Educators’ Social and Emotional Learning - A Landscape Analysis of Strategies and Outcomes for Thriving Schools

Oct 15, 2026

Uploaded by Callum

Educators—and all adults in the school—are critical for fostering students’ self-awareness, self-management, social awareness, relationship skills, and responsible decision-making. Educators can teach and model SEL in lessons, while teachers, leaders, and staff shape the learning environment through daily interactions. Effective adult SEL delivery requires support for adults’ social and emotional competencies and for school, district, and community-wide structures. The report synthesizes evidence from a field scan of adult SEL approaches and outlines definitions, literature review, design characteristics, and future research questions.

LanguageEnglish

CategoryResearch & Report

FormatPDF

Pages43

Reading Time1 h 48 min

AccessFree to download

Section I: Introduction

Section II: Background and Literature Review

Section III: Evidence-Based Characteristics

Section IV: Patterns and Variations Across Approaches

Section V: Future Directions

References

Appendix A: Table of Adult SEL Design Characteristics

Appendix B: Complete Prompts for Adult SEL Providers

Educators’ Social and Emotional Learning: A Landscape Analysis of Strategies and Outcomes for Thriving Schools RISTA C. PLATE, HEATHER N. SCHWARTZ, GABRIELLE MEYERS, ALEXANDRA SKOOG-HOFFMAN This report is for educators, program providers, and researchers looking to continue to move the conversation forward, advance the work on adult SEL, integrate new strategies into their programs or practices, and expand their research agendas. This report is not intended to provide a comprehensive or exhaustive review of all existing adult social and emotional learning (SEL) approaches or programs. It does not reflect a formal evaluative process, nor does the inclusion of any specific approach imply endorsement or validation. We are honored to dedicate this report to Dr. Roger P. Weissberg, a CASEL visionary and founder, in recognition of his outstanding contributions to the advancement of evidence-based research of social and emotional learning. Dr. Weissberg’s pioneering spirit and unwavering commitment have established a vital foundation for our understanding and appreciation to advancing the science, practice and policy of SEL in education. His profound impact on the field continues to inspire us all, and we extend our deepest gratitude for his lasting legacy. EDUCATORS’ SOCIAL AND EMOTIONAL LEARNING: A LANDSCAPE ANALYSIS OF STRATEGIES AND OUTCOMES FOR THRIVING SCHOOLS 3 ACKNOWLEDGMENTS AND COLLABORATORS We could not have completed this report without the involvement of Kimberly A. Schonert-Reichl, whose feedback and direction were essential and enriching. Much of the foundational literature analysis was supported by Joseph Mahoney. We thank him for his contribution and rigor. We are deeply grateful for the insights and input provided by members of our Research Advisory Council, particularly the EvidenceBased Programming working group, including Kei Kawashima-Ginsberg, Sara Rimm-Kaufman, Stephanie Jones, and Tia Barnes. We also extend gratitude to Catherine Bradshaw, Marc Brackett, Mark Greenberg, Patricia Jennings, and Robert Jagers for critical thought partnership. FUNDING ACKNOWLEDGMENT CASEL recognizes the generous support of the Gates Foundation in advancing the work that generated this report. We are deeply grateful for their support and collaboration. The findings and conclusions contained within are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect positions or policies of the foundation. Suggested citation: Plate, R. C., Schwartz, H. N., Meyers, G., & Skoog-Hoffman, A. (2025) . Educators’social and emotional competence: A landscape analysis of strategies and outcomes for thriving schools. The Collaborative for Academic, Social, and Emotional Learning (CASEL). [https://casel.org/educators-social-and](https://casel.org/educators-social-and)emotional-competence-a-landscape-analysis-of-strategies-and-outcomes-for-thriving-schools/ EDUCATORS’ SOCIAL AND EMOTIONAL LEARNING: A LANDSCAPE ANALYSIS OF STRATEGIES AND OUTCOMES FOR THRIVING SCHOOLS 4 Abstract Educators—and all adults in the school—are critical for fostering students’ self-awareness, self-management, social awareness, relationship skills, and responsible decision-making. Educators can teach and model SEL in lessons; for example, promoting critical thinking in a math lesson and encouraging students to engage with challenging content. And teachers, school leaders, and school staff set the tone of the learning environment through their interactions with students and with each other. For adults to most effectively deliver, model, and embed SEL in academic settings, they need support in developing their own social and emotional competencies as well as supportive school, district, and community-wide structures. In this report, we delineate findings from a field scan of adult SEL approaches in education settings (e.g., schools, pre-service training) . In doing so, we: (1) established a common definition of adult SEL in education with a logic

FAQs

What competencies do educators help students develop through social and emotional learning (SEL)?

Educators and other school adults support students’ self-awareness, self-management, social awareness, relationship skills, and responsible decision-making.

How does the report define and analyze adult SEL approaches?

The report uses a common definition of adult SEL in education supported by a logic model, then reviews literature and extracts patterns of commonality and differences across a sampled set of adult SEL approaches using research and design characteristics.

What types of support are needed for adults to deliver and embed SEL effectively in academic settings?

Adults need support to develop their own social and emotional competencies and to align with supportive structures across schools, districts, and communities.

Oct 15, 2026

Uploaded by Callum