Talk given at Youth-Nex, at the University of Virginia. During the last decade, there have been significant advances in social and emotional learning (SEL) research, practice, and policy. This talk will highlight key areas of progress and challenges as we broadly implement school-family-community partnerships to foster positive behavioral, academic, and life outcomes for preschool to high school students. My goal for this presentation is to provide a foundation to foster group discussion about future priorities for the next decade.

1. Enhancing the Social, Emotional, and Academic
Learning of Preschool to High School Students
Across the United States
Roger P. Weissberg
UIC Distinguished Professor of Psychology and Education
University of Illinois at Chicago
Chief Knowledge Officer
Collaborative for Academic, Social, and Emotional Learning
www.casel.org
Social and Emotional Learning Research
Group
Department of Psychology

2. UVA Friends and Colleagues
Joe Allen Bob Pianta
Catherine Bradshaw Dick Reppucci
Nancy Deutsch Sara Rimm-Kaufman
Jason Downer Katherine Ross
Bridget Hamre Ralph Sampson
Chris Hulleman Pat Tolan
Noelle Hurd Amanda Williford
Tish Jennings Melvin Wilson
Gary Melton

3. Long-term Commitment and Relationships
Weissberg, R. P., & Allen, J. P. (1986).
Promoting children's social skills and
adaptive interpersonal behavior. In B.
Edelstein & L. Michelson (Eds.),
Handbook of prevention (pp. 153-175).
New York: Plenum Press.

4. Strategies to Foster Evidence-Based Systemic SEL
in 50% of the Nation’s Schools by 2025
1. Co-convene kindred groups to advance research,
practice, and policy: National Commission
2. Advance social and emotional competence assessment
3. Document outcomes and develop models & resources
with collaborating districts
4. Leverage evidence, models, and resources to support
SEL nationwide
5. Develop model state SEL policies, student learning
standards, and implementation guidelines
6. Increase federal supports for SEL research and practice

5. Professional Focus—Since 1976
How can schools, families, and communities
partner to promote positive outcomes in
children and youth?

6. Actionable, Research-based Family, School,
and Community Approaches
1. Support and strengthen family functioning
2. Sustained relationships with caring adults
3. Provide high-quality education
4. Connect students and their schools
5. Make communities safe and supportive for children
6. High-quality out-of-school-time programs
7. Provide children and youth with opportunities to
build social and emotional competence

7. Key Questions for SEL Research,
Practice, and Policy
1. Are people with better social and emotional skills more
likely to succeed in school and life?
2. Can social and emotional skills be taught?
3. Will children be better prepared for college, careers, and life if
we teach social, emotional, and academic skills?
4. How can we ensure that educators, service providers, and
families teach social and emotional skills effectively?

8. Collaborative for Academic, Social,
and Emotional Learning (CASEL)
CASEL was founded in 1994 to make SEL an
essential part of every child’s education.
 Advance the science of SEL
 Expand effective SEL practice
 Improve federal and state policies
CASEL serves as strategist, collaborator, convener,
and supporter for the SEL community
www.casel.org

9. 1997: CASEL Defines the Field of SEL
2015: Current and Future Perspectives on
Social and Emotional Learning

10. What is Social and
Emotional Learning (SEL)?
• SEL involves processes through which children and
adults develop fundamental emotional and social
competencies to understand and manage emotions, set
and achieve positive goals, feel and show empathy for
others, establish and maintain positive relationships, and
make responsible decisions.
• SEL takes place within the context of safe, participatory
school, family, and community environments that support
children’s development and provide opportunities and
recognition for successfully applying these competencies.

11. SEL as a Coordinating Framework
How do we move from here...
Fragmented efforts
Piecemeal implementation
No common language
...to a better place for kids
Built on student strengths
Academic and life success
Coordinated efforts
Systemic integration

12. SEL
Self-awareness
Social
awareness
Relationship
skills
Responsible
decision
making
Self-
management
Form positive
relationships, work
in teams, deal effectively
with conflict
Make ethical,
constructive choices
about personal and
social behavior
Manage emotions
and behaviors
to achieve
one’s goals
Show
understanding
and empathy for
others
SEL is a Process of Acquiring and Applying the Knowledge,
Skills, and Attitudes Related to Five Core Competencies
Recognize one’s emotions,
values, strengths, and
limitations

13. A Caring, Connected, Responsible,
Contributing Problem Solver
• STOP, CALM DOWN, & THINK before
you act
• Say the PROBLEM and how you FEEL
• Set a POSITIVE GOAL
• THINK of lots of SOLUTIONS
• THINK ahead to the CONSEQUENCES
• GO ahead and TRY the BEST PLAN
THINK
GO
STOP

14. A Conceptual Framework for Enhancing Students’
Social and Emotional Learning
SEL Approaches:
• Explicit SEL Skills
Instruction
• Integration with
Academic
Curriculum Areas
• Teacher
Instructional
Practices
• Organizational,
Culture, and
Climate Strategies
SEL Skill Acquisition:
Five Competence Areas
Improved Attitudes:
Self, Others, Learning, and
Schools
Enhanced Learning
Environment: Supportive,
Engaging, and Participatory
Positive Social
Behavior
Fewer Conduct
Problems
Less Emotional
Distress
Improved Academic
Performance

