This month in SEL: America’s Promise Alliance spotlights the voices of over 100 students on their experiences with social-emotional learning, CFC and CASEL partner to review state COVID-19 responses related to SEL, Panorama Education releases a new set of free surveys to help districts incorporate educator and family feedback into school reopening plans… and more!

Thank you for reading This Month in SEL. This newsletter is free and we would love it if you could share it with friends and colleagues. To access our curated list of resource for educators, parents and school communities related to COVID-19, click here.

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All of Who I Am: Perspectives from Young People About Social, Emotional, and Cognitive Learning

Published by America's Promise Alliance, All of Who I Am features insights from a qualitative study of over 100 students who describe their experiences with the integration of social, emotional, and cognitive development in exemplar learning settings across the country.

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CASEL and CFC Collaborate to Review State COVID-19 Responses Related to SEL

Earlier this month, CASEL and Committee for Children released “From Response to Reopening: State Efforts to Elevate Social and Emotional Learning During the Pandemic.” The report is based on a review of 37 state COVID-19 responses related to SEL and identifies six recommendations for states to continue their support of SEL as schools transition to the summer and prepare for the fall.

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Planning for a Brighter Future After COVID-19

The Rennie Center's Back-to-School Blueprint is an interactive series of research-based, online action guides to help schools prepare to reopen. The report aims to help schools implement practices that will not only address the pressing issues facing our students right now, but also become building blocks for a more supportive, equitable, and high-performing system in general. 

The Blueprint includes several action guides, which feature a series of priority practices for educators to keep in mind as they plan for the future along with a list of action steps to implement the practice. They also include research, videos, and other key resources educators can use related to topics such as:

• Helping students heal from trauma;

• Rebuilding community;

• Accessing grade-level content, and;

• Accessing essential services.

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NEW: Free School Reopening Surveys

Following coronavirus (COVID-19) school closures, schools and districts are working quickly to plan for the upcoming school year. 

Will students return to school buildings with strict social distancing measures? Will online learning or distance learning continue through the fall? Will schools use a hybrid learning model to reduce class sizes and prevent coronavirus cases?

To help districts better understand stakeholder voices, Panorama Education's team released a new set of school reopening surveys. The surveys cover key topics including instructional preferences, student supports, staff professional needs, and social-emotional well-being.

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U.S. Pediatricians Call For In-Person School This Fall

The nation's pediatricians have come out with a strong statement in favor of bringing children back to the classroom this fall wherever and whenever they can do so safely. The American Academy of Pediatrics' guidance "strongly advocates that all policy considerations for the coming school year should start with a goal of having students physically present in school." The guidance says "schools are fundamental to child and adolescent development and well-being."

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Other Headlines:

• How Should Education Leaders Prepare for Reentry and Beyond? (Chiefs for Change)

• How Adults Can Support the Mental Health of Black Children (Greater Good Magazine)

• Essay: We Opened Up Mental Health Services to All Our Students, Families, and Teachers During the Pandemic (The 74)

• How to Teach Online So All Students Feel Like They Belong (Greater Good Magazine)

• Addressing Coronavirus Learning Loss with SEL: How Districts Are Responding (Panorama Education)

• 5 Equity-Centered SEL Strategies to Address Learning Loss (Panorama Education)

• How Children Process Grief and Loss Through Play (Edutopia)

• How School Crisis Counselors Help Students Cope With Death and Grief, Virtually (EdSurge)

• How Racism Can Affect a Child's Mental and Physical Health (The Modesto Bee)

• 4 Strategies to Help Students Feel Calm During Distance Learning (Edutopia)

• Deeply Embedding Continuous Improvement into District Systems (CASEL)

• Building Kids' Resilience Through Play is More Crucial Than Ever (Scientific American)

• Continuous Improvement of SEL Implementation within Minneapolis Public Schools (CASEL)

• Special Ed Students Have Lost Many Services. Here's How SEL Strategies Can Help. (EdSurge)

• Continuous Improvement of SEL Implementation in Denver (CASEL)

• How Student Agency Can Ease the Pain of Remote Learning and Teaching (EdSurge)

• How Brain Research Helped Retool a School Schedule for Remote Learning (EdSurge)