The Other Side of the Report Card: Assessing Students Social, Emotional, and Character Development

To better serve the whole child, look at the whole report card.

Students are more than their academic grades―you know it and their parents know it. The progress they make in social-emotional learning and character development is essential to their success in school and in life. But while educators have made great strides in improving grading for academic achievement, we’ve left too many teachers still guessing when it comes to outdated behavior ratings and comment sections.

That’s where this book comes in. Grounded in research and in the author’s work with teachers and administrators, it offers guidance on retooling report cards to better reflect the whole child, integrating SEL and CD into any school- or district-wide grading system. Resources include

• Guided exercises for analyzing existing report cards
• Samples and suggested report card designs
• Tips on improving communication with parents
• Case studies highlighting common challenges
• Testimonials from teachers and students

"When you take report cards to the next level, you make sure that communication reflects all of the important characteristics of success―and ensure that students develop the skills they need for the future. This book brilliantly illuminates the key role played by social-emotional learning in each student’s development and it challenges the tradition of relegating the SEL/EQ observations to the back of the report card. If we want to develop better communities, this book shows the way."
Dr. Neil MacNeill PhD, EdD - Head Master
Ellenbrook Indpendent Primary School

"The ultimate goal of misbehavior is attention. When children don’t get the attention they need through the proper behavior, they will get it any way they can. Children want to be loved and cared about. SEL will help them to learn the proper ways to get attention. It will also help teachers better understand the misbehaviors and redirect students toward positive behavior."
Pamela L. Opel - Teacher, Intervention Specialist
Gulfport School District

Maurice J. Elias, PhD, is Professor, Psychology Department, Rutgers University, Director, Social-Emotional and Character Development Lab (www.secdlab.org), Co-Director of the Rutgers-based Academy for SEL in Schools, which offers online certificates in SEL Instruction and School Leadership (SELinSchools.org), and a member of the Leadership Team for SEL4NJ and SEL4US (www.SEL4US.org). He received the Joseph E. Zins Memorial Senior Scholar Award for Social-Emotional Learning from CASEL , the Sanford McDonnell Award for Lifetime Achievement in Character Education, and the Jane Bostrum Service to School Psychology Award. Dr. Elias is a past winner of the Lela Rowland Prevention Award, the Ernest McMahon Class of 1930 Award for service to New Jersey, and the American Psychological Association/Society for Community Research and Action’s Distinguished Contribution to Practice and Ethnic Minority Mentoring awards. His books include Emotionally Intelligent Parenting, The Educator’s Guide to Emotional Intelligence and Academic Achievement: Social-Emotional Learning in the Classroom, and The Other Side of the Report Card: Assessing Students’ Social, Emotional, and Character Development (how schools and districts can integrate social-emotional and character development systematically into their ongoing student report cards). Most recently, he is the coauthor of The Joys & Oys of Parenting: Insights and Wisdom From the Jewish Tradition, Boost Emotional Intelligence in Students: 30 Flexible Research-Based Lessons to Build EQ Skills, Nurturing Students’ Character: Everyday Teaching Activities for Social-Emotional Learning, and Social-Emotional Learning Lab: A Comprehensive SEL Resource Kit (with Victoria Poedubicky).

He writes a blog on SECD for Edutopia (www.edutopia.org/profile/mauricej-elias) and can be reached at secdlab@gmail.com. His Twitter handles are @SELinSchools and @SECDLab.

Take a look at a review on The Other Side of the Report Card from the New Jersey Association of School Psychologists at https://us.corwin.com/sites/default/files/review_of_the_other_side_njasp_0.pdf.

 

Joseph J. Ferrito recently earned his doctoral degree from the Graduate School of Applied and Professional Psychology at Rutgers University. He is a native of Monroe Township, New Jersey and a graduate of Marist College where he majored in psychology. Clinically, J.J. trained and worked across levels of care ranging from public schools and in-home services, to residential and inpatient treatment facilities. His clinical work has focused on children, adolescents and families, particularly those who have been exposed to various traumatic experiences. He completed an APA-accredited internship at Sharp HealthCare in San Diego, California and is currently a post-doctoral fellow at the Audrey Hepburn Children’s House at Hackensack University Medical Center in New Jersey.

Throughout his graduate training, J.J. taught several undergraduate courses and conducted research under the mentorship of Dr. Maurice J. Elias through the Social-Emotional Learning (SEL) Lab at Rutgers University. Developing feasible methods for assessing SEL and related skills in schools has been a focus of this research and this work has generated several publications in various forms. J.J. hopes to continue this work and combine it with his interest in trauma and resiliency to enhance evidence-based methods of prevention and promotion on a national and international level.

Take a look at a review on The Other Side of the Report Card, published by the New Jersey Association of School Psychologists here. 


Dominic C. Moceri graduated with his Ph.D. in clinical psychology from Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey. While at Rutgers, Dominic′s research focused on quantifying the dissemination, implementation, sustainability, and scalability of evidence-based practices in schools and other settings. Dominic was co-principal investigator of the initial SEL Report Card Indicator studies, the foundation for this book. Additionally, he was the lead creator of the Schools Implementing Towards Sustainability (SITS) scale, a user-friendly and scalable measure of the system of sustainable implementation framework (Moceri et al., 2012). He received his M.S. in clinical psychology from Rutgers and his B.A. with honors in psychology from the University of Michigan.

Dr. Moceri currently practices cognitive-behavioral therapy and conducts psychological assessments with children, adolescents, and adults in his home state of Michigan. He assesses and treats a wide variety of presenting problems, including anxiety, depression, inattention, hyperactivity, oppositionality, and rage attacks. He specializes in the treatment of obsessive-compulsive disorder, anxiety disorders, and tic disorders using exposure and response prevention and habit reversal training.

Take a look at a review on The Other Side of the Report Card, published by the New Jersey Association of School Psychologists here.