[Congressional Bills 114th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. 897 Introduced in Senate (IS)]

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.

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

SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

    This Act may be cited as the ``Jesse Lewis Empowering Educators 
Act''.

SEC. 2. FINDINGS.

    Congress makes the following findings:
            (1) To succeed in school, students need to be engaged. They 
        need to know how to maintain focus and effort in the face of 
        setbacks, work effectively with others, and be good 
        communicators and problem-solvers.
            (2) Social and emotional skills form a foundation for young 
        people's success not just in school, but as healthy and caring 
        adults, productive workers, and engaged citizens.
            (3) Not only can these skills be taught, they can be taught 
        in schools of every type to students of every background by 
        regular classroom teachers who receive adequate training on 
        methods for developing their own social and emotional learning 
        skills and integrating social and emotional learning into the 
        standard curriculum.
            (4) Academic outcomes resulting from social and emotional 
        learning include greater motivation to learn and commitment to 
        school, increased time devoted to schoolwork and mastery of 
        subject matter, and improved attendance, graduation rates, 
        grades, and test scores.
            (5) These positive outcomes increase in students who are 
        involved in social and emotional learning programming by an 
        average of 11 percentile points over students who are not 
        involved in such programming.
            (6) Social and emotional learning programming also results 
        in reduced problem behavior, improved health outcomes, a lower 
        rate of violent delinquency, and a lower rate of heavy alcohol 
        use.

SEC. 3. AMENDMENTS TO THE ELEMENTARY AND SECONDARY EDUCATION ACT OF 
              1965.

    (a) Teacher and Principal Training and Recruiting Fund.--Part A of 
title II of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965 (20 
U.S.C. 6601 et seq.) is amended--
            (1) in section 2113(c)(2)--
                    (A) in subparagraph (A), by striking ``and'' after 
                the semicolon;
                    (B) in subparagraph (B), by striking the period at 
                the end and inserting ``; and''; and
                    (C) by adding at the end the following:
                    ``(C) train teachers and principals in practices 
                that have demonstrated effectiveness in improving 
                student achievement, attainment, and behavior through 
                addressing the social and emotional development needs 
                of students, such as through social and emotional 
                learning programming.''; and
            (2) in section 2123(a)(3)(B)(iii)--
                    (A) in subclause (I), by striking ``and'' after the 
                semicolon;
                    (B) by redesignating subclause (II) as subclause 
                (III); and
                    (C) by inserting after subclause (I) the following:
                                    ``(II) addressing the social and 
                                emotional development needs of students 
                                to improve student achievement and 
                                attainment, such as through social and 
                                emotional learning programming; and''.
    (b) Definitions.--Section 9101 of the Elementary and Secondary 
Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 7801) is amended--
            (1) by redesignating the undesignated paragraph following 
        paragraph (39) and paragraphs (41) through (43) as paragraphs 
        (42) through (45), respectively; and
            (2) by inserting after paragraph (39) the following:
            ``(40) Social and emotional learning.--The term `social and 
        emotional learning' means the process through which children 
        and adults acquire the knowledge, attitudes, and skills 
        associated with the core areas of social and emotional 
        competency, including--
                    ``(A) self-awareness and self-management to achieve 
                school and life success, such as--
                            ``(i) identifying and recognizing 
                        strengths, needs, emotions, values, and self-
                        efficacy;
                            ``(ii) emotion regulation, including 
                        impulse control and stress management;
                            ``(iii) self-motivation and discipline; and
                            ``(iv) goal setting and organizational 
                        skills;
                    ``(B) social awareness and interpersonal skills to 
                establish and maintain positive relationships, such as 
                perspective taking and respect for others, 
                communication, working cooperatively, negotiation, 
                conflict management, and help-seeking; and
                    ``(C) decisionmaking skills and responsible 
                behaviors in personal, academic, and community 
                contexts, such as situational analysis, problem 
                solving, reflection, and personal, social, and ethical 
                responsibility.
            ``(41) Social and emotional learning programming.--The term 
        `social and emotional learning programming' refers to evidence-
        based classroom instruction and schoolwide activities and 
        initiatives that--
                    ``(A) integrate social and emotional learning into 
                the school curriculum;
                    ``(B) provide systematic instruction whereby social 
                and emotional skills are taught, modeled, practiced, 
                and applied so that students use the skills as part of 
                the students' daily behavior;
                    ``(C) teach students to apply social and emotional 
                skills to--
                            ``(i) prevent specific problem behaviors 
                        such as substance use, violence, bullying, and 
                        school failure; and
                            ``(ii) promote positive behaviors in class, 
                        school, and community activities; and
                    ``(D) establish safe and caring learning 
                environments that foster student participation, 
                engagement, and connection to learning and school.''.
                                 <all>