This Month's SEL Conversation / September 2022

This month’s SEL-inspired art: Fifth-grade project shared via @aspacetodraw

Dear Carolina,

For many communities, this school year has started with hope.

In Nebraska, Commissioner of Education Dr. Matthew Blomstedt sees “reason for optimism” and improvements in student engagement. “This I believe to be a product of increased attention to social and emotional needs of students coupled with resources that schools have implemented in the midst of the pandemic,” he testified Tuesday at a legislative hearing, where he was joined by CASEL CEO Dr. Aaliyah A. Samuel and other leaders to discuss students’ social, emotional, and academic needs.

Social and emotional learning (SEL) is a key component of recovery, helping to accelerate academics and support mental wellness. That’s why nearly one-third of school districts across both red and blue states have invested COVID-recovery dollars in SEL. At the hearing, Dr. Samuel summed it up this way: “Supporting social and emotional learning is the best path to a stronger, healthier future for our students.” 

As champions of SEL, consider:

How will SEL support your community’s recovery efforts this year?

Read on for how SEL supports recovery through family engagement, academic learning, and school safety.

Family Engagement: A Meaningful Back-to-School Night

Imagine walking into your child’s back-to-school night and experiencing an event that builds meaningful connections between parents, students, educators, and staff. A back-to-school night filled with warm greetings, open discussion, and the creation of a shared vision. Too often these events, in the spirit of expediency, miss important opportunities to catalyze a sense of belonging and authentic partnership between schools and families. But family partnerships are especially important this year to drive recovery, and we can leverage SEL to create a better back-to-school night that fosters real relationships: by personally welcoming families as they enter the building, ensuring that parents actually get to know each other as well as the school staff during the event, and concluding in a way that leaves participants feeling encouraged to stay in partnership. Parents already support SEL in school; now let’s utilize it to strengthen family engagement.

Academic Recovery: SEL as Core to Learning

New test score data raises significant concerns about academic challenges and widening racial and socioeconomic gaps. Rather than being a competing priority, social and emotional learning can pave the way for academic recovery. SEL helps students learn and connect to and deepen their academic content knowledge. During this week’s legislative hearing on academic recovery, Congresswoman Jahana Hayes, a former National Teacher of the Year, shared how Connecticut’s focus on social and emotional learning has supported students’ academic growth: “Too often social and emotional learning is seen as separate from academics. However, building strong relationships with students and creating opportunities to develop cognitive skills is critical to learning. That’s how kids learn.”



School Safety: SEL Can Help Prevent Violence

What are parents most concerned about this school year? Perhaps unsurprisingly, parents say their top priority is the safety and well-being of their children, according to new polling data. With bullying, mental health, and gun violence on their minds, 93 percent of parents say they want elected leaders to focus on keeping kids safe. While it will take a comprehensive approach to address these concerns, we know SEL plays a critical role. SEL helps develop problem-solving and self-regulation skills, and builds higher-quality relationships among students and educators. These skills and relationships help reduce bullying and isolation, promote belonging, boost engagement, and contribute to safer schools and communities.

Register today for the 2022 SEL Exchange!

Share with your Network

• CNN: How to Help Kids Develop the Confidence to Try New Things

• The 74: In Order to Teach Social-Emotional Learning, Educators Need to Live It

• Constellations: What Are You Bringing to Your Classroom This Year?

• TODAY: Demystifying Systemic SEL Webinar: Continuous Improvement

• September 30: #BlackSEL Summit 2022

• October 7: "No More False Choices: Five Ways to Get to Both/And in Social and Emotional Learning" Webinar

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