What Is SEL in Education? Meaning, History and Evidence

By the Transforming Education editorial team. Reviewed for accuracy against the sources listed below.

SEL stands for social and emotional learning. In education, it is the process through which students learn to understand and manage their emotions, set and work toward goals, feel and show empathy for others, build and keep supportive relationships, and make responsible decisions. Schools teach these skills explicitly, practice them inside academic work, and reinforce them through school culture, with the aim of supporting both wellbeing and achievement.

That definition follows the one used by CASEL, the Collaborative for Academic, Social, and Emotional Learning, whose framework most U.S. states and districts use. CASEL describes SEL as an integral part of education and human development, a process for both young people and adults, and a foundation for academic success, careers, healthy relationships and civic life.

What SEL means in school: the five competencies

CASEL organizes SEL into five interrelated competencies, often called the CASEL 5:

• Self-awareness: recognizing your emotions, thoughts and values, and knowing your strengths and limits.
• Self-management: regulating emotions and behavior to handle stress, stay motivated and reach goals.
• Social awareness: understanding others' perspectives, including people from different backgrounds, and showing empathy.
• Relationship skills: communicating clearly, listening, cooperating, resolving conflict and seeking or offering help.
• Responsible decision-making: making caring, constructive choices after weighing ethics, safety and consequences.

These are skills, not personality traits, which is why they can be taught. For definitions, sub-skills and grade-band examples, see our guide to the SEL competencies.

A brief history of SEL

The ideas behind SEL are older than the name. CASEL's own history traces them to Dr. James Comer's work with two New Haven, Connecticut schools in the 1960s and 1970s, and to the New Haven Social Development program of 1987 to 1992 led by Timothy Shriver and Roger Weissberg, which followed a superintendent's call for a districtwide focus on social development.

In 1994, a group of researchers, educators, practitioners and child advocates met, developed the term "social and emotional learning," and formed CASEL. Founders listed by CASEL include Daniel Goleman, Mark Greenberg, Eileen Growald, Linda Lantieri, Timothy Shriver, David Sluyter and Roger Weissberg. In 1997, nine collaborators published Promoting Social and Emotional Learning: Guidelines for Educators, which formally defined the field.

The research base grew through the 2000s, culminating in a 2011 meta-analysis (discussed below) that became the most cited evidence for SEL. CASEL's framework was updated in 2020 with added emphasis on identity, agency and educational equity. By the 2022 CASEL state scan, 27 states had adopted K-12 SEL competencies and all 50 had preschool SEL competencies. The original Transforming Education toolkit, developed by the former nonprofit of that name, was part of this period's work on measuring a related set of skills it called MESH: mindsets, essential skills and habits.

What the evidence says

Three large reviews anchor the research on SEL.

• Durlak and colleagues, 2011. A meta-analysis of 213 school-based, universal SEL programs involving 270,034 kindergarten through high school students found that, compared with controls, participants showed significantly improved social and emotional skills, attitudes, behavior and academic performance, reflecting an 11-percentile-point gain in achievement. Regular school staff delivered the programs successfully, and results were stronger when programs used four recommended practices (sequenced, active, focused and explicit instruction) and weaker when implementation problems occurred.
• Taylor and colleagues, 2017. A follow-up meta-analysis of 82 programs and 97,406 students, with outcomes measured 6 months to 18 years after the programs ended, found participants continued to do better than controls on social-emotional skills, attitudes and indicators of wellbeing. Benefits were similar regardless of students' race, socioeconomic background or school location, and skill level right after the program was the strongest predictor of later wellbeing.
• Cipriano and colleagues, 2023. The most recent comprehensive meta-analysis, covering 424 studies of 252 universal school-based SEL programs across 53 countries and 575,361 students, found that participants improved in skills, attitudes, behaviors, school climate and safety, peer relationships, school functioning and academic achievement. The authors also found substantial variation by program content, features, context and implementation quality.

CASEL's research summary adds a cost-benefit finding: an analysis of six evidence-based programs estimated an $11 return for every dollar invested.

Research: The consistent message across these reviews is that SEL works when it is taught deliberately and implemented well, and that quality matters as much as quantity. Programs with weak implementation produce weaker results.

