By Whitney Becker and Cristine Chen Social Emotional Learning (SEL) has gained the spotlight in education over the last couple of years. This blog post summarizes the Crosswalk completed The Center for Educational Improvement (CEI) on two complementary SEL frameworks—CEI’s Heart Centered Learning (HCL) and Collaborative for Academic, Social, and Emotional Learning (CASEL). Through examining the parallels between the two frameworks, educators can gain insight into how each ali

By Nicole Larsen, CEI Intern Social-emotional Learning (SEL) has been receiving an increased focus in education, with an expanding research base and related programming dedicated to using SEL to promote positive mental health and social interactions. Recent evidence shows that school-based SEL has many positive outcomes for students, including improvements in behavior and attitudes, lower levels of emotional distress, and improved academic performance (Durlak et al., 2011). H

By Dana Asby, CEI Director of Innovation & Research Support This is a part of the special series Back to School After COVID-19. View Part I here, Part II here, Part III here, and Part IV here. In addition to healing from public health and mental health crises brought on by COVID-19, America is also reckoning with an increased awareness and acknowledgement of the trauma that racial violence has caused and is causing Black, Indigenous, and People of Color (BIPOC). Schools can n

By Dana Asby, CEI Director of Innovation & Research Support This is a part of the special series Back to School After COVID-19. View Part I here, Part II here, and Part III here. At this time last year, we were all uncertain about where and how learning during the next school year would take place. Three hundred sixty-five challenging days later, we are hopeful that we will all once more be learning together in the same physical space this fall. As school administrators and e

By Dana Asby, CEI Director of Innovation & Research Support, and Martha Staeheli, Director of the New England Mental Health Technology Transfer Center’s School Mental Health Initiative Teachers and school administrators are accustomed to donning many caps and pivoting to deliver whatever their school communities need, often without optimal funding and training. That has never been more true than during the last year and a half; educators have been rightfully heralded as some

A New Hampshire Principal Creating Community for Staff, Students, and Families By Carmen Florentin, CEI Intern Educators all over the world are pioneering new ways of connecting to students in virtual or hybrid learning environments. As we approach a return to closer-to-normal life resembling the pre-pandemic world, schools everywhere faced the challenge of getting through to students simultaneously behind screens and in the classroom. The pandemic has influenced this generat

By Caroline Geithner, CEI Intern When it comes to tackling youth problems, we tend to design and deliver programs without directly seeking youth input. It is far too common to see children and teens as mere recipients of our work, failing to consider how they might be instrumental in the very process of program design. But who has clearer insight into understanding and meeting youth needs than youth themselves? For example, say you want to implement an anti-bullying campaign