This Month in SEL [October]
Explore the latest headlines from the field of social-emotional learning.
This month in SEL: the U.S. Department of Education releases a new resource on supporting students’ social and emotional development during the COVID-19 era, Tyton Partners publishes a new report to assess the continued development of the field of SEL, McGraw Hill explores districts’ adoption of SEL… 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.
U.S. Department of Education Report: Supporting Child and Student Social, Emotional, Behavioral and Mental Health
This new report provides information and resources to enhance the promotion of mental health and the social and emotional well-being among children and students. The resource highlights seven key challenges to providing school- or program-based mental health support across early childhood, K–12 schools, and higher education settings, and presents seven corresponding recommendations.
Finding Your Place 2021: SEL Takes Center Stage in K-12
“This report is informed by a ‘supply-side’ survey of over 100 SEL providers and a ‘demand-side’ survey of over 2,000 school and district administrators and teachers. In the report that follows, we will share our findings, answering the above questions, among others, and seeking to draw out implications for the field as a whole. We expect it to be useful to practitioners, funders, investors, and providers alike as it illuminates key dynamics at play in the ecosystem, where the field is at in the wake of COVID-19, and what actions can be taken to improve the quality of implementation and offerings.”
New McGraw Hill Report on SEL Adoption in K-12
“The 2021 Social and Emotional Learning Report, from education publisher McGraw Hill, which was a follow-up to a study on SEL published in 2018, found that teachers are more aware now than they were in 2018 about their districts’ plans for implementing SEL (91% compared with 77%). More than half of educators (56%) say their districts or schools have begin implementing SEL. And among administrators, more than double said they are implementing a standalone SEL program in their schools or districts (34% this year compared with 16% in 2018).”
How to Choose an SEL Program for Your School
This guidance (from CASEL) can help district and school leaders cut through the noise when deciding which type of social-emotional learning programs to explore for the 2021-22 school year and beyond.
Four Reasons SEL is Essential for Equity and Access
“SEL builds on students’ skills and affirms their cultures, interests, and experiences. When students feel respected and engaged, they learn best. SEL promotes skills that help students better understand their strengths, take action on issues they care about, and appreciate diverse perspectives.”
Why Wellness Can’t Just Be Another Task for Teachers to Do
“As we settle into the third school year that has been impacted by the pandemic, my social-media feed has been dominated by books, articles, webinars, and smartphone apps offering the promise of ‘educator wellness.’ I’m all for educators being well, but I do have a problem with this pursuit of wellness being placed squarely on the shoulders of already overburdened educators.”
Other Headlines:
School-Led Wraparound Services in an Online Era (via SmartBrief)
Student engagement critical for academic, emotional recovery (via K12 Dive)
Harnessing the Synergy Between Trauma-Informed Teaching and SEL (via Edutopia)
Inside SEL is now partnered with Spotlight, the first identity-based university ratings service. Please share Spotlight’s survey widely with higher education professionals and students in your network.