Warren Buffett's 'Reverse Birthday Gift' Could Benefit SEL

Today, on his 82nd birthday, the billionaire raised his pledge to three foundations run by his children, bringing his annual donation to about $100 million per year to each. One of the charities is NoVo Foundation, a major CASEL supporter since 2011. »

SEL-Focused Charter School Wins Approval from School Leaders

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Two Teach For America Alumni Chosen as First-Ever SEL Research Fellows

Doctoral students Amy Mart and Ari Frede begin two-year fellowships this month with UIC's SEL Research Group and the Collaborative for Academic, Social, and Emotional Learning. »

Empathy Begins at School

Sundeep Khanna writes that we are not genetically hard-wired to be good citizens. It's an acquired value that needs to be taught. »

Toledo Teachers Start School Today, Trained in Responsive Classroom

Teachers at Toledo Public Schools spent four days of the summer studying the CASEL SELect program. The U.S. Department of Education has found that implementing Responsive Classroom techniques can lead to gains in students' math and reading skills. »

California School Leaders to Vote on SEL-Focused Charter School

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CASEL SELect Program Leads to Achievement Gains in Math and Reading

Responsive Classroom practices lead to teacher improvement and student gains, according to a recently completed three-year, $2.9 million study funded by the U.S. Department of Education. »

New Suburban Chicago Assistant Principal is 'Passionate' about SEL

Gina Pogue Reeder, a former social worker in Elmhurst, Ill., says some schools have assumed that students should "just know" how to behave and deal with their emotions. »

Reading, Writing and Character

NPR's Tom Ashbrook talks with CASEL researcher Kim Schonert-Reichl and Scientific American editor Ingrid Wickelgren about the new push to teach perseverance, self-control and mindfulness at school. »

Poll: Americans Want Schools to Discipline Bullies

Almost one of two American adults said they had been bullied by another student when they were in school, and three of four Americans believe that bullying prevention should be part of a school’s curriculum, according to a Phi Delta Kappan/Gallup poll released today. »

SEL and Classroom Meditation Can Help Kids Develop 'Mental Brawn'

Teachers in nearly 175 schools in Canada and 75 in the United States are teaching mindfulness and other psychological techniques to enhance the learning experience. »

Focus on Reading and Math Scores Is Disproportionate and 'Ridiculous'

Sam Chaltain writes that despite widespread agreement on the importance of social and emotional learning, lawmakers still view schools' success too narrowly. »

Dogs as Role Models: A Lesson in Classroom Management

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Unburden Your Emotional Backpack

Educator Amee Evans Godwin test drives some lessons around managing fear, cultivating trust and encouraging creativity at the recent Social Emotional Learning Institute in Seattle. »

Books That Build Community

Looking for a little weekend reading? Sixth-grade language-arts teacher Donalyn Miller suggests a few titles that help support learning and social and emotional safety. »

Be Proactive in Creating a Kind School Climate

One approach is to train a group of caring kids with good social skills to try to help disputants come to a win-win solution. »

Teaching Students to Honor The Elderly

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How a Progressive New School Evolves

Assessments at Brightworks, a K-12 private school in San Francisco, cover three areas: students’ project-based learning, social and emotional learning, and skills acquisition and quantitative learning. »

Never Mind Algebra. Is Literature Necessary?

"Literature allows us to see how all humans are connected through common experiences and emotions," writes Tim Clifford, an English teacher in New York and author of educational and children's books. »

To Prevent Bullying, We Must First Define It

We need to, among other things, identify emotional and social boundaries, argues Wallace Alcorn, a writer at the Austin Daily Herald in Minnesota. »

Social and Emotional Learning as a Catalyst for Academic Excellence

In a white paper from ICF International, educational consultants Tony Marchesi and Kim Cook write about how CASEL offers some promising strategies for how SEL can be scaled up to help diminish the likelihood that students will drop out. »

Understanding Kids Who Bully

Bullying is a learned behavior. Some people bully in an attempt to feel more powerful. Conversely, people with healthy self-esteem seldom consciously choose to hurt others. »

'Bully' Director Says School Administrators Have Warmed to His Film, and to SEL

Lee Hirsch says "the win in this bigger conversation is the more you see that move towards social and emotional learning." His film "Bully," released in the United States in March, opens in Australian theaters this month. »

What Do Emotions Have to Do with Learning?

In a recent paper, Notre Dame psychologist Sidney D’Mello contends, perhaps counter-intuitively, that even negative emotions can play a productive role in learning. »

Can Kids Be Taught Persistence?

In his new book, author Paul Tough makes the case that intangible qualities — self-control, perseverance and grit — are far more important than letter grades in accounting for student success. »

Goldie Hawn's MindUP Program Has Been 'Wildly Successful on a Number of Fronts'

Scientific American writer Ingrid Wickelgren highlights how Goldie Hawn's mindfulness program helps children cultivate self-control, focus and perseverance — and how similar efforts to train social and emotional skills have also shown promise. »

The Problem With Punishing Emotions

Author and educator Luke Reynolds writes that when we punish students for feeling angry, we teach them that anger is an unacceptable emotion. »

From Emotional to Ecological Intelligence

Drawing from Daniel Goleman's upcoming book, "Ecoliterate," Lisa Bennett explains how integrating emotional, social and ecological intelligence adds up to a good deal more than the sum of its parts. »

Language Is Key to 'Opening Minds'

Peter Johnston's "Opening Minds: Using Language to Change Lives" shows how words can shape students' learning, their sense of self, and their social, emotional and moral development. »

Connected Educator Month: Game-Based Learning

The federal government's Institute for Education Sciences is funding a web-based environment for elementary students to engage with animated, life-like characters to solve tailored social problems. »

Examining Your School's Climate

The vast majority of teachers say their schools are free of racial and ethnic tensions — but that's not what federal reports say. Use these resources to assess your school's climate. »

'Sally' Book Designed to Help Children Develop Emotional Literacy

"Sally Simon Simmons’ Super Frustrating Day" helps children ages 2-5 understand and deal with the big feeling of frustration with patience and practice, the publisher says. »

Singapore Schools, Ranked Among Best in World Tests, Teach 5 SEL Competencies

"Prevention is better than cure," says Pak Tee Ng, a leadership professor in Singapore. He specifically cites five core competencies taught at schools in his country — the same ones CASEL includes in its own model. »

Want to Help Poor Students? Enrich School Climate and SEL

Peter Meyer hopes that recent efforts to improve school climate and social and emotional learning will motivate more school leaders to believe that they can and must face poverty squarely, in the classroom. »

Oakland Unified School District Seeks Middle- and High-School SEL Teacher

Candidates should have knowledge of social-emotional learning and adult-learning theory, as well as experience supporting leadership and providing professional development. »

When Educators Cut Recess, Kids Lose Out on Social and Emotional Learning

An advocate for play-based learning and the chief medical officer at the New Orleans Recovery School District argue that cutting recess means children lose out on exercise as well as the social and emotional learning that takes place outside the classroom. »

Morning Meetings, Check-Ins and Social-Emotional Learning

Using examples from her own classroom, educator Jackie Gerstein outlines how morning meetings help build strong social and emotional learning. »

Livestream Video | StopBullying.gov

Watch livestream videos of government events related to bullying. »

SEL Advocate Named New Assistant Superintendent in Downers Grove, Ill.

As principal of Pleasant Ridge School in Glenview, Matt Rich helped support social and emotional learning. »

Discipline and School Spirit

In the first of two posts on the subject, Rutgers University professor Maurice Elias looks back at the words of those who have thought about social-emotional aspects of education, written about them, and created successful and effective efforts to promote them. »