But what exactly is social-emotional learning? Proponents claim that it is a pedagogical method that fosters social and emotional skills, but finding a real answer requires a Dante-esque descent into an inferno of impenetrable jargon. A leading SEL organization, the Collaborative for Advancing Social and Emotional Learning (CASEL), touts “evidence-based best practices” for making “framework connections” and claims “the story of SEL is as old as the first relationships between teachers and students.” In reality, however, the organized movement pushing for nationwide SEL only emerged after the passage of the 2015 Every Student Succeeds Act, the federal education law that allows states to use one nonacademic measure for accountability alongside the preexisting standardized tests routinely given to students.
