Roger P. Weissberg

• PhD
• Professor at University of Illinois Chicago

Purpose: The purpose of this article is to propose a model of the prosocial school leader that shows how the principals’ social emotional competencies (SECs), wellbeing, and leadership form the foundation that influences the overall school climate, teacher functioning and wellbeing, family and community partnerships, and downstream student outcomes...

Social and emotional learning (SEL) has become more central to education because of demand from educators, parents, students, and business leaders alongside rigorous research showing broad, positive impacts for students and adults. However, all approaches to SEL are not equal. Systemic SEL is an approach to create equitable learning conditions that...

Recent years have seen a rapid expansion of efforts to promote social and emotional learning (SEL) in the nation’s schools. As some observers have pointed out, though, the growth of the SEL movement poses some challenges. In particular, concerns have been raised about the need for clearer definitions of SEL, less hype, more attention to equity, and...

Schools worldwide are working to provide all children with the interrelated and transferable competencies they need to contribute successfully to their classrooms, families, and communities. In a systemic approach, SEL can and does take place across multiple contexts, each day, and all year around. For example, SEL at the classroom level needs to b...

There is an emerging consensus that areas of research and intervention described variously as social and emotional learning, character education and development, 21st century learning, life skills training, prosocial education, and positive youth development are tapping into competencies and characteristics essential for human health, accomplishmen...

This article compares results from four large-scale meta-analyses of student outcomes related to participation in universal, school-based social and emotional learning (SEL) programs. The examination includes 356 research reports with rigorous designs and outcome data at post or follow-up from hundreds of thousands of K-12 students within and outsi...

Support for social and emotional learning (SEL) is strong and growing among teachers, principals, parents, employers, and others concerned about preparing the next generation of students for success. The growing demand is complemented by a growing evidence base that SEL works.

Over a decade ago, our colleagues undertook a review of research on social and emotional learning (SEL) programs (Durlak, Weissberg, Dymnicki, Taylor, & Schellinger, 2011; Durlak, Weissberg, & Pachan, 2010). Initially, one goal of the review was to include evaluations carried out in school and in out-of-school settings to understand the combined ef...

This meta-analysis reviewed 82 school-based, universal social and emotional learning (SEL) interventions involving 97,406 kindergarten to high school students (Mage = 11.09 years; mean percent low socioeconomic status = 41.1; mean percent students of color = 45.9). Thirty-eight interventions took place outside the United States. Follow-up outcomes...

Social-emotional competence is a critical factor to target with universal preventive interventions that are conducted in schools because the construct (a) associates with social, behavioral, and academic outcomes that are important for healthy development; (b) predicts important life outcomes in adulthood; (c) can be improved with feasible and cost...

Evidence-based social and emotional learning (SEL) programs, when implemented effectively, lead to measurable and potentially long-lasting improvements in many areas of children’s lives. In the short term, SEL programs can enhance children’s confidence in themselves; increase their engagement in school, along with their test scores and grades; and...

This chapter summarizes the results of nearly 100 years of research on school-based social and emotional learning (SEL). The SEL field has grown out of research in many fields and subfields with which educators, researchers, and policymakers are familiar, including the promotion of social competence, bullying prevention, prevention of drug use and...

Social and emotional learning (SEL) is a fundamental part of education. Incorporating high-quality SEL programming into day-to-day classroom and school practices has emerged as a main goal for many practitioners over the past decade. The present article overviews the current state of SEL research and practice, with a particular focus on the United...

This study evaluated the results of a social and emotional learning (SEL) program on academic achievement among students attending a large, urban, high-risk school district. Using a clusterrandomized design, 24 elementary schools were assigned to receive either the intervention curriculum (Promoting Alternative Thinking Strategies, or PATHS) or a c...

In addition to graduating academically proficient students who are culturally literate, intellectually reflective, and committed to lifelong learning, schools must also enhance students' intrapersonal and interpersonal competencies so they're optimally prepared for work and life. Successful students develop personal strengths including grit, tenaci...

This book is a tribute to Emory L. Cowen, a leading researcher and policy advocate for populations that lack the power and voices to influence others. Accordingly, the volume strives to unify several subfields of psychology. Specifically, it is the contention of the present authors that concepts central to the wellness perspective, including "the e...

This volume proposes that there are a number of potential applications of the emerging science of emotional intelligence (EI) that will enhance the daily functioning of children and adults. This chapter focuses specifically on school-based programming that promotes the social and emotional learning (SEL) of children and youth. SEL represents a rapi...

Several recent meta-analyses of universal school-based violence prevention studies indicate the overall positive impacts of these approaches on aggression. These studies, however, assess impacts on broadly defined measures of aggression. Furthermore, little research has analyzed the mechanisms through which these programs attempt to reduce overt ag...

