Tribes Learning Communities – Tribes TLC®
is recognized as a SELect Program by CASEL

CenterSource is pleased to announce that Tribes Learning Communities – Tribes TLC® – has been chosen by the Collaborative for Academic, Social and Emotional Learning (CASEL) as one of 22 SELect Programs, which is the highest possible rating. CASEL presents the conceptual framework, well-researched criteria, and program review results in their publication, Safe and Sound: An Education Leader’s Guide to Evidence-Based Social and Emotional Learning (SEL) Programs. Tribes TLC® earned recognition as a CASEL SELect Program by demonstrating the following requirements:

• provides outstanding coverage in five essential SEL areas
• has well-designed evaluation demonstrating effectiveness, and
• offers high-quality professional development.

Funded by the U.S. Department of Education's Institute of Education Sciences (IES) and the Office of Safe and Drug-Free Schools (OSDFS), Safe and Sound is the most comprehensive guide to SEL programming available. The guide provides “a road map for schools and districts that are launching or adding social, emotional, and academic learning programs” – including those that are comprehensive and those that are more narrowly focused, such as drug education or anti-violence programs. Safe and Sound also offers guidance to educational leaders on how to integrate fragmented efforts and initiatives by providing a framework for “putting the pieces together.”

“Social and emotional learning (SEL) is the process of acquiring the skills to recognize and manage emotions, develop caring and concern for others, make responsible decisions, establish positive relationships, and handle challenging situations effectively. Research has shown that SEL is fundamental to children's social and emotional development – their health, ethical development, citizenship, academic learning, and motivation to achieve. Social and emotional education is a unifying concept for organizing and coordinating school-based programming that focuses on positive youth development, health promotion, prevention of problem behaviors, and student engagement in learning.”

In addition to skill-building components, a number of SEL programs, such as Tribes Learning Communities, also feature elements “designed to create supportive climates in the classroom and throughout the school – for example, by nurturing the relationships between students and teachers and others important to the child. Such emotionally safe environments and relationships are known to increase students' attachment to school, another major factor in academic success.

CASEL SELect Programs effectively address the 10 Guidelines for effective, high-quality, comprehensive SEL practice. Effective programs:

1. are grounded in theory and research
2. teach children to apply SEL skills and ethical values in daily life
3. build connections to school through caring, engaging classroom and school practices
4. provide developmentally and culturally appropriate instruction
5. help schools coordinate and unify programs that are often fragmented
6. enhance school performance by addressing the affective and social dimensions of academic learning
7. involve families and communities as partners
8. establish organizational supports and policies that foster success
9. provide high-quality staff development and support
10. incorporate continuing evaluation and improvement.

The CASEL website offers a wealth of information, articles, and publications that support the well-researched connection between social emotional learning and academic achievement.

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