APA Awards Programs for Schools that Support Social-Emotional Learning

September 20, 2017

APA Awards Programs for Schools that Support Social-Emotional Learning

By Patrick Kyllonen

The American Psychological Association (APA) sponsors a couple of awards programs that recognize schools that promote social and emotional skills. APA’s Board of Educational Affairs (BEA) sponsors the Golden Psi program http://www.apa.org/about/awards/bea-golden-psi.aspx which gives an annual $1000 award to schools “that apply psychological science to promote student academic and social-emotional growth and success.” Awardees are recognized with a trophy, a press release in local media, in the Monitor on Psychology, on APA’s website, and at the Annual APA convention. The deadline is November 1, 2017. (For further information please contact Maha Khalid, mkhalid@apa.org )

The “Top 20” Badges Program awards virtual badges to PreK-12 schools that use evidence-based strategies to boost achievement and student well-being (http://www.apa.org/ed/schools/teaching-learning/top-twenty-badges.aspx) . The strategies are described in The Top 20 Principles from Psychology for PreK-12 Teaching and Learning. The badges program recognizes school-level achievements in five separate areas—motivation, social-emotional learning, classroom management, assessment, and thinking and learning. The deadline is November 15, 2017. (For further information please contact Rena Subotnik, rsubotnik@apa.org)

We would particularly encourage places that make use of SE assessments to look into these awards. Our field needs visible examples of how data is put to use to make a difference.

Do you know of other award or recognition programs related to social emotional learning or assessment? If so, please use the comment box below to share.

If you or your organization, has been honored for your work in SEL, please share that with others as well.

If you could create an award related to SEL assessment, what would it be and why?

Disclaimer: The Assessment Work Group is committed to enabling a rich dialogue on key issues in the field and seeking out diverse perspectives. The views and opinions expressed in this blog are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect the official policy or position of the Assessment Work Group, CASEL or any of the organizations involved with the work group.