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In This Issue: School Engagement and Connectedness  

• Spotlight on Research: SEL after-school programs curb delinquency; violent crime in school cut in half over 10 years; parental involvement directly influences underage drinking; Emily Warner, resilience guru, featured in Time magazine
• Spotlight on Practice: Suspensions becoming more common discipline approach; National Youth Anti-Drug Media Campaign; safety by design; making schools smaller only first step; school accountability for social and emotional development; Office of Safe and Drug Free Schools 2005 Conference
• CASEL Up-Close: IL SEL Learning Standards update

From CASEL's Leadership  

Roger P. Weissberg                                          Mary Utne O’Brien
President                                                          Executive Director

Spotlight on Research 

SEL After-School Programs Curb Delinquency

In a study of after-school programs conducted in Maryland during the 1999-2000 school year, Denise Gottfredson and colleagues found that participation in after-school programming reduced delinquent behavior at the middle school level but not for elementary school children. Programs emphasizing social skills and character development produced the greatest positive outcomes. They typically included social competency instruction in areas such as self-control, stress management, responsible decision making, social problem solving, and communication skills. Elementary school programs tended not to emphasize social skills, and the authors speculate this may be one reason the programs were not effective at the elementary level.

Source: Gottfredson, D.C., Gerstenblith, S.A., Soule, D.A., Womer, S.C., and Lu, S. (2004). Do after school programs reduce delinquency? Prevention Science 5(4), 253-266.

Although the Gottfredson study did not identify specific after-school programs, many good ones are now available. Educators for Social Responsibility (ESR), which developed the highly regarded Resolving Conflict Creatively program, now offers After-School Adventures in Peacemaking, with an emphasis on social and emotional skill development. You can learn more about it on the ESR web site.

WINGS for kids also has an after-school program that fosters social and emotional learning. Designed for low-income students in grades K-6, it consists of 15 hours per week of academic, social, and emotional learning activities. For more information, visit wingsforkids.com.

Violent Crime in School Cut in Half Over 10 Years

The rate of total violent crimes in school settings against students ages 12 to 18 dropped by half between 1992 and 2002, according to a November 2004 report by the U.S. Departments of Education and Justice. The report presents data on student and teacher victimization, students' perception of personal safety, gangs, student reports of bullying, students being called hate-related words and seeing hate-related graffiti, and student alcohol and drug abuse.

The report found declines in violent crime, fighting at school, and carrying a weapon to school. Student fears of being attacked at or on the way to school also declined.

On the downside, increases occurred in some problem areas: 7% of students report being bullied at school (up from 5% in 1999), with rural students reporting the greatest likelihood of bullying (10%); 12% of students reported that someone at school had used hate-related words against them; 36% of students saw hate-related graffiti at school; and 21% of students reported that street gangs were present at their schools.

The full report is available online at http://nces.ed.gov/pubsearch/pubsinfo.asp?pubid=2005002

Parental Involvement Directly Influences Underage Drinking

Some well-intentioned parents believe they can increase parental monitoring and control over teen alcohol consumption and decrease drunk-driving rates by supplying alcohol to their teens and their friends at parties in their own homes. However, a recent research report examining drinking habits of 6,000 teens in 242 communities finds such parents are actually more likely to be raising binge drinkers. (Source: Adults’ approval and adolescent alcohol use. (2004). Journal of Adolescent Health, 35(4), 345-346).

These findings are consistent with an analysis of the 2003 National Survey on Drug Use and Health. The analysis found that adolescents who start drinking before they are 15 are five times more likely to report alcohol dependence or abuse alcohol in adulthood than individuals who first used alcohol at age 21 or older. A startling 16% of those who began drinking alcohol before age 14 were classified with alcohol abuse or dependence. The rate of alcohol dependence or abuse was 9% for individuals who began drinking between ages 15 and 17, and 4.2% for those who began drinking alcohol between ages 18 and 20.

The summary is available online at http://162.99.3.50/news/newsreleases/041022nr_delayed_alcohol.htm. To read the full report, go to www.oas.samhsa.gov.

Emmy Werner, Resilience Guru, Featured in Time Magazine

For several decades, Emmy Werner, a professor of human development at the University of California at Davis, has been an international leader in research on the ways in which children develop resilience even under the harshest circumstances. Long revered by child development experts, she became something of a minor celebrity recently when Time Magazine dedicated a major feature to her career and ideas. As noted in the Time article, characteristics of resilient children Werner has identified include the parental bond established in the first three years of life, an easygoing temperament, and teachable skills such as developing a sense of autonomy or being a good reader. To read the article, go to http://www.time.com/time/2005/happiness/the_importance_of_resil20_print.html

SOUND BITE 

"Dr. King fought this war [against social injustice and racism], not with weapons, but he fought it with truth. He fought it with honor. And what he did was not just something that was for black Americans. What Dr. King did that was so profound, that was so fundamental, is what he did for white Americans -- what he did for all Americans." – Colin Powell, accepting the John Thompson Legacy of a Dream Award award this week

Spotlight on Practice

Suspensions Becoming More Common Discipline Approach

Chicago elementary schools are cracking down on discipline problems by suspending a record number of students. Between 1994 and 2003, the number of elementary students who were suspended more than doubled to over 20,000. African-American students made up the largest and disproportionate share of suspended students. Fighting is the most common reason for suspensions. (Source: Catalyst (Dec. 2004). Suspensions up in CPS)

Critics of student suspension say it is a reactive and ineffective approach that fails to address root causes of misbehavior. They argue that prevention practices that give students skills for handling conflict, classes that encourage parents to provide consistent discipline at home, an engaging curriculum, a good school climate, and clear behavioral expectations at school are a more effective approach. For example, the Social Development Project, an intervention for elementary students designed to enhance student bonding to school through sound classroom management and instruction, child skill development, and parent training, has produced long-term reductions in rates of student misbehavior, the need for school disciplinary actions, and suspensions. (Source: The importance of bonding to school for healthy development: Findings from the Social Development Research Group. Journal of School Health, 74(7), 252-262.)