15. SEL CURRICULUM &
INSTRUCTION
Levels of Schoolwide SEL
SELF-
MANAGEMENT
SELF-
AWARENESS
RESPONSIBLE
DECISION-
MAKING
RELATIONSHIP
SKILLS
SOCIAL
AWARENESS
Social and
Emotional
Learning
(SEL)

16. Review of K to 12
School-based SEL Programming
Durlak, J. A., Weissberg, R. P., Dymnicki,
A. B., Taylor, R. D., & Schellinger, K.
(2011). The impact of enhancing students’
social and emotional learning: A meta-
analysis of school-based universal
interventions. Child Development, 82, 405-
432.

17. 9%ile
Positive
attitudes
9%ile
Prosocial Behavior
9%ile
Conduct Problems
11%ile
Academic
Achievement
10%ile
Emotional Distress
Learning
Environment
SE Skills
Development
22% ile
Social and
Emotional Skills

18. Are SEL programs conducted by
existing school staff effective?
Social-emotional skill
Attitudes
Positive social behavior
Conduct problems
Emotional distress
Academic performance
Teacher Researcher
—Durlak et al. (2011)

19. Does the quality of implementation
affect student outcomes?
Social-emotional skills
Attitudes
Positive social behavior
Conduct problems
Emotional distress
Academic performance
Implementation Problems?
No Yes
—Durlak et al. (2011)

20. SEL Improves Academic Outcomes
 Attitudes
 Motivation, commitment
 Behaviors
 Participation, study habits
 Performance
 Grades, subject mastery
Source: Zins, Weissberg, Wang, & Walberg (2004). Building Academic
Success on Social and Emotional Learning (SEL): What Does the
Research Say?

21. Longitudinal Findings from the Seattle Social
Development Project at Age 21
■More high school graduates
■More attending college
■More employed
■Better emotional and mental health
■Fewer with a criminal record
■Less drug selling
Cost-benefit: $2.11/student for $1 invested
—Hawkins et al. (2008)

22. Taylor, Oberle, Durlak, & Weissberg (2017). Promoting positive youth
development through school-based social and emotional learning
interventions: A meta-analysis of follow-up effects. Child Development.
■ 82 interventions
■ 97,406 K to 12 students
■ Follow-up: 6 months to 18 years
■ ES’s range from .13 to .33 for SE Skills,
Attitudes, Positive Social Behavior, Academic
Performance, Conduct Problems, Emotional
Distress, & Drug Use
■ Post-intervention social-emotional skills
development was strongest predictor of well-
being at follow-up

23. SAFE SEL Programs are Effective
Sequential: Sequenced activities to teach skills
Active: Active learning to practice skills
Focused: Focused time on skill development
Explicit: Explicit targeting of specific skills

24. • Feelings and attitudes
– Child self-perceptions
– School bonding
• Behavioral adjustment
– Positive social behaviors
– Problem behaviors
– Reduced drug use
• School performance
– Attendance
– School grades
– Achievement test scores
Student Outcomes in After-School Programs:
SAFE and OTHER Programs
(Durlak, Weissberg, & Pachan, 2010)
SAFE programs: Other programs:

25. Effects of SEL Participation on Teachers
96 100
88
96
79 83
Problem-solving Comm. w/ students Dealing w/ stress
% 6th-grade teachers reporting improvement
% 9th-grade teachers reporting improvement

26. Teachers Believe SEL Benefits Students in
School, Work, and Life (Bridgeland et al., 2013)
• Students from all types of backgrounds, both 97%
affluent and poor would benefit from
learning SEL skills in school
• Preparing students for the workforce: 87%
• Students becoming good citizens as adults: 87%
• Students ability to move successfully through
school and stay on track to graduate 80%
• Preparing students to get to and through college 78%

27. American Enterprise Institute/Brookings Institution
Working Group on Poverty and Opportunity (2015)
“For these and many other reasons a
conservative/progressive consensus on
how to reduce poverty and increase
opportunity must tackle the question of how to
reduce the growing gap in educational
achievement between children from wealthy
and poor families. That means not just closing
the gap in years of schooling, but in cognitive
academic skills and social-emotional skills
as well.”

28. The Economic Value of Social and Emotional
Learning (Belfield et al., 2015, p. 5)
“The aggregate result also shows considerable
benefits relative to costs, with an average
benefit-cost ratio of about 11 to 1 among the
six interventions. This means that, on average,
for every dollar invested equally across the six
SEL interventions, there is a return of eleven
dollars, a substantial economic return.”

