| By: Committee for Children The Lasting and Effective Schoolwide Journey When ALL staff are teaching SEL skills to ALL students, and when ALL students are learning, supporting, and reinforcing one another in using these skills, it can foster a positive climate and culture. It can also lead to many other positive outcomes such as improved attitudes and behaviors, fewer negative behaviors, better academic performance, and reduced emotional distress for students. Read More
| By: Committee for Children At the Local Level Efforts here in WA State to make SEL a requirement in schools have had bipartisan support in the legislature. Across the country in MA, their pioneering SEL Alliance for Massachusetts is planning their fourth annual conference.Read More
| By: Tonje Molyneux Welcome Wave of Change: Positive Discipline and SEL in Schools I bet you can easily conjure up an image of a school teacher rapping the knuckles of a naughty girl with a ruler. Or a principal paddling the bottom of a boisterous boy. For a long time, this was how students were disciplined in school. They were physically punished with rulers, straps, paddles, or hands. Or shamed by being made to stand in the corner, wear a dunce cap, or write lines on the board. Perhaps you think these harsh, punitive discipline practices are a relic of a past, something we now only see in old movies or on episodes of The Simpsons. But in 19 states it’s still legal to use corporal punishment in schools.1 And since the late 1980s, zero-tolerance policies have resulted in thousands of students being excluded from schools, their right to an education stripped away for infractions sometimes as minor as chewing gum. Read More
| By: Committee for Children Promoting Mental Health Through SEL Youth mental health has been receiving increased attention in the past several years. Data suggests there are large numbers of children struggling with significant mental health difficulties that affect their success in school and life. So what is mental health? Why is it important to continually support children’s mental health? How does social-emotional learning (SEL) relate to mental health?Read More
| By: Tonje Molyneux Create a Safe and Supportive School with SEL By Tonje Molyneux It’s that time of year again. Kids are heading back to school after a summer off. It’s time to buckle down and get back to the business of learning, but are they ready? What kind of learning environment do students need to be ready to learn? Safety and support are important for learning… In answer to that question, research points to a safe and…Read More
| By: Committee for Children We Are the Champions: Parent Support of SEL Programs As a parent of elementary-aged children, I’m always finding myself ruminating over issues that, pre-kids, I never knew existed. For example: the importance of whether and how our school rolls out new and sensitive programs about such hot topics as drugs and alcohol, puberty, or bullying prevention. Read More
| By: Kim Gulbrandson Set Yourself Up for Implementation Success By Kim Gulbrandson When essential elements of effective implementation are in place, the results can be powerful. Social-emotional learning (SEL) can thrive in environments where stakeholders are committed to sharing responsibility for supporting implementation and where there is shared vision and leadership around social-emotional and academic success for all students. But successful and sustained implementation of any curriculum can be challenging at times…Read More
| By: Committee for Children Congressional Briefing, New Bill on Social-Emotional Learning What’s Happening On April 30, 2014, Seattle-based Committee for Children and the Collaborative for Academic, Social, and Emotional Learning (CASEL) hosted a congressional briefing that focused on effective social-emotional learning (SEL) programs in all stages of the educational system from preschool through college… Read More
| By: Tonje Molyneux SEL Helps Schools Create Safe, Supportive Learning Environments Schools can be a sanctuary where all children—including those who need it most—experience safety and support. And when children feel safe and supported, they are ready to learn. Learn how SEL can help to create a safe and supportive learning environment. Read More