Does Illinois require SEL in elementary schools?

Yes. Illinois was the first state to adopt K-12 SEL learning standards. The Children's Mental Health Act of 2003 required ISBE to develop SEL standards and required every school district to file an SEL policy. The 10 standards carry the same formal status as academic learning standards.

What are the Illinois SEL standards?

Illinois has 10 SEL standards organized under three goals: Goal 1 (self-awareness and self-management) includes standards 1A, 1B, and 1C. Goal 2 (social awareness and relationships) includes standards 2A, 2B, and 2C. Goal 3 (responsible decision-making) includes standards 3A, 3B, and 3C. Each standard has grade-band benchmarks and performance descriptors.

Do Illinois school districts need an SEL policy?

Yes. Every Illinois school district must have a documented SEL policy on file with ISBE. This requirement has been in place since August 31, 2004. Districts without a policy are out of compliance with state law.

How do Illinois SEL standards align with CASEL?

Illinois's SEL standards were developed in partnership with CASEL, which is headquartered in Chicago. The three goals map directly to CASEL's five competencies: self-awareness, self-management, social awareness, relationship skills, and responsible decision-making.

Are Illinois SEL standards being updated?

Yes. ISBE's EISEL (Equity in Social and Emotional Learning) Task Force is working on updating the standards to address equity, identity, agency, and belonging. The update will add explicit attention to race, poverty, disability, and cultural context.

Illinois SEL Requirements for Elementary Schools

Illinois does not treat SEL as optional. It does not use the word “guidance.” It does not frame SEL as a recommended practice. Illinois has actual, formal, adopted SEL learning standards for every student from kindergarten through grade 12, and it has had them longer than any other state in the country.

The Children's Mental Health Act of 2003 required the Illinois State Board of Education (ISBE) to develop SEL standards and required every school district in the state to file an SEL policy with ISBE.^[1] The resulting 10 SEL standards, organized under three goals with age-appropriate benchmarks and performance descriptors at every grade band, were developed in partnership with CASEL (which is headquartered in Chicago) and the Illinois Children's Mental Health Partnership.^[2]

Illinois was the first state to take this step. More than 20 years later, it remains one of the most comprehensive state-level SEL frameworks in the country. For Illinois elementary schools, the question is not whether to teach SEL. That was decided in 2003. The question is whether you are teaching it well enough to meet the standards your state has set.

The Children's Mental Health Act and What It Requires

The Legal Foundation

Public Act 93-0495, Section 15(a), the Children's Mental Health Act of 2003, expanded the Illinois Learning Standards to include social and emotional learning standards for all students K-12.^[1] The Act required ISBE to develop the standards and required every school district to develop and submit an SEL policy to ISBE.

This is a mandate with two components:

Standards

ISBE must maintain SEL standards that define what students should know and be able to do at each developmental level. These standards carry the same formal status as Illinois's academic learning standards.

District Policy

Every Illinois school district must have a documented SEL policy on file with ISBE. The policy requirement has been in place since August 31, 2004. Districts without a policy are out of compliance with state law.

What This Means for Elementary Schools

Illinois elementary schools are legally required to address SEL as part of their instructional program. Unlike states where SEL is “recommended” or “encouraged,” Illinois has placed SEL in the same category as reading and mathematics: it is a defined set of standards that students are expected to meet. This does not mean the state prescribes a specific curriculum. Districts have full flexibility in how they address the standards. But the standards themselves are not negotiable, and districts must have a policy documenting how they are addressed.

The 10 Illinois SEL Standards

ISBE's 10 SEL standards are organized under three goals that align directly with the CASEL framework.^[2]

Goal 1: Develop Self-Awareness and Self-Management Skills to Achieve School and Life Success

Standard 1A: Identify and manage one's emotions and behavior

Students recognize and accurately label their emotions and demonstrate the ability to manage them in ways that support healthy development.

Standard 1B: Recognize personal qualities and external supports

Students identify their personal strengths, areas for growth, and the people and resources available to support them.

Standard 1C: Demonstrate skills related to achieving personal and academic goals

Students set and work toward goals, monitor their progress, and demonstrate perseverance in the face of obstacles.

