Cipriano also directs the Education Collaboratory at Yale, whose mission is to “advance the science of learning and social and emotional development.”
The academic impact of SEL in this 2025 article is much lower than the 11 percentile points documented in an earlier 2011 meta-analysis summarizing research through 2007, when SEL had not yet gained popularity in schools. This has since changed. More than 80% of K-12 school principals reported their schools used an SEL program in the 2023-2024 school year, according to a survey conducted by the Collaborative for Academic, Social, and Emotional Learning (CASEL) and the RAND Corporation.
The Yale researchers studied only a small subset of the SEL market, programs that underwent rigorous evaluation and included academic outcomes. Three-quarters of the 40 studies were randomized controlled trials, similar to pharmaceutical trials, in which schools or teachers were randomly assigned to teach an SEL curriculum. The remaining studies, in which schools or teachers volunteered, always had control groups of students so that researchers could compare the academic gains of students who did not receive SEL instruction.
The SEL programs in the Yale study taught a wide range of soft skills, from mindfulness and anger management to conflict resolution and goal setting. It is not clear which soft skills drive academic progress. This is an area for future research.
“Developmentally, when we think about what we know about how children learn, emotional regulation is really the driver,” Cipriano said. “No matter how good that program, or that math program, or that reading program, if a child feels unsafe, anxious, stressed, frustrated, or embarrassed, they are not available to be taught, no matter how great the teacher is.”
Cipriano said effective programs give students the tools to deal with stressful situations. She gave the example of a pop quiz, from a student’s perspective. “You can recognize it, I feel nervous, my blood is rushing to my hands or my face, and I can use my strategies of counting to 10, thinking about what I know, and using positive self-talk to be able to regulate myself and be able to take my test,” she said.
The strongest evidence for SEL is found in elementary school, where the majority of assessments have been conducted (two-thirds of 40 studies). For younger students, SEL lessons tend to be short but frequent, such as 10 minutes per day. There is less evidence regarding middle and high school SEL programs because they have not been studied as much. Generally, preteens and teens have less frequent but longer sessions, lasting half an hour or even 90 minutes, weekly or monthly.
Cipriano said schools don’t need to spend “hours and hours” on social and emotional teaching to reap academic benefits. A current trend is to incorporate or integrate social and emotional learning into academic teaching, for example in mathematics courses. But none of the studies underlying this article assessed whether this was a more effective way to deliver SEL. All programs in this study were separate stand-alone SEL lessons.
Advice for schools
Schools are inundated with sales pitches from SEL sellers. Estimates of the size of the market vary widely, but a half-dozen market research firms put it at more than $2 billion a year. Not all SEL programs are necessarily effective or likely to produce the academic gains calculated by the Yale team.
Cipriano advises schools not to be fooled by slick marketing. Most effective programs have no marketing and some are free. Unfortunately, some of these programs have been discontinued or have been transformed following changes in ownership. But she says school leaders can ask questions about the specific skills the SEL program claims to foster, whether those skills will help the district achieve its goals, such as improving school climate, and whether the program has been externally evaluated.
“Districts invest in flashy, pretty things all the time, across all content areas, not just SEL,” Cipriano said. “It may never have been externally evaluated, but it has a very good social media presence and very good marketing.”
Cipriano also created a new website, enhancementstudentoutcomes.org, to track the latest research on the effectiveness of SEL and help schools identify proven programs.
Cipriano says parents should also ask questions. “Parents should be partners in learning,” Cipriano said. “I have four children and I want to know what they are learning at school. »
This meta-analysis probably won’t stop critics of SEL who say these programs force educators to become therapists. Groups like Moms for Liberty, which is holding its national summit this week, say teachers should stick to academics. This article rejects this dichotomy because it suggests that emotions, social interactions, and academic studies are all linked.
Before criticizing all SEL programs, educators and parents need to examine the evidence.
