Measuring Noncognitive Skills in School Settings Assessments of Executive Function and Social-Emotional Competencies

Stephanie M. Jones, PhD, is the Gerald S. Lesser Professor in Child Development and Education at the Harvard Graduate School of Education, where she also serves as Director of the Ecological Approaches to Social and Emotional Learning Lab. Dr. Jones’s research focuses on the effects of poverty and exposure to violence on children's social, emotional, and behavioral development. Her recent work addresses the impact of preschool- and elementary-level social and emotional learning interventions on behavioral and academic outcomes and classroom practices, as well as new curriculum development, implementation, and testing. With Nonie K. Lesaux, Dr. Jones is codirector of the Saul Zaentz Early Education Initiative and coprincipal investigator of the Early Learning Study at Harvard. She recently served as a member of the Council of Distinguished Scientists for the Aspen National Commission on Social, Emotional, and Academic Development.

Nonie K. Lesaux, PhD, is the Juliana W. and William Foss Thompson Professor of Education and Society at the Harvard Graduate School of Education. Her developmental and experimental research with school-age children and youth investigates language, reading, and social–emotional development; classroom quality and academic growth; and strategies for accelerating language and reading comprehension. With Stephanie M. Jones, Dr. Lesaux is also codirector of the Saul Zaentz Early Education Initiative and co-principal investigator of the Early Learning Study at Harvard. She is a recipient of the William T. Grant Scholars Award and the Presidential Early Career Award for Scientists and Engineers. Dr. Lesaux has served on the Institute of Medicine and National Research Council’s Committee on the Science of Children Birth to Age 8.

Sophie P. Barnes, EdM, is a doctoral candidate in the Human Development, Learning and Teaching concentration at the Harvard Graduate School of Education. Her research centers on understanding the setting- and individual-level mechanisms that support children’s social, emotional, and behavioral skill development in school contexts, with a focus on executive function and self-regulation. She is also interested in adding nuance and precision to the measurement of social and emotional learning (SEL) and partnering with schools and districts to develop effective assessment plans. Prior to beginning her doctoral studies, Ms. Barnes worked in the EASEL Lab led by Stephanie M. Jones on a number of evaluations of school-based interventions that target children’s SEL growth and development, as well as research and translational writing projects.