Perspectives on Social and Emotional Learning (SEL) from Out-of-School Time (OST) Leaders in Minnesota

1 Not central 2 3 4 5 6 Very central Social and emotional skills Academic skills and school performance College and career access and suceess My programs intentionally focus on: Never/Rarely/ Occasionally A Moderate Amount A Great Deal Relationship skills / Collaboration / Teamwork 10% 28% 63% Youth Engagement 11% 28% 61% Belonging / Connectedness 14% 31% 55% Responsible decision making 12% 34% 54% Critical thinking / Problem-solving 17% 36% 47% Self-management skills 18% 39% 42% Character development 22% 36% 42% Social awareness skills / Empathy / Caring 22% 38% 41% Active citizenship / Contribution 28% 32% 40% Hope / Optimism 25% 38% 38% Self-awareness skills 24% 40% 36% Growth mindset / Sense of Mastery 29% 39% 33% Resiliency 30% 38% 32% Sense of agency / Self-efficacy 29% 41% 30% Perseverance / Grit 33% 41% 27% CURRENT OST EFFORTS FOCUSED ON SEL  940 responses from funders to frontline  Representing programs serving 1.5 million youth  120 districtand 350 building-level responses  Representing over 250,000 students SURVEY SAMPLE To be successful in school now and ready for college and careers later, young people need to develop a range of skills that extends beyond traditional academics. Content knowledge and academic skills are important, but it is also critical that youth learn how to work well with others, persevere when faced with challenges, and recognize when a new strategy is needed to solve a problem. There is increasing evidence that social and emotional factors are critical to young people's success. There is, however, little agreement on which factors to assess or how best to support their development in both school and out of school programs. This poster presents results from an online survey of over 900 leaders in the out of school time field. The survey taps their perspectives on social and emotional learning, its importance, its assessment, barriers, current efforts in this area, and which dimensions of SEL are considered most important. Many of the questions parallel a survey we conducted with school district and building-level education leaders. Results from these surveys, along with one being conducted with youth this fall, help round out our understanding of how leaders and youth both in and out of school understand, value, and promote the social and emotional development of young in Minnesota. These data provide direction for how best to move forward in both improving practice and assessing social and emotional learning in different contexts.