Shulla-Cose and Day’s bet on social-emotional education now looks prescient. Other educators and academics across the country have come to agree that content knowledge isn’t enough to prepare students for life after high school. Several of the nation’s most highly regarded charter school networks, like KIPP and YES Prep, came to this conclusion after taking a hard look at their data. These schools were rock stars under a No Child Left Behind school accountability system that rewarded them for getting high numbers of mostly poor black and Latino students to pass state math and reading tests. But they were finding that too often their students were unable to translate those test results into college success. Now, in addition to teaching students fractions and conjunctions, many educators are increasingly grappling with how to address social and emotional skills like collaboration and students’ sense of belonging.
Going forward, it’s likely standardized tests will play a much smaller role in how schools are evaluated. The passage of new federal education legislation, the Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA), which replaces No Child Left Behind (NCLB), gives state policymakers new authority to redesign accountability systems. Under ESSA, states are now required to incorporate non-academic measures.
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