When our team began reporting for this special report, a deeper look at social-emotional learning in schools, coronavirus seemed a distant story, a new infection in central China that might eventually make its way to the United States. But in the span of a just a few weeks, this fast-moving virus was declared a global pandemic and has upended nearly every routine of our daily lives.
For our children, the disruptions are especially profound. The ritual of waking for school five days a week鈥攚here they are fed, taught, and cared for in ways big and small鈥攈as disappeared indefinitely. Of course, educators in many schools and districts are doing heroic work to replicate the live school experience in a virtual realm. But the reality is that no amount of robust digital interaction and connection can fully replace the deep need our children have for meaningful, in-person connections with teachers, counselors, and peers. The same is true for our teachers, our administrators鈥攁ll of us.
4%
District does not teach social-emotional learning
5%
A district-level employee who focuses exclusively on social-emotional learning
5%
The district superintendent
6%
The special education department
10%
The curriculum and instruction department
10%
The curriculum and instruction department
13%
No one at the district level
20%
The department of counseling/ social work/mental health
25%
Other
Source: EdWeek Research Center survey, 2020
Eventually, the virus鈥� spread will slow. Schools will reopen. But in this period when we must use social distancing, our report鈥攁 dive into social-emotional learning鈥攊s more relevant than ever.
Some students are fearful and angry for what the virus is taking from them. Others worry about how the cascading economic effects will impact their families and their own plans for the future.
We adapted some of our stories to reflect the reality we鈥檙e in now and added a piece expressly about how schools can keep social-emotional learning and supports going in a distant learning environment.
Before the virus became the story, we surveyed teachers, principals, and district leaders to capture their views on SEL. We鈥檒l share some key insights from those results in this report.
To get through this trying time, taking care of students鈥� social-emotional well-being is imperative. Helping them manage feelings of fear and a sense of loss are critical, says Marc Brackett, the director of the Center for Emotional Intelligence at Yale University.
鈥淏ecause if you don鈥檛 know how to deal with the lack of control of your future, or the feelings of uncertainty that you鈥檙e having, your brain is going to stay in a constant fight or flight mode,鈥� he said. 鈥淎nd if our brain is in flight or fight mode, then it鈥檚 not in learning mode.鈥�
Sincerely,
Lesli A. Maxwell
Executive Project Editor
