Social-emotional competencies in context: Using social-emotional learning frameworks to build educators’ understanding

What does the research say?

This research brief by the American Institutes for Research (AIR) was generated as part of the Establishing Practical Social-Emotional Competence Assessments Work Group.

Key Research Findings on Social-Emotional Learning Frameworks

Social-emotional development is critical to children’s—and adults’—ability to navigate through life. Development happens not only in school but in all social settings. Social-emotional competencies include emotional processes (regulating emotions, displaying empathy), interpersonal skills (social competence, social perspective taking), cognitive regulation (cognitive flexibility), and also intercultural competence, connectedness to others, and social responsibility.

A key insight from AIR’s comprehensive analysis of 136 frameworks across 14 different fields is that competencies and context complement each other. Situational demands vary by context, and children express their competencies differently in different contexts. This contextual dependence applies to all youth, including those with disabilities, those who have experienced trauma, or those facing societal marginalization.

Three critical findings emerged from this research:

Key social-emotional competencies include those that build awareness of privilege, bias, and cultural competence, help individuals adapt to diverse and challenging contexts, and allow individuals to connect with their communities.
Young people develop competencies through interactions with others in a variety of sociocultural contexts. Context includes factors like safety and support at school, community, or home, as well as cultural responsiveness. These contexts interact with young people’s multiple social identities (class, gender, race, age, sexual orientation, ability status).
Frameworks that address trauma and adversity identify competencies that help young people face chronic or acute trauma, which may include race-based and other discriminatory stressors. These resilience-building competencies can benefit all youth, not just those who have experienced trauma.

Why is it important?

Understanding the importance of social-emotional learning (SEL) frameworks is crucial for several key reasons:

Social-emotional competencies are fundamental to life success. They’re critical to children’s—and adults’—ability to navigate through life successfully. These skills impact how people regulate emotions, build relationships, solve problems, and make responsible decisions across various contexts.

Context matters significantly in skill development. The research shows that competencies develop differently based on cultural, social, and developmental contexts. What works in one setting may not work in another, making it essential to select frameworks that acknowledge this contextual nature of development.

SEL supports equity when properly implemented. By considering culture, trauma, and developmental factors, SEL frameworks can help create more equitable learning environments. This is particularly important for culturally and linguistically diverse students, students who have experienced trauma, or those with different abilities.

Traditional frameworks often miss critical competencies. The research reveals that many universal SEL approaches overlook important skills like biculturalism, coping with racism, communalism, and social responsibility—competencies that help students navigate complex social realities.

Development is not uniform. As students age, different competencies become more relevant. Frameworks need age differentiation and developmental sequencing to effectively support students across their educational journey.

SEL impacts all aspects of education. When implemented with contextual awareness, SEL can create more supportive learning environments, improve academic outcomes, reduce problematic behaviors, and prepare students for future success in increasingly diverse workplaces and communities.

By understanding these important dimensions of SEL, educators can move beyond simplified or decontextualized approaches to implement frameworks that truly support all students’ development in ways that recognize their unique strengths, challenges, and contexts.

What are the implication for education?

As SEL gains momentum and is implemented at scale, educators need more specificity, depth, and nuance in understanding what we mean by terms like “self-awareness” or “responsible decision-making.” This precision is necessary for effectively supporting youth development and measuring capacities.

Researchers, educators, families, and communities should view each child’s current social-emotional capacities and different expressions of strengths as assets rather than deficits. They should be mindful of the complexity of social-emotional development and the factors that contribute to variability, recognizing multiple approaches are needed to meet the needs of all students.

This research highlights that when implementing SEL frameworks, context matters significantly, and a one-size-fits-all approach is unlikely to be effective across diverse student populations and developmental stages.

Specific aspects to pay attention to

Cultural Responsiveness

Education systems must recognize that social-emotional competencies are malleable, changing depending on context and culture. Context and culture—and the social interactions within them—affect which competencies young people exhibit, how they exhibit them, and which competencies are reinforced. This requires educators to develop cultural competence and consider how their own perspectives affect implementation.

Comprehensive Skill Development

All youth—not just those who experience marginalization—can benefit from explicit teaching of competencies that help them adapt to their contexts and connect with their communities. These competencies contribute to a more respectful, culturally competent, and thoughtful school culture. Educational approaches should include skills like biculturalism, coping with adversity, fairness, and respect for diversity.

Trauma-Informed Approaches

Educators should recognize that competencies that speak to resilience and adaptation to challenging contexts may specifically help children who have experienced trauma, but they benefit all youth. By teaching resilience-building competencies, educators can help students navigate daily stresses and long-term challenges, as well as encourage them to be better partners, colleagues, and citizens.

Developmental Appropriateness

The competencies that are most adaptive to specific contexts shift as young people get older and their contexts change. Age differentiation and developmental sequencing are important for understanding healthy development. Frameworks that only address broad age ranges may not fully meet the needs of all ages and likely contain less usable information.

Assessment and Measurement

Greater precision, depth, and nuance in what we mean by terms like self-awareness or responsible decision-making are necessary for understanding how educators can support youth development and measure competencies effectively. Assessment needs to be developmentally appropriate and culturally responsive.

Systems Alignment

Once a framework is selected it should be aligned with other frameworks likely to be in use in a classroom, school, district, or broader context. This alignment helps create coherence in approaches to supporting student development.

Ultimately, the research suggests education systems should move away from one-size-fits-all approaches to SEL and instead view each child’s current social-emotional capacities and different expressions of strengths as assets rather than deficits. Educators should be mindful of the complexity of social-emotional development and recognize there is not one singular approach but multiple approaches to meet the needs of all students.

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About the authors

Juliette Berg, Ph.D., is an applied researcher specializing in large, multi-site evaluations and research syntheses aimed at advancing how research, practice, and policy can create the conditions for children and youth to thrive. Her work focuses on fostering the development of social, emotional, behavioral, and academic skills through rigorous research and practical application. She brings deep expertise in research design, measure development, program evaluation, implementation science, and advanced quantitative methods. She also advises on the development of measures related to social and emotional competencies and learning environments.

As a Principal Researcher at the American Institutes for Research (AIR), she has secured over $10 million in competitive grants and contracts. She serves as Principal Investigator on two Education Innovation and Research (EIR) grants and one Supporting Effective Educator Development (SEED) grant from the U.S. Department of Education. These projects evaluate school-based programs designed to enhance academic and social-emotional outcomes for elementary and middle school students. Her portfolio includes contributions to numerous large-scale randomized controlled trials of programs such as City Year, Montessori, RULER, the Safe Public Spaces Program, the 4Rs Program, Opportunity NYC, and PATHS. Across these initiatives, her research has helped shape strategies to improve learning environments and promote holistic student development.

Dr. Berg has authored more than 35 peer-reviewed articles, reports, and book chapters. She co-authored two journal articles synthesizing the science of learning and development and served as Associate Editor for two volumes of Review of Research in Education (RRE). She also led a comprehensive review of over 100 social and emotional learning frameworks to define and measure core competencies, and contributed to the development of a research and translation agenda at the intersection of SEL and school climate.