The United Way of Greater Cincinnati is leading the country in an effort to measure social and emotional skills through the implementation of the
Devereux Student Strengths Assessment (DESSA)-mini.
The United Way partnered with Philadelphia-based nonprofit
Devereux—an organization that supports behavioral health around the country—to create the system, which is a nationally standardized assessment and the first of its kind.
After the first year of data collection, more than 4,000 students from kindergarten through eighth-grade at 21 of the UWGC’s partner agencies, like
Big Brothers Big Sisters of Greater Cincinnati and the
Boys & Girls Club of Greater Cincinnati, have completed the assessment and will continue to use it to measure and adjust programming to better serve youth.
“Programs that promote social and emotional skills result in children doing better academically. They’re also the same skills in many cases that employers are looking for,” says
Paul LeBuffe, director of the
Devereux Center for Resilient Children.
According to LeBuffe, the ability of a child in school or an adult in the workforce to do things like “cooperate with their peers, make good decisions, manage their emotions and act ethically” are necessary skills that need to be taught so that one can succeed in life.
Social and emotional competencies come as a result of learning concepts like self-awareness and responsible decision-making during childhood, and LeBuffe says the UWGC is creating a model to show the nation how measuring soft skills can better communities.
One way these skills can be taught is evidenced by Chicago-based nonprofit
Collaborative on Academic, Social and Emotional Learning's (CASEL) program,
Promoting Alternative Thinking Strategies (PATHS), which teaches first- and second-grade children “the turtle technique”.
“What they do is have a story about this turtle, and one of its strengths is it has a shell, and when a turtle has a problem to solve, they go inside their shell, and first they think of what the problem is, then think of different solutions, then think about what will happen if they try one of the solutions,” LeBuffe says.
“And then they pick one. So the kids will get down on the ground and pretend they’re a turtle, but what they’re doing is learning how to solve problems in a responsible fashion.”
Do Good:
• Find
volunteer opportunities through the United Way of Greater Cincinnati.
• If you're a parent, pay just as much attention to your child's social and emotional skills as you do for their academic skills.
• Advocate that schools implement programs to promote children's social and emotional well being.
By Brittany York
Brittany York is a professor of English composition at the University of Cincinnati and a project manager for Charitable Words. She also edits the For Good section of SoapboxMedia.
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