Social and Emotional Learning | EDUCATION

The Social & Emotional Learning Initiative is a partnership between United Way of Greater Toledo, Toledo Public Schools, Toledo Federation of Teachers, and the Toledo Association of Administrative Personnel.

The SEL Initiative is an evidence-based process helping students develop the fundamental skills for greater success in school and in life.

How It Works
Effective instructional methods for teaching SEL skills are active, participatory, and engaging.

Here are a few examples:

• Young children can to be taught through modeling and coaching to recognize how they feel or how someone else might be feeling.
• In class meetings, students can practice group decision-making and setting classroom rules.
• Students can learn cooperation and teamwork through participation in team sports and games.
• Students deepen their understanding of a current or historical event by applying it to a set of questions based on a problem-solving model.
• Cross-age mentoring, in which a younger student is paired with an older one, can be effective in building self-confidence, a sense of belonging, and enhancing academic skills.
  

This yields better attendance, higher academic performance, higher graduation rates, and more prosocial behavior. Teachers' and students' behaviors change, school climate improves, students become engaged, risky behaviors decline, attendance and academic performance go up, family communication improves, and parents get more involved.

The results are clear: when the learning environment is improved and students' social competencies are enhanced, students have a greater attachment to school, engage in fewer risky behaviors, and have more positive assets.

Measurable Results

• Higher attendance           
  
• Improved school climate
  
• Improved academic performance  
  
• Decreased problem behavior
  
• Higher parent involvement        
  

2011-2012 Locations

• Sherman Elementary School
  
• Glenwood Elementary School
  
• Martin Luther King Boys Academy
  
• Pickett Elementary School
  
• Robinson Elementary School
  
• Scott High School
  

A recent meta-analysis that examined over 300 SEL studies has shown that students (K-12) who participate in effective SEL programming as part of their academic curriculum show an 11-17% advantage on high stakes academic achievement tests  (Weissberg & Durlak, 2008).