Earlier today I posted the press release announcing a new study identifying substantial student academic gains from an intentional effort to implement social emotional learning (SEL).

Since that time, Ed Week has come out with a more extensive analysis of the report, as well as the link to the study itself.

Here’s one particularly intriguing point — Researchers found having simple lessons incorporated by teachers in their classroom were more successful than larger “multi-component” efforts that included school and community-wide programs. They attributed this to the fact it was just easier to implement more effectively and likelier to use more effective and consistent teaching methods. That makes sense to me, though I don’t think it has to be either/or — some of the “SEL” style lessons shared in my upcoming book, Helping Students Motivate Themselves: Practical Answers To Classroom Challenges, are classroom-based and provide for connecting to parents and outside communities.

I especially like the timing of the report, coming just prior to the publication of my book :). As regular readers know, the book’s focus is using classroom lessons to connect literacy with developing life skills around topics like life skills, perseverance, personal responsibility, and goal-setting.