Roger P. Weissberg

Department of Psychology (MC 285)

University of Illinois at Chicago

1007 West Harrison Street

Chicago , IL 60607-7137

Ph: 312-355-0640 / Fax: 312-355-4480

Roger P. Weissberg is a Professor of Psychology and Education at the University of Illinois at Chicago (UIC). He is also President of the Collaborative for Academic, Social, and Emotional Learning (CASEL), an international organization committed to making evidence-based social, emotional, and academic learning an essential part of preschool through high school education (www.casel.org). For the past three decades, Professor Weissberg has trained scholars and practitioners about innovative ways to design, implement, and evaluate family, school, and community interventions.

Professor Weissberg has authored about 200 publications focusing on preventive interventions with children and adolescents and has written curricula on school-based programs to promote social competence and prevent problem behaviors including drug use, high-risk sexual behaviors, and aggression. His Social Competence Promotion Program for Young Adolescents received a model program designation from the Center for Substance Abuse Prevention and from the Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention. Some of his major published volumes include: Promoting Social and Emotional Learning: Guidelines for Educators (1997), Enhancing Children's Wellness (1997), Establishing Preventive Services (1997), Children and Youth: Interdisciplinary Perspectives (1997), Promoting Positive Outcomes (1999), The Promotion of Wellness in Children and Adolescents (2000), Long-term Trends in the Well-being of Children and Youth (2003), a Special Issue of the American Psychologist on "Prevention for Children and Youth that Works" (2003), Safe and Sound: An Educational Leader's Guide to Evidence-based Social and Emotional Learning Programs (2003), Building Academic Success on Social and Emotional Learning: What Does the Research Say? (2004), School-Family Partnerships for Children's Success (2005), and Sustainable Schoolwide Social and Emotional Learning (2006).

Professor Weissberg has been the President of the American Psychological Association's Society for Community Research and Action. He co-chaired an American Psychological Association Task Force on "Prevention: Promoting Strength, Resilience, and Health in Young People." He is a recipient of the William T. Grant Foundation's five-year Faculty Scholars Award in Children's Mental Health, the Connecticut Psychological Association's Award for Distinguished Psychological Contribution in the Public Interest, and the National Mental Health Association's Lela Rowland Prevention Award. He was named a 1997-2000 University Scholar at the University of Illinois and also was a 2004-2005 UIC Great Cities Institute Scholar. Professor Weissberg received the 2000 American Psychological Association's Distinguished Contribution Award for Applications of Psychology to Education and Training, and the Society for Community Research and Action 2004 Distinguished Contribution to Theory and Research Award. He also received the 2008 "Daring Dozen" award from the George Lucas Educational Foundation for being 1 of 12 people who are reshaping the future of education.

Born in Newark, New Jersey, Professor Weissberg graduated Summa Cum Laude and Phi Beta Kappa with a BA in Psychology from Brandeis University in 1974. He received his PhD from the University of Rochester in 1980. He was the Research Director for the Primary Mental Health Project from 1980 to 1982. He was a professor in the Psychology Department at Yale University between 1982 and 1992 where he collaborated with the New Haven Public School System to establish New Haven's kindergarten through grade 12 Social Development Project. Dr. Weissberg lives in Wilmette Illinois. He and his wife, Stephanie Wright (who is a clinical psychologist), have two wonderful children: Elizabeth (age 21) and Ted (age 17).

Professor Weissberg also directs the SEL Research Group at UIC. Members of this group are:

Mary Utne O'Brien (muobrien@uic.edu), Research Professor, Psychology & Education
Cynthia Coleman (colemanc@uic.edu), Director of Operations
Rachael Bandur (bandur@uic.edu), Finance
Ruth Cross, Training
Allison Dymnicki (adymni2@uic.edu), Graduate Assistant
Christina Foster (cdfoster@illinois.edu), Training
Peter Ji (petji@uic.edu), Research Assistant Professor
Nicole Kaye, Research Assistant
Kristin Ogren (kogren@uic.edu), Training
Jeanne Osgood (jsosgood@uic.edu), Communications & Development
John Payton (jpayto1@uic.edu), Senior Research Scientist
Kay Ragozzino (krago@uic.edu), Communications & Web Support
Cassandra Struble (strublec@uic.edu), Operations
Rebecca Taylor (rtaylo2@uic.edu), Graduate Assistant
Keith Zander (keithzander@uic.edu), Graduate Assistant.

