Social-emotional learning programs can benefit from adults' knowledge of their own SEL skills, according to a report released Tuesday by the RAND Corp. and the Wallace Foundation. The report, based on 5,000 surveys of school and after-school program staff, as well as 850 additional interviews and thousands of observations, also found effective SEL supports benefited from a shared vision of SEL skill development.

However, effective out-of-school-time (OST) partnerships, which the report says "have a lot of potential" to help students' SEL development, face structural and logistical barriers like high staff turnover in OST programs and different times of operation that prevent points of connection.

With many students returning to in-person instruction and others choosing to remain home for part of the 2020-21 school year, districts continue to prioritize the social-emotional needs of students. Many districts aren't implementing informal benchmark assessments until a few weeks into the school year, making sure to get students re-acclimated to learning first and avoid overwhelming them right off the bat.

The report follows a separate RAND survey showing 80% of teachers wanted professional development in SEL. In that survey, elementary-level teachers were more likely to express that their schools put in place SEL supports compared to their secondary-level counterparts.

Read the full article about SEL programs by Naaz Modan at Education Dive.