How do you teach vital life skills like developing purpose, making goals, staying motivated in the face of adversity, self-efficacy, and social connectedness?

That’s a question we recently put to Dr. Scott Solberg, a professor of counseling psychology and applied human development at Boston University, and Graduation Alliance’s resident expert on social-emotional learning.

In short, he said: “It’s hard.” 

But it’s also worth it. Really worth it. Especially when it comes to high-need youth. Because when students learn key resiliency skills they’re able to keep performing well in school and life “despite the fact that they have often encountered tremendous trauma or loss, and frequently live in precarious conditions that are all-too-often associated with lower-income communities,” Solberg said.

“When you give these young men and women the ability to be resilient in the face of their many life challenges, it truly is a wonderful gift,” he said

Want to give your students that gift? You’ll need an intervention that first explores the nature of the resiliency skills they already have, and then helps them create a personalized learning strategy to develop the skills they need.

The result? Higher grades, attendance, and credits earned — and greater post-secondary success, too.