University of Alabama’s College of Education Gets Grant To Study Social And Emotional Learning in Children.

Our children are significant. The importance of their ability to learn and succeed will reflect the success of the next generation. This is why it’s important that educators, especially elementary educators, understand best practices to improve outcomes for students. The Department of Education awarded this grant to the University of Alabama to study social and emotional learning (SEL). The $5 million federal grant will examine the importance of Social Emotional Learning on elementary-age students’ academic and overall success.

Here’s a couple of reasons that this research is important for elementary educators & students.

A) It will help teachers better be able to understand the best ways that children learn.

B) It can contribute to better educational and social outcomes for students.

Here’s what this grant funding will go towards:

This research project will enable this research team to study the impact of social and emotional learning on students’ outcomes. Social and emotional learning can be critical to help elementary students to prepare for farther-reaching educational goals.

There are some real sincere benefits to the creation of this program. These benefits include giving the ability to participating schools in Jasper City, Tuscaloosa City, and Montgomery. The program will give educators the ability to utilize these social and emotional learning methods to teach children from K-3. Many e students may be at risk of behavioral or social issues, and this could help those students exponentially.

Elementary Educators Will Be Given A New Way To Connect With Students

According to researchers, the goal is to expand this program to other states like Mississippi, Georgia, and Florida, to benefit students in those states as well.

Here’s what Greg Benner, Helen and Pat O’Sullivan Professor of Education at UA, who is the head researcher on this program had to say about the grant award:

“Development of social and emotional skills is foundational to student success in both academics and life, Improving youth SEL outcomes for all students requires educators to be equipped with the knowledge and skills to deliver differentiated SEL instruction.

Educators receive an average of eight hours of training on effective SEL strategies and even less training on how to differentiate to youth with significant behavior concerns. As a result, educators feel unprepared to provide explicit, differentiated SEL instruction, particularly for students with and at risk for emotional and behavioral disorders.”

Programs that focus on improving student outcomes, can benefit students. Especially those who are struggling with behavioral or emotional issues. Educational institutions that focus on finding grant funding to improve student outcomes may benefit from a GrantWatch subscription. We have an entire category for Education grants that interested nonprofits and institutions can search for the types of grants they need using our filterable search bar.