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March 2006
This e-newsletter is intended to
keep you up-to-date on some of the latest SEL research and best
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In This Issue: Focus on Adolescents
From
CASEL's Leadership In this
issue we turn our attention to the issue of the educational, social,
and emotional needs of high school students and the challenges
facing educators in helping students to succeed in high school and
beyond. Especially in the last year, a great deal of national
attention has been directed to these topics. The Gates
Foundation’s billion-dollar-plus investment in small high schools,
the National Governors Association’s call to action, and the
Breaking Ranks II high school reform model are among the most public
of the initiatives to improve high schools. Paths to reform and even
problem definitions are by no means clear, however. In recent weeks
articles in the American School Board Journal and Educational Leadership (www.asbj.com/evs/06/highschool.html
and “The Dropout Problem:
Losing Ground”, Paul E. Barton, in Educational Leadership
(Feb. 2006), Vol. 63, No. 5, pp.14-18 at www.ascd.org)
have described a worsening dropout “crisis.” This was followed
by a lead article in Education
Week titled “The Exaggerated Dropout Crisis,” which
estimates the African American student drop-out rate at closer to
25% than the 50% cited by other researchers (Lawrence
Mishel, Education Week, Mar. 8, 2006, www.edweek.org).
What is not in dispute is that many of our adolescents are hurting.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s (CDC) latest
Youth Risk Behavior Survey reports that, in the previous 12 months,
almost 30% of teens “felt so sad or hopeless almost every day for two weeks or more in a row
that [they] stopped doing some usual activities,” 13% were in a
physical fight on school property, a third were sexually active, and
one in six had made a plan to attempt suicide. This crisis among our
youth has caught the attention of educators, scholars, funders, and
policymakers, who have offered various ideas and initiatives to
improve high schools and change the world around adolescents for the
better. Solutions
are by no means clear. Tom Vander Ark, executive director of
the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation’s education initiatives,
summarized in Education Week last year what had been learned
so far in the nation’s largest high school reform effort, their
small schools initiative: “The biggest lesson learned to date? It
is even harder than we thought to create widespread improvement. My
father is a brain surgeon; this is more complicated.” Mary Utne
O’Brien SEL
and High School Achievement Self-Discipline
Counts More Than IQ. In
a comparative study of over 300 8th graders, researchers
measured the influence of self-discipline and IQ on school success.
Results showed that highly self-disciplined adolescents outperformed
their more impulsive peers on every academic performance variable.
Self-discipline measured in the fall was a better predictor of gains
in academic performance over the school year than was IQ. The
researchers suggest that in a culture that emphasizes instant
gratification, building self-discipline may be the key to success in
learning. Source:
Duckworth, Angela L., and Seligman, Martin E.P. (2005).
Self-discipline outdoes IQ in predicting academic performance of
adolescents. Psychological Science, Vol. 16, No. 12, 939-944. Which
SEL Factors Matter Most? In
another report, Theresa Akay examines two factors prominent in SEL
discussions: student
engagement with school and a
student’s sense of his/her own ability to handle academic tasks
(the SEL skill of self-awareness). She found that both are
significant predictors of school performance, and that of the two,
the latter—which she terms “perceived competence”-- is the
more influential in boosting achievement in mathematics and reading.
That is, students who are confident about their academic
competence—who feel they are up to an academic task—do better
than students who doubt their ability, even when actual ability is
the same for both. The study suggests that the earlier schools and
teachers begin to build students’ healthy self-awareness of
strengths and confidence in their ability to do well, the better
students will perform academically. See Student Context, Student
Attitudes and Behavior and Academic Achievement: An Exploratory
Analysis, MDRC (Manpower Demonstration Research Corporation),
2006 at http://www.mdrc.org/publications/419/overview.html Social
and Behavioral Characteristics Predict Academic Success A
longitudinal study of 576 students in the Pacific Northwest provides
evidence that school-based SEL programs that curb early
manifestations of antisocial behavior and promote school bonding and
social-emotional skills improve student academic achievement. The
researchers found that higher levels of school bonding and better
SEL skills in 7th grade strongly predicted academic
achievement in 10th grade. See Fleming, Charles B.,
Haggerty, Kevin P., Catalano, Richard F., Harachi, Tracy W., Mazza,
James, J., Gruman, Diana H. (2005). Do social and behavioral
characteristics targeted by preventive interventions predict
standardized test scores and grades?
