Writing for Brookings, Reeves and Deng explore the importance of social capital for promoting educational opportunities and outcomes. The main messages of the paper are as follows: Social capital = relationships that uplift. Social capital is described, defined and measured in a wide variety of different ways. But there is Read more
How might kids remake learning for a post-pandemic future? What advice might they have for adults? What approaches and strategies might they want us to use as we build futures focused on them? We won’t know if we don’t include youth and their perspectives in our conversations and strategic planning Read more
The Hechinger Report recently reported on a new, masters-level course called ‘Compassion and Dignity for Educators’ being offered at the University of Colorado, Boulder. Excerpts from the piece appear below: The ability to understand a child’s struggles — and then do or say just the right thing to help them Read more
During the 2020-21 school year, schools and families learned in particularly dramatic ways that they can’t effectively support students without being in partnership with one another. Every family faced its own unique challenges navigating distance learning, and many schools had to create new family communication strategies on the fly. While Read more
McREL researchers Samantha Holquist and Marisa Crowder collaborated with members of student voice organizations in Oregon and Kentucky to provide us with a deeper level of understanding about what may be shaping students’ engagement in the school community. Their research report is comprehensive, offering many insights from the students’ perspective Read more
All students have unique strengths and needs that vary over time and are expressed differently. This year, persistent disruptions to learning, systemic racial oppression and the collective trauma of the COVID-19 pandemic have deeply affected the well-being of young people everywhere. To help educators assess student well-being directly, quickly, and Read more
America’ Promise Alliance has released a new report examining young people’s perspectives on the importance of relationships, belonging and agency to their overall learning. What Drives Learning: Young People’s Perspectives on the Importance of Relationships, Belonging, and Agency is the newest report in the How Learning Happens research series. Based Read more
The Education Research Alliance for New Orleans has released a new study, based on a survey of almost 4,000 students, that finds Black students in New Orleans report more positive educational experiences, including less bullying and fairer discipline, in schools with a higher percentage of Black teachers. Ninety percent of Read more
The Aspen Institute has released 10 recommendations states can use to maintain student connections and relationships through the 2020-21 school year. Healthy relationships and routines undergird the development of resilience, which is needed to engage successfully in academics and in life beyond school. These dimensions of student well-being and readiness-to-learn Read more
For many students, the COVID-19 pandemic is compounding traumatic experiences for diverse reasons, such as potential increased incidents of neglect, abuse, and isolation. At the same time, educators are limited in how they can support their students while schools are closed. REL Appalachia (REL AP) has been working with key Read more
Over the past several years, a growing consensus has emerged that learning is a social, emotional, and cognitive process-but how do young people perceive and experience this type of integrated learning in action? All of Who I Am, a new report from The Center for Promise at America’s Promise Alliance, Read more
There’s mounting evidence that, for children of color especially, having one or more teachers of the same race over the course of students’ educational careers seems to make a positive difference. But to what extent, if any, do the benefits of having a same-race teacher vary by type of school? Read more
Recently in the New York Times, David Brooks wrote a column about the importance of emotion in learning. Excerpts from his piece appear below: We used to have this top-down notion that reason was on a teeter-totter with emotion. If you wanted to be rational and think well, you had Read more