National Youth Anti-Drug Media Campaign

The National Youth Anti-Drug Media Campaign delivers anti-drug messages and skills to America's youth, their parents, and other influential adults. The advertising and messages are science-based and reviewed by an expert panel of professionals with experience developing behavior change communications for ethnic audiences. You can access teacher lessons and parent resources from the campaign at www.theantidrug.com, or view the latest targeted ads at www.MediaCampaign.org.

Safety by Design

In the September issue of American School and University, architect Don Henley encourages schools to reduce the need for physical security measures by improving levels of psychological safety or trust between students and teachers. He advocates a balanced approach to school security, combining unobtrusive facility design features with a social climate that emphasizes trust, conflict resolution, and tolerance. http://asumag.com/mag/university_safety_design/

Making Schools Smaller is Only a First Step

Many school districts, including very large ones like New York City, Chicago, and Los Angeles, are embracing the small school movement and breaking up their largest schools in an effort to increase graduation rates and test scores and foster a feeling of community. But Deborah Meirer, an early advocate of small schools, cautions that this rush to embrace small schools, in the absence of other necessary educational reforms, will result in many school failures and may discredit the whole movement (Source: Is a small school always a better school? (Dec 14, 2004) The Christian Science Monitor).

A smaller school is only a more viable springboard for other reforms that make schools successful. According to Linda Darling-Hammond of the School Redesign Network, these “range from school structures that promote meaningful, sustained relationships among teachers and students, to curriculum and instructional practices that help all students achieve at high levels, to approaches that ensure teachers are experts at their craft, to strategies for involving families in schools and making decisions democratically.” You can learn about Darling-Hammond’s concept of 10 essential features of school reform on the School Redesign Network web site.

School Accountability for Social and Emotional Development 
 
In a recent edition of School Administrator, economist and education theorist Richard Rothstein questions why the skills and character traits employers and parents value most, such as conflict resolution, communication, cooperation, self-discipline, and social responsibility, are not measured in school. The current federal emphasis on standardized testing for reading, math, and science often results in even less attention to other goals of schooling, says Rothstein. Although there is no consensus about which skills to evaluate or the best way to measure them, he encourages a movement toward group assessment of certain social and emotional skills and character traits to ensure schools don’t take a pass on teaching skills so critical for student life success.

You can read the article on the American Association of School Administrators web site. 

Office of Safe and Drug-Free School Conference: Your Input Solicited

[From the Office of Safe and Drug Free Schools] The Office of Safe and Drug-Free School (OSDFS) will be hosting a National Conference in Washington, DC, August 14-17, 2005.  In addition to addressing broad-based issues related to alcohol, drug and violence prevention, the Conference will address issues related to crisis planning; health, mental health, and physical education; civic and character education; scientifically-based programs; and many other areas concerning drug and violence prevention.  We are in the planning stage for this conference and thought you might be interested in providing some topic areas you would like to see covered.  If you have any thematic areas of interest or any questions regarding our conference, please e-mail them to: debbie.kalnasy@ed.gov by close of business, Friday, February 11, 2005.  

CASEL Up-Close  

What Is CASEL?  

CASEL—the Collaborative for Academic, Social, and Emotional Learning—is dedicated to the development of children’s social and emotional competencies and the capacity of schools, parents, and communities to support that development. Based at the University of Illinois at Chicago (UIC), CASEL is working to create a world in which young people will have the academic knowledge and skills they need to achieve their goals and will also be caring, engaged citizens prepared to participate fully in society. CASEL’s mission is to establish integrated, evidence-based social and emotional learning (SEL) from preschool through high school.

What Is SEL?

Social and emotional learning (SEL) is the process of developing fundamental social and emotional competencies or skills in children and creating a caring and supportive school climate. A large number of school-based programs and practices are designed to do this. Many evidence-based school programs that focus on positive youth development, problem prevention, service-learning, and character education can be considered SEL. They work to develop students’ social and emotional competencies and create ways to nurture and support students. The resources in this e-newsletter cover a wide range of topics under the umbrella of school-based SEL programming.

About This Listserv

The FCASEL (“Friends of CASEL”) listserv is intended to keep you up to date on some of the latest SEL research and best practices. To subscribe or unsubscribe, go to http://www.casel.org/listservs/index.php or send an e-mail to Cynthia Coleman at  colemanc@uic.edu with “subscribe FCASEL” or “unsubscribe FCASEL” in the subject line. 

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Collaborative for Academic, Social, and Emotional Learning (CASEL)
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CASEL@uic.edu 
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