29. Common Employability Skills - National Network
of Business and Industry Associations
A Foundation for Success in the Workplace:
The Skills All Employees Need, No Matter
Where They Work
• Personal Skills
• People Skills
• Applied Knowledge
• Workplace Skills

30. Effectiveness of SEL Worldwide
Failure or refusal to adopt and appropriately
support the implementation of SEL/SFL
programmes is equal to depriving children and
youngsters of crucial and scientifically
substantiated opportunities for their personal,
social and academic development.
This would be a flagrant violation of the United
Nations Convention of Children’s Rights.
—Diekstra, p. 261 (2008)

31. Implications for Practice and Policy
■ SEL works
■ Multiple positive outcomes including academic
achievement
■ Across grades and contexts
■ SEL is doable
■ Good results from programs run by existing school
and out-of-school staffs
■ Teachers want SEL
■ SEL has a good return on investment
■ SEL needs support
■ Implementation matters
■ Supported by federal and state policies, leadership
and professional development

32. Essential Questions
Each Community Must Answer
What do we want our
children to become, to
know, and to be able to
do when they graduate?
How can the entire community be organized to
ensure that all students reach the stated goals?

34. CASEL Program Reviews: Well-designed,
Evaluated, Implementation Supports

35. © CASEL 2008 35

36. Systemic Schoolwide SEL
■ Establish a shared vision
■ Assess resources and
needs
■ Embed professional learning
■ Implement evidence-based
programs and practices
■ Integrate schoolwide and
beyond
■ Use data for continuous
improvement
Schoolwide
SEL
CASEL Guide for Schoolwide
Social and Emotional Learning
Establish a
Shared Vision
Assess
Resources
and Needs
Embed
Professional
Learning
Adopt
Evidence-
Based
Programs
Integrate SEL
Schoolwide
Use Data for
Continuous
Improvement

37. Partnering with large urban school districts to implement district-wide SEL.
Anchorage, AK
Atlanta, GA
Austin, TX
Chicago, IL
Cleveland, OH
El Paso, TX
Nashville, TN
Oakland, CA
Sacramento City, CA
Washoe County, NV
CASEL’s
Collaborating Districts

38. COLLABORATIVE FOR ACADEMIC, SOCIAL, AND EMOTIONAL LEARNING
A Framework for Systemic SEL in
Educational Settings
Districtwide Social
and Emotional
Learning
Cultivate
Commitment &
Support for SEL
Assess SEL Resources
& Needs
Establish Classroom,
Schoolwide &
Community SEL
Programming
Establish Systems for
Continuous
Improvement
Schoolwide Social and Emotional Learning
Short Term Outcomes
• Attitudinal,
Behavioral, and
Academic
Improvements
Long Term Outcomes
• Enhanced
College/Career
Readiness,
Citizenship, and Life
Success

39. CDI Evaluation of District
Implementation

40. CDI Student Outcome Data:
• Academic achievement: improved across
subjects (e.g., Reading and Math) and years of
implementation
• Social-emotional competence: mixed with
positive effects concentrated at grade 3
• Student perceptions of school climate: positive
for teacher support and peer social-emotional
behavior
• Attendance: positive
• Discipline: positive

41. Collaborating States Initiative
Illinois PreK-12 SEL Student Learning Goals
Develop self-
awareness and
self-management
skills to achieve
school and life
success.
Use social-
awareness and
interpersonal
skills to
establish and
maintain positive
relationships.
Demonstrate
decision-
making skills
and responsible
behaviors in
personal, school,
and community
contexts.
Self Other Decision-
making

42. Standards are one element of a coordinated
approach to effective education that includes:
• Specifying what we want our students to become, to
know, and to be able to do from preK to 12
• Evidence-based curricula/instruction
• Professional development for teachers, student
support staff, and administrators
• Assessment that allows teachers to monitor and
foster student progress

43. Collaboration for Practical Social-Emotional
(SE) Competence Assessment
Goal 1: Provide a guide with timely information for educators about selecting
and effectively using currently available SE assessments.
Goal 2: Demonstrate alignment and distinctions between existing SE
frameworks.
Goal 3: Conduct annual design challenges for next-generation performance
tasks. Identify and disseminate key design principles for creating practical
SE performance measures.
Goal 4: Collaborate with, coordinate with, and learn from ongoing related
efforts in the field of SE assessment in order to maximize impact and
avoid duplication of efforts.

44. What Do You Assess and How?
• Formative Assessment
• Multiple Measures for Accountability
• Self-report, Teacher Ratings, Performance
Tasks
• Social and Emotional Competence
• School Climate
• Student Voice!!

45. Strategies to Foster Evidence-Based Systemic SEL
in 50% of the Nation’s Schools by 2025
1. Co-convene kindred groups to advance research,
practice, and policy: National Commission
2. Advance social and emotional competence assessment
3. Document outcomes and develop models & resources
with collaborating districts
4. Leverage evidence, models, and resources to support
SEL nationwide
5. Develop model state SEL policies, student learning
standards, and implementation guidelines
6. Increase federal supports for SEL research and practice

46. “We can not always build the
future for our youth, but we can
build the youth for our future.”
– Franklin D. Roosevelt