This brief shares the latest research on the effects of social and emotional learning (SEL) on students and includes strategies for implementing SEL. It explains how SEL works, elaborates on how SEL can be an integrative prevention framework that addresses the Safe Schools/Healthy Students (SS/HS) core elements, and spells out implications of the…

This study examined the cognitive effects of an educational early childhood television program in Turkey that was designed to enhance basic cognitive skills and socio-emotional development of 5-year-old children. The program targeted children with low socioeconomic status who had limited access to formal preschool education. The program was…

Cooperative play was investigated by a controlled pre/post-test intervention design with 28 dyads of 6-year-old students developmentally at-risk. Selection was based upon cut-off scores on a language development test and a nonverbal IQ test, and same-sex pairs were matched within classrooms. Co-variables were: socio economic status, free play time…

The Social and Emotional Aspects of Learning programme (SEAL), designed to develop children's social, emotional and behavioural skills in the primary school, was part of the Primary Behaviour and Attendance Pilot funded by the then Department for Education and Skills (DfES) and piloted in 25 Local Authorities in the UK. The data collected in the…

Formal mentoring programs have historically tended to match youth with same-sex mentors; more recently, mentoring programs designed specifically for girls have begun cropping up in response to theories on gender and adolescent girls' psychological health and development, which suggest girls have particular psychosocial needs and ways of relating.…

Social well-being is essential to overall health and quality of life for all children, youth, and adults. However, children and youth with disabilities are often at higher risk for experiencing lower levels of social, and related emotional, well-being than their peers without disabilities. They are among those more likely to be bullied and…

This article reports on new findings from a forthcoming research review which analyzes 207 studies of school-based programs designed to foster children's social and emotional skills. Roger P. Weissberg, the president of the Collaborative for Academic, Social, and Emotional Learning, or CASEL, the Chicago-based group that sponsored the four-year…

This dissertation study investigated the impact of brief teacher consultation on teachers' implementation fidelity, quality of implementation, and student responsiveness during the "Strong Kids" social-emotional learning curriculum. Additional outcome measures included teachers' self-efficacy and teachers' perceptions of social validity of the…

This qualitative study explored the relationships between six Little Sisters (mentees) and their Big Sisters (mentors) to develop an understanding of the perceptions of high-risk adolescent female mentees and their mentors regarding their mentoring relationships. Participants were purposefully selected--those actively involved in a formal…

Evidence indicates that after-school programs are beneficial to children in the elementary school years, especially when they target more than just problem behaviors, but also focus on a wide range of positive developmental outcomes such as critical thinking, self-awareness and self-confidence (Catalano et al., 2002). The most effective programs…

This randomized controlled trial tested whether teaching quality in Head Start classrooms could be improved with the addition of evidence-based curriculum components targeting emergent language or literacy and social-emotional development and the provision of associated professional development support. Participants were lead and assistant…

Emotion recognition is a basic skill that is thought to facilitate development of social and emotional competence. There is little research available examining whether therapeutic or instructional interventions can improve the emotion recognition skill of young children with various developmental disabilities. Sixteen preschool children with…

This report is the first of several to come from CASEL's major meta-analysis project. The report describes the strong positive effects after-school programs can have, and the conditions needed to realize these benefits. A meta-analysis to evaluate the magnitude of effects obtained from 73 programs was conducted. Outcomes were examined in three…

This study evaluated an early childhood socio-emotional programme aimed at promoting preschooler's social skills and reducing behaviour problems. The Peace Education Foundation (PEF) socio-emotional development programme was provided in English and Spanish to preschool teachers, parents and children in Miami, Florida. The programme instructs…

This pilot study evaluated the preliminary short- and middle-term impact of a nation-wide, school-based prevention initiative on antisocial behaviour of preschool and primary school pupils in Luxembourg. Seventeen preschool and reception classes (n = 183) were assigned to intervention and comparison conditions. The intervention included…