Human Skills: The Building Blocks of Well-Being

Educators face no shortage of challenges in their work, but by prioritizing their own wellness, those challenges become opportunities for self-care.

With these back-to-school tips from some of our 2023 Educator of the Year award winners, set everyone up for success and build connections in the classroom and the staff room.

Explore practical strategies to nurture your child’s social and emotional growth at home, and learn about easy activities for all ages that fit seamlessly into daily routines.

Learn about Alison Cline's Second Step experience and how her school united to keep the curriculum, highlighting its positive impact on students.

In schools that implemented Second Step programs, students across all grade levels showed measurable gains in social-emotional skills. These schoolwide improvements demonstrate that a comprehensive, coordinated approach to human skills instruction can positively affect an entire school community.

A meta-analysis of 44 school-based anti-bullying programs found that programs incorporating SEL components—such as teaching empathy, emotion regulation, and social problem-solving skills—were significantly more effective at reducing bullying and victimization than programs that relied solely on discipline-based approaches.

A groundbreaking 19-year longitudinal study found that social competence measured in kindergarten significantly predicted outcomes in education, employment, criminal activity, substance use, and mental health by age 25. For every one-point increase in social competence, students were significantly more likely to be employed and less likely to be arrested.

A cost-benefit analysis of six evidence-based SEL programs found that, on average, every dollar invested returned $11 in long-term benefits, including reductions in criminal behavior, substance abuse, and other negative outcomes. This makes SEL one of the most cost-effective educational investments available.