Empirical Evidence of Social and Emotional Learning's Influence on School Success: A Commentary on “Building Academic Success on Social and Emotional Learning: What Does the Research Say?,” a book edited by Joseph E. Zins, Roger P. Weissberg, Margaret C. Wang, and Herbert J. Walberg

Abstract

In Building Academic Success on Social and Emotional Learning: What does the Research Say? Zins and his colleagues presented a new way to conceptualize the impact of social and emotional learning programs on students' school success by broadening the concept to include students' attitudes, behaviors, and performance. To build on Zins' ideas, we (a) briefly review research examining the impact of 262 social and emotional learning (SEL) programs on a number of outcomes that assessed school attitudes, behaviors, and performance; and (b) suggest additional avenues for research of SEL interventions.