Social-Emotional Learning

What is Social-Emotional Learning?

The Collaborative for Academic, Social, and Emotional Learning (CASEL) defines SEL as the process through which all young people and adults acquire and apply the knowledge, skills, and attitudes to develop healthy identities, manage emotions and achieve personal and collective goals, feel and show empathy for others, establish and maintain supportive relationships, and make responsible and caring decisions.

SEL advances educational equity and excellence through authentic school-family-community partnerships to establish learning environments and experiences that feature trusting and collaborative relationships, rigorous and meaningful curriculum and instruction, and ongoing evaluation. SEL can help address various forms of inequity and empower young people and adults to co-create thriving schools and contribute to safe, healthy, and just communities.

Access additional information about SEL at the CASEL website

CASEL's Framework

The Public Schools of Brookline uses CASEL's SEL framework, which addresses 5 interrelated areas of competence:

  • self-awareness

  • self-management

  • social awareness

  • relationship skills

  • responsible decision-making

Investing resources in SEL means offering children experiences at school, home, and in the community that will support skill development in each of these areas. Importantly, these skills can and should be taught throughout a child's development and across diverse cultural contexts.

Why is SEL Important?

The increased attention that schools have placed on SEL in recent years is the result of the accumulating evidence that a child’s academic performance is deeply related to their social-emotional competence and wellness. For example, strong social-emotional skills are related to:

  • Higher levels of academic performance (e.g., grades)

  • Higher levels of educational attainment (e.g., enrollment in post-secondary institutions),

  • Increased attendance, and

  • Higher levels of academic engagement (e.g., on-task behavior)

It is well understood that feelings and stress impact and influence our ability to concentrate, think, cooperate, communicate, and work through challenges. For example, strong negative feelings (e.g., feeling sad), high levels of anxiety, and high levels of stress interfere with the cognitive processes involved in learning, which makes academic learning and academic engagement challenging. As a result, if a student is experiencing strong negative feelings, high levels of anxiety, and/or high levels of stress in the classroom, their ability to benefit from instruction will be compromised.


Given these findings, SEL skills can be thought of as “academic-enablers,” or skills that allow students to more consistently and effectively engage, participate, and benefit from classroom instruction.


Beyond academic functioning, students with strong social-emotional skills also report stronger and more healthy interpersonal relationships, higher levels of subjective well-being, fewer mental health symptoms (e.g., anxiety and depression), and reduced engagement in risk-taking behavior (e.g., substance use).


From a community perspective, evidence from Columbia University’s Center for Cost-Benefit Analysis found that for every $1 spent on SEL programming, the return on investment is $11 in long-term benefits to students, schools, and communities.

Investing time and resources into SEL is not at the sacrifice of high-quality education, but a fundamental and necessary condition in achieving it

Social-Emotional Learning in PSB

In the Public Schools of Brookline, educators use a variety of practices to support the wellness and social-emotional development of students. For example, educators often target SEL by embedding it into teaching routines (e.g., beginning the day with a community-building activity), infusing it into academic curricula (e.g., reflecting on the emotional experiences of a character), or by teaching it explicitly with an evidence-based curriculum (e.g., teaching students how to manage stress).

In addition to helping students develop social-emotional competencies, this work is also designed to help strengthen adult-student relationships and create safe, positive, and affirming learning environments for all students.

The SEL work that is happening in PSB is guided by the following 5 core beliefs:

  • SEL skills are important for all students

  • SEL skills can and should be taught

  • Teaching SEL skills will improve academic and non-academic outcomes.

  • The skills should be taught at school.

  • Anti-racist, culturally-affirming, and strength-based approaches to SEL can be a lever for educational equity.


Mental Health

Mental health includes our emotional, psychological, and social well-being. It affects how we think, feel, and act. It also helps determine how we handle stress, relate to others, and make healthy choices. Mental health is important at every stage of life, from childhood and adolescence through adulthood.


Although the terms are often used interchangeably, poor mental health and mental illness are not the same. A person can experience poor mental health and not be diagnosed with a mental illness. Likewise, a person diagnosed with a mental illness can experience periods of physical, mental, and social well-being.

Mental illnesses are among the most common health conditions in the United States.

  • More than 50% will be diagnosed with a mental illness or disorder at some point in their lifetime.

  • 1 in 5 Americans will experience a mental illness in a given year.

  • 1 in 5 children, either currently or at some point during their life, have had a seriously debilitating mental illness.

  • 1 in 25 Americans lives with a serious mental illness, such as schizophrenia, bipolar disorder, or major depression.

There is no single cause for mental illness. A number of factors can contribute to risk for mental illness, such as

  • Early adverse life experiences, such as trauma or a history of abuse (for example, child abuse, sexual assault, witnessing violence, etc.)

  • Experiences related to other ongoing (chronic) medical conditions, such as cancer or diabetes

  • Biological factors or chemical imbalances in the brain

  • Use of alcohol or drugs

  • Having feelings of loneliness or isolation