Social-emotional learning is important for our students. And when you stop and think about it, it's happening in our schools whether we have standards for it or not. School-age children spend almost 7 hours at school for 180 days out of the year. That is a LOT of time. Students are taught how to socialize, follow rules, and monitor and adjust their behavior, whether by direct instruction of these skills or by implicit messages from school staff. It is my belief that students would benefit from a concerted effort from educators to teach appropriate social-emotional competencies like social awareness and decision-making. 

Not to mention, a meta-analysis of SEL techniques showed that participants improved social and emotional skills, attitudes, behavior, and academic performance. And, social-emotional learning can also decrease instances of bullying in our schools. 

I believe these standards are on the right track. I hope that teachers are able to receive the training they need in order to support these standards in the classroom. 

Last thought- I would be a little concerned about how these standards are being measured. For instance, I would worry that our students with disabilities (like AU) will have difficulty with many different aspects of these standards (as is the nature of their disability). While they should also receive SEL instruction and supports, we will want to be careful with how we are "grading" our students with disabilities on these standards.