Social and Emotional Development

School Resource Brief

Websites

• Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC): Adolescent and School Health. Data, science-based strategies, policy guidance, and information about national, state, and local programs to promote the health and well-being of children and adolescents to enable them to become healthy and productive adults. Resources address school health education and services, health risk behaviors, academic performance, and school connectedness.
• Child Trends: Education. Resources that focus on how children and adolescents can flourish in school, along with the qualities of the individual, the school, and the family that support that flourishing. Topics include individual competencies, character, learning behaviors, and school performance, as well as teacher qualifications, school context and practices, and family strengths that are related to positive educational outcomes. Child Trends presents research and data using a holistic, ecological, and developmental framework to monitor the well-being of children to inform decision-making that affects families.
• Collaborative for Academic, Social and Emotional Learning (CASEL). Information about and materials to support evidence-based social, emotional, and academic learning as an essential part of education, from preschool through high school. Presents research demonstrating the positive impact of social and emotional practices on students' academic achievement, on reducing high-risk behaviors, and on promoting positive adolescent development. Resources include issue briefs, reports, program guides, PowerPoint presentations, and tools for working with families.
• Educational Resources Information Center (ERIC) Database. Information about journal articles, research reports, teaching guides, curricula, conference papers, and books covering all aspects of education-related issues. Enter "Social Development" OR "Emotional Development" in the search box. Click on Search. Use the filters in the left navigation bar to further limit your search. ERIC is sponsored by the Department of Education (ED).
• Forum for Youth Investment. Issue briefs, webinars, articles, and news about efforts to improve education, out-of-school time, adolescent development, and policy and planning to ensure that adolescents have the supports, opportunities, and services needed to prosper and contribute where they live, learn, work, and play. The forum is a nonprofit, nonpartisan organization dedicated to helping communities and the nation make sure all adolescents are ready for college, work, and life. Initiatives include

  Ready by 21: All Youth Ready for College, Work, and Life. A framework for child- and adolescent-focused planning and decision-making and tools to help change makers—from parents to program directors to policymakers—optimize resources and streamline strategies to improve outcomes for infants, children, and adolescents.

• Gateway to 21st Century Skills. Information about and links to educational resources from federal, state, university, non-profit, and commercial websites. To identify resources on the topic, enter "social development" OR "emotional development" in the Search for field. Click on Full Text and select Keywords. Click on Find Resources. The Gateway is sponsored by the National Education Association.
• National Resource Center for Mental Health Promotion and Youth Violence Prevention. Program information, webinars, research briefs, evidence-based intervention fact sheets, and other resources. The center provides technical assistance and training to school districts and communities as they plan, implement, and sustain federally funded initiatives to foster resilience, promote mental health, and prevent adolescent violence and mental health and behavioral challenges.
• National School Climate Center. Guidelines, research summaries, and video clips about creating and sustaining a safe, supportive school environment that nurtures social, emotional, ethical, and academic skills.
• SchoolMentalHealth.org: Resources for Educators. Resources and tools to enhance mental health promotion, prevention, treatment, and referral in schools and improve school environments. SchoolMentalHealth.org is administered by the University of Maryland's Center for School Mental Health (CSMH).
• Special Olympics: Project Unify. Tools to support this school-based initiative that focuses on social inclusion, bringing youth with and without intellectual disabilities together through sports and related activities.
• Technical Assistance Center on Positive Behavioral Interventions and Supports (PBIS). Planning, implementation, and evaluation tools for identifying, adapting, and sustaining effective school-wide disciplinary practices; video clips, training tools, and presentation materials; and a review of the evidence base for PBIS. Includes contact information for state PBIS coordinators. Resources are available in Spanish. The center was established by the Department of Education (ED).
• Youth.gov. Program and funding information and resources to help youth-serving organizations and community partnerships plan, implement, and participate in effective programs for children and adolescents. Topics include positive child and adolescent development, bullying, after-school programs, and transition-age adolescents. Youth.gov was created by the Interagency Working Group on Youth Programs, which is composed of representatives from 12 federal agencies that support programs and services focusing on children and adolescents. See the Youth.gov directory of evidence-based programs.
  

Related MCH Digital Library Resources

• Social and Emotional Development in Children and Adolescents professional resource guide, family resource brief, school resource brief
• Bullying resource brief
• Community Services Locator: An Online Directory for Finding Community Services for Children and Families professional resource guide
• Emotional, Behavioral, and Mental Health Challenges in Children and Adolescents professional resource guide, family resource brief, school resource brief
• School Health resource brief
• Screening resource brief

Social and Emotional Development: School Resource Brief. (June 2011). (Updated: February 2017).

Author: Susan Brune Lorenzo, M.L.S., NCEMCH.
Reviewer: Olivia K. Pickett, M.A., M.L.S., NCEMCH.
Editor: Ruth Barzel, M.A., NCEMCH.