| By: Melissa Benaroya Screen Time: Setting Limits That Work May 2-8 is Screen Free Week, and we're hoping children, families, and communities around the world will rediscover the joys of life beyond the screen. Blogger, Melissa Benaroya walks us through the importance of setting limits that work. Read More
| By: Committee for Children Everything You Need to Know About ESSA: Part 2 of 3 This post highlights three important areas where the Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA) can be used to advance social-emotional learning (SEL): school accountability systems, grant programs, and school improvement strategies.Read More
| By: Committee for Children Everything You Need to Know About ESSA: Part 1 of 3 The bipartisan Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA), which replaces the outdated No Child Left Behind Act, includes flexible funding that can be used for SEL and prevention programs. However, the flexibility given to each state could put some programs at risk. This first blog post in a series of three explains key provisions in the bill and how it impacts our work. Read More
| By: Melissa Benaroya Three Strategies to Ensure a Successful Spring Break Whether you are sticking around the house, traveling abroad, or playing tourist in your own town, there are bound to be parenting challenges or tough moments that arise over the break. All the “together time” can be fun and create wonderful memories, but because dynamics tend to change when kids are out of their normal school routine, it also has the potential to create stress. Here are a few reminders to help you avoid and manage common challenges so you can enjoy the time together while contributing to your teen's social and emotional development. Read More
| By: Kim Gulbrandson Ten Things District Leaders Can Do This Year to Plan for Student Success So you're a district leader, and you're convinced: SEL should be part of our strategic plan. Now what? Blogger Kim Gulbrandson concludes her three-part series with 10 tips you can start using today to plan for social skills instruction across your district. Read More
| By: Committee for Children “That’s So Gay” Is Not Okay Bullying includes behaviors such as hitting, teasing, taunting, spreading rumors and gossip, stealing, and excluding someone from a group. Bullying actions are carried out on purpose with the intent to harm someone. Read More
| By: Shauna McBride Talking to Children About Terrorism How can parents and those who regularly interact with children best communicate about terrorism and other violent tragedies? Committee for Children, creator of the Second Step social-emotional learning program, has compiled resources to assist with and help navigate these tough conversations. Read More
| By: Committee for Children Restorative Justice Panel Sponsored by CFC at Citizen U Event Over 500 people from around the country attended the annual Citizen University held in Seattle March 18–19, 2016. Center stage this year was the question “Who is US?”, focusing on race, identity, and what it means to be American in this century. Presentations covered a wide array of topics, ranging from looking at pop culture, the effects of poverty, and the power of race. Committee for Children sponsored a panel titled “Restorative Justice Now.”Read More
| By: Kim Gulbrandson How and Why Social Skills Instruction Fits With Your Strategic Plan Blogger Kim Gulbrandson posts the second part in a series of three on why SEL is needed and how to incorporate it within strategic plans. To achieve outcomes like “graduate every student,” and “ensure all students are college- and career-ready,” districts must teach students specific skills, give them opportunities to practice those skills, and reinforce through ongoing social-emotional skills instruction. Read More
| By: Kim Gulbrandson A Closer Look at Strategic Plans: Laying the Foundation for Student Success After talking with district administrators around the nation and reviewing strategic plans from rural, urban, and suburban districts across 26 states, our blogger Kim Gulbrandson spotted some trends: all plans referenced “student success” as a goal; one-fourth included SEL elements as part of the mission; of those that included SEL, personal responsibility was emphasized; few plans included action steps. Read More