Social-Emotional Learning

How schools can help children learn to understand and manage their emotions, establish and maintain positive relationships, and make responsible decisions

See also: Life Skills

Explainer

Social-Emotional Learning, Explained
What is social-emotional learning?
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Students visit the Alaqua Animal Rescue in Freeport, Fla., for an SEL-based curriculum on Aug. 23, 2025.
Students visit the Alaqua Animal Rescue in Freeport, Fla., for an SEL lesson on Aug. 23, 2025. Social-emotional learning can be a powerful tool for boosting student engagement and improving behavior and academic performance, but experts say it has to be implemented well.
Micah Green for Education Week
Student Well-Being & Movement Looking for SEL's Benefits? Good Implementation Is Key, Experts Say
How well an SEL program is implemented is critical for achieving the outcomes that research promises.
Arianna Prothero, February 25, 2026
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6 min read
Image of AI interacting with a student and the student looks unsure.
sabelskaya/iStock/Getty
Artificial Intelligence AI Is Poised to Reshape Social-Emotional Learning. But for Better or Worse?
Educators and researchers are only beginning to understand the implications of the technology.
Arianna Prothero, February 23, 2026
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4 min read
Students play basketball at Parkway Sports & Health Science Academy on Feb. 21, 2025 in La Mesa, Calif.
Students playing basketball at Parkway Sports & Health Science Academy on Feb. 21, 2025, in La Mesa, Calif. Some schools are using sports as a way to help students develop social-emotional skills.
Ariana Drehsler for Education Week
Student Well-Being & Movement Want Kids to Have Better SEL Skills? Try Using Sports
In a panel discussion, district leaders and an expert discuss why sports is a great place to learn life skills.
Lauraine Langreo, February 19, 2026
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3 min read
Tue., February 17, 2026, 2:00 p.m. - 4:00 p.m. ET
Student Well-Being & Movement K-12 Essentials Forum How Schools Are Teaching Students Life Skills
Join this free virtual event to explore creative ways schools have found to seamlessly integrate teaching life skills into the school day.
Register
February 17, 2026
Cougar Mountain Middle School was built next door to Timber Ridge at Talus, a senior living community. It’s resulted in an intergenerational partnership between students and the senior residents. Pictured here on Oct. 30, 2025, in Issaquah, Wash.
Cougar Mountain Middle School in Issaquah, Wash., was built next door to Timber Ridge at Talus, a senior living community. It’s resulted in an intergenerational partnership between students and the senior residents, pictured here on Oct. 30, 2025.
Kaylee Domzalski/Education Week
Student Well-Being & Movement Download Want to Start an Intergenerational Partnership at Your School? Here's How
Partnerships that bring together students and older adults benefit both generations.
Elizabeth Heubeck, February 2, 2026
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1 min read
Image of white paper figures in a circle under a spotlight with one orange figure. teamwork concept.
iStock/Getty
Student Well-Being & Movement Q&A Why This Expert Believes Social-Emotional Learning Will Survive Politics and AI
As the head of a prominent SEL group steps down, she shares her predictions.
Arianna Prothero, January 26, 2026
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6 min read
Students at Ferris High School in Spokane, Wash., are allowed to use their phones outside of class time, but administrators are emphasizing extracurriculars to teach students how to engage with each other offline.
Students at Ferris High School in Spokane, Wash., are allowed to use their phones outside of class time, but administrators are emphasizing extracurriculars to teach students how to engage with each other offline.
Kaylee Domzalski/Education Week
Special Report Teaching Social-Emotional Skills in 2026: New Challenges, Creative Solutions
Schools are incorporating opportunities to teach and model social skills throughout and after the school day.

January 26, 2026
A “zones of regulation” sign decorates the door of a classroom at Ruby Bridges Elementary School in Woodinville, Wash., on April 2, 2024.
A sign asking children to identify their feelings decorates the door of a classroom at an elementary school in Woodinville, Wash., on April 2, 2024. Experts say schools should design social-emotional-learning curricula and programming with the needs of students with disabilities at the forefront.
Meron Menghistab for Education Week
Special Education A Missed Opportunity in SEL: Centering Students With Disabilities
Students with learning differences are not always considered in the design or implementation of SEL programs.
Madeline Will, January 26, 2026
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7 min read
Students celebrate at the end of basketball club at Adams Elementary School on Dec. 5, 2025.
Students celebrate at the end of basketball club at Adams Elementary School on Dec. 5, 2025. The Spokane district has significantly invested in extracurriculars to help limit students' screen time, and their elementary schools are no exception.
Kaylee Domzalski/Education Week
Student Well-Being & Movement ‘Great Lifelong Habits’: How This District Is Keeping Young Kids Off Screens
Can a massive expansion of extracurricular activities help build social-emotional skills in early grades?
Alyson Klein, January 26, 2026
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6 min read
Partnership, cooperation, teamwork concept. Diverse people hold in hands, put pieces of emotions puzzle together in front of a bookshelf of books. Diverse team is coworking, works and efforts together.
Vanessa Solis/Education Week + iStock
Reading & Literacy How English Class Improves Students' Social-Emotional Skills
When students dissect the motivations of a character in a book, they're learning key competencies.
Arianna Prothero, January 26, 2026
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8 min read
Cougar Mountain Middle School was built next door to Timber Ridge at Talus, a senior living community. It’s resulted in an intergenerational partnership between students and the senior residents. Pictured here on Oct. 30, 2025, in Issaquah, Wash.
Seventh grader Tori Thain, 12, talks about chess with Bob Fritz, a resident at the Timber Ridge senior living community and a VOICE mentor at Cougar Mountain Middle School in Issaquah, Wash., on Oct. 30, 2025. These intergenerational relationships have been found to boost students' social-emotional skills.
Kaylee Domzalski/Education Week
Student Well-Being & Movement Want to Improve Tweens' Social Skills? Enlist Older Adults' Help
When a middle school was built adjacent to a retirement community, unlikely friendships grew.
Elizabeth Heubeck, January 26, 2026
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9 min read
Students at Glover Middle School in Spokane, Wash. sing karaoke during Falcon Time on Dec. 3, 2025.
Students at Glover Middle School in Spokane, Wash., sing karaoke during Falcon Time on Dec. 3, 2025. The district has gone all-in on engaging extracurriculars and activities.
Kaylee Domzalski/Education Week
Student Well-Being & Movement One District's Battle to Curb Cellphones and Get Kids to Engage in Real Life
Spokane's leaders are pushing extracurriculars to help students strengthen in-person social skills.
Alyson Klein, January 26, 2026
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12 min read
Achieving equilibrium between positive and negative emotions, they counterbalance each other to cultivate a serene state of mind
iStock/Getty
Student Well-Being & Movement How Do Teachers Rate Their Students' Self-Regulation Skills?
Students’ poor self-regulation skills hurt their ability to learn.
Lauraine Langreo, January 21, 2026
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1 min read
Student Well-Being & Movement Spotlight Spotlight on The Science of Self-Regulation: The Missing Foundation of Academic Success
This Spotlight focuses on ways to build students’ self-management skills, a foundational predictor of academic success.
January 21, 2026
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