Journal of School Health, Vol. 75, No. 9. Policies and Intervention Address Problem of High School Bullying A
representative national sample of US teenagers surveyed last year
revealed that two-thirds have been verbally or physically harassed
or assaulted during the past year because of their perceived or
actual appearance, gender, sexual orientation, gender expression,
race/ethnicity, disability, or religion. The authors of this report
note that the pervasiveness of negative comments about gayness, for
example, challenges schools to enact anti-harassment policies and
teachers to establish a learning environment safe for all. See
GLSEN’s report From Teasing to Torment: School Climate in
America (2005) at http://www.glsen.org/cgi-bin/iowa/all/news/record/1859.html.
Teacher
Connectedness and Risky Behavior Data collected from a sample of 550 adolescents in juvenile detention facilities was analyzed to explore the relationship between their reported sense of connectedness with teachers and their risk-taking behaviors. Those who reported less teacher connectedness were twice as likely to use drugs, twice as likely to be sexually active and to have sex while using drugs than teens who felt greater connection. The researchers conclude that school-based interventions that enhance the school environment, particularly teachers’ skills and training to maximize the effectiveness of their student interactions, may be an important strategy for reducing risky adolescent behaviors. Source: Voisin, Dexter R., Salazar, Laura F., Crosby, Richard, Diclemente, Ralph, Yarber, William, Staples-Horne, Michelle. Teacher connectedness and health-related outcomes among detained adolescents, Journal of Adolescent Health (Oct. 2005), Vol. 37, Issue 4. Service-Learning
and Community Connections We at CASEL often talk about service learning as a wonderful opportunity for students to act on and build their social and emotional skills—an important “action step” of SEL. We were excited to read news of service-learning integrated into an academic high school program in Hawaii, resulting in a host of good outcomes: positive student academic outcomes and career development, as well as greater attachment to the community, along with benefits to the community and environment. Students rotated through four different service-learning projects each semester. Evaluation results showed that, compared to peers not involved in service learning, the students engaged in service learning were more likely to feel that they contributed to the community, were valued by community members, had responsibility for the welfare for the community, had pride in the community, and took action and made changes in their community. Source: Yamauchi, Lois A., Billig, Shelley H., Meyer, Stephen, Hofshire, Linda. Students outcomes associated with service-learning in a culturally relevant high school program, Journal of Prevention and Intervention in the Community,(2006), Vol. 32, pp. 149-164. Don't miss a research brief on SEL and Service-Learning is available from CASEL, LSS, and ECS, Making the Case for Social and Emotional Learning and Service-Learning (2003) at http://ecs.org/clearinghouse/44/04/4404.pdf. Keeping
Kids in School The
Silent Epidemic: Perspectives of High School Dropouts,
2006, by John M. Bridgeland, John J. DiIulio, Jr., and Karen Burke
Morison, at http://www.civicenterprises.net/pdfs/thesilentepidemic3-06.pdf,
offers insights into reasons why students leave school early as well
as solutions to the dropout crisis. This innovative study went to
the former students themselves in pursuit of answers and found some
surprises. Only 35% of former students cited academic failure as a
major factor in dropping out (and most of these said that their
school hadn’t done all that they could to help them). The large
majority, however, identified social and emotional barriers to
continuing in school. They pointed to problems of engagement and
motivation, lack of caring relationships in school, and lack of
personal support. Building off these responses, the authors suggest
supports that can be provided within the school environment and at
home to improve students’ chances of staying in school:
In
a separate but related report, Paul E. Barton examines the
statistics behind the failure to graduate, the factors that affect
the dropout rate (low-income and single-parent family, getting low
grades in school, being frequently absent, and changing schools),
and programs that successfully support students at risk of dropping
out. Providing support for vulnerable ninth-graders and one-on-one
interaction between students and adults throughout high school is
key. See The Dropout Problem: Losing Ground, in Educational
Leadership (Feb. 2006), Vol. 63, No. 5, pp.14-18 (www.ascd.org)
SEL at the Heart of School Reform Numerous reports and articles have appeared recently about school reform in middle and high schools. Some support lessons CASEL has learned about implementation; others identify structures that CASEL has also found to be valuable, such as freshman academies and close teacher-student relationships. Three valuable resources are: Works
in Progress: A Report on Middle and High School Improvement Programs
(2005) addresses key
challenges in middle and high schools, such as literacy, violence,
prevention, and transitions. Programs are recommended, as well as a
commitment to faithful implementation, willingly executed, time for
success to grow, and support and engagement from the entire learning
community. Comprehensive School Reform Quality Center (AIR) (www.csrq.org/docs/WorksinProgressReport_web.pdf) Breaking
Ranks II: Strategies for Leading High School Reform (2004)
and the just-released, Breaking Ranks in the Middle:
Strategies for Leading Middle Level Reform (2006),
are products of the National Association of Secondary School
Principals and the Education Alliance at Brown University. The
documents establish strategies and recommendations for high school
and middle level education to improve the performance of students
and better equip them for high school and beyond. Three core areas
of practice are emphasized as key to successful reform, and concrete
strategies for addressing each are provided. The core areas are:
The
personalization strand in both books—defined as strengthening
relationships among people in the school community to improve
student performance—is simply different language for social and
emotional learning strategies designed to build student connection
and engagement. These excellent resources are available at http://www.principals.org.
