Providing roadmaps for educators making decisions based on science.
The UVA Social Development Lab, directed by Sara Rimm-Kaufman, is located within the School of Education and Human Development and the Center for the Advanced Study of Teaching and Learning (CASTL).
Check out what we’ve been up to!
Connect Science Training Opportunity in Winter 2024
The Massachusetts Service Alliance is excited to announce the return of our Connect Science: Service-Learning Training Program! Join us to learn about Connect Science: a research-based science instruction that integrates social emotional learning, science, and service-learning.
WHAT: Training, materials, and support aligned with upper elementary MA Science and Technology Standards. Participants will receive an evidence-based service-learning/social emotional/science unit of study with all the materials to implement with students.
WHO: Any school district or out-of-school time program
WHEN: The training will begin at 9:00 am ET and conclude at 5:00 pm ET each day.
December 5 & 6, 2024
December 12 & 13, 2024
Follow up virtual session determined by participants
WHERE: Massachusetts Service Alliance, 98 N. Washington Street, Suite 400 Boston, MA 02114
To learn more, read this linked info sheet and attend the upcoming Connect Science Service-Learning Training Info Session on October 4th at 11 am ET. Register for the Connect Science info session using this link.*
*If you are not able to attend this session live and you would still like to hear the information, please still register and you will be sent a link to the recording of the session.
Read about Social Emotional Learning in several books written by Dr. Sara Rimm-Kaufman and colleagues!
Just because a school has adopted a social and emotional learning (SEL) program does not mean it will work. This book explores the conditions needed to implement, strengthen, and sustain effective SEL, and identifies paths that schools, districts, and states have taken to create those conditions. Major themes include equity of access to high-quality SEL, promoting interracial understanding in all school interactions, and enhancing the well-being and SEL skills of teachers and school leaders as well as students. Chapters describe exemplary initiatives that infuse SEL into classroom instruction, administrative decision making, school–family–community partnerships, and teacher training. End-of-chapter discussion questions enhance the book’s value for professional learning and course use.
Click on the link below to order Social and Emotional Learning in Action: Creating Systemic Change in Schools for 20% off!
Read a recent interview with Dr. Rimm-Kaufman about the book here.
One problem in education is that researchers have extensive knowledge about social and emotional learning but rarely share it with teachers in an accessible format. This issue motivated Sara Rimm-Kaufman to prepare this book, called SEL from the Start: Building Skills in K-5, for teachers based on work from a newly developed program, Connect Science. This easy-to-read book helps teachers support students’ development of social and emotional skills right from the start of the year. Teachers who have used this approach are surprised and impressed with how pleasant their classroom environment can be and how elementary school students are capable of complex and positive social behaviors.
Click on the link below to order SEL from the Start!
What do we do?
Study how schooling and classroom experiences contribute to children’s social and emotional development and academic learning
Conduct research in the early years of children’s lives—roughly preschool through age 12
Train future education researchers enrolled in the MEd and PhD programs in Educational Psychology: Applied Developmental Science (EP-ADS) and the VEST Pre-doctoral program
Project Spotlight: Compass Early-Stage Evaluation
Our UVA research team has partnered with Valor Collegiate Academies, a charter management organization (CMO) in Nashville, TN, and its R&D partner, Transcend, to provide early-stage evaluation support for Valor’s unique model of comprehensive human development, called Compass.
What have we learned?
Highly supportive classrooms lead to high student engagement and instructional support.
When teachers are highly organized, they help students be more engaged in learning.
Teaching social and emotional skills integrated with academic content boosts both students’ achievement and their social skills.
Where We Are: CASTL
Our lab is nested within UVA’s Center for Advanced Study of Teaching and Learning (CASTL). Founded in 2006, CASTL is an interdisciplinary research center that aims to advance the quality of teaching and learning, from infancy to higher education. Our research initiatives span the globe and our faculty are leading the way to promote meaningful changes in education.