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This article presents findings from a meta-analysis of 213 school-based, universal social and emotional learning (SEL) programs involving 270,034 kindergarten through high school students. Compared to controls, SEL participants demonstrated significantly improved social and emotional skills, attitudes, behavior, and academic performance that reflec...

In her critique of emotional intelligence (EI) theory and research, Waterhouse (2006) makes several claims. First, she argues that there are "many conflicting constructs of EI," implying that it cannot be a valid concept given this multiplicity of views. Second, she cites some research and opinion suggesting that "EI has not been differentiated fro...

A meta-analysis of after-school programs that seek to enhance the personal and social skills of children and adolescents indicated that, compared to controls, participants demonstrated significant increases in their self-perceptions and bonding to school, positive social behaviors, school grades and levels of academic achievement, and significant r...

In 1994, the Fetzer Institute hosted a conference to address concerns about the various, disjointed school-based efforts that had surfaced over the years. In attendance were a range of researchers, educators, and advocates with diverse interests related to meeting the developmental, psychological, educational, and general health needs of children....

51-page PDF technical report which, "summarizes results from three large-scale reviews of research on the impact of social and emotional learning (SEL) programs on elementary and middle-school students — that is, programs that seek to promote various aocial and emotional skills. Collectively the three reviews included 317 studies and involved 324...

School-based promotion of social competence continues to be a promising strategy for the primary prevention of psy-chosocial difficulties in children. Drawing on more than a decade of experience using this strategy, the authors identify major challenges they have encountered in the process of developing, implementing, evaluating, and maintaining so...

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, so...

Schools will be most successful in their educational mission when they inte- grate efforts to promote children's academic, social, and emotional learning (Elias et al., 1997). There is general agreement that it is important for schools to foster children's social-emotional development, but all too often educa- tors think about this focus in a fragm...

A review of efforts at social system change in 526 universal competence-promotion outcome studies indicated that 64% of the interventions attempted some type of microsystemic or mesosystemic change involving schools, families, or community-based organizations in an attempt to foster developmental competencies in children and adolescents. Only 24% o...

This report is the first of several to come from CASEL's major meta-analysis project. The report describes the strong positive effects after-school programs can have, and the conditions needed to realize these benefits. A meta-analysis to evaluate the magnitude of effects obtained from 73 programs was conducted. Outcomes were examined in three gene...

Following up on the SEL program guide, "Safe and Sound: An Educational Leader's Guide to Evidence-Based Social and Emotional Learning (SEL) Programs," this latest tool for front-line educators provides answers to questions frequently asked by educators, such as, "Now that I have selected a good program, how do I integrate it with the rest of what g...

Parents and schools working together to build students' social, emotional, and academic skills can accomplish far more than either group working alone. Both schools and parents can contribute in unique ways to make the partnership fruitful. Handouts included with this packet offer small things that all parents can consider doing. When done on a reg...

This chapter describes the partnerships involved in participatory approaches to primary prevention through competence promotion. The authors argue that, when implementing preventive interventions, the participation of community members may be best secured through interventions that adapt a competence-enhancement rather than a problem-prevention per...

Two challenges for researchers of school-based action are to identify effective approaches to prevent problem behaviors and promote positive youth development and to support the widespread implementation and sustainability of evidence-based preschool through high school practice. In this article, the authors describe integrated social, emotional, a...

Many attempts at bringing successful educational programs and products "to scale" as part of school reform, particularly in urban districts, have been disappointing. Based on the experiences of the Collaborative for Academic, Social, and Emotional Learning (CASEL) and reviews of literature addressing implementation failures, observations about fail...

The widespread implementation of effective prevention programs for children and youth is a sound investment in society's future. The most beneficial preventive interventions for young people involve coordinated, systemic efforts to enhance their social-emotional competence and health. The articles in this special issue propose standards for empiric...

A comprehensive mission for schools is to educate students to be knowledgeable, responsible, socially skilled, healthy, caring, and contributing citizens. This mission is supported by the growing number of school-based prevention and youth development programs. Yet, the current impact of these programs is limited because of insufficient coordinatio...

After describing social-emotional learning, provides a framework for implementing an effective program that includes, for example, building connections between students and their schools, involving families and communities as partners. Describes three exemplary social and emotional learning programs for grades K-6: Caring School Community, Promotin...

This study attempted to provide further insight into the roles of parents and peers as they influence youth involvement with violence. Specifically, this paper considers whether parents who are close to their children have children who affiliate with prosocial friends who may in turn serve as a buffer against violence. This study also considers how...

States that research suggests that a caring classroom and school climate combined with character education can improve student academic achievement. Draws implications for board of education policy. For example, sound classroom structure and function are based on a foundation of caring relationships. Concludes that schools must support and promote...

This article was posted June 26, 2001. The National Advisory Mental Health Council's report (see record 2001-03236-001) is another landmark in the evolution of prevention research at federal agencies. The report has elaborated a number of critically needed new areas for research that are essential for expanding the field of prevention. We are gene...

