Social-emotional intervention in schools: Current status, progress, and promise

This article provides introductory comments and definitions regarding the area of social-emotional interventions in schools, an endeavor that has experienced increased interest and important empirical advances in recent years. At the present time the area of social-emotional prevention and intervention activities in schools has the potential to open the door for school psychologists to focus their efforts on solving important problems and affecting educational systems in a major way. Introductory comments regarding the six articles in this issue on the topic of social-emotional intervention in schools are provided. These comments are framed within the overall "big ideas" that are encompassed in the collection of articles. Although there have been significant advances in school-based social-emotional intervention programming, future efforts are needed to help practitioners customize and implement programs effectively across school systems, and to take into account cultural, socioeconomic, and linguistic differences of children, youth, and their communities.