Does Indiana require SEL in elementary schools?

Yes. Indiana's Employability Skills Standards, adopted in 2019, include a Social and Emotional Skills area that requires K-12 instruction in regulation, collaboration, and connection. These are required standards starting in kindergarten.

What are Indiana's seven SEL competencies?

Indiana's framework includes mindset, critical thinking, insight, sensory-motor integration, regulation, connection, and collaboration. This expands CASEL's five competencies with a dedicated mindset competency and a unique sensory-motor integration competency grounded in neurodevelopmental science.

What are the Indiana Employability Skills Standards?

The Employability Skills Standards are required K-12 standards adopted in 2019, organized into four areas: Mindsets, Work Ethic, Learning Strategies, and Social and Emotional Skills. Three SEL competencies (regulation, collaboration, connection) are embedded in the required SE area.

What is sensory-motor integration in Indiana's SEL framework?

Sensory-motor integration is a competency unique to Indiana's framework that recognizes self-regulation begins with the body. It addresses the ability to process sensory information and coordinate physical responses in ways that support emotional regulation and social engagement.

How does Indiana's SEL framework align with CASEL?

Indiana's seven competencies expand on CASEL's five. Regulation maps to self-management, connection maps to social awareness plus relationship skills, collaboration maps to relationship skills, insight maps to self-awareness, critical thinking maps to responsible decision-making, and mindset and sensory-motor integration are additions unique to Indiana.

Indiana SEL Requirements for Elementary Schools

Indiana has one of the most distinctive approaches to social-emotional learning in the country. Most states that address SEL adopt the five CASEL competencies directly or build their framework on them. Indiana went further. The Indiana Department of Education (IDOE) developed seven SEL competencies grounded in a neurodevelopmental, culturally responsive framework that adds sensory-motor integration and a dedicated mindset competency to the traditional five.^[1]

More importantly for compliance purposes, three of these seven competencies are required instruction. When Indiana adopted the Employability Skills Standards in 2019, it embedded social-emotional skills (regulation, collaboration, and connection) as one of four required standard areas for students in kindergarten through grade 12.^[2] This means that social-emotional instruction in Indiana is not optional guidance. It is part of the state's required standards, starting in kindergarten.

For Indiana elementary schools, the practical question is how to address the required social-emotional standards while also building the broader competencies that IDOE's full seven-competency framework describes. This guide explains both.

Indiana's Seven SEL Competencies

A Different Framework

IDOE's SEL competencies, developed in partnership with Butler University's College of Education and grounded in neurodevelopmental research, include seven competency areas rather than the five that CASEL uses.^[1]

Mindset

The established set of attitudes impacting self-growth. Includes growth mindset beliefs, willingness to learn, belief in one's own ability to succeed, and perseverance.

Critical Thinking

The ability to analyze information, evaluate situations, and apply reasoning to solve problems. Connects SEL to cognitive development more explicitly than most state frameworks.

Insight

The capacity for self-awareness and self-understanding. Maps to CASEL's self-awareness competency but emphasizes the deeper, reflective dimension.

Sensory-Motor Integration

The ability to process sensory information and coordinate physical responses in ways that support emotional regulation and social engagement. Unique to Indiana — recognizes that self-regulation begins with the body.

Regulation Required

The ability to manage emotions, thoughts, and behaviors effectively. Maps to CASEL's self-management and includes emotional regulation, impulse control, stress management, and goal setting.

Connection Required

The ability to establish positive relationships, demonstrate empathy, and interact effectively across diverse groups. Combines CASEL's social awareness and relationship skills.

Collaboration Required

The ability to work effectively with others, including communication, cooperation, conflict resolution, and teamwork.

Why Seven Instead of Five

Indiana's expanded framework reflects a deliberate choice to ground SEL in neuroscience rather than treating it as a purely behavioral or social construct.^[1] The inclusion of sensory-motor integration acknowledges that students cannot regulate emotionally if they are overwhelmed sensorily. The dedicated mindset competency acknowledges that beliefs about learning and ability shape every other SEL skill.

For educators working with neurodivergent students, Indiana's framework is unusually well-suited because it explicitly addresses the sensory processing dimension that most other state frameworks ignore.

The Employability Skills Standards: Where SEL Becomes Required

What the Standards Include

In 2019, IDOE adopted the Indiana Employability Skills Standards for all students K-12. The standards are organized into four areas:^[2]

Mindsets (M)

Attitudes impacting self-growth, including willingness to learn, belief in ability to succeed, self-control, trustworthiness, perseverance, and adaptability.

Work Ethic (WE)

Values centered on doing work, including responsibility, following through on commitments, and appropriate behavior.

Learning Strategies (LS)

Cognitive processes including communication, self-motivation, thoroughness, and critical thinking.

Social and Emotional Skills (SE)

Managing emotions, setting goals, showing empathy, maintaining relationships, and making responsible decisions.

Which SEL Standards Are Required

Three of Indiana's seven SEL competencies are embedded in the required Employability Skills Standards under the Social and Emotional Skills (SE) area:^[3]

Regulation (SE standard): Recognize and manage one's emotions.

