The Aspen Institute’s Education & Society Program and the Council of Chief State School Officers (CCSSO) have released a new report, Advancing Equity through ESSA: Strategies for State Leaders. This framework is designed to help states make the most of the opportunities provided in ESSA to advance eight equity priorities that states already are pursuing. Read more about Advancing Equity through ESSA: Strategies for State Leaders[…]
They are called non-cognitive skills, skills for success, soft skills, or social-emotional learning skills. These are the elusive student abilities to persevere, collaborate, make decisions, communicate, and exhibit agency, self-discipline, self-direction and conscientiousness. Employers tell us that these skills are essential for success in the workforce, and researchers are reporting that students who have developed Read more about Core Education Issue Brief: Non-Cognitive Skills[…]
Brooke Stafford-Brizard, an adviser for Turnaround for Children, recently created a student-development framework for nonacademic skills. Building Blocks for Learning is grounded in the concept that, like academic skills, nonacademic skills are developmental and can be taught. This resource serves to guide practitioners at all levels, informing teacher-student relationships, classroom instruction, and school design. Policymakers at Read more about Nonacademic Skills – The Building Blocks for Learning[…]
Eight states are now on track to develop new statewide social and emotional learning (SEL) standards and policies – thanks to a new partnership with the Collaborative for Academic, Social, and Emotional Learning (CASEL). That two-year partnership is being funded by the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation. On April 11, 2016 CASEL released a Request for Read more about Social and Emotional Learning Standards Under Development[…]
Recently in The Atlantic, Paul Tough expounded on what we know about teaching kids resilience. This work argues the importance of the noncognitive for student life outcomes, reviews the little we know about how to improve student academic perseverance and mindset, and raises questions about our nation’s current measures of teacher effectiveness. Below are excerpts Read more about How Kids Learn Resilience[…]
Previously, this blog introduced readers to the work of California’s CORE Districts. Now preliminary evidence is out, and we are able to look more closely at the use of self-report surveys of non-cognitive skills as a potential element of school accountability systems. Analysis of data from the CORE field test indicates that the scales used Read more about The Evidence on Non-Cognitive Skills from California’s CORE Districts[…]
A recent report from Brookings explores the research behind and the challenges with schools taking up the responsibility of enhancing students’ soft skills. Below is a brief summary of the report and its recommendations: The nation’s PK-12 education ecosystem is poised to embrace programs intended to enhance soft skills. Soft skills are personal qualities other Read more about Hard Thinking on Soft Skills[…]
In a recent opinion piece in Education Week, David Gamberg, superintendent of both the Southold Union Free School District and the Greenport Union Free School District, reflects on what makes a good school. Below are excerpts from his piece: Words matter. Of course, brick and mortar are only a small part of the story. The Read more about What Defines a Good School?[…]
Between 2002 and 2013, the Institute of Education Sciences (IES) funded over 245 projects focused on social-behavioral competencies or outcomes (e.g., social skills, dropout prevention) through the National Center for Education Research (NCER) and the National Center for Special Education Research (NCSER). Together, the researchers funded by these groups developed or tested more than 170 Read more about Compendium of Social-Behavioral Research[…]
In a recent New York Times opinion piece, Angela Duckworth, founder and scientific director of the Character Lab and the author of the forthcoming book Grit: The Power of Passion and Perseverance, recommends against using the results of character surveys for school accountability. A short excerpt from Mrs. Duckworth follows: Over the past few years, Read more about Duckworth: Do not Grade Schools on Grit[…]
Education research consistently shows that positive teacher-student relationships are an important dimension of effective teaching and contribute to students’ success in school and life. Students who have strong relationships with their teachers tend to get better grades, work harder in school, and are less likely to drop out. A recent analysis written by Panorama Education Read more about How Students Perceive Their Relationships with Teachers[…]
In a piece for the Albert Shanker Institute, researcher John Lane contends that in teachers’ typical learning opportunities, reforms are reduced to a set of strategies that “work” across settings, and in which the contexts of teaching become an unwanted entanglement. He argues that teachers would benefit from opportunities to learn about the social dynamics Read more about Developing Teachers’ Understanding of the Social Contexts of their Classrooms[…]
Amid growing recognition that strong academic skills alone are not enough for young people to become successful adults, a new comprehensive report offers wide-ranging evidence to show what young people need to develop from preschool to young adulthood to succeed in college and career, have healthy relationships, be engaged citizens and make wise choices. It Read more about Report Offers Comprehensive Look at What Students Need to Succeed As Adults[…]
With all of the recent focus on college and career-readiness, some educators are feeling that they are being diverted away from fostering social and emotional learning in students. The fact is, however, social and emotional learning, or SEL, is critical for student success in the 21st century. In this month’s issue brief, we explore various Read more about June Issue Brief: Social and Emotional Learning[…]
The Collaborative for Academic, Social, and Emotional Learning (CASEL) released a new tool to help middle and high schools meet their students’ most critical needs. The 2015 CASEL Guide: Effective Social and Emotional Learning Programs–Middle and High School Edition provides a framework for examining social and emotional learning (SEL) programs used in secondary schools and Read more about Rating of Social and Emotional Learning Programs for Middle and High Schools[…]
Increasingly, researchers and educators recognize that schools cannot focus solely on students’ academic learning to improve achievement. They also must nurture students’ psychological development, often described as social emotional learning (SEL). While this new focus on SEL benefits all students, it is especially critical for low-income students and students of color, according to Social Emotional Read more about Educating the Whole Student through Social Emotional Learning[…]