VEST Education and Research Speaker Series: Christina Cipriano

Summary: Social and emotional learning, or SEL, and the ways that it is defined, implemented, and measured in support of all students thriving has been a critical conversation in the national education discourse for the better part of the past decade. In this presentation, Dr. Cipriano will unpack findings from an extensive contemporary meta-analysis of the state of the evidence available for Universal School-Based SEL for students K-12, discussing the evolving operational definition of SEL, best practices in SEL implementation and evaluation, and identify opportunities and challenges for educational researchers to support equitable and inclusive SEL research and practice hereafter. 

Christina Cipriano, Ph.D., is an Assistant Professor at the Yale Child Study Center and Director of Research at the Yale Center for Emotional Intelligence, housed in the Yale School of Medicine. An applied developmental and educational psychologist, Dr. Cipriano’s research focus is the systematic examination of social and emotional learning (SEL) assessment and intervention with marginalized populations. Dr. Cipriano is the PI and Director of numerous major federal and foundation grants supporting the development and validation of novel SEL assessments, classroom observation practices, and SEL evaluation and efficacy trials. She has published more than 65 papers, commentaries, and reports on topics of SEL, equity, inclusion, and assessment, spanning top tier peer-reviewed journals, and media outlets including The Washington Post, Education Week, PBS, and Edsurge. Dr. Cipriano received her Ph.D. from Boston College, her Ed.M. from the Harvard Graduate School of Education and undergraduate degree from Hofstra University, and serves on the Professional Advisory Board of the National Center for Learning Disabilities, Teachstone, and Transforming Education. Dr. Cipriano is a Public Voices Fellow of the OpEd Project and is the 2022 recipient of the Joseph A. Zins Early Career SEL Leader of the Year Award. Chris is a Jack Kent Cooke Scholar and the mother of four beautiful children who inspire her every day to take the moon and make it shine for everyone. Learn more @drchriscip