What SEL looks like in a school

SEL is sometimes imagined as a weekly feelings lesson. In practice, CASEL's framework describes four settings where it happens, and a school doing SEL well will show evidence in all of them.

In the classroom. Explicit lessons on skills such as naming emotions, calming routines, perspective-taking and conflict resolution, plus SEL woven into academic work: structured discussion norms, cooperative learning roles, peer feedback protocols and goal-setting. Many teachers use CASEL's 3 Signature Practices: a welcoming inclusion activity to open, engaging strategies during the lesson, and an optimistic closure to end. A two-minute daily check-in is the most common entry point.

Schoolwide. Discipline policies that teach rather than only punish, consistent expectations across classrooms, adults who model the skills, and attention to staff wellbeing. Schoolwide SEL also means collecting evidence (climate surveys, referrals, attendance) and adjusting.

With families. Two-way communication about the skills being taught, shared language at home and school, and family input into how SEL is done, especially from families who have historically been left out of school decisions.

With community partners. After-school and youth programs using the same vocabulary and reinforcing the same skills, and schools connecting students to community services when needs exceed what a classroom can meet.

For concrete examples, see our SEL activities and the SEL integration approach resource.

Common misconceptions

• "SEL is therapy." It is not. SEL is universal skill instruction delivered by teachers. Counseling and clinical care are separate, individualized services. SEL may help students recognize when to seek help, but it does not provide treatment.
• "SEL replaces academics." The evidence shows academic gains, and much SEL is integrated into academic routines rather than displacing them.
• "SEL is a program you buy." Published curricula can help with consistency and sequencing, but SEL is a set of practices and conditions. A school can run a strong curriculum badly or build strong SEL without one.
• "SEL is only for students who struggle." The research base is on universal programs for all students. Targeted supports exist, but they sit on top of universal instruction, not instead of it.
• "SEL is new." The field was named in 1994, and its roots go back decades further.

The policy debate

SEL has become politically contested in some communities. The disagreement is real but narrower than headlines suggest, and the best available survey evidence shows where it sits.

In 2021, the Thomas B. Fordham Institute commissioned a nationally representative YouGov survey of 2,000 parents of K-12 students, published as How to Sell SEL. More than 75% of parents supported schools teaching each of nine specific SEL skills, and over 90% supported teaching goal-setting, optimism about challenges and belief in oneself. No demographic group fell below two-thirds support for any skill. Democratic parents were near-unanimous; among Republican parents, 70% supported teaching empathy and 68% supported teaching sensitivity to different cultures.

The division appears around three things:

• The label. Asked which program name they would least want for their child, 29% of Republican parents chose "social-emotional learning," compared with 13% of Democrats. "Life skills" ranked highest with parents of both parties.
• Scope and responsibility. 49% of all parents agreed that schools should focus on academics and leave SEL to parents and others (64% of Republicans, 41% of Democrats). 61% of Democrats wanted schools to play a larger SEL role, compared with 35% of Republicans, though 78% of Republicans wanted schools to do about the same or more.
• Approach. 32% of Republican parents preferred that SEL be taught indirectly, through academics and school culture, compared with 15% of Democrats; a plurality of both preferred a mix.

Supporters argue that the skills are widely wanted, the research is strong, and the objections are mostly about terminology. Critics argue that some programs reach beyond skill-building into values and worldview questions that belong to families, that time and money are finite, and that schools should be transparent about content. Both positions are compatible with the survey data, which is why many districts now describe SEL in plain terms (life skills, character, wellbeing), publish their materials, and invite families in. For how federal law treats SEL, see our ESSA and SEL resource.

Note: This publication is independent and takes no position on state or district policy. The figures above are reported as the Fordham Institute published them.

Getting started with SEL

If you are new to SEL, three steps cover most of the ground. Learn the five competencies so you have a shared vocabulary. Start with a daily routine, such as a check-in and a closing reflection, before adopting a curriculum. Then, when you are ready to choose a program, use the SEL curriculum guide to compare options against the evidence features that matter: sequenced, active, focused and explicit instruction, delivered inside a classroom where students feel safe enough to practice.