TOPIC

Supporting students’ social-emotional, mental & physical health

Social Emotional Health

There is increasing recognition among educators, researchers, policymakers, and the broader public that schools should play a role in students’ mental, physical, and social-emotional health.

This “whole child” approach is designed to ensure that all students in California, particularly those who are historically underserved, have the opportunities and supports they need to thrive academically, socially and emotionally, and in college, career, and life.

A key part of PACE’s research in this area is driven by the CORE Districts’ surveys of students in grades 4-12 on their school’s culture and climate (CC) and their own social-emotional learning (SEL), including growth mindset, self-management, self-efficacy, and social awareness. Our work aimed to better understand SEL/CC measurement and to provide guidance for how schools can better serve students needs in this area. 

Recent Topic Publications
GDTFII Brief Health
Children’s physical and mental health play critical roles in their development. Research shows that poor health in childhood adversely affects future success and that children in lower-income households are more likely to suffer health problems.…
A Pragmatic Approach to Validity and Reliability
As educational practitioners and policymakers expand the range of student outcomes they assess, student perception surveys—particularly those targeting social-emotional learning—have grown in popularity. Despite excitement around the potential for…
Evidence from the CORE Districts
Mounting evidence demonstrates that social-emotional skills are important for students’ academic and life success, yet there is limited evidence on how these skills develop over time and how this development varies across student subgroups. This…
Measuring SEL May 2018
An IRT Modeling Approach
With an increased appreciation of students’ social-emotional skills among researchers and policy makers, many states and school districts are moving toward a systematic process to measure Social-Emotional Learning (SEL). In this study, we examine…