Over 60 persons attended the “Investing in Social Emotional Development: Implications for Evidence-Based Policy” forum Friday, October 27 at The Henry J. Kaiser Family Foundation’s Barbara Jordan Conference Center in Washington, DC. The event brought together professionals including economists, applied researchers, policymakers, school superintendents, systems theorists, and philanthropic foundations with interest in improving outcomes for children.

Sponsored by the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, Penn State University and New York University, the forum was centered around a policy brief released last month entitled “Improving Social Emotional Skills in Childhood Enhances Long-Term Well-Being and Economic Outcomes.”  Written by Penn State’s Damon Jones, Ph.D. and Max Crowley, Ph.D., the brief synthesizes the growing research on the economic impact of social and emotional learning (SEL). Topics included the importance of early social emotional  competencies, the current knowledge of the economic impact from SEL programs and needed components for economic impact, and the measurement of benefits of SEL with new analytic models and the use of large data systems. Rich audience discussion resulted from each topical session.

Featured speakers were Mark Greenberg, Penn State University; Tracy Costigan, Robert Wood Johnson Foundation; Damon Jones, Penn State University; Rachel Abenavoli, New York University; Joshua Brown, Fordham University; Lynn Karoly, Rand Corporation; Hank Levin, Columbia University; Karen Bierman, Penn State University; Stephanie Lee, Washington State Institute for Public Policy; Karen Pittman, Forum for Youth Investment; Stephanie M. Jones, Harvard University; Pamela Morris, New York University; Wanda Legrand, Deputy Chancellor of Washington DC Schools; Jon Baron, Laura and John Arnold Foundation; Kim Dumont, William T. Grant Foundation; Jenn Ng’andu, Robert Wood Johnson Foundation; Jennifer Brooks, Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation; Max Crowley, Penn State University; Tim Shriver, Co-Chair, CASEL & Chairman, Special Olympics; Ron Haskins, Brookings Institution; Kim Schonert-Reichl, University of British Columbia; Roger Weissberg, Chief Knowledge Officer, CASEL; University of Illinois; and Ron Ferguson, Harvard University.

The forum is part of a Robert Wood Johnson Foundation funded project that includes the development of 11 policy briefs on SEL.  Tracy Costigan,is the project officer and Mark Greenberg and Karen Bierman, co-lead the project. To see all the briefs, click here