Publications

Books

Walberg, H. J., Reyes, O., & Weissberg, R. P. (Eds.). (1997). Children and youth: Interdisciplinary perspectives. Thousand Oaks , CA : Sage.

Weissberg, R. P., Gullotta, T. P., Hampton, R. L., Ryan, R. A., & Adams, G. R. (Eds.). (1997). Healthy children 2010: Enhancing children's wellness. Thousand Oaks , CA : Sage.

Weissberg, R. P., Gullotta, T. P., Hampton, R. L., Ryan, B. A., & Adams, G. R (Eds.). (1997). Healthy children 2010: Establishing preventive services. Thousand Oaks , CA : Sage.

Elias, M. J., Zins, J. E., Weissberg, R. P., Frey, K. S., Greenberg, M. T., Haynes, N. M., Kessler, R., Schwab-Stone, M. E., & Shriver, T. P. (1997). Promoting social and emotional learning: Guidelines for educators. Alexandria , VA : Association for Supervision and Curriculum Development.

Reynolds, A. J., Walberg, H. J., & Weissberg, R. P., & (Eds.). (1999). Promoting positive outcomes. Washington , DC : Child Welfare League of America Press.

Gullotta, T. P., Hampton, R. L., Adams, G. R., Ryan, B. A., & Weissberg, R. P. (Eds.). (1999). Children’s health care: Issues for the year 2000 and beyond. Thousand Oaks , CA : Sage.

Cicchetti, D., Rappaport, J., Sandler, I. N., & Weissberg, R. P. (Eds.). (2000). The promotion of wellness in children and adolescents. Washington , DC : Child Welfare League of America Press.

Weissberg, R. P., Walberg, H. J., O’Brien, M. U., & Kuster, C. B. (Eds.). (2003). Long-term trends in the well-being of children and youth. Washington , DC : Child Welfare League of America Press.

Zins, J. E., Weissberg, R. P., Wang, M. C., & Walberg. H. J. (Eds.). (2004). Building academic success on social and emotional learning: What does the research say? New York : Teachers College Press.

Collaborative for Academic, Social, and Emotional Learning. (2005). The Illinois edition of safe and sound: An educational leader’s guide to evidence-based social and emotional learning programs. Chicago , IL : Author.

Patrikakou, E. N., Weissberg, R. P., Redding, S., & Walberg, H. J. (Eds.). (2005). School-family partnerships for children’s success. New York : Teachers College Press.

Selected Articles and Book Chapters

Weissberg, R. P., Caplan, M. Z., & Sivo, P. J. (1989). A new conceptual framework for establishing school-based social competence promotion programs. In L. A. Bond, & B. E. Compas (Eds.), Primary prevention and promotion in the schools (pp. 255-296). Newbury Park , CA : Sage.

Weissberg, R. P., Caplan, M., & Harwood, R. L. (1991). Promoting competent young people in competence-enhancing environments: A systems-based perspective on primary prevention. Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology, 59, 830-841.

Reprinted in: (1993). M. E. Hertzig & E. A. Farber (Eds.). Annual progress in child psychiatry and child development: 1992 (pp.256-281). New York : Brunner/Mazel.

Weissberg, R. P., & Elias, M. J. (1993). Enhancing young people's social competence and health behavior: An important challenge for educators, scientists, policy makers, and funders. Applied and preventive psychology: Current scientific perspectives, 2 (4), 179-190.

