Learning from High Schools That Prioritize Social and Emotional Learning

A RAND Corporation report offers key findings and recommendations for implementing the SEL instruction that is critical for college and career success

By Carnegie Corporation of New York January 28, 2022
Student Success
None

With support from Carnegie Corporation of New York, the RAND Corporation has published a report, Social and Emotional Learning Is the Cornerstone: Exploring Integrated, Schoolwide SEL Learning in Two Innovative High Schools, that looks at successful models for supporting students' social and emotional learning (SEL). Prompted by the Corporation’s six-year Opportunity by Design (ObD) evaluation, RAND took a deeper look at two ObD high schools that stood out for their SEL implementation and incorporated three key elements for supporting students’ SEL: establishing relationship-based and equitable learning environments, offering explicit SEL instruction, and integrating SEL into academic instruction.

Although definitions of SEL vary, it generally refers to the knowledge and skills to manage emotions, achieve goals, feel and show empathy, establish and maintain supportive relationships, and make responsible decisions. Research shows that SEL is critical for preparing high school students for college and career success. However, it also indicates that many high schools have not yet implemented programming that offers explicit SEL instruction and integrates it effectively into academic instruction. This report highlights four key factors that contributed to the two high schools’ success, while also offering recommendations for school leaders and teachers interested in promoting schoolwide SEL implementation and integration into academic instruction. 

Key Findings

  • An SEL-focused school mission and clear structures provided opportunities for teachers to support students' SEL skill development. 
  • Personalized learning approaches helped teachers build positive relationships with students and cultivate students' self-awareness. 
  • Mastery-based learning offered teachers a structure in which they could regularly assess SEL competencies and encourage a growth mindset. 
  • Professional development offered before the start of the school year helped teachers focus on and understand students' experiences. 

The RAND report also references a previous Corporation-supported report, From a Nation at Risk to a Nation at Hope, that offered recommendations on how to educate the whole student – namely the social, emotional, and cognitive dimensions of learning as mutually reinforcing rather than distinct. The intention is to help students navigate all of these competencies – alongside the academic ones – for a successful future. 

“The Corporation has a long history of not only investing in direct support for schools and students but also in learning about that work and disseminating findings to benefit the education sector more broadly,” said Saskia Levy Thompson, director of the Corporation’s New Designs to Advance Learning program area. “This report provides particularly timely insight into how to integrate socio-emotional support into the core academic approach at a time when it is most deeply needed by school communities.” 

Recommendations:

  • School leaders should embed SEL into the core school mission.
  • School leaders should develop a clear, well-defined vision for SEL and build a shared understanding of SEL within the school.
  • High school leaders should incorporate SEL competencies into the school's expectations for students and teach and assess SEL competencies alongside academic competencies.
  • Teachers and school leaders should consider instructional models – such as personalized learning – that complement and reinforce SEL practices as part of academic instruction.

Read the full report Social and Emotional Learning Is the Cornerstone: Exploring Integrated, Schoolwide SEL Learning in Two Innovative High Schools.

TOP: (Credit: SDI Productions via Getty Images)

More like this