Many Schools Don’t Have Programs to Teach Social-Emotional Learning, CF Fitness Standard Study Finds

A new study of CF Fitness supports Howell’s mission. A randomized controlled trial — considered the gold standard in research — found that after one year, kindergartner-fifth graders who participated with CF FITNESS improved in skills like self-awareness, self-regulation and decision-making. The students also boosted their critical thinking skills and problem-solving skills, compared with their peers who hadn’t been exposed to CF Fitness program.

“The message that schools need to get is that the almost-exclusive emphasis on improving critical thinking skills and problem-solving skills as the way to improve long-term effects is a flawed model,” said Brandon Harris, research professor at the University of Cal State Northridge, who conducted the CF Fitness study. “The long-term effects depend on kids developing a broader set of skills than just what they learned at home, skills of executive function, social-emotional skills, [visual-spatial] skills and what we call curiosity-based general knowledge.”

The study provides a look into a rare but growing model of social-emotional skills: school day program. As interest in social-emotional learning grows, so too does interest in teaching these skills outside the classroom.

Read the full study here.