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"Brain breaks" and other tools and strategies to promote students’ awareness of their emotions and help them to learn important self-regulation skills are part of Lakewood Elementary School’s comprehensive approach to integrating social and emotional learning alongside academic instruction. Throughout the school year, and especially in the first six weeks of school, teachers spend time directly teaching social-emotional skills using separate lessons. These strategies are then reinforced throughout the day and year.
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Both students' learning and their overall health and well-being are improved when schools adopt "whole child" supports and practices. Multi-disciplinary research identifies four main ingredients of school success that allow us to care for and nurture the potential in all children: a positive school climate, productive instructional strategies, social-emotional development, and individualized supports. In this post, LPI Senior Researcher Lisa Flook identifies the steps schools and school systems can take to foster students’ social and emotional well-being.
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In 2013, California enacted far-reaching education reform. It included a bold, new approach to equitable funding, a more holistic vision of student and school success, and community engagement in decision-making. Although its size and scale put California in a league of its own, the lessons from this decade-plus effort to reimagine, enact, and implement a better system offer guidance for all those looking to make—or influence—education policy.
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In a commentary on school funding, Linda Darling-Hammond writes that investing wisely in education is increasingly important to the success of individuals, economies, and societies. Policymakers at the federal and state levels can play a role in ensuring schools receive equitable and adequate resources. In doing so, the country can close educational achievement gaps and increase the U.S. GDP, extending benefits to us all.
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The report, California’s Positive Outliers: Districts Beating the Odds, provides insight into the California districts that are most successful at advancing the academic achievement of African American, Latino/a, and White students, as measured by standardized tests. Lead author Anne Podolsky discusses the study's key findings and their implications for local and state policymakers.
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What is the place of technology in the classroom? Some would say it doesn't belong. But a number of states, including California, are investing in technology—and for good reason.
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California has an opportunity to invest in its children by investing in its educators. To do so effectively, the state should consider a multi-dimensional approach that includes a true infrastructure of support, higher professional standards, and competitive compensation. With these investments and holistic approach, California will be one step closer to setting its youngest learners on a path to good health, academic success, and economic security later in life.
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Teachers and district leaders are leveraging performance assessments to provide students with opportunities to explore interests and issues of their own choosing as they show what they know and are able to do. These authentic assessments create structures and processes for students to bring their full selves to the learning, creating culturally relevant and context-rich projects that can also address community concerns.
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School finance issues are taking center stage in many states, but the language used to communicate about funding isn't always clear and helpful. For building trust and understanding, it matters how we talk about school finance issues. The latest research on communicating about school finance issues are distilled into helpful do's and don'ts.
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The Trump administration rescission of federal school discipline guidance and proposals to arm teachers is making our schools more like prisons and less like centers of learning. In this Forbes commentary, Linda Darling-Hammond discusses the wide body of research showing that these policies backfire and real school safety will come from investments in social-emotional learning and restorative justice practices.
