Improving Student Outcomes by Supporting Social and Emotional Learning

The Importance of Social and Emotional Learning for Students

In 2019, a survey from the Learning Counsel identified students’ social and emotional needs as the most concerning to educators and administrators, outranking every other issue that K-12 schools face.

And this was before the COVID-19 pandemic.

According to the Wallace Foundation, “over the past two decades, there has been a growing consensus among researchers who study child development, education, and health that social and emotional skills are essential to learning and life outcomes.”

Now, after nearly two years of remote learning, hybrid learning, and other significant disruptions for school administrators, educators, and families, it’s clear that prioritizing this issue has never been more urgent. As the U.S. Department of Education describes Supporting Child and Student Social, Emotional, Behavioral, and Mental Health Needs,

The Connection Between SEL and Student Achievement

The latest research underscores the critical link between social and emotional learning (SEL) programming and student outcomes.

CASEL reports that SEL interventions that address their five core competencies—self-awareness, self-management, responsible decision-making, relationship skills, and social awareness—clearly connect to student success.

*Image adapted from CASEL.

Recent research found that SEL programs increased students’ academic performance by 11 percentage points compared to students who did not participate.

The SEL benefits go beyond grades and academic performance. Other studies show that introducing SEL programming into school curricula can also have a long-term, positive impact on issues like behavioral problems, emotional distress, and drug use.

Get Started with a Whole-Child Approach

How can educators begin to uncover students’ SEL needs? Many teachers find it helpful to start with a whole-child approach. A whole-child approach places equal value on all areas of a student’s development—from academics to mental and physical health—to help them achieve their full potential in school and life.

The key is having a comprehensive and systematic view of the whole child and allowing educators to access four types of information:

Current and past academic behaviors and outcomes
Prospective long-term outcomes
Social and emotional skills
Intervention participation and impacts

Connect the Data Dots to Form a Plan of Action

When educators bring together data from these four categories, they can form a complete picture of the whole student and determine where to focus their support.

A learning management system (LMS) like PowerSchool Schoology Learning provides teachers easy access to pre-made, CASEL-aligned surveys that can help them connect the dots. Teachers can also use the surveys to get a pulse on any student’s well-being and assess other areas like task completion or post-high school plans.

Additionally, comparing SEL data with classroom data and district-wide benchmarks can make it easier for teachers to identify at-risk students and adjust lesson planning to help develop students’ non-academic skills, like teamwork, collaboration, discipline, and respect.

Building “Life Readiness”

The next element for creating a positive, long-term impact on students includes incorporating college, career, and life readiness (CCLR) skills.

With at-risk data and response to intervention (RTI) history, educators can use SEL and CCLR interventions to build the foundation for a student’s long-term success.

A CCLR platform like Naviance by PowerSchool can support teachers and guidance counselors in helping students understand their strengths, manage their emotions, build relationships with others, and make informed decisions.

When the Everett Public Schools district in Washington started using Naviance as part of their SEL-focused curriculum, they saw clear and strong results. The district improved their on-time graduation rate by 65% and decreased drop-out rates by 50%.

The Power of Unified Technology

As K-12 education communities continue to manage the disruptions from the pandemic, SEL programming is crucial to ensuring that schools sufficiently attend to the holistic needs of their students. Unified technology gives administrators and teachers the data and insights they need to support a brighter future for everyone.