On May 15, 2024, the DC State Board of Education (SBOE) voted to support the K-Adult Social and Emotional Learning standards. These standards were developed by the Office of the State Superintendent of Education (OSSE) and are intended to be implemented for all public and charter school students across the District. They include essential social and emotional knowledge and skills, including how to manage emotions, achieve goals, maintain supportive relationships and make responsible and caring decisions. These standards will be implemented beginning in the 2024-25 school year.
SEL Standards Translations
SEL Resources
OSSE SEL resources are specifically designed to fully support local education agencies (LEAs), educators, school leaders, families and community members in effectively integrating SEL into their systems and practices with students. These resources encompass strategies and tools aimed at significantly improving students' social and emotional well-being.
SEL Educator Toolkit
The SEL Educator Toolkit empowers educators, instructional staff, and school administrators to develop and enhance critical social and emotional skills that are essential for academic success, personal growth, and lifelong well-being. The toolkit is a companion to DC’s K-Adult SEL Standards and offers foundational resources to help guide educators’ practices with students in support of their behavioral, emotional, and intellectual development based on CASEL’s State Theory of Action.
The toolkit is a series of topics, with each contributing to a collective and systemic approach to ensure alignment between SEL policies and practices. Each section has a multitude of resources and centers around a different focus area of SEL implementation.
SEL Parent, Family, and Caregiver Guide
The SEL Parent, Family, and Caregiver Guide is intended to support parents, family members, and caregivers of DC students in understanding the DC SEL standards and how to support social and emotional development outside of school.
Additional SEL Resources
SEL Wheel Poster Translations
Standards Development Process
The social and emotional learning standards were developed between June 2023 and April 2024. During this period, OSSE worked with stakeholders to ensure that the standards reflected accurate content while also meeting the specific needs of DC students and staff.
Timeline for Standards Development
The standards will be developed across the following timeline:
- September – November 2022: Conducted SEL landscape analysis
- December – February 2023: OSSE joined the Collaborative for Academic, Social, and Emotional Learning (CASEL) Collaborative State Initiative (CSI)
- March – May 2023: Conducted SEL market research
- June 2023: Conducted SEL stakeholder SCAN analysis
- July – September 2023: Established standards framework and internal and external groups
- October – December 2023: Developed and wrote draft standards
- December 2023: Opened public comment window
- December 2023 – January 2024: Held virtual and in-person public engagement sessions
- January 2024: Closed public comment window
- February 2024: OSSE and SEL Standards writing group reviewed public comment feedback
- March 2024 – April 2024: OSSE presented draft SEL Standards to SBOE; OSSE incorporated public comment and SBOE feedback to finalize SEL Standards
- May 2024: OSSE presented final SEL standards and resolution of support to SBOE
- 2024 – 25 School Year: DC Local Education Agencies (LEAs) implement SEL standards
Stakeholder Engagement
During the draft development process, OSSE conducted extensive stakeholder engagement which included student focus groups, educator focus groups, general interest focus groups, and a survey. Data collected from this engagement was leveraged in the development of the standards. Additionally, OSSE has identified local and national social and emotional learning experts who reviewed the draft standards and provided feedback.
For questions, please contact Marcus Hughes at [email protected].