SEL competencies: Do the new programs address the SEL competencies as defined by CASEL?

The Collaborative for Academic, Social, and Emotional Learning (CASEL), the leader in SEL research, policy, and implementation efforts, promotes five, person-centered and interrelated competency areas that are essential to cognitive, social, and emotional development: self-awareness, self-management, social awareness, relationship skills, and responsible decision making (Zins et al. 2004; CASEL, 2014). The new version of Strong Kids and Strong Teens Programs have stronger, more explicit connections to the five SEL competencies as defined by CASEL. At the top of each lesson, the connection to the SEL competencies is explicitly illustrated through the use of a user-friendly graphic. This helps support planning and documentations of the alignment of SEL instruction with these well-established competencies. The connection between the competencies and the corresponding lesson are depicted in Table 2.

Strong Kids & Strong Teens Lessons and SEL Competencies