Do the Views of Students' Caregivers Align with Research on the Benefits of Social and Emotional Skills? ACT Research. Data Byte

Social and emotional (SE) skills are "individual capacities that (a) are manifested in consistent patterns of thoughts, feelings, and behaviours, (b) can be developed through formal and informal learning experiences, and (c) influence important socioeconomic outcomes throughout the individual's life" (Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development, 2015, p. 34). Fortunately, students can improve their SE skills through social and emotional learning (SEL), which refers to programming designed to develop students' SE skills (Mahoney et al., 2018). Caregivers play a critical role in SEL by modeling and reinforcing their students' SE skill development. Caregivers may be more likely to participate willingly in SEL if they perceive SE skills and SEL interventions as beneficial. The current study examined the extent to which the views of caregivers align with the benefits demonstrated in past research on SE skills and SEL.