II 

114TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION S. 897 

To support evidence-based social and emotional learning programming. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

APRIL 13, 2015 

Mr. BLUMENTHAL (for himself and Mr. MURPHY) introduced the following 

bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions 

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 ‘‘Jesse Lewis Empow5 ering Educators Act’’. 

6 SEC. 2. FINDINGS. 

7 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 in schools of every type to students 

9 of every background by regular classroom teachers 

10 who receive adequate training on methods for devel11 oping their own social and emotional learning skills 

12 and integrating social and emotional learning into 

13 the standard curriculum. 

14 (4) Academic outcomes resulting from social 

15 and emotional learning include greater motivation to 

16 learn and commitment to school, increased time de17 voted to schoolwork and mastery of subject matter, 

18 and improved attendance, graduation rates, grades, 

19 and test scores. 

20 (5) These positive outcomes increase in stu21 dents who are involved in social and emotional learn22 ing programming by an average of 11 percentile 

23 points over students who are not involved in such 

24 programming. 

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1 (6) Social and emotional learning programming 

2 also results in reduced problem behavior, improved 

3 health outcomes, a lower rate of violent delinquency, 

4 and a lower rate of heavy alcohol use. 

5 SEC. 3. AMENDMENTS TO THE ELEMENTARY AND SEC6 ONDARY EDUCATION ACT OF 1965. 

7 (a) TEACHER AND PRINCIPAL TRAINING AND RE8 CRUITING FUND.—Part A of title II of the Elementary 

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

10 et seq.) is amended— 

11 (1) in section 2113(c)(2)— 

12 (A) in subparagraph (A), by striking 

13 ‘‘and’’ after the semicolon; 

14 (B) in subparagraph (B), by striking the 

15 period at the end and inserting ‘‘; and’’; and 

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

17 ‘‘(C) train teachers and principals in prac18 tices that have demonstrated effectiveness in 

19 improving student achievement, attainment, 

20 and behavior through addressing the social and 

21 emotional development needs of students, such 

22 as through social and emotional learning pro23 gramming.’’; and 

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

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1 (A) in subclause (I), by striking ‘‘and’’ 

2 after the semicolon; 

3 (B) by redesignating subclause (II) as sub4 clause (III); and 

5 (C) by inserting after subclause (I) the fol6 lowing: 

7 ‘‘(II) addressing the social and 

8 emotional development needs of stu9 dents to improve student achievement 

10 and attainment, such as through so11 cial and emotional learning program12 ming; and’’. 

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

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

15 is amended— 

16 (1) by redesignating the undesignated para17 graph following paragraph (39) and paragraphs (41) 

18 through (43) as paragraphs (42) through (45), re19 spectively; and 

20 (2) by inserting after paragraph (39) the fol21 lowing: 

22 ‘‘(40) SOCIAL AND EMOTIONAL LEARNING.— 

23 The term ‘social and emotional learning’ means the 

24 process through which children and adults acquire 

25 the knowledge, attitudes, and skills associated with 

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1 the core areas of social and emotional competency, 

2 including— 

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

4 to achieve school and life success, such as— 

5 ‘‘(i) identifying and recognizing 

6 strengths, needs, emotions, values, and 

7 self-efficacy; 

8 ‘‘(ii) emotion regulation, including im9 pulse control and stress management; 

10 ‘‘(iii) self-motivation and discipline; 

11 and 

12 ‘‘(iv) goal setting and organizational 

13 skills; 

14 ‘‘(B) social awareness and interpersonal 

15 skills to establish and maintain positive rela16 tionships, such as perspective taking and re17 spect for others, communication, working coop18 eratively, negotiation, conflict management, and 

19 help-seeking; and 

20 ‘‘(C) decisionmaking skills and responsible 

21 behaviors in personal, academic, and community 

22 contexts, such as situational analysis, problem 

23 solving, reflection, and personal, social, and eth24 ical responsibility. 

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1 ‘‘(41) SOCIAL AND EMOTIONAL LEARNING PRO2 GRAMMING.—The term ‘social and emotional learn3 ing programming’ refers to evidence-based classroom 

4 instruction and schoolwide activities and initiatives 

5 that— 

6 ‘‘(A) integrate social and emotional learn7 ing into the school curriculum; 

8 ‘‘(B) provide systematic instruction where9 by social and emotional skills are taught, mod10 eled, practiced, and applied so that students use 

11 the skills as part of the students’ daily behav12 ior; 

13 ‘‘(C) teach students to apply social and 

14 emotional skills to— 

15 ‘‘(i) prevent specific problem behaviors 

16 such as substance use, violence, bullying, 

17 and school failure; and 

18 ‘‘(ii) promote positive behaviors in 

19 class, school, and community activities; 

20 and 

21 ‘‘(D) establish safe and caring learning en22 vironments that foster student participation, 

23 engagement, and connection to learning and 

24 school.’’. 

Æ 

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