Collaboration (SE standard): Work well with others in a team.

Connection (SE standard): Demonstrate the ability to network with others through social awareness and cultural sensitivity.

These three standards are required K-12 instruction. They are part of the Employability Skills Standards, which alongside the Indiana Academic Standards are the only standards required by Indiana for education.^[3]

Elementary-Level Standards

The Employability Skills Standards specify different expectations at each grade band:^[2]

K-2 Social and Emotional Skills

K-2.SE.1: Recognize and manage one's emotions
K-2.SE.4: Work well with others in a team
K-2.SE.5: Respond appropriately to greetings and begin to manage social interactions

K-2 Mindsets

K-2.M.1: Demonstrate willingness to work and learn
K-2.M.3: Demonstrate self-control and behave in accordance with rules
K-2.M.5: Demonstrate endurance and capacity to complete tasks

K-2 Work Ethic

K-2.WE.3: Understand what it means to persevere
K-2.WE.7: Act in a trustworthy and honest manner

3-5 Expectations

Increase in complexity across all four areas, with greater independence, more nuanced social navigation, and emerging leadership and decision-making expectations.

The IDOE SEL Toolkit

In 2018, IDOE partnered with Butler University's College of Education to publish an SEL toolkit for educators and districts.^[4] The toolkit provides:

Competency Descriptions

Detailed explanations of each of the seven competencies with grade-band-specific indicators.

Strategies

Practical strategies for addressing each competency in the classroom.

Teacher Self-Assessment Tool

Developed with the Center on Great Teachers and Leaders, this tool helps educators reflect on their current practices and their own social-emotional competencies.

Implementation Guidance

Recommendations for integrating SEL into school improvement planning, including evaluation measures.

MTSS Connection

Guidance for embedding SEL within Indiana's Multi-Tiered System of Supports framework.

How to Align Your Elementary Program With Indiana's Requirements

Step 1: Address the Required Standards First

The non-negotiable requirement is the Employability Skills Standards. Document how your instruction addresses the Social and Emotional Skills standards (regulation, collaboration, connection) at both the K-2 and 3-5 grade bands.

Required SE Standard	K-2 Expectation	3-5 Expectation
Regulation	Recognize and manage basic emotions	Use self-management strategies with increasing independence
Collaboration	Work well with others in a team	Contribute meaningfully, navigate disagreements
Connection	Respond to social interactions appropriately	Demonstrate empathy and cultural sensitivity

A CASEL-aligned curriculum addresses all three required SE standards because regulation maps to self-management, collaboration maps to relationship skills, and connection maps to social awareness.

Step 2: Build Out the Full Seven Competencies

Beyond the three required SE standards, Indiana's full seven-competency framework provides the structure for comprehensive SEL instruction.

Indiana Competency	CASEL Alignment	Curriculum Coverage
Mindset	Self-Awareness (beliefs)	Growth mindset, perseverance, self-efficacy
Critical Thinking	Responsible Decision-Making	Problem-solving, analysis, evaluation
Insight	Self-Awareness (reflection)	Emotional vocabulary, self-reflection, identity
Sensory-Motor	Self-Management (body-based)	Movement, sensory awareness, body-emotion connection
Regulation	Self-Management	Self-regulation, emotional regulation, goal setting
Connection	Social Awareness + Relationship Skills	Empathy, perspective-taking, kindness, respect
Collaboration	Relationship Skills	Teamwork, conflict resolution, communication

A comprehensive scope and sequence that covers all five CASEL competencies across 40 weeks addresses all seven Indiana competencies because the seven are an expansion of CASEL's five, not a replacement.

Step 3: Address Sensory-Motor Integration

This is Indiana's most distinctive competency. For elementary schools, addressing sensory-motor integration means:

•Including movement breaks and body-based calming strategies in SEL instruction
•Teaching students to recognize how their body feels when they experience different emotions (tight stomach = anxiety, clenched fists = anger)
•Providing sensory-aware instruction that accounts for students who process sensory input differently
•Using multi-modal delivery (visual, auditory, kinesthetic) so students can access content through their strongest processing channels

Programs that include songs, movement activities, and body-based regulation strategies alongside cognitive and social instruction naturally address this competency.

Step 4: Connect to the Implementation Guide

IDOE's Employability Skills Standards Implementation Guide^[5] recommends convening a leadership group, reviewing the standards, developing an asset and program map, identifying gaps, and integrating employability skills into the culture of the school. For elementary schools, map your existing SEL curriculum to the standards, identify any gaps in the SE area, and ensure regulation, collaboration, and connection are addressed through structured instruction throughout the year.

Step 5: Embed in School Improvement Planning

IDOE's SEL Toolkit recommends that SEL programs be part of the school improvement plan with clear evaluation measures.^[4] Document which competencies your instruction addresses, how it connects to required Employability Skills Standards, how you evaluate effectiveness, and how SEL fits within your MTSS framework.

Step 6: Position Within MTSS

Tier 1: Universal Instruction

SEL instruction delivered weekly to all students. Addresses all required SE standards and the broader seven-competency framework.

