Thursday, May 16, 2013

The Missing Piece -- How Social and Emotional Learning Can Empower Children and Transform School

This piece originally appeared in the Huffington Post.
By John Bridgeland and Mary Bruce


In classrooms across America, teachers teach their students the knowledge and skills required for academic achievement. They plan lessons, share knowledge, comment on homework, grade tests and engage their students in learning. In addition to these core responsibilities, many teachers also inspire their students, and teach them how to dream, thrive, and succeed -- even after failure. But in too many classrooms, students and their teachers focus so much attention on the cognitive elements of education that other life skills are left behind. While reading and writing are intentionally taught, the skills of resilience and responsibility are often not. Arithmetic and higher math skills are embedded in school goals, but not necessarily persistence and grit. As a result, an "either/or" dynamic has been established that prioritizes academic skills, at the expense of "social and emotional" learning, which includes essential life skills such as self-awareness and management, grit and determination, empathy and conflict resolution, discipline and industriousness, and the application of knowledge and skills to real-world situations.
This counterproductive dynamic has been established despite overwhelming evidence that social and emotional learning (SEL) boosts student achievement. An analysis of more than 200 rigorous studies indicates that students who received social and emotional learning had achievement scores an average of 11 percentile points higher than students who did not, together with improved attitudes and behaviors and reduced emotional distress (1). What's even more striking is that these are the very life skills and experiences that high school dropouts themselves told us would have kept them in school and on a path to success (2).
And now, for the first time, we know that those on the front lines of schools -- our teachers -- endorse social and emotional learning as a key part of American education. Our report released this week, The Missing Piece, shares the findings from a nationally-representative sample of 605 educators from preschool through 12th grade. Nearly all teachers (93 percent) believe SEL is "very" or "fairly" important for the in-school student experience. Even more (95 percent) believe that social and emotional skills are teachable, and 87 percent report that SEL benefits students from all backgrounds, rich and poor. The national survey shows that SEL can help address key national challenges, including that America's educational advantage is slipping. College attainment rates in the U.S. are growing at a below-average rate compared to other peer nations and there are approximately three million jobs for which the U.S. is not training qualified workers (3). Teachers agree that social and emotional learning is a key part of the solution to address these challenges.
Teachers across the country explained that SEL increases student interest in learning, improves student behavior, prevents and reduces bullying and improves school climate. In all, more than three quarters of teachers believe a larger focus on SEL will be a major benefit to students because of positive effects on workforce readiness (87 percent), school attendance and graduation (80 percent), life success (87 percent), college preparation (78 percent) and academic success (75 percent).
We have powerful examples of schools, districts, and states intentionally prioritizing SEL in programs and policies with tremendous results. In Austin, Texas, teachers report more students are on task and engaged during lessons. In Cleveland, Ohio, the number of out-of-school suspensions decreased district-wide by 58.8 percent over a six-year period. And now, we have the voices of teachers saying that social and emotional learning is a key solution to empower students and transform schools.
Yet, SEL has been underutilized for too long. Our lack of action inhibits students across the country from fully realizing their potential as knowledgeable, responsible, caring, and contributing individuals. The survey provides insights into paths forward. Indeed, teachers themselves identified key accelerators for social and emotional learning. For example, two of three teachers (62 percent) think the development of social and emotional skills should be explicitly stated in their state education standards. Other actions, including tying SEL to classroom, school, and district goals and funding integrated professional development to educators could advance the strategic and systemic use of SEL in schools to promote student success as learners, workers, and citizens. The Academic, Social, and Emotional Learning Act of 2013, introduced this month by U.S. Rep. Tim Ryan (D-Ohio), would allow the flexible use of federal funds to support teachers' professional development in social and emotional learning.
With this knowledge, we must act to ensure that teachers are supported in this important work, and students are equipped with the knowledge and skills they need to be successful in school, work and life. Or, as one educator simply put it, SEL is "tough work but it's the right work."
John Bridgeland and Mary Bruce are co-authors of The Missing Piece, a report by Civic Enterprises with Hart Research for the Collaborative for Academic, Social, and Emotional Learning (CASEL). The report is available at www.casel.org or www.civicenterprises.net
References:
[1] Greenberg, M.T., Weissberg, R.P., O'Brien, M.U., Zins, J.E., Fredericks, L., Resnik, H., & Elias, M.J. (2003, June/July). Enhancing School-Based Prevention and Youth Development through Coordinated Social, Emotional, and Academic Learning. American Psychologist 58(6/7), 466-474; Kress, J.S. & Elias, M.J. (2006). Building Learning Communities through Social and Emotional Learning: Navigating the Rough Seas of Implementation. Professional School Counseling 10(1), 102-107; Zins, J.E., Bloodworth, M.R., Weissberg, R.P., & Walberg, H.J. The Scientific Base Linking Social and Emotional Learning to School Success. In J.E. Zins, R.P. Weissberg, M.C. Wang, & H.J. Walberg (Eds.), Building Academic Success on Social and Emotional Learning: What Does The Research Say? (pp. 3-22). New York, NY: Teachers College Press; Durlak, J., Weissberg, R., Dymnicki, A., Schellinger, K. (2011, January/February). The Impact of Enhancing Students' Social and Emotional Learning: A Meta-Analysis of School-Based Universal Interventions. Child Development, 82(1), 405-432.
[2] Bridgeland, J., Dilulio Jr., J., & Morison, K. (2006, March). The Silent Epidemic: Perspectives of High School Dropouts. Washington, D.C.: Civic Enterprises. 

[3] Carnelvale, A., Smith, N. & Strohl, J.. (2010, June). Help Wanted : Projections of Jobs and Education Requirements through 2018. Georgetown University Center on Education and The Workforce.

