Social and Emotional Learning

Guidance and resources for supporting social and emotional learning.

T-SEL Competencies and Conditions for Thriving

These guidance tools, developed for voluntary use, aim to build on and respond to the call from California’s diverse stakeholders to embed equity-focused Transformative Social and Emotional Learning (T-SEL) in every learning and teaching context across the education system.

Social and Emotional Support During Distance Learning

Visit the California Department of Education (CDE) Social and Emotional Support During Distance Learning web page for resources for educators, educational leaders, and families/guardians in kindergarten through grade twelve (K–12) schools, to provide social and emotional supports during distance learning.

Social and Emotional Learning Basics

Social and Emotional Learning (SEL) reflects the critical role of positive relationships and emotional connections in the learning process and helps students develop a range of skills they need for school and life. SEL skills include the ability to:

set and achieve positive goals
feel and show empathy for others
establish and maintain positive relationships
make responsible decisions
understand and manage emotions

All of these skills are necessary—both for educators and students—to function well in the classroom, in the community, and in college and careers.

While many teachers instinctively know that SEL is important, historically schools have been primarily focused on teaching academic content such as reading, math, science, and history, and less intentional about supporting the social and emotional skills that are so important to learning and life success.

There is a growing body of research proving that SEL is fundamental to academic success, and must be woven into the work of every teacher in every classroom and every after school and summer learning program, if we truly want to prepare all our students for college and careers.

The CDE is committed to helping educators learn more about SEL and how to make this a part of every child’s school experience. To support this work, the CDE has joined the Collaborating States Initiative a group of states that share information, best practices, and promising tools and ideas in the interest of building strong SEL in schools across their states. The Collaborating States Initiative is hosted by the Collaborative for Academic Social and Emotional Learning .

The CDE has convened a group of experts from different sectors of the education system to advise on the best ways to support SEL implementation. The following are products this team has developed:

Social and Emotional Learning Guiding Principles - full version (PDF);
- Social and Emotional Learning Guiding Principles - summary (PDF);
Social and Emotional Learning Resource Guide (PDF);
Recommendations for Policy and Practice

Advance Social and Emotional Learning Campaign

In 2020, the State Superintendent of Public Instruction Tony Thurmond, First Partner Jennifer Siebel Newsom, and State Board of Education President Linda Darling-Hammond launched the Advance SEL in California Campaign. The initiative gathered large-scale input through a forum called WikiWisdom , a virtual resource where educators, school leaders, and families can collaborate, interact with peers, and share best SEL practices to support students dealing with the impact of the Coronovirus (COVID-19) pandemic and over the long term. In total, the project engaged nearly 800 diverse California education stakeholders to gather perspectives on SEL practices, needs, and goals.

The project culminated with a report on the status of SEL in California, with recommendations for how teachers, school leaders, and families across the state can address the social and emotional needs of students, both in response to COVID-19 and over the long term. The findings in this report are grounded in what we heard from nearly 2,000 educators, students, parents, and other stakeholders throughout this project. The resounding message we heard was that SEL is more important than ever—and racial equity must be part of those SEL conversations.

For both the executive summary and the final report, visit the Education First website .

General Resources

To better understand the role of SEL in schools, the resources listed below are a good starting place. This list will be updated as relevant information is gathered and reviewed:

Support

If you need support in your school, district, or county in better understanding SEL or if you need implementation tools or technical assistance, the following are some resources to consider: