CASEL-Report-low-res-FINAL

18 the Missing Piece
Survey FindingS 1
Figure 6 the relational benefits to teaching social and emotional skills are readily apparent; academic benefits
are seen as likely.
Teaching social and emotional skills in schools:
Will improve relationships between
teachers and students
Will improve relationships among students
and reduce bullying
Will improve students’ academic performance,
such as increasing standardized test scores
of teachers (77 percent) think social and
emotional skills will improve students’
academic performance (Figure 6).
Teachers in high-poverty schools (schools
with 60 percent or more students in
the free/reduced-price lunch program)
are even more likely to endorse SEL
than their peers in higher resourced
communities (Figure 7). They are more
likely to report social and emotional skills
will improve student-teacher relationships
This is definitely true This is probably true
7%
36%
(63 percent versus 44 percent), reduce
bullying (61 percent versus 51 percent),
and improve students’ academic
performance (42 percent versus 27
percent). Furthermore, only 8 percent of
teachers believe that social and emotional
skills should be taught to only students
with social and emotional problems. The
research base is beginning to explicitly
show the positive effects of SEL for
students in low-income communities. For
59% 35% 5% 1%
Not sure
57% 36%
26%
41% 18%
This is
not true
30%
5%
5%
2%
example, students participating in social
and emotional intervention programs
in high-poverty urban high schools
were found to have improved social,
behavioral, emotional, and academic
adjustment, including higher grade point
averages, compared to those students
not participating in the program. 46 Some
national education organizations that
serve these populations are embedding
SEL into their programming. 47