Thursday, May 9, 2013

American Graduate is Hiring!


The Corporation for Public Broadcasting is hiring a Project Manager for Media Engagement.  I work with them on their American Graduate initiative, which is harnessing the power of public media stations across the country to address our nation's high school dropout challenge. More details about the job here: http://www.cpb.org/jobline/results.php?q=cpb.


Friday, May 3, 2013

My friend Catherine


My friend Catherine was hit by a car many years ago and lost her leg. She is a strong, smart, and brave woman who lives in Boston and works in health care. She wrote this a couple of weeks ago after the terrible incidents at the Boston Marathon. Very worth the read.

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I live in Boston and I’m an amputee.  Since the Boston Marathon bombings nearly two weeks ago, there has been a lot of media coverage touching on the amputations that have resulted from the horrible events of April 15, 2013.  It was only hours after the bombs exploded that local newscasters reporting live from outside Boston hospitals told viewers glued to TV sets that many victims had suffered severe lower leg injuries and limb loss.  How many?  They seemed to pause for dramatic effect before reporting the latest number.  Four at Mass General.  Six at Brigham and Womens.  A little girl at Children’s Hospital. 

A couple of days later, newspaper stories appeared, now with names, ages, and details of the amputations. This one, a 38-year old woman who lost both legs above the knee in the blast.  Another, 31, who decided to allow an amputation of her lower left leg as an alternative to living with a foot salvaged but badly damaged.  A couple of nights ago, NBC Nightly News joined other media outlets now shifting focus to the post-crisis period, the beginning of the healing phase. For these victims, now what?  “They have reported to Boston as though reporting for duty,” Brian Williams said, as he introduced viewers to two Wounded Warriors. They are veterans of the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan who lost legs in battle.  They've been visiting the Boston victims and sharing talk of specialized prostheses for running, biking, and “even SCUBA.”  It was a story that seemed aimed to give hope.  Yesterday morning, NPR’s Morning Edition ran a similar piece, to bring listeners in on what it’s like to be an amputee.  It highlighted a local young man, a former football star, who’d lost his legs in a car accident.  In that deep and soothing voice, Bob Oakes concluded by saying that this young man, “hopes that the survivors can focus on the positives and the future ahead, and know that they, too, can eventually run again.”

I have had a hard time hearing and watching nearly all of the media coverage since the bombings.  I lost my left leg below the knee after I was hit by a car while out for a run on September 15, 2000.  Since then, I have earned two degrees, lived in three new places, and held three different jobs.  I’ve also worked with some eight separate prosthetists, and have been fitted and cast more times for more prosthetic legs than I’m able to count.  Only a handful of them, over the past nearly 13 years, has enabled me to walk consistently without pain for more than several months.

Amputation as covered by popular media focuses on technology,athletics, and inspiration.  Prosthetics is portrayed as a highly advanced, clean and beautiful science – where biology and robotics meet to produce shiny, precision instruments that act as human parts,or better.  Amputees seem to come in just a couple of varieties – mostly veteran, Paralympian, or even model-triathlete –but often running and always inspiring.  The tragedy, the loss – yes, that is acknowledged. Yes, that is recognized.  But,viewing public, do not fear!  Do not lose heart.  With the science of prosthetics,this man will SCUBA again.  This woman,brave and determined as she is, will put on those favorite 3-inch heels and walk right across the room!  By the end of this 45-second story, you’ll see how it all comes full circle.  How everything comes to be okay again.  And you won’t have to feel sad, anymore, about the Boston Marathon amputees.  After all,they will run again.

This view of what it is to be an amputee is nothing like my experience.  I have not come full circle.  It is not possible to tie a neat bow around my story.  As my life goes on,evolves and changes, so does my experience of being an amputee.  And this includes both daily inconveniences and serious, painful challenges.  I have struggled to attain and maintain a single prosthetic leg that is consistently comfortable and meets my needs.  Prosthetics has revealed itself to me as an art more than a science, where there is rarely certainty about the cause of a new problem, and trial and error is the primary approach to resolving each new issue.  I grant that the technology is impressive. But the interface between that glorious technology and the human body –the part of prosthetics that deals with the fit and attachment of artificial limb to skin and bone – is not.  It’s unreliable.  It’s hot.  The most important piece is made by hand, so your prosthetist better have the right touch.

I have also not returned to running.  There are a variety of practical, technical,and probably psychological-emotional reasons for that.  It’s not out of the question prosthetically,but it wouldn’t be easy either.  Yet it is the most common question I get from people after telling them about my accident, which makes me think it is the prevailing expectation of other people for what I should be doing.

I don’t want the Boston marathon victims to have to think right now about all the crappy things about being an amputee.  I don’t wish that on them.  But I must say this.  Each of those individual people will have their own experience of being an amputee.  Just like I’m having mine, they will each have a journey of their own.  They will have their own successes and setbacks.  They will make choices about what activities they want to pursue, and what kinds and numbers of legs they want to do them.  No one should expect or ask them all to follow the model of an inspirational-made-for-TV story.

In the process of living their lives and being their whole selves, if any one of them is inspirational to you or any other single person,then I say that is truly beautiful.  But I have a strong urge to say out loud to anyone who will hear – please, engage your mind and seek your own true reactions to these stories of amputees you see on TV.  We amputees each deserve that.  Avoid being blindly sucked into the simplicity of the inspirational story, with the neat and heartwarming ending.

I am an amputee; that is in the fabric of my life.  If someone finds me inspiring – or doesn’t, because I’m not running again – then that is his or her feeling to have.   But no one else gets to define my story.  I’m the one living out my life with “amputee” as part of it, I own my story, and I’m not giving that up to Brian Williams or anybody else.