I 

114TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 850 

To support evidence-based social and emotional learning programming. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

FEBRUARY 10, 2015 

Mr. RYAN of Ohio (for himself, Mrs. DAVIS of California, Mr. LOEBSACK, Mr. 

YARMUTH, and Mr. CARTWRIGHT) introduced the following bill; which 

was referred to the Committee on Education and the Workforce 

A BILL 

To support evidence-based social and emotional learning 

programming. 

1 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa2 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 

3 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

4 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Academic, Social, and 

5 Emotional Learning Act of 2015’’. 

6 SEC. 2. FINDINGS. 

7 The Congress makes the following findings: 

8 (1) To succeed in school, students need to be 

9 engaged. They need to know how to maintain focus 

10 and effort in the face of setbacks, work effectively 


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1 with others, and be good communicators and prob2 lem-solvers. 

3 (2) Social and emotional skills form a founda4 tion for young people’s success not just in school, 

5 but as healthy and caring adults, productive work6 ers, and engaged citizens. 

7 (3) Not only can these skills be taught, they 

8 can be taught by regular classroom teachers in 

9 schools of every type to students of every back10 ground. 

11 (4) Academic outcomes resulting from social 

12 and emotional learning include greater motivation to 

13 learn and commitment to school, increased time de14 voted to schoolwork and mastery of subject matter, 

15 improved attendance, graduation rates, grades, and 

16 test scores. 

17 (5) These positive outcomes increase in stu18 dents who are involved in social and emotional learn19 ing programming by an average of 11 percentile 

20 points over students who are not involved in such 

21 programming. 

22 (6) Social and emotional learning programming 

23 also results in reduced problem behavior, improved 

24 health outcomes, a lower rate of violent delinquency, 

25 and a lower rate of heavy alcohol use. 


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1 SEC. 3. AMENDMENTS TO THE ELEMENTARY AND SEC2 ONDARY EDUCATION ACT. 

3 (a) TEACHER AND PRINCIPAL TRAINING AND RE4 CRUITING FUND.—Part A of title II of the Elementary 

5 and Secondary Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 6601 

6 et seq.) is amended— 

7 (1) in section 2113(c)(2)— 

8 (A) by striking ‘‘and’’ at the end of sub9 paragraph (A); 

10 (B) by striking the period at the end of 

11 subparagraph (B) and inserting ‘‘; and’’; and 

12 (C) by adding at the end the following: 

13 ‘‘(C) train teachers and principals in prac14 tices that have demonstrated effectiveness in 

15 improving student achievement, attainment, 

16 and behavior through addressing the social and 

17 emotional development needs of students, such 

18 as through social and emotional learning pro19 gramming.’’; and 

20 (2) in section 2123(a)(3)(B)(iii)— 

21 (A) by striking ‘‘and’’ at the end of (I); 

22 (B) by redesignating subclause (II) as sub23 clause (III); and 

24 (C) by inserting after subclause (I) the fol25 lowing: 


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1 ‘‘(II) addressing the social and 

2 emotional development needs of stu3 dents to improve student achievement 

4 and attainment, such as through so5 cial and emotional learning program6 ming; and’’. 

7 (b) DEFINITIONS.—Section 9101 of the Elementary 

8 and Secondary Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 7801) 

9 is amended by adding at the end the following: 

10 ‘‘(44) SOCIAL AND EMOTIONAL LEARNING.— 

11 The term ‘social and emotional learning’ means the 

12 process through which children and adults acquire 

13 the knowledge, attitudes, and skills associated with 

14 the core areas of social and emotional competency, 

15 including— 

16 ‘‘(A) self-awareness and self-management 

17 to achieve school and life success, such as iden18 tifying and recognizing strengths, needs, emo19 tions, values and self-efficacy, impulse control 

20 and stress management, self-motivation and 

21 discipline, and goal setting and organizational 

22 skills; 

23 ‘‘(B) social awareness and interpersonal 

24 skills to establish and maintain positive rela25 tionships, such as perspective taking and reVerDate Sep 11 2014 22:17 Feb 17, 2015 Jkt 049200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H850.IH H850

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1 spect for others, communication, working coop2 eratively, negotiation, conflict management, and 

3 help seeking; and 

4 ‘‘(C) decisionmaking skills and responsible 

5 behaviors in personal, academic and community 

6 contexts, such as situational analysis, problem 

7 solving, reflection and personal, and social and 

8 ethical responsibility. 

9 ‘‘(45) SOCIAL AND EMOTIONAL LEARNING PRO10 GRAMMING.—The term ‘social and emotional learn11 ing programming’ refers to classroom instruction 

12 and schoolwide activities and initiatives that— 

13 ‘‘(A) integrate social and emotional learn14 ing into school curriculum; 

15 ‘‘(B) provide systematic instruction where16 by social and emotional skills are taught, mod17 eled, practiced, and applied so that students use 

18 them as part of their daily behavior; 

19 ‘‘(C) teach children to apply social and 

20 emotional skills to prevent specific problem be21 haviors such as substance use, violence, bul22 lying, and school failure, and to promote posi23 tive behaviors in class, school, and community 

24 activities; and 


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1 ‘‘(D) establish safe and caring learning en2 vironments that foster student participation, 

3 engagement, and connection to learning and 

4 school.’’. 

Æ 


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