Opinion
School & District Management Letter to the Editor

Aspen Falls Short on SEL

February 26, 2019 1 min read
  • Save to favorites
  • Print

To the Editor:

The post about the long-awaited Aspen Institute National Commission on Social, Emotional, and Academic Development report (“Set Social-Emotional Learning Benchmarks to Guide Efforts, Commission Recommends,” January 15, 2019) attempted to find something inspiring, important, and new about its recommendations.

Unfortunately, the most noteworthy and bold idea in the report is what the post points out: “Their vision: bold changes in education to help schools be more responsive to students’ social and emotional development and, in the process, to see academic gains.”

Note the emphasis upon “academic gains” which is neither the intent nor the guiding purpose of social-emotional learning.

I believe this report and its recommendations are nothing more than “whole child” redux. Neither Aspen’s recommendations nor the whole-child work done by ASCD and CDC’s Healthy School focus on the inner life or self of the child. Therefore, this report and the blog post contribute to the ongoing confusion around social-emotional learning, and do nothing to clarify how to improve children’s mental-health and well-being through schooling.

The robust body of work addressing the social-emotional learning needs of children and adolescents has certainly advanced with the application of positive psychology.

Social-emotional learning best practices have advanced further than this report described. Best practices from CASEL, Penn State’s Bennett Prevention Center, and the Center for the Self in Schools are widely available to teachers, school counselors, and leaders who want to impact the mental health and well-being of children through education in addition to clinical settings normally outside of school.

Aspen authors can do better, don’t you think?

Henry G. Brzycki

President

The Brzycki Group & The Center for the Self in Schools

State College, Pa.

Related Tags:
Research Opinion

A version of this article appeared in the February 27, 2019 edition of Education Week as Aspen Falls Short on SEL

Events

This content is provided by our sponsor. It is not written by and does not necessarily reflect the views of Education Week's editorial staff.
Sponsor
Assessment Webinar
Reflections on Evidence-Based Grading Practices: What We Learned for Next Year
Get real insights on evidence-based grading from K-12 leaders.
Content provided by Otus
Federal Webinar Navigating the Rapid Pace of Education Policy Change: Your Questions, Answered
Join this free webinar to gain an understanding of key education policy developments affecting K-12 schools.
This content is provided by our sponsor. It is not written by and does not necessarily reflect the views of Education Week's editorial staff.
Sponsor
Professional Development Webinar
Evidence & Impact: Maximizing ROI in Professional Learning
  Is your professional learning driving real impact? Learn data-driven strategies to design effective PL.
Content provided by New Teacher Center

EdWeek Top School Jobs

Teacher Jobs
Search over ten thousand teaching jobs nationwide — elementary, middle, high school and more.
View Jobs
Principal Jobs
Find hundreds of jobs for principals, assistant principals, and other school leadership roles.
View Jobs
Administrator Jobs
Over a thousand district-level jobs: superintendents, directors, more.
View Jobs
Support Staff Jobs
Search thousands of jobs, from paraprofessionals to counselors and more.
View Jobs

Read Next

School & District Management A Superintendent's Balancing Act Amid Trump's DEI Crackdown
Districts are trying to navigate a dizzying pace of new federal orders and continue working with as little fanfare as possible.
6 min read
Tightly cropped photo of an African American woman's hands around a paper cutout of different colored paper people.
iStock/Getty
School & District Management Opinion 5 Cost-Free Ways to Make Life Better for Teachers (Downloadable)
Two educators offer school leaders simple suggestions for improving the lives of teachers and students in this guide.
Diana Laufenberg & Renee Jones
1 min read
Clock on desk with school supplies on the table.
iStock/Getty
School & District Management Q&A Speaking Up for Students Is Part of This Principal's Job
Terri Daniels, the National Advocacy Champion of the Year, says principals must advocate on behalf of their students.
6 min read
California principal and NASSP Advocacy Champion award winner Terri Daniels poses with NASSP President Raquel Martinez and NASSP CEO Ronn Nozo.
Terri Daniels, the principal of Folsom Middle School in California, poses with National Association of Secondary School Principals President Raquel Martinez and NASSP CEO Ronn Nozo. Daniels was named the 2025 NASSP Advocacy Champion of the Year and recognized in Washington, D.C., on April 11.
Courtesy of NASSP
School & District Management 1 in 4 Students Are Chronically Absent. 3 Tools to Change That
Chronic absenteeism is a daunting problem. But district leaders aren't alone in facing it, and there are ways they can fight it.
5 min read
Empty desks within a classroom
iStock/Getty Images Plus