Jones Receives Zins Award

Associate Professor Stephanie Jones recently received the Joseph E. Zins Award for Action Research in Social and Emotional Learning. The award, given by the Collaborative for Academic, Social and Emotional Learning (CASTEL), recognizes the efforts of outstanding contributors in advancing social emotional learning research and expanding evidence-based social emotional learning practice.

“I am utterly delighted by this award,” Jones said. “It is a great opportunity to honor the dedication and work of Joe Zins, and to join such an illustrious group of scholars whose efforts are so central to supporting the highest quality research, practice, and policymaking in social-emotional learning.”

Jones’ research focuses on the longitudinal effects of poverty and exposure to violence on social and emotional development in early childhood and adolescence. Currently, she is the principal investigator of an experimental evaluation of the 4Rs Program — a universal school-based intervention designed to integrate social-emotional learning and literacy development — funded by National Institute of Mental Health, the Institute for Education Sciences at the U.S. Department of Education, as well as by the William T. Grant Foundation. She is also involved as co-investigator in a number of similar evaluation studies conducted in early childhood educational settings including Chicago School Readiness Project, Foundations of Learning, and Head Start CARES.

The Zins award, created in 2007, honors the memory of Joseph E. Zins, a pioneer in the field of social and emotional learning, who exemplified blending of rigorous scientific research and effective practice that CASEL has upheld as an abiding standard. The former University of Cincinnati professor’s published works include Building Academic Success on Social and Emotional Learning: What Does the Research Say? (2004) and Promoting Social and Emotional Learning: Guidelines for Educators (1997).