What percentage of schools use SEL?

More than 90 percent of schools and districts in the U.S. report a focus on developing students' SEL skills (Duchesneau, 2020). There is growing consensus that implementing SEL programs well by definition includes inclusive, collaborative approaches that value culture and consider context.

How many schools use social-emotional learning?

Key Findings. Seventy-six percent of principals and 53 percent of teachers nationally reported that their schools used a social and emotional learning (SEL) program or SEL curriculum materials in the 2021–2022 school year.

How many states use SEL?

Twenty-seven states have SEL competencies as part of their standards for all students, in pre-K through grade 12. Other states have such standards in place primarily for younger students.

Why are parents against SEL in schools?

Parents express fears that SEL is a slippery slope—or even an indoctrination tool—to teach kids about racial inequality, gender identity, and sexual orientation.

How effective is SEL in schools?

The Benefits of SEL

From an academic standpoint, students who participated in SEL programs saw an 11 percentile increase in their overall grades and better attendance.

Social-Emotional Learning: What Is SEL and Why SEL Matters

What are the disadvantages of SEL?

It can perpetuate a victim mentality. Some SEL programs focus heavily on identifying and coping with emotions like anxiety, fear, and sadness. While it's important to address these issues, there's a risk that children could become too focused on their negative emotions and begin to see themselves as victims.

What are the negative effects of SEL?

At its best, SEL is something of a secular character education stripped of virtue. No longer do students learn of prudence, temperance, and courage but open-mindedness and acceptance. No longer do students apply an objective ethics to their lives but choose their own subjective values.

What is the controversy around SEL?

Critics of social-emotional learning, like Parents Defending Education, a group tracking what it says is “liberal indoctrination,” say the programs focus too much on children's identities. It shouldn't matter what a child's race or gender is, these parent groups say.

Why do SEL programs fail?

So SEL is rushed, shortened, or even skipped. Note to administrators: you cannot put one more thing on a teacher's plate without at the same time taking something off. The less obvious but perhaps most important reason that SEL programs fail is that they conflict with the SEL program the school already has.

Does SEL teach gender identity?

Through self-reflection and social awareness, SEL helps teach skills needed to connect across race, class, culture, language, gender identity, sexual orientation, learning needs and age.

Which states have SEL standards?

In a nationwide review, CASEL researchers learned that, while all 50 states have social-emotional learning standards for pre-k, just three have state social-emotional learning standards that span all grade levels: Illinois, West Virginia, and Kansas. Twenty-six states applied to join the collaborative.

Which states have adopted SEL?

Who is the founder of social-emotional learning?

Founded in 1994 by a group that included Daniel Goleman, author of Social Intelligence and Emotional Intelligence, and educator-philanthropist Eileen Rockefeller Growald, the Collaborative for Academic, Social, and Emotional Learning (CASEL) has been a pioneer in the field of Social and Emotional Learning (SEL).

What are the 5 main areas of SEL?

The following descriptions of Social and Emotional Learning (SEL) are from CASEL. They address five broad, interrelated areas of competence and provide examples for each: self-awareness, self-management, social awareness, relationship skills, and responsible decision-making.

Do SEL programs work?

Some activists have tried to make social and emotional learning the latest target in the education "culture wars," but polls consistently show that parents overwhelming support SEL. Research shows that SEL has a positive impact on student emotional well-being and academic performance.

Why is SEL important in education?

Social-emotional learning (SEL) helps improve kids' academic performance, curtail bullying, reduce dropout rates, and build character.

Why do high school SEL programs feel lame?

The big problem, researchers and practitioners say, is that too much of what constitutes SEL learning feels patronizing to teenagers and fails to address their core psychological needs and motivations: developing an identity and sense of agency, being recognized and respected by peers, finding ways to excel, and ...

Is SEL a hidden curriculum?

And, because we can also learn unhealthy social and emotional skills and mindsets—like racism, aggression, and helplessness—from our surroundings, it's especially important for educators to bring awareness and intentionality to the hidden SEL curriculum.

Can SEL reduce school violence?

Research shows that preventative measures focused on developing social and emotional competencies and supportive learning climates can foster emotional safety and help reduce violence. By cultivating skills like self-regulation and problem-solving, SEL promotes mental wellness and reduces risky behaviors.

Is social-emotional learning good or bad?

Understanding social-emotional learning is crucial for students as it fosters their emotional intelligence, interpersonal skills, and overall well-being. SEL provides students with the tools to navigate and manage emotions, develop healthy relationships, and make responsible decisions.

What is the difference between SEL and Tsel?

TSEL is a form of SEL implementation toward the aim of concentrating SEL practice on transforming inequitable settings and systems and promoting justice-oriented civic engagement. One of its core features is enhancing and foregrounding social and emotional competencies needed for civic engagement and social change.

What is the difference between character education and SEL?

Character Education tells you what values someone must have to be a good citizen. Character Ed is the what. Put another way: SEL is about self-awareness, developing healthy relationships, and making appropriate and responsible decisions. Character Ed is focused on developing morally accountable individuals.

What are negative effects of a low social-emotional learning?

Unfortunately, many students lack social-emotional competencies and become less con- nected to school as they progress from elementary to middle to high school, and this lack of connection negatively affects their academic performance, behavior, and health (Blum & Libbey, 2004).

What are some positive effects of SEL on teachers and other staff?

Another SEL competency, social awareness, is when educators are able to key into the emotions their learners are facing, understand their perspective and feel empathy for them. This better equips teachers in supporting learners with challenging classroom behavior, reducing teachers' stress.

What is the negative side of e learning?

The classic disadvantages of online learning center around technical problems. Nothing disrupts an online lesson more than audio, video, or connection issues. Many times in the past, students were required to download and/or install cumbersome apps or technology that would deliver inconsistent performances.