Memorializes Emory L. Cowen, a preeminent leader in the fields of community psychology, mental health services, and prevention. Cowen is remembered as a vocal and tireless advocate for promoting wellness and for stopping mental illness before it emerged rather than ameliorating them once they were present. Cowen focused his attention on enhancing w...

Memorializes Emory L. Cowen, a preeminent leader in the fields of community psychology, mental health services, and prevention. Cowen is remembered as a vocal and tireless advocate for promoting wellness and for stopping mental illness before it emerged rather than ameliorating them once they were present. Cowen focused his attention on enhancing w...

This article was posted June 26, 2001. The National Advisory Mental Health Council's report (see record 2001-03236-001) is another landmark in the evolution of prevention research at federal agencies. The report has elaborated a number of critically needed new areas for research that are essential for expanding the field of prevention. We are gener...

R. Fulghum (1993) contended that all he really needed to know, he learned in kindergarten. This finding does not generalize to predoctoral-postdoctoral education and school-based action researchers. After 20 years, the author's current aspiration is to collaborate with others to disseminate research-based social and emotional learning programs that...

The present study investigated associations between parents' perceptions of various teacher outreach practices and self-reported parent involvement both at home and at school. A survey was administered to 246 parents whose children attended one of three inner-city schools in a Midwestern city. Overall, large percentages of parents reported helping...

Many programs have been developed to help schools enhance students' health and reduce the prevalence of drug use, violence, and high-risk sexual behaviors. How should educators choose among these? This article describes selection criteria based on theory, research, and best educational practice that identify key social and emotional learning (SEL)...

The 1995 publication of Goleman's Emotional Intelligence triggered a revolution in mental health promotion. Goleman's examination of Gardner's work on multiple intelligences and current brain research, and review of successful programs that promoted emotional health, revealed a common objective among those working to prevent specific problem behavi...

Many programs have been developed to help schools enhance students' health and reduce the prevalence of drug use, violence, and high-risk sexual behaviors. How should educators choose among these? This article describes selection criteria based on theory, research, and best educational practice that identify key social and emotional learning (SEL)...

The 1995 publication of Goleman's Emotional Intelligence triggered a revolution in mental health promotion. Goleman's examination of Gardner's work on multiple intelligences and current brain research, and review of successful programs that promoted emotional health, revealed a common objective among those working to prevent specific problem behavi...

This study examines the ways in which parental involvement in children's education changes over time and how it relates to children's social and academic functioning in school. Teachers provided information on parent involvement and school performance for 1,205 urban, kindergarten through third‐grade children for 3 consecutive years. They rated the...

Encouraging parents' involvement in their children's education is as American as apple pie. In fact, there is widespread support for the national education goal that states: "By the year 2000, every school will promote partnerships that will increase parental involvement and participation promoting the social, emotional, and academic growth of chil...

This study examines the ways in which parental involvement in children's education changes over time and how it relates to children's social and academic functioning in school. Teachers provided information on parent involvement and school performance for 1,205 urban, kindergarten through third-grade children for 3 consecutive years. They rated the...

In the present chapter, the authors (1) present a broader theoretical framework in which school–family partnerships can be conceptualized, (2) summarize parent teacher views on the most important aspects for the development and maintenance of school–family partnerships, (3) review a sample of school–family partnership programs, and (4) discuss the...

The chapter will begin with a review of environmental circumstances and behavioral trends that prompt calls for school and community prevention and competence-enhancement programs for young people. Data about divorce, births to unmarried women, children who grow up in single-parent homes, two-career couples, and poverty suggest that too many childr...

In New Haven, Connecticut, educators take the social and emotional development of their students seriously through comprehensive curriculums that have built-in community support.

This opening chapter provides an overview of the book, "Healthy Children 2010: Establishing Preventive Services." The article describes the purpose of the work, which is to provide strategies to establish and successfully implement effective prevention services in key socializing settings that powerfully affect the growth an development of children...

The New Haven (Connecticut) Public Schools established a district-level department of social development to coordinate all prevention and health-promotion initiatives. The goals are to educate knowledgeable, responsible, and caring students who acquire a set of basic skills, values, work habits, and positive self-concepts. (MLH)

A substantial number of adolescents, including many as young as 11, engage in high-risk sexual behavior. In a 1992 survey of 2,248 urban students in grades 6, 8 and 10, 45% of respondents, including 28% of sixth graders, were sexually active; the majority of sexually experienced students had had two or more partners. Among sexually active responden...

A common problem faced by professionals involved in implementing and researching intervention programs is identifying where they can turn for consultation and support in addressing the complex challenges of their work. The professional literature often does not address the specific problems they must address and does not offer personal support. Fur...

