October 2017

Patrick Kyllonen, Educational Testing Service A series of blogs about international efforts to measure SEL The so-called Confucian Asian countries, including Singapore, Hong Kong, Korea, and Japan[1] produce the highest achieving students in the world based on their scores on international mathematics, reading, science, and problem solving tests (e.g., TIMSS; PISA 2015; PISA 2012). According to Magdalena Mok and Gerald Wu from the Education University of Hong Kong, this at least partly reflects the “examination-driven and achievement-oriented” learning environments stemming from traditional Confucian philosophy. Economic growth over the past 35 years suggests that Asia’s success is not confined to test scores. What may be surprising to Westerners is the degree to which these examination-driven countries have embraced social-emotional learning (SEL) […]

By Paul LeBuffe Research has clearly demonstrated that social and emotional competence is critical to students’ success in school.  In the most widely cited study, Durlak and colleagues reviewed 213 studies and reported that school-based programs that promote students’ social and emotional competence result in an average 11 percentile point gain on academic achievement tests. This and similar research findings have led several states and local school districts to adopt social and emotional learning standards. These standards, in turn, have created interest in assessing social and emotional skills in students, which is reflected in the most recent federal education law, the Every Student Succeeds Act, or ESSA. The new law requires that states develop an accountability system that encompasses both […]