Most states have adopted policies to support social-emotional learning in school, but they are often limited in scope, finds a new analysis.
Child Trends, with the Institute for Health Research and Policy at the University of Illinois at Chicago and EMT Associates, Inc., found 30 states and the District of Columbia have statutes and regulations on social-emotional or character education programs in schools. But only 15 of these require schools to teach such programs. Five states—Hawaii, Missouri, Nebraska, North Dakota, and Ohio—have no laws or regulations related to social-emotional education. The analysis also found 38 states include mental and emotional health in their health education standards, and 11 states provide teacher professional development on the effects of trauma on learning.
