WASHINGTON, D.C. (Press Release) — The U.S. House of Representatives on Thursday evening, March 8 passed bipartisan legislation – Strengthening Education through Research Act (H.R. 4366) – to improve research on education programs and ensure those programs are effective in meeting national education priorities. H.R. 4366 includes language from a bill carried by U.S. Rep. Susan Davis (CA-53) to help schools integrate social and emotional learning (SEL). The provision from Davis’s The Supporting Emotional Learning (SEL) Act (H.R. 4509) would make SEL a topic for educational research.
“I am pleased that my SEL language was included in the bill,” said Davis, a senior member of the House Committee on Education and the Workforce. “It’s a good first step to making SEL a central component of our education system. Scientifically rigorous and relevant educational research is necessary to improve the quality of education in the United States. It’s promising to see the House come together in a bipartisan fashion to update and reauthorize our educational research capabilities.”
The Education Sciences Reform Act provides funding for the National Center of Education Research, which supports research that contributes to solving the significant education challenges facing the country.
Social and emotional learning helps young people better handle societal issues thus boosting their academic potential. Students receiving SEL education do better on tests, show greater pro-social behaviors, and less emotional stress.
Davis’s H.R. 4509 would also support teacher training in SEL. The SEL Act has been endorsed by the Collaborative for Academic, Social, and Emotional Learning (CASEL).
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Preceding provided by Congresswoman Susan Davis
All of us at Responsive Classroom are thrilled to see bipartisan support for more research and integration of SEL into our schools. Thank you Representative Davis!
We, at the Social-Emotional Learning Alliance for Massachusetts, congratulate Rep. Davis for filing the bill and the bi-paritsan support it received. Education can bring results that are beyond testing knowledge but can fulfill the mission of Public Health in reducing behaviors that are so destructive to our society such as violence and addictions. Let’s educate our children in ways of thinking that promote a healthy lifestyle and constructive and ethical decision-making.