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House Introduces Academic, Social, and Emotional Learning Act

In December 2009, a bipartisan group composed of Congressman Dale E. Kildee (D-MI), Congresswoman Judy Biggert (R-IL), and Congressman Tim Ryan (D-OH) introduced HB 4223: The Academic, Social, and Emotional Learning Act, new legislation that would authorize the U.S. Department of Education to:

• Establish a National Technical Assistance and Training Center for Social and Emotional Learning. Provides technical assistance to states, school districts, and community-based organizations on the effective implementation of social and emotional learning standards and programming, including high-quality professional development for school leaders and teachers, and research on best practices.
• Provide Grants to Support Evidence-Based Social and Emotional Learning Programming. Authorizes five-year competitive grants to states and school districts to work with the national technical assistance center to develop and implement social and emotional learning initiatives.
• Conduct a National Evaluation of School-Based Social and Emotional Learning Programming. Authorizes the Secretary of Education to conduct an independent evaluation of grantees to determine the program’s impact on student achievement, attainment, and behavioral outcomes.

The proposed legislation would take social and emotional learning off the back burner of education and renew interest in and refocus attention on the importance of educating the whole child. The Collaborative for Academic, Social, and Emotional Learning (CASEL) provides a draft of HB 4223 at http://www.casel.org/downloads/SELACT_2009.pdf

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