Committee for Children Blog

Narrowing the Socio-Economic Achievement Gap with SEL

A recent blog post in the Washington Post discusses nine education predictions for 2014 made by educator and writer Larry Ferlazzo, covering such topics as computerized standardized testing, political forecasts, and one-to-one school computing initiatives. But it was number eight that jumped out at us. Ferlazzo posits that although social-emotional learning will continue to grow in popularity among schools, some “school reformers” (his quotation marks) will try to use this positive shift to “minimize the role of poverty and other causes of academic challenges and push their agenda instead.”Read More


A Little Something to Warm Your Heart

Have you ever felt on any given day that the negatives were hard to overlook? Maybe you woke up and read about a sad event in the news, or upon arriving at work you listened to various co-worker complaints about their challenging students. Driving home, you may have come across an angry driver with road rage, or someone at the grocery store who cut in front of you in line. Then, perhaps during dinner, your children got into a heated argument. Although days are not always like this, there are times when the positive things are not so easy to see.Read More


A Story About Bullying: Part 3

I offer one final series of reflections on the subject of my last two blogs; the bullying situation of Connor and his parents. Here are some thoughts and comments that have flooded my mind as Connor’s parents and I continue to stay in touch. They are important to share, especially with those of you who may be having similar experiences yourselves, or with your children or students.Read More


A Changed Perspective

http://www.casel.org/news/2014/2/19/stories-from-the-field-a-changed-perspectiveRead More


Wall-to-Wall Bullying Prevention

by Jill Ramsay

Many schools and districts are faced with increasing state and district mandates to implement bullying curricula and lessons for all students. But more importantly, educators want to foster a learning environment free from bullying, and the best way to do that is to implement a bullying prevention program schoolwide. Finding a research-based curriculum that provides direct instruction to students and training for staff can be challenging at…Read More


Book Review: Hot Issues, Cool Choices: Facing Bullies, Peer Pressure, Popularity, and Put-Downs

by Sandra McLeod Humphrey

Reading Level: Grades 4-7

“Sometimes my friends just stand there and watch. And sometimes they join in and pick on me, too.”

Emerson Elementary is a fictitious school filled with students who are trying to navigate the complicated social scene of the tween years. Each chapter of Hot Issues, Cool Choices features a boy or girl who presents a…Read More


Keeping Youth Safe Online

http://www.seattleschild.com/article/keeping-youth-safe-onlineRead More


A Story About Bullying: Part 2

In Part 1 of this story, I shared some of the experiences of Connor’s parents, as well as my own, when hearing about his bullying situation. Now, I would like to look at what happened at the school level.Read More