With the new federal law calling for inclusion of a non-academic metric in state accountability systems, how might social and emotional learning (SEL) figure in? In a report for the Learning Policy Institute, Hanna Melnick, Channa M. Cook-Harvey, and Linda Darling-Hammond provide a framework for considering how measures of SEL and school climate may be incorporated in an accountability and continuous improvement system. They offer an idea for a multi-tiered system that would provide information about school status and progress at the state, district, and school levels.
In addition to indicators required by the federal ESSA for identifying schools for intervention, a broader system of accountability and continuous improvement might also include state or local indicators that offer diagnostic information for improvement.