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This article from Edutopia describes a program in which school transportation personnel received training on how to form positive relationships with students during their rides to and from school. The staff also learned how to teach students ways to cope with stressful situations at home or during the school day. The article provides strategies and takeaways that other educators and afterschool professionals can share with transportation staff.

This special issue of the journal The Future of Children examines the development of social and emotional learning in school and afterschool settings. The publication finds that these skills are essential for children and that teachers and out-of-school time staff need professional development to help children acquire them.

What terms are used to describe the array of non-cognitive skills children need to develop for success in life? Market researchers commissioned by the Wallace Foundation looked into the linguistic landscape of more than 40 terms, how often they were used, and how motivating they were to educators, policymakers, parents, and afterschool leaders. The firm found that terms like “21st Century Skills,” “whole child development,” “soft skills,” and “character” were seen as unclear or had negative connotations, but found that “social and emotional learning” and the related term “social-emotional and academic learning” were familiar to all stakeholder groups. Download the research findings as a presentation slide deck from the Wallace Foundation Knowledge Center.

By late adolescence, boys often speak about losing the close male friendships of early and middle adolescence and they reveal feelings of loneliness and isolation. These research findings, as well as research linking friendships with mental and physical health and well-being, inform a video presented by Youth.gov. The Crisis of Connection for Adolescent Boys video can be viewed in full-length format or five short segments. Discussion guides for professionals and families support use of the video in a variety of training settings.

The National Center on Safe Supportive Learning Environments (NCSSLE) helps schools and communities contending with factors that adversely affect the conditions for learning, such as bullying, violence, and substance abuse. In addition to training and program measurement services supporting school climate improvement, the website provides free products, tools, and the latest research findings useful to stakeholders across several youth-serving systems. Visit NCSSLE’s Guides and Training Products page for resource packages on building and promoting safe and supportive learning environments. The NCSSLE website is operated by American Institutes for Research under a U.S. Department of Education contract.

Published by Boston Afterschool & Beyond, this practice brief includes recommendations from the organization’s pilot using digital badges to promote SEL skills among students. During this pilot program, staff focused on five key skill areas: communication, engagement in learning, perseverance, problem solving, and teamwork-all skills that are necessary for success in school, college, and future careers.

For 20 years the PBS award-winning series Arthur has been a favorite of children across the United States. The producers of Arthur recently launched Arthur Interactive Media (AIM) Buddy Project, a new initiative aimed at helping young children build their social, emotional, and character skills and attitudes through the use of new digital tools. Learn more about the initiative from this webinar recording hosted by the Afterschool Alliance (free registration required).

Anticipating a student’s response to new and different situations is critical to creating a safe learning environment. ExtendED Notes presents three easy ways for any program to establish a safe learning environment. Ensuring that children feel safe and secure allows students to focus on their learning and curiosity in the moment.

Presented by American Youth Policy Forum, this brief shares key takeaways from a recent forum in which leaders and researchers in the field of SEL (social-emotional learning) practice, youth engagement, and school climate discussed ESSA’s non-academic indicators of student achievement and their inclusion in state accountability systems. An overview of the forum is also available on the American Youth Policy Forum website.

In children we know it as SEL or social-emotional learning, and in adults we call it emotional intelligence. As community providers, understanding how to help youth develop their SEL skills can also help develop leadership and emotional intelligence skills later in life. This 13-minute video presentation was produced as part of Margo Herman's Leading with Emotional Intelligence Fellowship Project with the National AfterSchool Association to help afterschool practitioners better understand how Emotional Intelligence interfaces with SEL.