Giving Compass' Take:

• Allie Gross reports that social-emotional learning has positive benefits for the students' mental health, helping to create a better school climate. 

• Does social-emotional learning need to be tailored to the needs of each community? How can funders help schools to effectively implement social-emotional learning? 

• Learn why school climate should be a top priority for principals. 

Among the ways social-emotional learning (SEL) has been incorporated at Langley: personalized greetings with students every morning, encouraged conversation and dialogue during lunch, and “brain breaks” throughout the day to refresh the mind and de-stress.

Not surprisingly, while SEL is student-centered, it starts with educators. In order to introduce SEL to her campus, Drumm-Canepa was adamant that teachers understand why this was important and feel supported in the process.

On that front, the broader rise of SEL highlights a larger trend in education around the impact of school culture and climate on learning. As the American Institutes for Research explains it, “Health and learning are interdependent. From early childhood through higher education, educational settings have the potential to nurture young people’s health and well-being. The climate of these settings affects whether students feel and are safe, connected, supported, and challenged.”

Read the full article about social-emotional learning and improving school climate by Allie Gross at Education Dive.