Social and Emotional Learning

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Responding to Russia, Sex Trafficking, Anti-Bias Education: RAND Weekly Recap

This weekly recap focuses on the false choice between responding to Russia or deterring China, how substance use and sex trafficking are connected, providing anti-bias education in U.S. schools, and more.

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Gender Pay Gap Among Doctors, America's Labor Shortage, 'Hacking Equity': RAND Weekly Recap

This weekly recap focuses on the pay gap between female and male doctors, understanding America’s weird job market, social and emotional learning, and more.

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Want to Rebuild Public Trust? Focus on Civic Education

Truth Decay—the diminishing role of facts and analysis in American public life—has led to political paralysis, the erosion of civil discourse, and widespread uncertainty. Investing in civic education and media literacy could be the antidote. But what exactly can be done to spur a civics revival in U.S. schools?

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Truth Decay, Opioid Settlement Funds, Veterans Health Care: RAND Weekly Recap

This weekly recap focuses on fighting back against Truth Decay, how to spend opioid settlement funds, China's lack of friends, and more.

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Russian Propaganda, Domestic Terrorism, America's Electric Grid: RAND Weekly Recap

This weekly recap focuses on how Americans react to Russian memes on Facebook, the possibility of domestic terrorism during election season, protecting the U.S. electric grid, and more.

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Learning from School Leaders About SEL During a Time of Crisis

It would be easy for social and emotional learning to fall by the wayside as school leaders work to address students' health, safety, and learning loss during the COVID-19 pandemic. Policymakers and funders should take seriously the perspectives and concerns that school leaders have shared.

Laura S. Hamilton, Kai Fierle-Hedrick

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California Could Develop Guidance to Reopen Youth Sports

There is growing evidence that long-term isolation from school closures has negative impacts on kids' physical and mental health and social development, with impacts potentially lasting for years. Youth sports can help to offset many of these negative impacts. California public health officials could prioritize the development of guidelines that would allow youth sports to reopen safely.

Shanthi Nataraj

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Hospitals' Critical Care Capacity, Unemployment Insurance, Farmworkers: RAND Weekly Recap

This weekly recap focuses on how hospitals can increase critical care capacity, reforming the U.S. unemployment system, supporting farmworkers, and more.

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Schools Pivot Online in Wake of COVID-19: Q&A with RAND Experts

Nearly all school-age children in the United States are no longer in the classroom as districts shut down to reduce the spread of the new coronavirus. RAND education researchers discuss how this situation might exacerbate educational inequities, how districts and teachers are innovating and what they need, and what parents can do.

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Online Doesn't Have to Mean Impersonal

Children's needs extend beyond the purely academic. It is important that their social and emotional well-being is supported as instruction moves online during the COVID-19 pandemic. A whole-child view of what students need could benefit them now more than ever.

Laura S. Hamilton, John F. Pane @JohnFPane, et al.

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The Syria Withdrawal, Climate Policy, Drones: RAND Weekly Recap

This weekly recap focuses on the effects of the U.S. withdrawal from Syria, one expert's take on climate policy, how drones could help get blood to soldiers who need it, and more.

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Restorative Justice Isn't a Panacea, but It Can Promote Better Relationships Among Students

Restorative practices aren't necessarily a cure-all. But if implemented well, they can contribute to an overall solution. Teaching children to treat one another with respect has the potential to make schools safer and to help kids get along better throughout their lives.

Joie D. Acosta, Matthew Chinman, et al.

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Back to School Means Back to SEL for America's Teachers and Principals

Schools are increasingly adopting programs and practices to build social and emotional learning (SEL) skills. Policymakers can benefit from understanding the educator perspective: how they feel about SEL, what they're doing to promote it, and what resources they need.

Laura S. Hamilton, Christopher Joseph Doss @Chris_J_Doss, et al.

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Theresa May, Emotional Learning, Teachers: RAND Weekly Recap

This weekly recap focuses on Theresa May's resignation, social and emotional learning, the value of a good teacher, and more.

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What Two New Studies Reveal About Restorative Justice in Middle School and How It Can Be Done Better

There are many nuances to the implementation and impact of restorative practices. This suggests that continued experimentation could allow school districts to realize the benefits of instituting these practices and reduce the cost of doing so.

Joie D. Acosta, Catherine H. Augustine, et al.

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Cryptocurrency, Russian Social Media, Congestion Pricing: RAND Weekly Recap

This weekly recap focuses on cryptocurrencies, Russian social media influence, congestion pricing, and more.

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How Do You Measure Social and Emotional Learning?

As the desire to improve SEL for all students grows, it is increasingly important to measure its effectiveness. But the field has lacked an organized method of identifying, choosing, and using the best assessments to measure students' competencies. Two newly developed tools can help.

Jeremy Taylor, Laura S. Hamilton

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Measuring Social-Emotional Skills, Carefully

In the often-fraught debate over education policy, there is growing agreement that educators should pay close attention to the development of the social and emotional skills that allow students to persevere when working on difficult tasks, regulate emotions, and work effectively in teams. But measuring such skills remains a significant challenge.

Laura S. Hamilton, Brian M. Stecher

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Choosing the Right Social and Emotional Learning Programs and Practices

Educators have become increasingly interested in supporting students to cultivate the inter- and intra-personal skills that are developed through the process of social and emotional learning. A new guide developed at RAND is meant to help educators adopt evidenced-based interventions that fit the needs of their students and communities.

Stephani L. Wrabel, Laura S. Hamilton

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Federal Workers, Afghanistan, Sectarianism: RAND Weekly Recap

This weekly recap focuses on the critical roles of federal workers, withdrawing from Afghanistan, countering sectarianism in the Middle East, and more.

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The Impact of Restorative Practices

A recent RAND report focuses on estimates of the impact of restorative practices on comprehensive outcome measures for all students. The report defines these measures in seven outcome domains and leads with the impact on suspensions. It estimates the impact on 50 secondary measures and on the seven primary measures for numerous student subgroups defined by race, income, special needs and English language learner status.

John Engberg, Catherine H. Augustine

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Finding the Right Assessment Tool: Another Resource for Educators and Researchers

To teach something effectively, educators need to determine whether their instructional approaches are working, and make adjustments to those approaches as needed. The Assessment Work Group and RAND have developed tools to assist educators in finding and using assessments to measure social and emotional learning and higher-order cognitive competencies.

Laura S. Hamilton, Brian M. Stecher

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Social and Emotional Learning Prepares Students for Life

The goal of social and emotional learning is to give students the skills they need to work in teams, communicate their ideas, and manage their emotions. Research can help educators determine which programs work and which ones qualify for federal funding under the Every Student Succeeds Act.

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Learning How to Measure Social and Emotional Learning

Educators and policymakers are increasingly focusing on non-academic competencies, known as social and emotional learning. To support growth in these areas, teachers need assessments that can help them understand how well students are learning these skills, and what instructional approaches work best.

Brian M. Stecher, Laura S. Hamilton

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Building Support for Social and Emotional Learning: Having an Evidence Base Is Critical

Students need more than proficiency in reading or math. Perseverance, active listening, empathy and good decision-making help kids succeed both academically and in life. Schools need access to high-quality social and emotional learning assessment measures to ensure programs will improve student learning and their futures.

Sean Grant @GrantSeanP, Laura S. Hamilton