Goal 2: Use Social Awareness and Interpersonal Skills to Establish and Maintain Positive Relationships

Standard 2A: Recognize the feelings and perspectives of others

Students demonstrate empathy and perspective-taking by identifying and understanding the emotions and viewpoints of others.

Standard 2B: Recognize individual and group similarities and differences

Students appreciate diversity and demonstrate respect for individuals and groups who are different from themselves.

Standard 2C: Use communication and social skills to interact effectively with others

Students demonstrate relationship skills including active listening, cooperation, conflict resolution, and constructive communication.

Goal 3: Demonstrate Decision-Making Skills and Responsible Behaviors

Standard 3A: Consider ethical, safety, and societal factors in making decisions

Students demonstrate responsible decision-making by considering how their choices affect themselves and others, including ethical and safety dimensions.

Standard 3B: Apply decision-making skills to deal responsibly with daily situations

Students use structured problem-solving processes to navigate challenges in school and social contexts.

Standard 3C: Contribute to the well-being of one's school and community

Students demonstrate responsibility, kindness, and active citizenship by contributing positively to their school and community.

Elementary Benchmarks and Performance Descriptors

Each standard includes specific benchmarks at the K-2 (early elementary) and 3-5 (late elementary) grade bands. These benchmarks describe what students should be able to do at each developmental stage.^[2]

Example: Standard 1A (Identify and Manage Emotions)

K-2 Benchmark (1A.1a)

Recognize and accurately label emotions and how they are linked to behavior.

“A student can identify basic emotions (happy, sad, angry, scared) in themselves and others and can describe situations that produce those emotions.”

3-5 Benchmark (1A.2a)

Describe a range of emotions and the situations that cause them.

“A student can describe a broad range of emotions with increasing precision and can explain how the same situation might produce different emotions in different people.”

The progression from K-2 to 3-5 is visible: students move from basic emotion identification to nuanced emotional understanding and perspective-taking. This developmental progression is built into every standard and should be reflected in your curriculum's scope and sequence.

Example: Standard 2C (Communication and Social Skills)

K-2 Benchmark (2C.1a)

Identify ways to work and play well with others.

3-5 Benchmark (2C.2a)

Describe approaches for making and keeping friends.

By 3-5, the expectation shifts from basic cooperation to active social navigation, reflecting the more complex social dynamics of upper elementary.

Example: Standard 3A (Ethical and Safety Decision-Making)

K-2 Benchmark (3A.1a)

Explain why unprovoked acts that hurt others are wrong.

3-5 Benchmark (3A.2a)

Demonstrate the ability to respect the rights of self and others.

The progression moves from understanding that harmful actions are wrong (concrete, rule-based) to actively respecting rights (abstract, principle-based), reflecting the moral development that occurs across the elementary years.

ISBE's SEL Standards Toolkit

In 2026, ISBE published a comprehensive SEL Standards Toolkit providing implementation resources for districts and schools.^[3] The toolkit includes:

Plan-Do-Study-Act Framework

A structured process for implementing and improving SEL instruction using continuous improvement methodology.

CASEL SEL Integrated Lesson Planning Checklist

A tool for applying SEL practices to any content area lesson at any grade level.

Grade-Band Resources

Implementation materials organized by K-2, 3-5, 6-8, 9-10, and 11-12, including journal and conversation prompts.

Managing Emotions Resources

Free courses and guides for both educators and students, including the Yale Center for Emotional Intelligence's online course.

How to Align Your Elementary Program With Illinois Standards

Step 1: Map Your Curriculum to All 10 Standards

Create an alignment document showing which lessons address which standards at each grade band. This map ensures full coverage, identifies gaps, and provides the documentation your district policy requires.