The Consortium on the School-based Promotion of Social Competence. [Elias, M. J., Weissberg, R. P., Hawkins, J. D., Perry, C. L., Zins, J. E., Dodge, K. A., Kendall, P. C., Gottfredson, D., Rotheram-Borus, M. J., Jason, L. A., & Wilson-Brewer, R.]. (1994). The school-based promotion of social competence: Theory, research, practice, and policy. In R. J. Haggerty, N. Garmezy , M. Rutter, & L. R. Sherrod (Eds.). Stress, risk, and resilience in children and adolescents: Processes, mechanisms, and interventions (pp. 268-316). New York : Cambridge University Press.

Weissberg, R. P., Barton, H. A., & Shriver, T. P. (1997). The Social-Competence Promotion Program for Young Adolescents. In G. W. Albee & T. P. Gullotta (Eds.), Primary prevention exemplars: The Lela Rowland Awards (pp. 268-290). Thousand Oaks , CA : Sage.

Weissberg, R. P., Shriver, T. P., Bose, S., & DeFalco, K. (May, 1997). Creating a districtwide social development project. Educational Leadership, 54, 37-39.

Weissberg, R. P., & Greenberg, M. T. (1998). School and community competence-enhancement and prevention programs. In W. Damon (Series Ed.) & I. E. Sigel & K. A. Renninger (Vol. Eds.). Handbook of child psychology: Vol 4. Child psychology in practice (5th ed., pp. 877-954). New York : John Wiley & Sons.

Elias, M. J., & Weissberg, R. P. (2000). Wellness in schools: The grandfather of primary prevention tells a story. In D. Cicchetti, J. Rappaport, I. N. Sandler, & R. P. Weissberg (Eds.), The promotion of wellness in children and adolescents (pp. 243-269). Washington , DC : Child Welfare League of America Press.

Payton, J. W., Graczyk, P. A., Wardlaw, D. M., Bloodworth, M., Tompsett, C. J., & Weissberg, R. P. (2000). Social and emotional learning: A framework for promoting mental health and reducing risk behavior in children and youth. Journal of School Health, 70, 179-185.

Zins, J. E., Elias, M. J., Greenberg, M. T., & Weissberg, R. P. (2000). Promoting social and emotional competence in children. In K. M. Minke & G. C. Bear (Eds.), Preventing school problems - promoting school success: Strategies and programs that work (pp. 71-99). Washington , DC : National Association of School Psychologists.

Weissberg, R. P. (2000). Improving the lives of millions of school children. American Psychologist, 55, 1360-1373.

Weissberg, R. P. (2002). Collaborating to support the implementation of coordinated school-based prevention programming: Action steps and challenges. In P.J. Mrazek & C.M.H. Hosman (Eds.), Toward a strategy for worldwide action to promote mental health and prevent mental and behavioral disorders (pp. 46-48). Alexandria , VA : The World Federation for Mental Health.

Weissberg, R. P., & Weissberg, E. W. (2003). Foreword. In N. Haynes, M. Ben-Avi, & J. Ensign (Eds.). How social and emotional development add up: Getting results in math and science education (pp. ix-xii). New York , NY : Teachers College Press.

Elias, M. J., Bryan, K., Patrikakou, E. N., & Weissberg, R. P. (2003). Challenges in creating effective home-school partnerships in adolescence: Promising pathways for collaboration. The School-Community Journal, 133-153.

O'Brien, M. U., Weissberg, R. P., Walberg, H. J., & Kuster, C. B. (2003). The contributions and complexities of studying trends in the well being of children and youth. In R. P. Weissberg, H. J. Walberg, M. U. O'Brien, & C. B. Kuster (Eds.), Long-term trends in the well-being of children and youth (pp. 3-25).. Washington , DC : Child Welfare League of America .

O’Brien, M. U., Weissberg, R. P., & Shriver, T. P. (2003). Educational leadership for academic, social, and emotional learning. In M. J. Elias, H. Arnold, & C. Steiger (Eds.), EQ+IQ: Best leadership practices for caring and successful schools (pp. 23-35). Corwin Press: Thousand Oaks , CA .

Weissberg, R. P., Resnik, H., Payton, J., & O’Brien, M. U. (2003). Evaluating social and emotional learning programs. Educational Leadership, 60 (6), 46-50.

