Case Study: Washoe County School District Process for Developing SEL Standards

Washoe's process for developing SEL standards, including useful artifacts from the 2 day retreat where they were written by a team of educators.

TAGS SEL standards SEL competence professional learning planning

CDI District Standards

Links to SEL standards adopted by 9 districts within the Collaborating Districts Initiative.

TAGS SEL standards SEL competence middle school grades high school grades elementary school grades PK-12

Washoe County School District SEL Data Information Site

Washoe's data webpage shares their SEL standards, their formal and informal approaches to measuring SEL growth, and rich, easy to read displays of data.

TAGS student assessment SEL standards define SEL metrics SEL overview communications data dashboards conducting local SEL research building buy-in for SEL family and community engagement

SEL District Cost Modeling Discussion Guide

This discussion guide includes questions to help you analyze and apply the output from the cost estimator (drc.casel.org/cost-estimator) as you refine your SEL budget plan.

TAGS budgeting human and financial resource alignment

Practices of Promise: Youth Voice in Washoe County School District, Nevada

This case example offers a glimpse into WCSD’s process of creating structures to elevate and listen to students, before and through the pandemic.

TAGS student leadership conducting local SEL research continuous improvement youth voice

District SEL Message Map

This example comes from a school division in southeastern Virginia. It provides 3 memorable key messages, succinct supporting details, and statistics to use as talking points or in written communication about SEL.

TAGS media relations communications building buy-in for SEL

SEL Communications Toolkit for School and District Leaders

Extensive focus groups and surveys have shown that the more people know about SEL, the more supportive they become. This toolkit shares five clear actions for a proactive communications strategy for SEL, including examples of effective messages, cautions, and guidance for developing your own materials.

TAGS communications community relations

SEL Administrator Academy: Implementing Social and Emotional Learning Systemwide to Improve Student Achievement

Presentation for district and school administrators to connect SEL standards with Common Core and workforce skills and how to implement/monitor district-wide SEL. Includes activities that model SEL and a full presenter script.

TAGS board policies SEL overview implementation plan college and career readiness professional learning integrate with district priorities district SEL expertise building buy-in for SEL SEL leadership

Districtwide Indicators of SEL Implementation

CASEL’s District Framework identifies key activities for districtwide SEL implementation. When these activities are fully implemented, districts infuse SEL into every aspect of students’ educational experience -- across their classrooms, schools, homes and communities. The indicators below provide evidence of high-quality implementation throughout the district.

TAGS needs and resources assessment implementation evaluation integrate with district priorities district SEL expertise

2011 to 2021: 10 Years of SEL in U.S. School Districts

Ten years ago, CASEL began collaborating with school district SEL leaders to explore the question - Is it possible to implement SEL systemically to positively impact students across a large urban school district? Not only did districts demonstrate that it was possible, but every district has deepened and expanded SEL implementation since joining the collaborative. This anniversary report details 6 key insights from these districts about how they were able to sustain SEL over the long term, even as the people and contexts within the district changed.