Blog Archive for May 2019

For too many young people, the transition from high school to college or a career poses significant challenges. In Boston alone, nearly 5,000 16- to 24-year-olds are not in school or employed. This group, known as Opportunity Youth, represents incredible untapped promise and potential. Our latest report, Career Pathways for Opportunity Youth, takes an in-depth look at what career pathways exist for Opportunity Youth by going straight to the source

Over the last several years we’ve seen the interest in expanding social-emotional learning (SEL) grow exponentially, with district and state leaders joining educators in committing to making it a priority. This commitment has never been more clear to us than on May 1 at our conference focused on the past, present, and future of SEL in Massachusetts. The event was sold out, drawing a crowd of 350 participants who were eager to engage in the topic. Participants heard from 50 speakers throughout the day including members of the Excellence through Social Emotional Learning (exSEL) Network.

For many students, classroom instruction is not enough to ensure success in school. Hunger, homelessness, worry or sadness over a difficult family situation can interfere with a student’s readiness to learn. To create schools that fully support students and improve learning outcomes, , we need to break down barriers to learning by building a system—guided by proven practices—that harnesses the power of both school- and community-based resources.