Social and emotional (SE) skills are interpersonal, self-regulatory, and task-related behaviors that are important for adaption to and successful performance in educational and workplace settings (Casillas et al., 2015). These skills are related to important outcomes such as academic achievement and job satisfaction (e.g., Judge et al., 2002;…

Social and emotional (SE) skills are interpersonal, self-regulatory, and task-related behaviors that are important for adaptation to and successful performance across all domains of life, including education and workplace settings (Casillas et al., 2015). Family engagement affects the development of these important skills (Brooks & Lambert,…

Social and emotional (SE) skills are interpersonal, self-regulatory, and task-related behaviors that are important for adaption to and successful performance in educational and workplace settings (Casillas et al., 2015). Students can improve these skills through social and emotional learning (SEL) interventions or programming designed to teach SE…

This study examines the perceptions of parents and caregivers on Social and Emotional Learning (SEL), or in-school programs designed to teach social and emotional skills. The study aims to replicate the main findings from the Fordham report (Tyner, 2021) and examine how the rank-order method used in the study may have influenced the interpretation…

Social and emotional skills change naturally over time (Roberts, Walton, & Viechtbauer, 2006) and as the result of intervention efforts designed to improve social and emotional skills (Mahoney et al., 2018). Given the known malleability of social and emotional skills and significant changes to students' environments due to COVID-19, the…

Learners from underserved backgrounds tend to show lower levels of college readiness (ACT, 2016a; ACT, 2018). In part to address these disparities, the authors investigated growth in social and emotional (SE) skills in a cohort of largely Hispanic, high-poverty students who participated in GEAR UP. GEAR UP is a discretionary federal grant program…

Social and emotional (SE) skills are interpersonal, self-regulatory, and task-related behaviors that are important for adaptation to and successful performance in educational and workplace settings. These skills are related to important outcomes such as academic achievement and job satisfaction. A recent report suggests the term "durable…

This study was done in collaboration with the National Council for Community and Education Partnerships (NCCEP) and Alliance College-Ready Public Schools (Alliance). This report, the second in the series, Examining the Efficacy of Career & College Clubs, explores how changes in the college readiness areas of social and emotional skills,…

This issue brief is part of a five-part series that reports findings from research conducted by ACT in collaboration with Region One Education Service Center. This brief focuses on the efficacy of SEL lessons implemented during the 2019-2020 school year and examines their relationship to school-reported student outcomes such as grades, attendance,…

A focus of learning analytics research has been the collection, analysis, and interpretation of data from online academic technologies, particularly in higher education where these technologies are incorporated extensively into the student learning experience. In particular, the learning management system (LMS) has emerged as a technology…

As the global economy transforms into a knowledge-based society with an enhanced focus on information and innovation, success will depend on the ability of global citizens to work effectively with knowledge and technology (Drucker, 1993; Sawyer, 2006; Schwab, 2017). Working effectively with knowledge and technology requires thinking critically and…

Over the past decade, there has been greater recognition by educators, employers, and policymakers of the importance of behavioral skills and navigation factors (e.g., dependability, cooperation, interests, and goals) for education and career success. A growing body of research shows that these factors contribute to diverse positive outcomes in…

ACT has been a leader in measuring college and career readiness trends for decades. Each August, ACT releases "The Condition of College & Career Readiness" (www.act.org/newsroom/data/2013), our annual report on the progress of the ACT-tested graduating class relative to college readiness. Nationally, 54.3% of the 2013 graduating…

The importance of community colleges has never been as recognized by the country's state and national elected officials as it is today. Community colleges are viewed as an essential, if not the most essential, resource in addressing the economic and workforce development needs of many regions and communities across the country. This paper examines…

A hallmark of the US education system is the opportunity afforded to students to pursue education and career paths of their own choosing. This flexibility and autonomy, however, has drawbacks. Students must navigate a series of complex and often disconnected environments, as well as numerous decision points, before they attain a fulfilling career.…