The Evidence Base for How Learning Happens - A Consensus on Social, Emotional, and Academic Development

Oct 15, 2026

Uploaded by Stanley

The text argues that students’ success in school and beyond depends on healthy social and emotional development alongside academic skills. It links belonging, purpose, collaboration, goal setting, and perseverance to stronger learning outcomes and greater chances to reach full potential. It describes education as a powerful influence that can intentionally cultivate these competencies through supportive policies, practices, and school culture. It also explains how learning and development are intertwined across social, emotional, cognitive, and linguistic domains.

LanguageEnglish

CategoryResearch & Report

FormatPDF

Pages8

Reading Time20 min

AccessFree to download

The Evidence Base for How Learning Happens

The Intertwined Nature of Learning and Development

The Evidence Base for How Learning Happens A Consensus on Social, Emotional, and Academic Development ILLUSTRATIONS BY DANIEL BAXTER By Stephanie M. Jones and Jennifer Kahn C ompelling research demonstrates that the success of young people in school and beyond is inextricably linked to healthy social and emotional development. Students who have a sense of belonging and purpose, who can work well with classmates and peers to solve problems, who can plan and set goals, and who can persevere through challenges—in addition to being literate, numerate, and versed in scientific concepts and ideas—are more likely to maximize their opportunities and reach their full potential. Stephanie M. Jones is a professor of education at the Harvard Graduate School of Education. Jennifer Kahn is a research manager in the EASEL (Ecological Approaches to Social and Emotional Learning) Lab at the Harvard Graduate School of Education. This article is excerpted with permission from The Evidence Base for How We Learn: Supporting Students’ Social, Emotional, and Academic Development (Aspen Institute, 2017). The full report and the list of distinguished scientists who developed the consensus [statements are available at www.aspeninstitute. org/](statements are available at www.aspeninstitute. org/)[ ](statements are available at www.aspeninstitute. org/)[publications/evidence-base-learn.](publications/evidence-base-learn.) Educators understand the benefits of educating the whole child, and have been calling for more support and fewer barriersin making this vision a reality. Similarly, employers recognize that social and emotional development, along with content knowledge, is crucial to preparing the future workforce with the life skills employers increasingly need and value.1 Given the substantial amount of time children spend in them, schools are an important and powerful influence on children’s development in all areas. They are a critical context in which to intentionally and productively cultivate social and emotional development. While many schools and districts are pursuing this work, their success so far has been impeded by education policies—and practices in some schools—that are predicated on a narrow vision of student success. Fortunately, the federal Every Student Succeeds Act and growing efforts at the state and local levels to make social and emotional development a priority are beginning to change the landscape. This convergence of support from the education and business communities and shiftsin the policy landscape creates a rare window of opportunity 16 AMERICAN EDUCATOR | WINTER 2017–2018 to highlight and build upon the powerful body of evidence that establishes social, emotional, and cognitive competencies as essential to learning. Seizing on this momentum, the Aspen Institute’s National Commission on Social, Emotional, and Academic Development united a broad alliance of leaders to speak with a unified voice about the urgency of integrating social and emotional development into the fabric ofK–12 education. The commission convened a group of scientists, researchers, and academics across disparate fields to develop consensus statements on what research says about integrating social, emotional, and academic development. These consensus statements were recently published in The Evidence Base for How We Learn: Supporting Students’ Social, Emotional, and Academic Development, from which this article is drawn. The Intertwined Nature of Learning and Development Decades of research inhuman development, cognitive and behavioral neuroscience, educational practice and policy, and other fields have illuminated that major domains of human development—social, emotional, cognitive, linguistic, academic—are deeply intertwined in the brain and in behavior. All are central to learning. Strengths or weaknesses in one area foster or impede development in others; each domain intersects with the others. For example, social develo

FAQs

What does the text say links learning success to social and emotional development?

It states that young people’s success is inextricably tied to healthy social and emotional development in addition to literacy, numeracy, and scientific understanding.

Which student capabilities are highlighted as improving learning outcomes?

The text emphasizes belonging and purpose, effective collaboration with peers, planning and goal setting, and perseverance through challenges.

How does the text explain the relationship between different developmental domains?

It describes social, emotional, cognitive, linguistic, and academic domains as deeply intertwined in the brain and behavior, where strengths or weaknesses in one area can foster or impede development in others.

Oct 15, 2026

Uploaded by Stanley