SEL in Florida

Florida SEL Standards

In the past few years, Florida has set out to expand and improve social and emotional learning in the state. However, there are no standards at the state level specifically organized to help guide SEL work in the district or school.

Regardless, many relevant FL state standards are there and it’s clear that the state is relying on CASEL competencies, which are the gold standards in the U.S. Florida also is hosting annual conferences covering SEL.

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How to Teach SEL in Florida

If you’re teaching in Florida and want to incorporate more SEL, the state supports you - but you’re a bit on your own! As you can see in this map, many districts are using many different programs. To figure out what to do, you have a few options:

1. Attend the upcoming 2021 Florida School Health Association (FHSA) Conference on May 12-14. You can find more info here.

2. Rely on the CASEL standards for organizing your SEL work. Our K-8 Empowering Minds program is CASEL-aligned and so we take the guesswork out of doing SEL!

3. Dig through existing state standards to find the ones applicable to SEL. For example, if you look at the Health Sciences standard 03: Explore the multiple facets of wellness and disease, you’ll find this: CTE-HLTH.68.THERA.03.03 Explain basic concepts of a positive self-image, body, and mental wellness and the effect stress has on both.

However, you’ll find most of the relevant standards under “SP.PK12.US: Unique Skills”, to identify personal emotions and feelings. To make your work easier, we’ve mapped many of those standards to CASEL and to our own program.

Why is SEL So Important in Florida?

With an increased understanding of the value and importance of explicit SEL instruction, states like Florida are moving towards supporting this part of the work of districts and schools. But there’s no need for you to wait for a state mandate - the need is clear and the resources are many!