CASEL Forum Brings Together Long-Term Collaborators in Washington, DC

Dr. Comer was on a panel with Deborah Meier of New York University and Congressman Tim Ryan the opening night of the 2011 Collaborative for Academic, Social and Emotional Learning (CASEL) Forum, Expanding Social and Emotional Learning Nationwide: Let's Go! on April 13^th in Washington, DC. Ms. Meier and Dr. Comer are conveners of the Forum for Education and Democracy, and Congressman Ryan is in his fifth term representing northeast Ohio's 17^th District. Timothy P. Shriver, Ph.D., the chairman and CEO of the Special Olympics and chairman of the CASEL board of directors, moderated the panel.

Founded in 1994, CASEL has worked closely with educators, researchers, philanthropists, state and federal policy makers, and child advocates to foster the development of educational approaches focused on children's social and emotional development.

Roger P. Weissberg, Ph.D., CASEL's president and CEO, is the NoVo Foundation Endowed Chair in Social and Emotional Learning and an LAS Distinguished Professor in the Department of Psychology at the University of Illinois at Chicago (UIC). He also directs the Social and Emotional Learning (SEL) Research Group at UIC.

"I am delighted that Dr. Comer shared his vision and current perspectives about educational strategies to promote children's social-emotional development, academic performance, and life success," said Roger Weissberg. "During the 1980's Dr. Comer, Tim Shriver, and I collaborated with New Haven educators on the K to 12 New Haven Social Development Project. Tim and I learned a lot from him then, and we continue to learn from him now as we work together on the national implementation of social and emotional learning."

"CASEL is a coalition and the School Development Program is working with them because we're all focused on more than academic learning which is facilitated by social-emotional and overall development," said Dr. Comer.