Standard	Description	Curriculum Coverage
1A	Identify and manage emotions	Emotional vocabulary, self-regulation, calming strategies
1B	Recognize personal qualities and supports	Growth mindset, strengths identification, help-seeking
1C	Goal-setting and perseverance	Goal setting, perseverance, self-monitoring
2A	Recognize feelings of others	Empathy, perspective-taking, active listening
2B	Recognize similarities and differences	Respect for diversity, inclusion, cultural awareness
2C	Communication and social skills	Conflict resolution, teamwork, kindness
3A	Ethical and safety decision-making	Responsible choices, safety awareness
3B	Apply decision-making skills	Problem-solving, daily decision-making
3C	Contribute to community	Responsibility, citizenship, community building

A comprehensive CASEL-aligned curriculum with a 40-week scope and sequence should cover all 10 standards. If your alignment map shows gaps, you need either a different curriculum or supplemental materials.

Step 2: Verify Your District Policy

Check that your district has an SEL policy on file with ISBE. If your district's policy has not been updated since it was originally filed (potentially as far back as 2004), it may not reflect current practice, current research, or the updated resources ISBE has made available. Updating the policy to reference your current curriculum, your scope and sequence, and the ISBE toolkit resources strengthens both compliance and practice.

Step 3: Use ISBE's Performance Descriptors for Assessment

The performance descriptors provide a ready-made rubric for assessing student SEL development. While Illinois does not require formal SEL testing, the descriptors give teachers specific, observable behaviors to look for:

•Can the student identify and label emotions accurately? (1A)
•Can the student describe another person's perspective? (2A)
•Can the student generate solutions to a social problem? (3B)
•Can the student describe how their choices affect others? (3A)

These observations can be documented informally through classroom observation, read-aloud discussions, and reflection activities.

Step 4: Integrate With Academic Instruction

ISBE has published crosswalks showing how SEL standards connect to academic content areas. A read-aloud that addresses empathy is simultaneously teaching ELA comprehension and Standard 2A. A math activity that requires teamwork addresses Standard 2C alongside mathematical practice standards. A science project that requires perseverance addresses Standard 1C alongside science content. This integration is not just efficient. It is how ISBE recommends SEL be implemented: woven into the fabric of daily instruction rather than treated as a separate subject.

Step 5: Connect to MTSS

Tier 1: Universal Instruction

Universal SEL instruction delivered weekly to all students, addressing all 10 standards across the school year.

Tier 2: Targeted Support

Emotion regulation groups (Standard 1A), social skills groups (Standard 2C), conflict resolution practice (Standard 3B).

Tier 3: Individualized Intervention

Individualized intervention including IEP-aligned SEL goals mapped to specific Illinois standards.

The CASEL Connection

CASEL is headquartered in Chicago. The organization's direct involvement in developing Illinois's SEL standards means that the state framework and the national CASEL framework are closely aligned.^[2] Any CASEL-aligned curriculum maps naturally to Illinois's standards because the standards were designed around CASEL's competency model.

This alignment also means that the national research base that supports CASEL's framework — including the Durlak meta-analysis (11-percentile-point academic achievement gain)^[4], the Cipriano meta-analysis (strongest effects on school climate and safety)^[5], and the Taylor follow-up study (effects persisting 6 months to 18 years)^[6] — directly supports the Illinois standards' evidence base.

Standards Update in Progress

ISBE's EISEL (Equity in Social and Emotional Learning) Task Force has been working on updating the standards to address current issues in education, including skills that promote identity, agency, and belonging for all students.^[7] The draft rationale notes that while the current standards were groundbreaking when adopted, the SEL field has evolved significantly since 2005 and the standards should reflect current research, equity considerations, and best practices.

The update process is expected to add explicit attention to race, poverty, disability, and cultural context. Illinois schools should monitor ISBE announcements for the updated standards and be prepared to review their curriculum alignment when the revisions are finalized.

Choosing a Curriculum That Meets Illinois Standards

When selecting SEL curriculum for your Illinois school, verify that the program:

•Addresses all 10 standards across all three goals. Partial coverage is not compliant. A program that addresses self-management and relationship skills but ignores responsible decision-making or community contribution leaves standards uncovered.
•Provides K-2 and 3-5 differentiation. Illinois's benchmarks are grade-band specific. Your curriculum should match this developmental progression.
•Offers a full-year scope and sequence. A 40-week curriculum aligns with the sustained instruction the performance descriptors assume.
•Produces observable outcomes aligned to performance descriptors. Your curriculum should generate opportunities to observe and document the behaviors ISBE describes.
•Supports bilingual learners. Illinois serves a significant multilingual population. Bilingual curriculum supports equitable access.
•Integrates with academic content. Programs that connect SEL to literacy and other instruction support ISBE's integration recommendation.
•Connects to school safety. Standard 3A explicitly addresses safety decision-making.

