Social and Emotional Learning in the Classroom

Barbara A. Gueldner, PhD, NCSP, IMH-E® Infant Mental Health Specialist, is a licensed psychologist in Steamboat Springs, Colorado. She has worked for over 20 years with children and families, educators, medical and mental health professionals, community agencies, and postsecondary students across a range of settings including private practice, schools, a university-based clinic, pediatric primary care clinics, and a large children's hospital, and served as Visiting Assistant Professor at the University of Oregon. Dr. Gueldner's research, publications, program development, workshops, and community service focus on social and emotional learning, childhood mental health and prevention, internalizing problems and solutions, supporting adults to facilitate children's social and emotional development, and facilitating excellence in early childhood programs. She is a coauthor of Kenneth W. Merrell's Strong Kids and Strong Teens social and emotional learning (SEL) programs.

Laura L. Feuerborn, PhD, NCSP, is Professor in the School of Education at the University of Washington Tacoma. As a core member of the faculty since 2006, she has founded master's degree study options and graduate-level coursework in social and emotional learning (SEL) and systems change. Dr. Feuerborn's school and community partnerships, national and international presentations, and teaching expertise are grounded in the field of social, emotional, and behavioral supports. Her research and peer-reviewed publications focus on implementation science, SEL, and supporting school staff in the implementation of schoolwide positive behavior interventions and supports. She is a coauthor of Kenneth W. Merrell's Strong Kids and Strong Teens SEL programs.

Kenneth W. Merrell, PhD, until his death in 2011, was Professor of School Psychology and Director of the Oregon Resilience Project at the University of Oregon in Eugene. For 25 years, Dr. Merrell's influential teaching and research focused on social-emotional assessment and intervention for children and adolescents and social-emotional learning in schools. He published over 90 peer-reviewed journal articles; several books and nationally normed assessment instruments; and the Strong Kids programs, a comprehensive social and emotional learning curriculum. Dr. Merrell was a Fellow of the Division of School Psychology (Division 16) and the Society for Clinical Child and Adolescent Psychology (Division 53) of the American Psychological Association. He received the Senior Scientist Award from Division 16, the Division's highest honor for excellence in science.