The purpose of this study was to examine the beliefs and perceptions of teachers and their view of social-emotional programs, specifically Second Step®, and its effect on students from low-income households. Given the current state of specific students who battle language barriers and poverty levels, some children are not taught critical thinking skills, universal thinking, behavior strategies, or how to advocate for their needs. Furthermore, many students come from homes where Spanish is the primary language, and their relatives are either illiterate in English or limited in their vocabulary. This mixed methods study captured the opinions of teachers spanning 13 elementary schools across a school district in the western suburbs of Illinois who utilize the Second Step® curriculum in their classrooms through a quantitative survey including two open ended response items. The teachers polled included both genders, multi-year experience in education, and multi-year experience teaching in their employed community. Furthermore, there was a vast expanse of ages and ethnicities from those who responded. The results showed that for each of the four research questions regarding Second Step® as a valuable addition to the school curriculum, classroom behavior, student engagement, and student preparation for the future, there was empirical evidence to support claims for the effectiveness of teaching social emotional learning and prescribed advocacy skills for students' future success. The teacher participants are an excellent barometer of general perceptions regarding how successful initiatives are for student's current and future success. Future studies are encouraged to discover findings that can further enhance how incorporating Second Step® into a school's curriculum can benefit student social-emotional and academic outcomes. [The dissertation citations contained here are published with the permission of ProQuest LLC. Further reproduction is prohibited without permission. Copies of dissertations may be obtained by Telephone (800) 1-800-521-0600. Web page: http://bibliotheek.ehb.be:2222/en-US/products/dissertations/individuals.shtml.]