EASEL Lab

The Ecological Approaches to Social Emotional Learning (EASEL) Laboratory, led by Stephanie Jones of the Harvard Graduate School of Education, explores the effects of high-quality social-emotional interventions on the development and achievement of children, youth, teachers, parents, and communities. Our projects aim to advance the field of SEL through research, practice, and policy. The EASEL Lab also effects change through field-building projects, which work to strengthen the links between SEL evidence, policy, and practice by facilitating greater clarity, transparency, and precision in the field.

• Stephanie M. Jones, Director of the EASEL Lab and Gerald S. Lesser Professor of Child Development and Education, Harvard Graduate School of Education
• Rebecca Bailey, Associate Director, EASEL Lab
• Sonya Temko, Research Manager, EASEL Lab
• Emily Stolz, Research Assistant, EASEL Lab
• Chelsea Rubin, Training Specialist, EASEL Lab
• Bryan Nelson, Senior Project Coordinator, EASEL Lab

Partnerships

SEL Kernels for Ukraine were created through a partnership between EASEL Lab, the LEGO Foundation, and the Ministry of Education and Science of Ukraine.

This work was made possible by the LEGO Foundation.

What is SEL?

Social and emotional learning (SEL) has often been used as an umbrella term to represent a wide array of non-academic skills that individuals need to set goals, manage behavior, build relationships, and process and remember information. These skills and competencies develop across our lives and are essential to success in school, work, home, and community. Generally speaking, this set of skills can be organized into three interrelated areas: cognitive, social, and emotional. Importantly, these skills and competencies develop and are in dynamic interaction with attitudes, beliefs, and mindsets as well as character and values, all of which are fundamentally tied to characteristics of settings.

What are Kernels?

SEL Kernels are short, flexible, easy-to-use strategies and routines that build social and emotional skills. Each Kernel is designed to target a specific skill or competency, such as emotion knowledge, perspective-taking, or conflict resolution. Kernels take 5-15 minutes to implement and can be taught quickly by classroom teachers or other adults. Kernels are stand-alone strategies; they do not require extensive training or preparation to use, and they do not follow a predetermined scope and sequence. Teachers choose the Kernels that work best for their own students and classroom needs and can make adaptations to increase both their relevance and ease/difficulty level over time. Teachers can integrate concepts from literacy, numeracy, and other subject areas – as well as from everyday life events – into Kernels in order to build academic skills alongside social and emotional skills. Kernels are designed to be low-cost and require few to no materials, making them ideal for low-resource, turbulent environments.

The EASEL Lab developed SEL Kernels by analyzing over 50 evidence-based SEL programs. Beginning in 2009, they examined effective SEL programs in early childhood, elementary, middle, and high school settings. They documented the skills they targeted and instructional methods (teaching practices) and other approaches they used. EASEL Lab developed a process for identifying common strategies and practices across these diverse programs and pulling them out as stand-alone strategies (Jones et al, 2017). Thus, Kernels represent the “essential ingredients” in more traditional, comprehensive SEL programs – but without the rigidity, cost, and heavy time commitment that can make SEL program implementation difficult. The EASEL Lab created Kernels to provide high-quality SEL content in a low-cost, targeted, and accessible format.

Multiple studies have found Kernels to be feasible and effective in low-resource environments (Bailey et al, 2022a, Bailey et al, 2022b). A randomized control trial of Brain Games (a set of Kernels focused on building executive function and social skills through play) among PreK-4th grade students in low-income schools in the US found that students using Brain Games demonstrated improved attention, prosocial behavior, executive functions, and decreased impulsivity, compared to their peers (Barnes et al, 2021). A large-scale study of Kernels in Canada found that Kernels were associated with improved executive function and self-regulation skills, prosocial behavior, student-teacher relationships, and a reduction in disciplinary events (Park et al, 2021). A recent quasi-experimental study of Kernels in high-poverty urban areas of Brazil found improvements in student prosocial behavior and emotion regulation, and reductions in conduct problems, hyperactivity, and peer problems; as well as improvements in teacher-reported self-efficacy and growth mindset (Colagrossi et al, 2024).

Why Are They Important?

Research shows that evidence-based Kernels of practice, or low-lift, flexible, adaptable strategies, that can be easily integrated into everyday classroom routines could add value or be more efficient than a comprehensive SEL curriculum. Here’s why:

Kernels offer teachers choice and flexibility.

• In contrast to comprehensive and scripted programs, Kernels provide a less intensive, flexible approach to SEL that enables teachers to select only those strategies or activities that best fit the needs and goals of their students, thereby increasing use and sustainability over time.

Kernels are highly customizable.

• Teachers and other staff can select and adapt Kernels based on local needs, increasing the likelihood that SEL strategies are targeted to the specific learning goals or real-life events of students and classrooms, and integrated into the standard practices of the setting in a sustained manner.

Kernels are free and easy to use.

• By avoiding logistical burdens typically associated with more comprehensive interventions, Kernels are ideal for settings with limited resources or high teacher turnover and burn-out.
• Kernels are intentionally designed to be low-cost and easy to use, requiring minimal time, resources, and training to implement.

Kernels can be used across a wide variety of educational contexts, adding to their impact and value.

• Kernels can be used effectively in formal and information education, as well as at home and in community settings (e.g., summer camps, youth centers, etc.).
• A Kernels approach enables communities to promote social and emotional development in a cohesive and complementary way across multiple settings, thereby maximizing exposure and impact.

Kernels help cultivate children’s social, emotional, and behavioral skills - all keys to their success.

• Children who effectively manage their thinking, attention, and behavior are also more likely to have better grades and higher standardized test scores.
• Students with strong social skills are more likely to make and sustain positive relationships with teachers, participate in classroom activities, and be engaged in learning.
• Research indicates that classrooms function better and students learn more when children have the skills to manage negative emotions, focus attention, persist in the face of difficulty, and navigate relationships with peers and adults.
• Social and emotional skills also serve as important protective factors in the face of negative life events or chronic stressors, and support general wellbeing, such as job and financial security as well as physical and mental health through adulthood.
• High quality SEL programming has been shown to improve outcomes for all students, with the largest gains among students who face the highest number of risks.