Mosaic:
An EDC Report Series, Focus on High School (Fall
2005) focuses on the
challenge to revamp high schools so that more students graduate by
nurturing both the intellectual and social development of students,
building relevance and connectedness into the curriculum and into
training for teachers. (http://main.edc.org/Mosaic/Mosaic10/toc.asp
and http://main.edc.org/Mosaic/Mosaic10/introduction/asp) Turning
the Tables: Teachers as Students—and Students Teach about Teaching In
My Year as a High School Student, Educational Leadership (March
2006), Vol. 63, No. 6, pp. 63-65 (www.ascd.org),
Deborah Waldron, a high school physics teacher, describes taking a
year-long freshman biology class. Apart from acquiring a newfound
appreciation of biology, she learned new ways to improve her
teaching by becoming more aware of the real pressures that students
experience:
In the Best Practices Club at
Lexington High School, (Massachusetts), students are trained to
critique classes. The idea of this collaboration between students
and teachers to create a better learning environment is spreading to
other schools across the country. To learn more, visit the Best
Practices website at www.bestpracticeslex.org
and read Ariela Rothstein’s article in Education Week (Feb. 8, 2006), Students as Coaches: One High School’s
Experiment in Using Students’ Perceptions to Help Teachers Improve
Instruction at http://www.edweek.org/ew/articles/2006/02/08/22rothstein.h25.html?querystring=Students%20as%20Coaches&levelId=1000. The Boston Plan for Excellence, the local education fund, set out to assess the quality of relationships among faculty and students in Boston schools. Students were enlisted as researchers and their findings about improving school climate are published. Recommendations are to:
To
read about the findings and the process in order to involve students
in your school, go to: A Whole School Turns out to Build Relationships ~ and Student Success An ambitious pilot program in
Lancaster High School (TX) teams every senior with a mentor, who
might be a teacher or instructional aide, a secretary, or an
administrator. Mentors meet with their student at least once every
six weeks to discuss college plans, entrance exams, TAKS (the state
tests required for graduation), and opportunities for tutoring.
Already this year, 33% more students have passed the necessary TAKS
tests than last year, and the mentoring program is getting credit
for this; plans are being made to expand the program to other high
school grades. All Seniors in Texas High School Get Mentors, Sean
Cavanagh, in Education Week, Feb. 22, 2006 (www.edweek.org). See Safe and Sound: An Educational Leader's Guide to Evidence-Based Social and Emotional Learning (SEL) Programs (http://www.casel.org/projects_products/safeandsound.php) for information on a number of excellent SEL programs with high school components, including Community of Caring, Lions-Quest Skill Series, and Teenage Health Teaching Modules. Practice
idea: For
the high school teachers among our readers who want to
"try" SEL, here's a suggestion. One way to personalize the
classroom and to promote social and emotional learning is to offer
choices from day one. First, choices convey that there isn't just
one way to meet a goal or complete a task, thus acknowledging that
every class exhibits a wide range of learning preferences, styles
and motivators. Second, choices encourage self-efficacy and
self-expression. Students get to say to themselves, "I chose to
do it this way and here's why." Third, providing more
opportunities for choice comes with the expectation of being more
personally responsible and accountable. And finally, offering
academic and behavioral choices invites cooperation, reduces student
resistance to learning, and minimizes adversarial relationships
between students and teachers. New
York State Mental Health/SEL Policy, 2006 Here in Illinois, we feel that the
Illinois’ Children’s Mental Health Act of 2003, which led to the
creation of SEL standards for all students, is something of a
miracle—a major benchmark in the education establishment’s
attention to SEL. So we are thrilled to report that legislators in
New York have proposed a similar act based on the Illinois
legislation. Proposed Bill A9649 would require establishment of a
children’s mental health plan and incorporation of social and
emotional development standards into elementary and secondary school
educational guidelines. http://assembly.state.ny.us/leg/?bn=A09649&sh=t Proposed
Federal Education Budget for 2007 The President’s proposed education
budget for 2007 is 5.5% less than 2006, and would eliminate 42
education programs, such as vocational education, after-school
programs, Perkins Loans, career and technical education, school
counseling, and Safe and Drug-Free Schools through the reduction to