To examine levels of violence exposure and reports of feeling unsafe in relation to psychological and behavioral characteristics for a general population sample of youths from an urban setting. A comprehensive survey of high-risk behaviors, attitudes, indicators of adaptive behavior, and daily involvements was administered to a sample of 2,248 stud...

This paper examines four areas of "problem behavior" (i.e., delinquency, high-risk sexual behavior, school failure, and substance abuse) in a sample of urban sixth and seventh grade students. We report descriptive statistics regarding rates of problem behaviors in each of the four categories and examine their interrelationships. The results suggest...

Large numbers of America's young people engage in multiple high-risk behaviors that may jeopardize their health and social development. Given the gravity of this situation, many federal agencies and national organizations have called for the implementation of school-based K-12 social competence and health promotion programs. Unfortunately, there is...

The "goodness of fit" between the American Orthopsychiatric Association's organizational mission and the focus of Ed Zigler's lifetime work is noteworthy. When Ed Zigler was nominated to run for the Ortho Presidency he offered a cogent, one-sentence platform: "Ortho's future lies in leading the mental health field to utilize our interdisciplinary k...

The rate of future progress in the field of prevention is dependent, in part, on the adoption of an overarching conceptual framework which will provide a sound theoretical basis for the development of multilevel, context-sensitive prevention programming. Two broad approaches to the study of culture (cultural adaptationism and symbolic interactionis...

Investigated predictors of five measures of early school adjustment for an ethnically diverse cohort of 683 inner-city kindergartners and first graders. Data from 2 consecutive years were collected from teachers, school records, and children. A multiple-regression preduction model significantly explained children's competence behavior, problem beha...

This study assessed the impact of school-based social competence training on skills, social adjustment, and self-reported substance use of 282 sixth and seventh graders. Training emphasized broad-based competence promotion in conjunction with domain-specific application to substance abuse prevention. The 20-session program comprised six units: stre...

This study assessed the impact of school-based social competence training on skills, social adjustment, and self-reported substance use of 282 sixth and seventh graders. Training emphasized broad-based competence promotion in conjunction with domain-specific application to substance abuse prevention. The 20-session program comprised six units: stre...

Recent studies indicate that 15-22% of American children and adolescents suffer from diagnosable mental disorders. Researchers estimate that 25-50% engage in risk behaviors for negative health and behavior outcomes, such as drug abuse, unwanted pregnancy, AIDS, delinquency, and school dropout. The prevalence of problem behaviors, as well as current...

Recent studies indicate that 15–22% of American children and adolescents suffer from diagnosable mental disorders. Researchers estimate that 25–50% engage in risk behaviors for negative health and behavior outcomes, such as drug abuse, unwanted pregnancy, AIDS, delinquency, and school dropout. The prevalence of problem behaviors, as well as current...

Social problem solving (SPS) has often been conceptualized as a set of interrelated skills that can be applied generically to a variety of situations. This study examined differences in young adolescents' SPS skills as a function of the interpersonal features inherent in the problem situation, namely whether the partner was a friend or an acquainta...

Notes omissions from the February 1989 special issue of American Psychologist on children and their development. Insufficient attention was paid to (1) the prevention of dysfunctional health-compromising behaviors through the promotion of children's social competence and (2) schools as a primary arena in which such research is conducted. (PsycINFO...

The study compared 86 children with learning disabilities (LD) with 86 matched children without learning disabilities (NLD) on three domains of variables: social problem-solving skill, teacher-rated school behavior and competence, and family background. The children with LD and the NLD group differed on variables in all three domains. More specific...

We report activities and accomplishments of four states involved in systematic dissemination of a school-based early detection and prevention program. Descriptions are provided for each state of how the program started, how it functions, and its current scope. The four states have established programs in more than 300 schools in 182 school district...

Examined relationships between the social competence of early adolescents, as viewed by different reference groups, and the values adolescents place on controversial social behaviors. Assessed social competence for 65 seventh- and eight-graders with self-ratings of perceived competence, peer sociometric status ratings, teacher ratings, and academic...

discusses key theoretical and practical issues in the conceptualization, design, implementation, evaluation, and dissemination of school based preventive SCP [social competence promotion] programs critique of the . . . current prevailing model for SCP intervention and evaluation: the person-centered competence-enhancement approach / a new concept...

Social competence promotion (SCP) during childhood and adolescence has been identified as an important means of fostering adaptive behavior and preventing psychopathology (Kent & Rolf, 1979; Kornberg & Caplan, 1980; Long, 1986; Report of the Prevention Task Panel, 1978). As a result, a variety of school-based SCP programs have been developed (see r...

What determines the focus of a researcher's interest, the sources of inspiration for a study, or the variables scrutinized? If we were to examine the antecedents of these decisions, they would surely emerge as accidents of circumstance--the personal experiences of the researcher, the inspiration of early mentors, the influence of contemporary colle...