The SEL Skills That May Matter Most for Academic Success: Curiosity and Persistence

Want students to succeed in math and reading? Nurture their curiosity and persistence.

Across 11 countries, those two skills are the most closely linked to better academic performance for both 10- and 15-year-olds, according to the first international survey of social-emotional skills. Rather than ranking countries’ average social-emotional performance, the study analyzed the way social-emotional skills affected students’ performance. Students in a wide array of educational systems and learning contexts still showed that the development of social skills ranging from trust and creativity to assertiveness could boost students’ performance in core academic subjects.