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New Report Examines State of SEL Assessments, Calls for Greater Coordination with School Policies, Programs, and Professional Learning

New Report Examines State of SEL Assessments, Calls for Greater Coordination with School Policies, Programs, and Professional Learning

Inform SEL Assessment in Action

A leading group of scholars, test developers, and educators has just released a landmark report that describes the evolving field of social and emotional learning (SEL) assessments and recommends steps for continued improvements.   The 53-page report, Student Social and Emotional Competence Assessment: The Current State of the Field and a Vision for Its Future, was developed over the past three years by the Assessment Work Group, managed by CASEL with leaders from the RAND Corporation, Harvard University, the California CORE Districts, Transforming Education, xSEL Labs, and several universities, nonprofit organizations, and school districts across the country. Clark McKown served as the lead author.   Key findings include: Social and emotional competencies can not only be taught—they can also be measured….

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Promoting Equity with SEL Measurement

Promoting Equity with SEL Measurement

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By Laura Davidson, Director of Research & Evaluation, Washoe County Schools and Elizabeth Breese, Panorama Education   By asking students to report their mindsets, attitudes, and behaviors related to social-emotional learning through SEL self-report surveys, districts can gain new perspective on how to promote equity in schools.    Which student groups are reporting well below—or well above—average for social-emotional learning topics such as growth mindset, self-management, and social awareness? Are students experiencing school safety, sense of belonging, or teacher-student relationships differently based on race, ethnicity, and socio-economic status?    To answer these questions, districts combine SEL data with the data available in their student information systems (SIS) to view trends across student groups including:    Chronically absent students English language…

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Assessing SEL in School-Community Partnerships

Assessing SEL in School-Community Partnerships

Inspire SEL Assessment in Action

By: Saskia Traill, Senior Vice President, ExpandED Schools ExpandED Schools helps schools and partnering after-school providers create a shared vision for working with young people. The schools and community-based organizations (CBOs) bring together their resources and expertise to give youth more opportunities to develop their talents and develop as a whole child—including socially, emotionally and academically. The result is a holistic and coherent learning day with a range of educators, including certified teachers, teaching artists, and youth development professionals. Over the past three years, with a generous grant from the New York Life Foundation, we focused on the depth and integration of SEL to reach all young people in participating middle schools along with their after-school providers. We found that a more intentional…

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To Support Educators in Promoting SEL, Leverage Summer More Effectively

To Support Educators in Promoting SEL, Leverage Summer More Effectively

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by Brenda McLaughlin, Chief Impact Officer, BellXcel   Over the past 20 years, summer learning programs have gained increasing recognition as important contributors to a child’s educational journey. Since youth spend 80% of their waking hours outside of school, summer and afterschool programs provide additional touchpoints for healthy development, academic achievement, and exposure to enriching experiences. At BellXcel, we have believed in the power of summer learning for over 25 years. We partner with schools and community-based organizations across the country to ensure more young people have access to high-quality summer experiences – particularly young people living in under-resourced communities. Over time, we have carefully crafted our logic model to confirm we had the right inputs to support the success…

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Nyack Public Schools Use Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Survey to Move Our Equity Agenda Forward

Nyack Public Schools Use Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Survey to Move Our Equity Agenda Forward

Inspire SEL Assessment in Action

By: James Montesano, Nyack Public Schools, with Sara Stoutland, Independent Consultant   The Nyack Public Schools have been working to close achievement gaps for years. We are a racially, ethnically, and socioeconomically diverse district, located about 30 miles north of New York City. As a community, we are proud of our diversity, and we are also deeply troubled by persistent racial and socioeconomic achievement gaps. We have disproportionate outcomes by race/ethnicity and socio-economic status in AP classes, suspensions, and special education identification.   In the past, we addressed these gaps by establishing targeted programs aimed at students who were not performing up to their potential— students of color and those from low-income backgrounds. Through these efforts, we saw some improvement in graduation…

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