SEL in the Classroom

SEL implementation is ultimately for the benefit of your students, so you will need a way to assess how well it is being implemented in a classroom setting. Helping you do this is the CASEL SEL Classroom Assessment Tool, which is designed to help you appraise the strengths and weaknesses of SEL as it is currently working in the classrooms of your school.

The aim of the tool is for teachers to use it three to four times a year to keep a regular check on how well SEL is working at building a warm and supportive classroom environment. It is based on a series of statements that fall into three categories:

• Explicit instruction – such as “My students lead routines, share their perspectives, and reflect on their experiences during SEL instruction”

• Integration of SEL into academic instruction – such as “I design learning activities that allow students to explore issues that are important to them and co-create solutions to improve the classroom, school or community”

• Supportive classroom climate – such as “I communicate that I appreciate each student as an individual and am interested in knowing them”

Beside each statement, teachers tick a box to state how often each of these statements occurs: “Often”, “Sometimes”, “Infrequently” and “Unsure”. For statements for which they have answered “Sometimes” or “Infrequently”, teachers are encouraged to think about ways they could integrate these practices more frequently into their time in the classroom, and the resources or support they might need to do so.