In 1994, a passionate group of researchers, educators, practitioners, and child advocates came together to develop a field that would address the “missing piece” in education. Their belief: Schools must attend to all children’s social and emotional needs. The group emerged from their meetings with a name and a mission: Both CASEL and the term “social and emotional learning” were born.
Our Founding Story
Back to topThe Inspiration
Back to topThis core group drew inspiration from the pioneering work of Dr. James Comer and his colleagues at Yale University’s Child Study Center. Working with two schools in New Haven, Connecticut, Dr. Comer and his team found that supporting the “whole child” led to a decline in behavior challenges and improvements in academic performance exceeding the national average.
First Steps
Back to topThe work that would later lead to the founding of CASEL had its seeds in a call by John Dow, Jr., Superintendent of New Haven Public Schools, for a districtwide focus on social development. From 1987-1992, a group of educators and researchers, led by Dr. Timothy Shriver and Dr. Roger P. Weissberg, began the New Haven Social Development program that pioneered SEL strategies across K-12 classrooms.
Around the same time, Dr. Weissberg, along with Dr. Maurice Elias, chaired the W.T. Grant Consortium on the School-Based Promotion of Social Competence, bringing together leading experts to create a framework for promoting social and emotional skills in schools.
Building a Legacy
Back to topIn 1997, nine CASEL collaborators co-authored Promoting Social and Emotional Learning: Guidelines for Educators, which formally defined the field of SEL.
Over the following decades, a large body of research demonstrated the effectiveness of SEL for supporting students’ academic and long-term success.
Demand for SEL surged among teachers, school leaders, district administrators, policymakers, parents, employers, and students themselves. Increasingly, schools, districts, and states across the country are adopting and implementing evidence-based SEL strategies to support local priorities.
Our Founders and Early Collaborators
Back to top-
-
- Daniel Goleman, CASEL co-founder, author of Emotional Intelligence
- Mark T. Greenberg, Prevention Research Center for the Promotion of Human Development, Penn State University
- Eileen R. Growald, Venture Philanthropist
- Linda Lantieri, Director, Inner Resilience Program
- Timothy P. Shriver, Supervisor, New Haven Public Schools
- David J. Sluyter, Senior Advisor, Fetzer Institute
- Roger P. Weissberg, Professor of Psychology and Education, University of Illinois at Chicago
The identifications refer to the professional involvements of founders at the time when they met.
-
-
-
- Sheldon Berman, Superintendent of Schools, Hudson, MA
- Patricia Caesar, President and CEO, Caesar Consulting Group
- Maurice Elias, Professor of Psychology, Rutgers University
- Norris M. Haynes, Professor of Counseling and School Psychology, Southern Connecticut State University
- Janice Jackson, Assistant Professor, Lynch School of Education, Boston College
- Beverly Benson Long, Immediate Past President, World Federation for Mental Health
- JoAnn B. Manning, Vice President of Program Implementation, Platform Learning
- Janet Patti, Professor, Department of Curriculum and Teaching, Hunter College
- Terry Pickeral, Executive Director, National Center for Learning and Citizenship, Education Commission of the States
- Mary Schwab-Stone, Harris Associate Professor of Child Psychiatry, Yale Child Study Center
- Mary Utne O’Brien, Research Professor of Psychology and Education, University of Illinois at Chicago
- Herbert J. Walberg, Professor Emeritus, Education and Psychology, University of Illinois at Chicago
- Joseph E. Zins, Professor, College of Education, University of Cincinnati
The identifications refer to the professional involvements of members at the time when they met.
-
CASEL Today
Back to topSince CASEL’s founding, SEL has become a cornerstone in preK-12 education and a rallying point for educators, researchers, policymakers, and other education stakeholders, and CASEL has remained the field leader.
In both history and name, CASEL is a collaborative, bringing together thinkers, leaders, educators, and practitioners who share our vision of SEL as an integral part of education.
As the movement continues to grow, the call for SEL has never been greater. CASEL continues to serve as a field leader, offering a trusted voice in research and information curation, implementation practices and standards, and state and federal education policy.
Learn more about our work and support us.