Future Directions in Social and Emotional Learning and Education

In 2016, the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation and the Edna Bennett Pierce Prevention Research Center embarked on a journey to examine research that supports the importance of social and emotional learning.

As a result, current research was synthesized for 10 key SEL topics and issue briefs were released to inform educators, leadership and policymakers.

The briefs review evidence-based practices in infancy, the preschool years, and in the elementary, middle and high school contexts, as well as briefs on school climate, teacher stress, parent involvement, the role of peer relations, equity, and the economic benefits of social and emotional learning investments. A summary brief was also produced.

In 2019, the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation and the Edna Bennett Pierce Prevention Research Center decided to continue this valuable work and look to the future direction of social and emotional learning.

Briefs are being prepared with a focus on “what’s next” in terms of innovative strategies with potential to address the critical remaining challenges and opportunities for the sustainable scaling of SEL in families, schools and communities.