What to Avoid

Treating the standards as a checklist

Illinois's SEL standards describe a developmental progression, not a set of objectives to check off. Students build competence through sustained, weekly practice across the school year, not by completing one activity per standard.

Assuming your 2004 policy is current

If your district filed its SEL policy in 2004 and has not updated it since, the policy likely does not reflect your current practice, the ISBE toolkit resources, or the equity considerations the EISEL Task Force is incorporating.

Relying on incidental SEL

Illinois's standards require intentional instruction, not just a positive classroom environment. A warm, supportive teacher provides the conditions for SEL but does not address the standards without structured curriculum.

Selecting a program without checking standards alignment

Not every program marketed as “SEL” covers all 10 Illinois standards. Verify that your chosen program maps to all 10 standards before adopting it.

Final Thoughts

Illinois set the standard for state-level SEL policy more than two decades ago. The Children's Mental Health Act of 2003 made Illinois the first state to adopt K-12 SEL standards, require district SEL policies, and formalize social-emotional learning as a core component of public education. The 10 standards, three goals, and grade-band benchmarks provide a framework that is both comprehensive and practical.

For Illinois elementary schools, the path forward is straightforward: choose a CASEL-aligned curriculum that covers all 10 standards with grade-appropriate content, deliver it consistently through weekly lessons across the full school year, use ISBE's performance descriptors to monitor student progress, and ensure your district policy accurately reflects your current practice. The legal framework is more than 20 years old. The research base is stronger than ever. The toolkit is in place. The question for Illinois schools is not whether to teach SEL. It is whether the instruction they are providing matches the ambition of the standards their state pioneered.

References

[1] Illinois General Assembly. (2003). Children's Mental Health Act. Public Act 93-0495, Section 15(a). 405 ILCS 49/15. https://hfs.illinois.gov/content/dam/soi/en/web/hfs/medicalproviders/behavioral/sass/documents/930495.pdf
[2] Illinois State Board of Education. (n.d.). Social and emotional learning. https://www.isbe.net/pages/social-emotional-learning.aspx
[3] Illinois State Board of Education. (2026). Social and emotional learning standards toolkit. https://www.isbe.net/Pages/SEL-Toolkit.aspx
[4] Durlak, J. A., Weissberg, R. P., Dymnicki, A. B., Taylor, R. D., & Schellinger, K. B. (2011). The impact of enhancing students' social and emotional learning: A meta-analysis of school-based universal interventions. Child Development, 82(1), 405-432. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1467-8624.2010.01564.x
[5] Cipriano, C., Strambler, M. J., Naples, L. H., et al. (2023). The state of evidence for social and emotional learning: A contemporary meta-analysis of universal school-based SEL interventions. Child Development, 94(5), 1181-1204. https://doi.org/10.1111/cdev.13968
[6] Taylor, R. D., Oberle, E., Durlak, J. A., & Weissberg, R. P. (2017). Promoting positive youth development through school-based social and emotional learning interventions: A meta-analysis of follow-up effects. Child Development, 88(4), 1156-1171. https://doi.org/10.1111/cdev.12864
[7] Illinois State Board of Education. (2021). EISEL Task Force final report. https://www.isbe.net/Documents_SELTaskForce/EISEL-Task-Force-Final-Report-2021.pdf
[8] Illinois State Board of Education. (n.d.). Illinois social and emotional learning standards. https://www.isbe.net/Documents/Illinois-Social-Emotional-Learning-Standards.pdf

Meet Illinois SEL Standards With One Curriculum

Be The Buffalo provides 40 weeks of CASEL-aligned K-5 SEL curriculum that addresses all three ISBE goals and all 10 Illinois SEL standards. Each lesson identifies its standards alignment for policy documentation and progress monitoring.

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