Washington has unveiled a draft of social-emotional health standards that city leaders said will help students express and manage emotions and resolve conflicts.
The Office of the State Superintendent of Education said the standards are part of the city’s strategic plan, and it is aiming to have them in place for the start of the 2024-25 school year.
Elizabeth Ross, the city’s assistant superintendent for teaching and learning, said the standards will look different in practice across different grade levels and schools. Some of them are grouped according to grade cluster, such as third-fifth grade or sixth-eighth grade, because “we know that students may need more than one school year to practice an individual competency or an individual skill.”
In elementary school, the standards could result in teachers creating a corner where students can step away and take time for themselves or checking in during circle time, Ross said. In middle and high school, meanwhile, “we might expect to see an explicit practice of using the growth mindset or of engaging in mindfulness.”
The city is using $250,000 of federal pandemic stimulus funding to support the development and implementation of the standards, Ross said.
“We’re in a position where the pandemic both highlighted the need for a discrete focus on social-emotional learning, and also provided us with some resources through that federal stimulus money to accelerate our work in this space,” Ross said.
Some of the draft standards also feature lessons that will help students know when to ask for help, set personal and academic goals, non-violently de-escalate conflicts and build healthy relationships, according to a news release.
The concepts were designed to address specific needs of D.C.’s students and educators, Ross said.
“There’s a rich body of research on social-emotional learning that demonstrates that high quality social-emotional learning supports improved academic performance, decreases [student] anxiety and behavior issues,” Ross said.
OSSE is accepting public feedback on the draft standards through Jan. 22.
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