Every Student Succeeds Act and Social Emotional Learning: opportunities and considerations for P-12 arts educators

Abstract

Relationships between the 2015 Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA), arts education, and Social Emotional Learning (SEL) have gone largely unexplored. The purpose of this article is to investigate how P-12 arts educators might use ESSA in support of new and existing SEL efforts and to examine how SEL might assist P-12 arts educators in meeting the aims of ESSA. States can include surveys of SEL as part of their school-wide success indicators, and school leaders can advocate for SEL as a possible means of improving the absenteeism and suspension rates that ESSA mandates they report. School leaders may also use the funds provided by the specific sections (titles) of ESSA to support SEL initiatives. These include funds designated for assisting academically struggling students (Title I), providing training and professional development for teachers (Title II), and fostering safe and health students (Title IV). In addition to advocating that these funds support SEL initiatives, arts educators might inform administrators and other stakeholders about how their work supports SEL and consider incorporating more content-specific SEL activities into their classrooms. Yet, arts educators might consider possible unintended consequences, including that ESSA funding for broad SEL initiatives might come at the expense of money for arts education.