Take your program to the next level with new tools supporting social and emotional learning

For the past few years, researchers in education and youth development have begun to recognize what many afterschool professionals have known for a long time: that social and emotional development is crucial to youth achievement. The education community has recently increased its focus on promising practices for promoting social and emotional learning (SEL) in youth, and we’re excited that our friends at the American Institutes for Research (AIR) have just released some incredible new tools and resources to help support and promote social and emotional learning in afterschool programs!

One of these resources is a new self-reflection tool for afterschool program staff focused on fostering opportunities for social and emotional learning in afterschool settings. Focused primarily on practitioners, the tool helping to digest the mounting evidence that social and emotional learning that young people learn in afterschool programs contribute significantly to their academic success and futures, the tool helps afterschool program staff to understand the most effective strategies to promote the development of these competencies.

Another of these resources, “Supporting Social and Emotional Development Through Quality Afterschool Programs,” is the first brief in AIR’s new Beyond the Bell: Research to Practice in the Afterschool and Expanded Learning Field. The brief provides valuable insights on how afterschool programs contribute to the development of social and emotional competencies in young people, with a specific focus on promising practices and proven strategies that help to recognize and promote development in afterschool program participants.

These resources are just a small piece of what AIR has in store as it continues its work on the Beyond the Bell series, so keep your eyes peeled for new resources down the line!