebrations and our conflicts, we feel heard. In hallways, on playgrounds, in classrooms and bus lines, educators have the opportunity to create a sense of belonging, to let students and staff know they matter.

That’s impact.

Our RISE Community

Photo of RISE 2019 Cohort — 2018-2020 RISE Facilitators

Photo of RISE Team Learners Facilitators Cohort — RISE 2019-2020 2nd Cohort Facilitators and Learners

RISE in the Spotlight: Boulder Valley School District's Weekly Wake-Up

Watch the program below to hear a few BVSD educators, the BVSD RISE facilitator/coach and CU RISE faculty talk more about RISE.

Rise Champions, Highland Elementary School

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RISE Results 2022-2023 School Year

2017-2020 RISE Cohort

We collected data from 88 educators participating in the RISE program at 6 elementary, middle and high schools in Colorado.

Pre- and post-measures indicated improvements in:

Educator emotional awareness (Difficulties in Emotion Regulation Scale)
Educator mindfulness (Five Facet Mindfulness Questionnaire & Mindfulness in Teaching Scale)
Educator use of RISE skills (RISE Questionnaire)
Educator resilience (Connor Davison Resilience Scale-25)
Educator burnout and secondary traumatic stress (Professional Quality of Life Scale)

Findings are being prepared for publication.

2019-2020 RISE Cohort

We collected data from 88 educators participating in the RISE program at 6 elementary, middle and high schools in Colorado.

Pre- and post-measures indicated improvements in:

Educator emotional awareness (Difficulties in Emotion Regulation Scale)
Educator mindfulness (Five Facet Mindfulness Questionnaire & Mindfulness in Teaching Scale)
Educator use of RISE skills (RISE Questionnaire)
Educator resilience (Connor Davison Resilience Scale-25)
Educator burnout and secondary traumatic stress (Professional Quality of Life Scale)

Findings are being prepared for publication.

2018-2019 RISE Cohort

We collected data from 55 educators participating in the RISE program at 6 elementary, middle and high schools in Colorado.

Pre- and post-measures indicated improvements in:

Educator emotional awareness (Difficulties in Emotion Regulation Scale)
Educator mindfulness (Five Facet Mindfulness Questionnaire & Mindfulness in Teaching Scale)
Educator use of RISE skills (RISE Questionnaire)
Educator resilience (Connor Davison Resilience Scale-25)
Educator burnout and secondary traumatic stress (Professional Quality of Life Scale)

Findings are being prepared for publication.

2017-2018 RISE Cohort

We collected data from 53 educators participating in the RISE program at 8 elementary and middle schools in Colorado.

Pre- and post-measures indicated improvements in:

Educator emotional awareness (Difficulties in Emotion Regulation Scale)
Educator mindfulness (Five Facet Mindfulness Questionnaire)
Educator wellbeing (Positive and Negative Affect Scale)
Student-teacher relationship quality (Student-Teacher Relationship Scale)

Findings are being prepared for publication.

RISE Research Publications

Fitzgerald, M. M., Shipman, K., Pauletic, M., Ellesworth, K., & Dymnicki, A. (2022). Promoting educator social emotional competence, well-being, and student–educator relationships: A pilot study. Mental Health & Prevention, 26, 200234. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.mhp.2022.200234

Educator Experiences

“What I learned from RISE”

“I recognize that thanks to the integration of the social/emotional time within my daily teaching, students are now more focused and ready to learn.”

“I now view self-awareness and self-care as more important for [the benefit of] my students.”

“I recognize that thanks to the integration of the social/emotional time within my daily teaching, students are now more focused and ready to learn.”

“[RISE] was one of the most important and meaningful classes that I’ve taken during my [5 years] in this district.”

“I was able to recognize that I needed to take care of my own emotions in order to help my students learn how to express and manage their own emotions.”

“I learned that my emotions and behavior affect my students, and being aware of where I am is crucial to dealing with student behaviors.”