Resource Library

Navigating Political Tensions Over Schooling: Findings from the Fall 2022 American School District Panel Survey

Public schooling has always been politically fraught, but current disagreements over issues related to race, sexuality, gender, and Covid-19 have reached a tipping point. According to a new report from the Center on Reinventing Public Education and RAND, half of school system leaders say that these disagreements are disrupting schooling.

Almost one in three district leaders also said their educators had received verbal or written threats about politically controversial topics since fall 2021, the report shows.

The findings come from surveys issued to 300 district and charter network leaders and interviews with superintendents. Their responses shed light on how political polarization has affected classrooms and how districts are responding.

Skills for Success: Developing Social and Emotional Competencies in Out-of-School-Time Programs

This report offers guidance to out-of-school-time providers and intermediaries looking to incorporate social and emotional learning into their programming for young people.

Evidence for Social and Emotional Learning in Schools

There is a consensus among educators, parents, and policymakers that education should focus on supporting essential capacities to help children navigate the world successfully. This broad notion of educating the “whole child” generally includes at least the the abilities to: (1) develop healthy personal relationships, (2) treat others with respect and dignity, (3) develop the cognitive capacity to solve problems and think creatively, (4) succeed in postsecondary education and the labor market, and (5) be a contributing citizen in a democracy. To nurture these capacities, schools should be healthy, caring spaces that create a climate of support for equitable pathways for children to reach these goals while also creating a challenging and dynamic learning environment. Social and emotional learning (SEL) is critical for the development of these capacities.

Youth Risk Behavior Survey Data Summary & Trends Report

The Youth Risk Behavior Survey Data Summary & Trends Report: 2011–2021 provides the most recent surveillance data, as well as 10-year trends, on health behaviors and experiences among high school students in the United States (U.S.) related to adolescent health and well-being . These include sexual behaviors, substance use, suicidal thoughts and behaviors, experiences such as violence and poor mental health, social determinants of health such as unstable housing, and protective factors such as school connectedness and parental monitoring . We also highlight disparities in these important outcomes by sex, race and ethnicity, sexual identity, and sex of sexual contacts .

This report is developed by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s (CDC) Division of Adolescent and School Health (DASH) to highlight the national Youth Risk Behavior Survey (YRBS) data collected every two years among
a nationally representative sample of U.S. high school students.