Title 1 grants by $3 billion. See http://www.stateline.org/live/ViewPage.action?siteNodeId=136&languageId=1&contentId=86486 Anti-Bullying
Act of 2005 Building on the safe school legislation already in place, the new proposed bill (HR 284) requires schools and districts to include discipline policies against bullying and harassment; establish complaint procedures for students and parents; and annually notify parents of new anti-bullying policies and procedures. (http://www.bullypolice.org/national_law.html) Policy
Analysis for Mental Health in Schools The recent findings released in the SAMHSA report: School Mental Health Services in the United States, 2002-2003 are given a context in The Current Status of Mental Health in Schools: A Policy and Practice Analysis, published by the UCLA School Mental Health Project. Read the report at: http://smhp.psych.ucla.edu/currentstatusmh.htm. Helpful
Websites about High School Reform Center for Comprehensive School
Reform: www.centerforcsri.org Comprehensive School Reform Quality
Center: www.csrq.org Wested Website on Secondary School
Improvement, Schools Moving Up:
http://www.schoolsmovingup.net/cs/wested/print/htdocs/home.htm Revised
Educational Policies, State-by-State All education-related policies
enacted by states over the past year are at your fingertips. Read,
for example, how states articulate Character Education Policy or
High School Drop-out Rates, at http://www.ecs.org/ecs/ecscat.nsf/Web2005All?OpenView&Count=-1 Data/Trends The US Department of Education
reports that 73.9% of American high school students graduated in
four years for the class of 2002-03, with a range from 59.6% for
Washington, DC, to 87% for New Jersey.
See The Averaged
Freshman Graduation Rate for High Schools, from Common Core of Data,
2001-02, 2002-03, at http://nces.ed.gov/pubsearch/pubsinfo.asp?pubid=2006601
for this and other useful data. The Education Commission of the
States (ECS) regularly issues useful compilations and comparisons of
state policies and data collected on a wide variety of topics. To
view information about high schools, standards, requirements, state
data systems, and other related topics, go to: A
Profile of the American High School Seniors in 2004: A First Look
provides an array of demographic data and information about the
plans, expectations, and views of education from these recent
graduates of the American educational system at http://nces.ed.gov/pubsearch/pubsinfo.asp?pubid=2006348. What
Works Clearinghouse New Help Desk Launched in January 2006 under the
auspices of the US Department of Education’s Institute of
Education, the Help Desk serves to provide policymakers,
practitioners, and researchers with practical, easy-to-use resources
to advance evidence-based education, particularly for program
implementation and evaluation. http://www.whatworkshelpdesk.ed.gov/ LSS
Partnership Series on Adolescents LSS’s Partnership Series includes
four concise brochures about adolescence written for parents and
teachers. See “The ABCs of Coping with Adolescence” and “The
Four Ls of Building Adolescent Identity” at www.temple.edu/lss/partnerships.htm. Multimedia
Resource: Discussion Guide and DVD of “Making Schools Work >
High Schools That Work” This PBS Special aired in October
2005 and highlighted ways schools of all levels are addressing
school improvement by adopting attitudes and programs for change. http://www.pbs.org/makingschoolswork/sbs/hstw/index.html A discussion guide is now available
free-of-charge; a DVD of the broadcast can be purchased.
They are designed to stimulate public discussion of effective
techniques and successful examples of school change. See the guide
and ordering information at www.pbs.org/makingschoolswork/discussionguide.pdf. The Southern Regional Education Board
(SREB) oversees the High Schools That Work program and provides
reports on schools in participating states with regard to their
progress in meeting High Schools That Work standards. See: http://www.sreb.org/programs/hstw/publications/PubsDisplay.asp The
Adolescent Brain The adolescent brain is still under construction, which has implications for impulse control, planning, and decision-making (all SEL skills)—and for how we understand adolescent behavior. Surrounding teens with caring parents, adults, and institutions while their cognitive development evolves is crucial. See The Adolescent Brain: A Work in Progress (2005), Daniel R. Weinberger, Brita Elvevag, Jay N. Giedd at http://www.teenpregnancy.org/resources/reading/pdf/BRAIN.pdf. Inside
High School Reform: Making the Changes that Matter,
by Jordan Horowitz (Wested, 2005) details the turnaround approaches
that are preparing more students for college. Read Horowitz’s
“Top Ten Tips for Improving High Schools” and an interview about
the research that went into the book at www.wested.org/cs/we/view/rs_press/38.
