ASCD's policy newsletter, Policy Priorities, reflects the purpose of this quarterly policy publication, which is to provide background and context for critical, timely education policy issues.

Administrators, teachers, families, policymakers, journalists, and others read Policy Priorities to better inform the decisions they make and the work they do.

Policy Priorities is published four times each year. Copies are mailed to all ASCD Premium members, and all other members have online access. 

• Subscribe to the Policy Priorities newsletter.
• Purchase an individual issue.
• See the issue archives.

Current Print Issue

A Bright Future with SEL

Policymakers and practitioners are now discussing how to best embed social and emotional learning (SEL) across preK–12 schooling. The recently enacted Every Student Succeeds Act requires multiple measures for accountability, including at least one "nonacademic" indicator generally understood to be an SEL measure. Yet, even as the United States begins implementing SEL across its educational system and shifting from high-stakes, strictly test-based accountability, SEL experts debate whether we can accurately measure and assess these competencies. This brief reviews the complexities of that discussion, as well as the support, challenges, and successes states have experienced in implementing SEL across districts and in schools.

• Read the executive summary.
• Read the full issue.
• Purchase this issue.

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Get Informed

• Check out ASCD's 2016 Legislative Agenda (PDF) with the association’s policy goals for the year.
• Explore ASCD's resources on the Every Student Succeeds Act.
• Read about ASCD's whole child policy recommendations.