Aperture Education, the leading provider of research-based social and emotional learning (SEL) assessments for K-12 schools, today announced free access to Educator Social and Emotional Reflection and Training (EdSERT) for the 2023-2024 school year. This holistic approach to SEL enhances educators’ understanding and capacity to teach and model SEL to students, while providing tools to support their own well-being.
“It is becoming increasingly clear that shortcomings in social and emotional learning are having a negative and long-lasting impact on students and educators. Students continue to struggle in the post-COVID era, while educators, who often lack adequate training in SEL, are feeling burned out and leaving the profession in record numbers,” said Aperture Education CEO Jessica Adamson. “By providing a comprehensive and aligned approach to SEL for both students and educators with our Aperture System, we want to empower teachers with the tools they need to achieve success in the classroom at no extra charge.”
In a 2022 report, the National Education Association found that 55% of educators are thinking of resigning from the profession. And almost as many of K-12 educators and staff said they “always” or “very often” feel burned out at work, making it the profession with the highest burnout rate in the country, according to the 2022 Gallup Panel Workforce Study. At the same time, the National Center for Education Statistics (NCES) reports that 87% of public schools reported that the COVID-19 pandemic has negatively impacted student socio-emotional development, increasing incidents of classroom disruptions from misconduct, disrespect toward teachers and staff, and other negative behaviors.
EdSERT can help school systems address these challenges by providing a more thorough understanding of essential social and emotional competencies through:
- Eight engaging learning modules based on CASEL™ and DESSA competencies
- Self-reflective social and emotional surveys that provide educators with an understanding of their own strengths
- SEL strategies to strengthen personal social and emotional development and teaching practices for the classroom
EdSERT is an ideal tool at a time when school districts and leaders see a great need in training teachers to deliver SEL effectively. EdWeek’s recent market brief, New Directions in Social-Emotional Learning: What’s Next for the K-12 Market, revealed that 65% of leaders believe that the biggest barrier to incorporating SEL into the school day is lack of adequate training for teachers. EdSERT enables educators to acquire a more thorough understanding of essential social and emotional competencies so they can provide better explicit SEL instruction as well as identify opportunities for integrating SEL principles and practices across the curriculum.
Aperture is in the process of accreditation with a goal to provide CEUs for EdSERT by the fall 2023.
EdSERT is available at no charge to new Aperture Education customers and existing customers that opt-in to the offering for the 2023-2024 school year. Usage of EdSERT by an unlimited number of users will save school districts tens to hundreds of thousands of dollars annually.
“The impact of adding EdSERT for our school staff has taken us to a higher level,” said Carla Truttman, director of Siskiyou County Office of Education in Yreka, Calif. “We’ve been utilizing Aperture in our schools for the past 18 months and it has been amazing to watch educators become intentional about using SEL teaching strategies. EdSERT encourages school staff to live and improve their own SEL skills, which they then model for their students, which is a far more effective teaching tool than talking about how to behave. As a bonus, school staff stress levels have decreased and their happiness increased as they’ve worked on the adult SEL in the EdSERT modules.”
For more information or to access EdSERT at no charge, please visit https://www.apertureed.com/edsert
About Aperture Education
Aperture Education has empowered nearly 8,500 schools and out-of-school time programs across North America to measure, strengthen, and support social and emotional competence in K-12 youth and educators. The Aperture System includes the DESSA suite of strength-based assessments, CASEL™-aligned intervention strategies, and robust reporting, all in one easy-to-use digital platform. This system enables education leaders to make strategic, data-based decisions about SEL within their organizations. Aperture has supported more than one million students in their social and emotional growth and continues to develop innovative solutions to bring the whole child into focus. To learn more, visit www.ApertureEd.com.