In this time of momentous decisions about school re-openings and re-entry, coherent policy solutions require trust, communication, and deep engagement with partners from outside the K12 system. Panelists Paolo DeMaria, Karen Pittman, and Rey Saldaña expressed these ideas on July 16th in the second of Aspen Education’s five webinars built on the publication Recovery & Renewal: Principles for Advancing Public Education Post Crisis.

The Readiness Projects--including the Forum for Youth Investment, the National Urban League and the American Institutes for Research--share their approach to sparking connections and collaboration across the youth fields. Join in to explore ideas and discuss the role of philanthropy in supporting young people’s development.

CASEL CARES is a new initiative from CASEL (Collaborative for Academic, Social, and Emotional Learning) that connects individuals and communities with experts to address how Social and Emotional Learning (SEL) can be most helpful in today’s circumstances. It is important to recognize that the most vulnerable students are at particular risk during this time. As part of the CASEL CARES webinar series, the Education Trust’s John King and the Forum’s Karen Pittman recently offered reflections on existing inequities in education that have been exposed and exacerbated by the pandemic.

The science of learning and development findings help us expand our sights from a focus on the skills we want young people to have (21st Century Skills, Social Emotional Learning ) to a focus on how those skills are developed – HOW learning happens.  It also reinforces the fact that the potential for learning – skill development – is in all children, teens and young adults but is not realized unless we create the right types of experiences.

At least 21 federal agencies support programs and services focused on youth. What does it take to make sure that all of these policies and programs add up to positive, healthy outcomes for young people? For over a decade, the Federal Interagency Working Group on Youth Programs has brought together representatives from these federal agencies to promote achievement of positive results for at-risk youth through coordination and collaboration, evidence-based and innovative strategies, and youth engagement and partnerships.