Social-emotional learning and development

Contents 

What are SEL skills?

Social and Emotional Learning (SEL) focuses on the organized development of an essential set of social and emotional skills that support children to better cope with life challenges and flourish in their learning and social worlds. The Collaborative for Academic, Social, and Emotional Learning (CASEL) basically described SEL as the processes by which children and youth obtain the requisite knowledge, attitudes, and skills needed to identify and manage their feelings, show caring and concern for others, build positive relationships, generate responsible decisions and deal more constructively with problematic social situations.

SEL Resources 

• Committee for Children

• Edutopia.org

• Washington State SEL webpage 

  • SEL Professional Learning Network (WA OSPI)

  • Learn about new research, resources, and strategies that align with the guiding principles from the Washington SEL Implementation Guide

• Oregon SEL webpage

• UK resource: www.childandfamilytraining.org.uk

• Peer-reviewed Research: SEL Affects Learning, Skills, and Behaviors

Durlak, J. A., Domitrovich, C. E., Weissberg, R. P., & Gullotta. T. P. (Eds.). (2015). Handbook of social and emotional learning research and practice. New York, NY: Guilford Press.

The first large-scale meta-analysis of school-based social and emotional learning programs has been published in the peer-reviewed journal Child Development. The research, a synthesis of 213 studies of SEL programs involving more than 270,000 students in grades K-12, reveals that students who participated in school-based SEL programs improved in grades and standardized test scores by 11 percentile points compared to control groups. The programs were offered to all students and were designed to promote students' abilities in one or more areas of SEL, including:

·         Recognizing and managing emotions

·         Establishing and maintaining positive relationships

·         Setting and achieving positive goals

·         Making responsible decisions

·         Constructively handling interpersonal situations

Not only did participating students' academic measures improve, but they showed significant improvement in social and emotional skills, caring attitudes, and positive social behaviors, and a decline in disruptive behavior and emotional distress.  The study was conducted by researchers at Loyola University Chicago, the University of Illinois at Chicago, and the Collaborative for Academic, Social, and Emotional Learning (CASEL).

 "The findings highlight the value of incorporating well-designed and carefully conducted social and emotional learning programs into standard educational practice," said Joseph A. Durlak, the study's lead author. "Such programs can enhance academic achievement while providing students with social and emotional skills they need to succeed in school and life."

 CASEL's website features extensive information about the results and includes related publications.  The research was also reported in Education Week.

Brief from the Center on Great Teachers and Leaders focuses on SEL

The Center on Great Teachers and Leaders, a project of the American Institutes for Research, 

connects social and emotional learning with frameworks for good teaching and teacher evaluation. It draws extensively from the work of both CASEL and our collaborators. Amid continued intense interest in instructional practice and teacher evaluation nationally, this brief presents an important perspective on how social and emotional learning connects with the improvement of teaching.  You can read a  blog post summarizing the brief or download the entire document.

Chris Sink's SEL-related tools and presentations (sample)

• • "Promoting Positive Changes in Students and School Climate with Appreciative Inquiry" delivered at 2016 ASCA National Conference in New Orleans, LA. 

  • "Helping children flourish in schools: Happiness and Meaning-making Project" delivered at 2014 American School Counselor Association's National Conference; Monday, June 30, 2014, Orlando, Florida (handout attached below)

  • "Effective and Efficient Assessment of Personal-Social/SEL Competencies" delivered at the Second Evidence-Based School Counseling Conference (University of Northern Kentucky); Monday January 13, 2014 (Handout is attached below along with some pertinent resources.)