Core academic subjects have long been the top priority for districts preparing students for life after high school. Now districts are elevating social and emotional learning, as well, drawing from a large body of research showing that skills like grit and self-regulation are critical to life success. If they’re so valuable, the logic goes, schools […]
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Posted inOpinion
OPINION: Many teachers see social-emotional learning as the ‘missing link’ in student success
As instructors finalize lesson plans and schools across the country head back into session, there’s been a recent and significant surge of interest in social and emotional learning (SEL) curricula at both the federal and state levels. With few exceptions, policymakers, educators, families and communities in many states see the benefits of social and emotional […]
Posted inNews
OPINION: How do you measure social and emotional learning?
In the education world, it is often said that what gets assessed gets addressed. Many educators have questions, though, about how to measure social and emotional learning (SEL) topics like relationship skills and self-awareness, even when they believe such skills should be addressed. A recent, nationally representative survey revealed near-unanimous commitment to SEL among school principals. A […]
Posted inNews
A cheaper, quicker approach to social-emotional learning?
One of the biggest educational trends of the past decade is social-emotional learning. Experts quibble over what these soft skills are exactly but the term generally refers to things like managing emotions, learning to set goals and getting along with others. Programs to boost these skills have proliferated at schools. Some are sold by curriculum […]
Posted inElementary to High School
Project-based learning and standardized tests don’t mix
PHILADELPHIA — In a city that’s struggled to meet the educational needs of many of its children, especially its most vulnerable ones, a select group of district high schools is shunning the traditional classroom model in which teachers dispense knowledge from the front of the room and measure progress with tests. Instead, the schools have […]
Posted inElementary to High School
OPINION: Ending “one size fits all” programs for social-emotional learning
Students from underserved populations do not have the same opportunities for a strong education as their more-affluent peers. This is the harsh reality that data from Stanford’s sweeping 2009-2013 study bears out. As policymakers and educators struggle with how to shift this phenomenon, social-emotional learning has emerged as a solution to the challenge of achieving […]
Posted inElementary to High School
Learning is social and emotional; our classrooms should be too
My stepson’s inability to read because of a disability didn’t lessen my expectation that his school teach him. Anyone with a child who has an intellectual or learning disability knows that learning entails much more than knowing how to read, write and compute. The absence of literacy doesn’t mean that he can’t learn skills essential […]
Posted inElementary to High School
OPINION: Teachable moments from the Pittsburgh shooting
“Do I need to tell my teacher that I’m Jewish? Because in a lockdown, will they come for our class first?” “What? So you mean people want to kill me more because I’m Jewish?” These are some of comments I heard while dropping my children off at an emergency session of Hebrew School held the […]
Posted inNews
Research evidence on bullying prevention at odds with what schools are doing
In September 2018, I wrote about the so-called “Trump effect” on bullying in schools, citing a study that found higher bullying rates in GOP districts after the 2016 presidential election. But that piece raised an important question: what should schools do to address and prevent bullying? The scientific evidence on what works is complicated. There’s […]
Posted inElementary to High School
OPINION: The best time to teach students how to cope with trauma? When there isn’t any
Imagine you must construct a building. When is the right time for you and your team to consider preparedness for natural disasters such as earthquakes? You’d want to design the building with a proper foundation to absorb shock waves and remain standing, and you’d want an emergency response plan just in case the worst were […]