ESSA’s Non-Academic Measure: What States Should Know About School Climate and SEL

Success in school, career and life depends on academic abilities, but also a variety of other skills. To be successful, people need to know how to communicate effectively, negotiate conflict, manage their emotions and behavior, and make responsible decisions. Acknowledging the importance of these skills, the Every Student Succeeds Act is letting states use at least one non-academic measure to monitor their schools’ performance.

There is now greater opportunity to create conditions for social, emotional and academic development through a positive school climate. So what non-academic measures should states use?

To help policymakers, the Education Policy Center at AIR is convening a panel of social and emotional learning and school climate experts—from state education, research and journalism—to offer their suggestions, based on decades of research and field experience. AIR’s experts will also present findings from a new policy brief, When Districts Adopt Social and Emotional Learning: Findings from an Ongoing Evaluation of Districtwide Implementation of Social and Emotional Learning. Join the event in person or online.