Weissberg, R. P., & Kumpfer, K. (Eds.). (2003). Special Issue: Prevention that works for children and youth. American Psychologist, 58, 425-490.

Weissberg, R. P., Kumpfer, K., Seligman, M. E. P. (Eds.). (2003). Prevention that works for children and youth: An introduction. American Psychologist, 58, 425-432.

Greenberg, M. T., Weissberg, R. P., O’Brien, M. U., Zins, J. E., Fredericks, L., Resnik, H., & Elias, M. J. (2003). Enhancing school-based prevention and youth development through coordinated social, emotional, and academic learning. American Psychologist, 58, 466-474.

Elias, M. J., Zins, J. E., Graczyk, P. A., & Weissberg, R. P. (2003). Implementation, sustainability, and scaling of social-emotional and academic innovations in public schools. School Psychology Quarterly, 32, 303-319.

Zins, J. E., Bloodworth, M. R., Weissberg, R. P., & Walberg, H. J. (2004). The scientific base linking emotional learning to student success and academic outcomes. In J. E. Zins, R. P. Weissberg, M. C. Wang, & H. J. Walberg (Eds.), Building academic success on social and emotional learning: What does the research say? (pp. 3-22). New York , NY : Teachers College Press.

Walberg, H. J., Zins, J. E., & Weissberg, R. P. (2004). Recommendations and conclusions: Implications for practice, training, research, and policy. In J. E. Zins, R. P. Weissberg, M. C. Wang, & H. J. Walberg (Eds.), Building academic success on social and emotional learning: What does the research say? (pp. 209-217). New York , NY : Teachers College Press.

Durlak, J. A., Weissberg, R. P., Quintana, E., & Perez, F. (2004). Primary prevention: Involving schools and communities in youth health promotion. In L. A. Jason, C. B. Keys, Y. Suarez-Balcazar, R. R. Taylor, & M. I. Davis, J. Durlak, & D. Isenberg (Eds.), Participatory community research: Theories and methods in action (pp. 73-86). Washington , DC : American Psychological Association.

Weissberg, R. P., & O’Brien, M. U. (2004). What works in school-based social and emotional learning programs for positive youth development. The Annals of the American Academy of Political and Social Science, 591, 86-97.

Denham, S. A., & Weissberg, R. P. (2004). Social-emotional learning in early childhood: What we know and where to go from here. In E. Chesebrough, P. King, T. P. Gullotta, & M. Bloom (Eds.), A blueprint for the promotion of prosocial behavior in early childhood (pp. 13-50). New York : Kluwer Academic/ Plenum Publishers.

Axelrod, J., O’Brien, M. U., & Weissberg, R. P. (2004). Social and emotional learning as a framework for school improvement and student success. The Community Psychologist, 37 (2), 8-10.

Seligman, M. E. P., Berkowitz, M. W., Catalano, R. F., Damon, W., Eccles, J. S., Gilham, J. E., Moore, K. A., Nicholson, H. J., Park, N., Penn, D. L., Peterson, C., Shih, M., Steen, T. A., Sternberg, R. J., Tierney, J. P., Weissberg, R. P., & Zaff, J. F. (2005). The positive perspective on youth development. In D. L. Evans, E. Foa, R. Gur, H. Hendrin, C. O'Brien,M. E. P. Seligman, & B. T. Walsh (Eds), Treating and preventing adolescent mental health disorders: What we know and what we don’t know ((pp. 499-529). New York : Oxford University Press, The Annenberg Foundation Trust at Sunnylands, and The Annenberg Public Policy Center of the University of Pennsylvania .

Patrikakou, E. N., Weissberg, R. P., Redding , S., & Walberg, H. J. (2005) School-family partnerships: Enhancing the academic, social, and emotional learning of children. In E. N. Patrikakou, R. P. Weissberg, S. Redding, & H. J. Walberg (Eds.), School-family partnerships for children’s success (pp. 1-17) New York : Teachers College Press.

Link to Collaborative for Academic, Social and Emotional Learning (CASEL)