The early development of non-cognitive skills in children is associated with positive outcomes such as academic performance and character development, both of which influence success later in life7. Since educational institutions came into existence, there has been a strong emphasis on the teaching of cognitive skills in subjects such as writing, history, mathematics, and critical reading. Each grade level builds upon the previous in these subjects, working to further the students' depth of understanding each year. This emphasis begins as early as Kindergarten when public schools, and any private or independent schools who elect to, start following the Common Core Standards. These outline the expectations for what will be taught in two broader areas: English Language Arts and Mathematics1. This Initiative claims to encourage critical thinking and teach students how to use cogent reasoning. What these Standards do not include is an early emphasis on non-cognitive skills, which are imperative in early childhood development for fostering strong character development and increasing their chances at a socially and academically successful future2. By providing academic guidelines and expectations for public schools, the Common Core Standards places too heavy a focus on academic performance and hinders the young students' social and emotional learning and development of non-cognitive skills.
The Common Core Standards focuses mainly on students through an academic lens. They were created with the intention to better prepare students for college by "stressing critical-thinking, problem-solving, and analytical skills that are required for success in college, career, and life"1. While strength in academics is important to the success of students in college and later in life, research has shown that younger children learn better through social interaction and academic learning with an emphasis on social skills than academics alone3. This is referred to as the "Responsive Classroom" approach which relies on the theory that social interaction facilitates cognitive growth. In essence, children need to learn skills such as cooperation, assertion, responsibility, and empathy in order to be successfully both socially and academically. Through certain teaching practices, schools that have taken this approach foster social interaction in a way that allows children to develop non-cognitive skills both before and during academic lessons. A similar approach by the Collaborative for Academic, Social, and Emotional Learning identifies specific non-cognitive skills important for development to be self-awareness, self-management, social awareness, relationships skills, and responsible decision-making4. These particular skills are intertwined with academic achievement, academic perseverance, and the growth of social skills, and should be incorporated as a more concrete part of education systems. This brief aims to identify the strengths of policies that encourage the development of non-cognitive skills in early education and further motivate policymakers on the federal level to incorporate this emphasis into existing policies such as the Common Core Standards.
Scope of the Problem and Supporting Research
A challenge that 21st-century schools are increasingly facing is how to best serve culturally diverse students with varied abilities and motivations for learning5. The variations among these students can often be tied to not only their cognitive development in childhood but their social and emotional (SEL) development as well. SEL is an approach that focuses on integrating competence-promotion and youth-development through specific core competencies to provide a better foundation academic performance. This research stems from the evidence that many students lack social and emotional competencies and become less engaged as they move throughout middle and high school. Furthermore, evidence suggests that "productive school learning only results when students make the successful, normative transition between ages five and seven to effortful regulations of their emotions, behavior, and thought processes6. Not only does an emphasis on non-cognitive skills in early childhood educational institutions appear to improve academic outcomes and later life success, but they may also have an effect on reducing inequalities in the classroom by developing some of these important developmental skills in the classroom. Non-cognitive skills are defined as "those attitudes, behaviors, and strategies which facilitate success in school and workplace" and are deemed non-cognitive as they are not usually measured by tests or teacher assessments in the way that academic and cognitive skills are7. There are a multitude of studies that have emphasized the importance of these skills both for academic success as well as closing the attainment gap between advantaged and disadvantaged young people. With this in mind, it is imperative that policies implemented in schools regarding academic benchmarks such as the Common Core Standard also include policies that reflect the significance of developing non-cognitive skills in early learning.
Policy Alternatives and Current Programs and Proposals
There have been several attempts to implement programs that aim to develop non-cognitive skills in early childhood education. These programs in particular have targeted policy changes on a community or state level, focusing mostly on specific education institutions or cities with little reach to federal regulation. This section will identify several of the current programs and analyze their approaches and relative efficacies in teaching non-cognitive skills.
The Responsive Classroom approach integrates social and academic learning to help children thrive socially and emotionally, in addition to academically3. This program was established on the basis that children are able to focus on academic challenges only when they know how to manage themselves and their interactions with others. The program includes principles that give rise to specific teaching practices. These include a Morning Meeting to provide children with opportunities to practice prosocial skills, classroom materials through an online resource that encourages excitement about learning and teaches care of materials, and organizing classrooms in ways that foster social interaction and productive learning. In addition, Responsive Classroom emphasizes "devising and reinforcing rules that is developmentally and individually relevant to the child and teaches responsibility and self-control"3. Practices that are specific to elementary-aged children include a collaboration between teacher and students to name individual goals and to establish rules for the year, energizers which break up lessons and provide a time to interact with peers, and "closing circle," a ten minute gathering at the end of the day to promote reflection and celebration through participation in a brief group activity.
The Responsive Classroom currently exists as a package available for education institutions to purchase, including workshops for the teachers to participate in. Thus, this is less of a wide-scope policy proposal or institutional program and more an example of a program which emphasizes the importance of non-cognitive skills in young children and shows the ways in which the teaching of these skills may be implemented in schools.