Patricia Jennings

Patricia (Tish) Jennings is globally recognized for her expertise in social and emotional learning and mindfulness in education. She spearheaded the development of Cultivation Awareness and Resilience in Education (CARE), a mindfulness-based program for educators. CARE, proven effective in the largest randomized controlled trial addressing educator stress, enhances educator well-being, classroom interactions, and student engagement, motivation, and reading competence. The CARE research is validated by What Works Clearinghouse (WWC) and the CARE program is endorsed by the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) to promote educator well-being. Jennings also oversees two major U.S. Department of Education-funded studies to assess the impact of integrating CARE into a social and emotional learning curriculum and to evaluate a scalable model for the program in communities across Virginia and Kentucky.