Tier 2: Targeted Support

Emotion regulation groups, social skills groups, conflict resolution practice.

Tier 3: Individualized Intervention

IEP-aligned SEL goals mapped to specific Indiana competencies.

The Neurodevelopmental Advantage

Indiana's decision to ground its SEL framework in neurodevelopmental science creates a specific advantage for elementary educators: it provides a research-based rationale for why SEL instruction is structured the way it is.

When a teacher explains to parents or administrators why students practice breathing exercises, the neurodevelopmental framework provides the answer: regulation begins in the body, and body-based strategies activate the parasympathetic nervous system, which reduces the stress response and creates conditions for learning.

This neuroscience grounding is particularly useful in communities where the term “SEL” may generate skepticism. The language of neurodevelopment, brain science, and workforce readiness (through the Employability Skills framing) provides alternative entry points for the same instruction.

Choosing a Curriculum for Indiana Schools

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

•Addresses the required SE standards. Regulation, collaboration, and connection must be covered. This is not optional.
•Covers all five CASEL competencies. A fully CASEL-aligned curriculum addresses all seven Indiana competencies.
•Includes body-based and sensory-aware strategies. Indiana's sensory-motor integration competency requires instruction beyond cognitive and social approaches.
•Provides K-2 and 3-5 differentiation. Indiana's standards specify different expectations at each grade band.
•Offers a full-year scope and sequence. Sustained instruction across 40 weeks, not isolated lessons.
•Supports bilingual learners. Indiana's growing multilingual population benefits from bilingual curriculum.
•Connects to school safety. Regulation, connection, and collaboration support school climate and safety.
•Uses multi-modal delivery. Programs that combine visual content, auditory elements (songs, stories), kinesthetic activities, and interactive engagement.
•Requires minimal prep. Ready-to-use weekly lessons are more likely to be implemented consistently.

What to Avoid

Ignoring the Employability Skills requirement

The Social and Emotional Skills area is required K-12 instruction. Schools that do not address regulation, collaboration, and connection through structured instruction are not meeting the standard.

Treating the seven competencies as entirely separate from CASEL

Indiana's framework expands CASEL but does not contradict it. A CASEL-aligned curriculum covers the vast majority of Indiana's competencies. The gap is primarily in sensory-motor integration.

Skipping the sensory-motor dimension

A curriculum that addresses only cognitive and social skills misses Indiana's most distinctive competency. Including movement breaks, body-based calming strategies, and sensory-aware instruction is alignment with the state framework.

Separating SEL from the employability framing

Indiana deliberately connected SEL to employability. “We teach students the social and emotional skills they need to succeed in school and in their future careers” is an effective message for any audience.

Final Thoughts

Indiana has done something unusual and valuable: it built its SEL framework on neurodevelopmental science, expanded it beyond the standard CASEL model with sensory-motor integration and dedicated mindset competencies, and embedded three core SEL competencies into the required Employability Skills Standards. The result is a framework that is both more comprehensive than most states' approaches and more firmly anchored in required instruction.

For Indiana elementary schools, the path forward involves meeting the Employability Skills Standards' SE requirements (regulation, collaboration, connection) through structured, weekly instruction, building out the full seven-competency framework through comprehensive CASEL-aligned curriculum, and including the body-based, sensory-aware instruction that Indiana's neurodevelopmental framework specifically calls for. The standards are in place. The toolkit is available. The science supports the approach. Implementation starts with choosing the right curriculum and committing to delivering it.

References

[1] Indiana Department of Education & Butler University College of Education. (2018, revised 2021). Indiana social-emotional learning competencies: A neurodevelopmental, culturally responsive framework. https://digitalcommons.butler.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1171&context=coe_papers
[2] Indiana Department of Education. (2019). Indiana employability skills standards. https://www.in.gov/doe/files/employability-skills-competencies-final.pdf
[3] WTHR. (2021). What is SEL and how is it used in the classroom? https://www.wthr.com/article/news/education/what-is-sel-and-how-is-it-used-in-a-classroom/531-665f5c1a-24f2-425b-85b7-6c2adb333ffc
[4] Indiana Department of Education. (2018). Social-emotional learning toolkit. https://butler.elsevierpure.com/ws/portalfiles/portal/39835585/Indiana%20Department%20of%20Education%20Social-Emotional%20Learning%20Toolkit.pdf
[5] Indiana Department of Education. (2019). Employability skills standards implementation guide. https://www.in.gov/doe/files/employability-skills-standards-implementation-guide.pdf
[6] Indiana Department of Education. (2019). Kindergarten to grade two employability skills standards. https://www.in.gov/doe/files/kindergarten-second-grade-employability-skills-standards-final.pdf
[7] 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
[8] 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

Meet Indiana's SEL and Employability Standards

Be The Buffalo provides 40 weeks of CASEL-aligned K-5 SEL curriculum addressing all seven Indiana competencies, including regulation, collaboration, and connection as required by the Employability Skills Standards.

Multi-modal delivery with interactive projector activities, original songs, body-based calming strategies, character-driven stories, printable worksheets, and teacher guides. Bilingual English and Spanish. No student accounts. No devices. No prep.