Character, Connection, and Cognition: The Missing Links in Student and Educator Success

1 in 5 students have a mental health challenge that impacts their academic performance. 73% of Gen Z report feeling chronically alone. Empathy has dropped 40% in college-aged students since 2000, while education has become the number one profession for burnout. We keep treating these as separate problems and wondering why nothing sticks.

This panel explores the possibility that our systems have misdiagnosed the challenge, and therefore surfaced the wrong treatments.

Featuring Houston Kraft (Character Strong), Sarup Mathur (ASU Mary Lou Fulton College for Teaching and Learning Innovation), Kori Street (USC Center for Affective Neuroscience, Development, Learning, and Education) and Lori Woodley-Langendorff (All It Takes) as panelists, this session will draw on developmental and neurobehavioral science alongside the lived experience of educators, share evidence-based approaches that improve behavior, increase safety, and support mental health - advancing success for the whole child and the educators who serve them.