Doing
the Right Thing: Ethical Development Across Diverse Environments:
New Directions fo Youth Development (2006),
No. 108, includes “Promoting children’s ethical development
through social and emotional learning,” by CASEL staff and
associates: Elizabeth Devaney, Mary Utne O’Brien, Mary Tavegia,
and Hank Resnick. http://www.josseybass.com/WileyCDA/WileyTitle/productCd-0787985430.html Smart
and Good High Schools: Integrating Excellence and Ethics for Success
in School, Work, and Beyond (2005).
Thomas Lickona
and Matthew Davidson argue for incorporating good character in high
schools, proposing performance character as the means that
will push students to do their best work (to develop one’s
talents, work hard, and achieve goals in school, work and beyond).
For overview, see http://www.cortland.edu/character/highschool/chapters/SnGReport.pdf. Emotionally
Intelligent School Counseling,
edited by John Pellitteri, Robin Stern, Claudia Shelton, Barbara
Muller-Ackerman (Mahwah, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates, 2006),
includes a chapter entitled “Emotional Networks and Counseling the
High School Student” by Michael T. Daly and John Pellitteri that
articulates the developmental changes and emotional struggles that
coincide with the four years of high school for most students. http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0805850341/102-5138440-8988961?v=glance&n=283155 The
Advisory Guide: Designing and Implementing Effective Advisory
Programs in Secondary Schools (2004)
by Rachel A. Poliner and Carol Miller Lieber is a comprehensive
guide that includes 15 different advisory formats and over 130
sample activities organized around 10 advisory themes. And for a classic book about adolescents… Raising Emotionally Intelligent Teenagers: Parenting with Love, Laughter, and Limits, by Maurice J. Elias, Steven E. Tobias, and Brian S. Friedlander, New York: Harmony Books, 2000. Department
of Education Forecast of Funding Seeking
Young Heroes for $2,000 Barron Prize MetLife
Foundation Bridge Builders Grant Free
National & Global Youth Service Day Materials 2006 All-USA Teacher Team USA
TODAY is accepting nominations for the 2006 All-USA Teacher Team, a Unsung
Heroes Awards Program Butler-Cooley
Excellence in Teaching Awards for 2006 This
award honors teachers who have demonstrated exceptional dedication
and skill in shaping the lives of children and teens through
education. Maximum
award: $5000 cash and travel and lodging expenses to the Turnaround
Management Association conference in Orlando, FL.
Eligibility: primary and secondary school teachers employed
by accredited schools for at least five years.
Deadline: May 1, 2006. Grants
to Help Ease the Transition of Students Switching Schools and
Relocating Awards
will be granted to high school seniors who have demonstrated an
ability to overcome difficulties during their family’s relocation.
Awards are based on an essay (up to 500 words).
Maximum award: $2000. Eligibility: High school seniors
graduating from school this academic year and proceeding to a two-
or-four-year college, and who have relocated in the past five years.
Deadline: May
15, 2006 The
NEA Foundation Grants
Grants for Arts, Education, and Health Projects National
Coordinating Committee on School Health and Safety.
May 17, First
International Conference on Community Psychology: Shared Agendas in National
Mental Health Association
– June 8-10, Washington, DC – Community
Schools Conference,
June 14-16, Baltimore Maryland, Renaissance Harborplace Hotel. http://www.communityschools.org Success
in Sight 2006: Learning, Leading and the Future,
June 14-16, Denver CO. Sponsored by McRel and Teachscape. Speakers
include Bob Marzano, Willard Daggett, Tim Waters, Laura Lefkowitz. http://www.teachscape.com/html/ts/public/html/events/mcrell06.htm. American
School Counselor Association,
June 24-27, Chicago, IL http://www.schoolcounselor.org Educating Minds and Hearts:
Creating a Climate for Learning,
July 11-14, New York, NY. http://www.csee.net/Summerinstitute.aspx 2006
Annual Youth Leadership Conference “Ethics in Action” 2006
Community of Caring National K-12 Character Education Conference CSMHA
11th Annual Conference on Advancing School-Based Mental Health
– 80th Annual American School Health
Association Conference: Healthy Bodies, Healthy Minds:
The Mental Health Connection – October 11-14, St. Louis, MO
– http://www.ashaweb.org/annual_conferences.html 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. Collaborative
for Academic, Social, and Emotional Learning (CASEL)
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