The Collaborative for Academic, Social, and Emotional Learning (CASEL) has released a new tool to help middle and high schools address secondary students’ need for effective social and emotional learning (SEL).
The 2015 CASEL Guide: Effective Social and Emotional Learning Programs–Middle and High School Edition provides a framework for examining social and emotional learning (SEL) programs designed for secondary schools and rates well-designed, evidence-based programs in a Consumer Reports-style review. CASEL’s similar guide to preschool and elementary school SEL programs, published in 2013, has been well-received by educators. Like the preschool/elementary guide, the 2015 Guide was designed primarily to be accessed electronically. It is an interactive document that will be regularly revised and updated.
The CASEL Guide provides information about the designs of the programs, the professional development and implementation support available, and their evaluations. Nine programs earned a spot on the Guide’s “SELect list.” The programs had a range of effects on schools from improved academic outcomes to a drop in problem behaviors.
“Social and emotional learning should be an essential part of education for all of America’s children,” said CASEL board member Tim Shriver. “Educators need a trusted source when selecting an evidence-based program, and the 2015 CASEL Guide provides that. This is sure to move the field forward.”
Writing about the new guide in the June 3 edition of Education Week, Evie Blad noted that, “For schools, the decision to focus on the social and emotional learning of their students is just the first step. The real work kicks in when leaders try to navigate a confusing and still-developing field to select an evidence-based program that will translate the findings of researchers into actual results in the classroom.”