Effective Social and Emotional Learning Programs

The 2013 CASEL Guide: Effective Social and Emotional Learning programs—Preschool and Elementary School Edition provides a systematic framework for evaluating the quality of classroom-based SEL programs. It uses this framework to rate and identify well-designed, evidence-based SEL programs with potential for broad dissemination to schools across the United States. The primary goal of the Guide is to give educators information for selecting and implementing SEL programs in their districts and schools. It also documents the significant advances the SEL field has made in the past decade, establishes new and more rigorous standards for SEL program adoption, and provides suggestions for next steps for SEL research and practice.

The 2013 CASEL Guide provides information on 23 SELect programs. Four programs target preschool-age children, 16 are designed to be used with children in elementary school (K-5), and three serve both preschool and elementary.