"Nurturing Students' Character" is an easy-to-use guide to incorporating social-emotional and character development (SECD) into your teaching practice. The links are clear--elementary and middle school students have better odds of academic success if you nurture their social and emotional skills. Drawing on broad field experience and the…

The same competencies neglected in the implementation of the Common Core are those that ultimately most help students become what the author calls college-ready, career-ready, and contribution-ready. These include communication, meta-cognition, resilient mindset, responsible character, and social-emotional learning, intertwined with academic…

The study explored whether aspects of elementary students' writing about their personal values could predict if students were considered more at risk or more resilient. Essays from 176 fifth-grade students (79.54% African American, 20.46% Hispanic) from a low-income, urban district in New Jersey were analyzed using the Linguistic Inquiry and Word…

Among the many transitions and passages students face during their school years, the entry into middle school is one of the most difficult. During this period, it is crucial for schools and families to work together in order to establish a constructive framework that can foster positive development. This article discusses the important academic,…

This study examines the role of implementation dosage in the effectiveness of a school-based social and emotional skills building curriculum, The Talking with TJ video series, among urban, predominantly minority elementary school children. It was hypothesized that children in higher dosage schools will exhibit greater improvements in their social…

Social and emotional learning and character education are complementary approaches to strengthening a person's ability to understand, manage, and express the social and emotional aspects of life and to organize action in a positive, goal-directed manner. This book is designed for administrators who need help in introducing programs to their…

The social-cognitive problem-solving approach is presented as a means for ensuring social and affective development of handicapped and nonhandicapped children in public schools. A television-based instructional format to facilitate children's social and affective development is described, and an actual example of a television-based instructional…

Despite living in disadvantaged urban communities experiencing social and economic hardships, many children emerge with positive outcomes. Social-emotional competence and social support were hypothesized to have strong influences on academic trajectories during the critical period of academic skill acquisition. Participants were 282 third-grade…

Recently promulgated national education goals and school restructuring ideas overlook middle-school-aged children's unique needs and circumstances. Schools should foster the development of world-class people, not superemployees. Focus should be on developmental tasks and diverse opportunities for self-exploration, competency development,…

Reviews the literature on school-based social and emotional skill development and examines the relevance of this area to the work of the school psychologist. Suggestions are made for ways in which school psychologists can improve the social and emotional climates of their schools in areas such as prevention and health promotion, professional…

Describes the educational program at Benjamin Franklin Middle School in Ridgewood, New Jersey, as an example of the potential for synergy between content instruction and character development. Highlights how the school follows guidelines from the publication "Promoting Social and Emotional Learning, Guidelines for Educators." (EV)

The majority of students with learning disabilities have difficulties with social relationships. In this article, three key skill areas in social-emotional learning are identified as the main source of these difficulties: recognizing emotions in self and others, regulating and managing strong emotions (positive and negative), and recognizing…

The "Talking with TJ" teamwork-building series is a video-based program designed to promote social/emotional competence in elementary school children. The program emphasizes group planning, diversity appreciation, and teamwork. Presents data on the program's effectiveness with a sample of high-risk students. Results reveal significant positive…

A discussion-leading guide is offered based on an instructional technique called TVDRP (television, discussion, rehearsal, and practice). It is designed to guide students as they view television or videos and then work through an eight-step thinking process for making decisions and solving social and academic problems. A TVDRP worksheet is…

Investigates the attainment and application of Social Problem Solving (SPS) skills gained by students participating in computer facilitated SPS guidance (N=12) in comparison to classmates not receiving supplemental instruction. Results show that both groups improved in overall SPS readiness skills, although the supplementary program boosted…