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K-12 SEL Assessment Rubric
Grade-level benchmarks for the five core social-emotional learning competencies, aligned with Minnesota SEL standards.
Grade Level:
Five Core SEL Competencies
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Self-Awareness
3 learning goals
The ability to accurately recognize one's own emotions, thoughts, and values and how they influence behavior.
⚙️
Self-Management
2 learning goals
The ability to successfully regulate one's emotions, thoughts, and behaviors in different situations.
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Social Awareness
4 learning goals
The ability to take the perspective of and empathize with others from diverse backgrounds and cultures.
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Relationship Skills
3 learning goals
The ability to establish and maintain healthy and rewarding relationships with diverse individuals and groups.
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Responsible Decision-Making
2 learning goals
The ability to make constructive choices about personal behavior and social interactions.
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Select a competency above to view detailed benchmarks for K-3
Complete Assessment Matrix
| Competency / Goal | K-3 | 4-5 | 6-8 | 9-12 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
👁️Self-Awareness | ||||
SeA.1Demonstrates an awareness and understanding of own emotions. | Recognize and label their emotions and feelings. | Develop more complex vocabulary to communicate their emotions and feelings. | Recognize the importance of complex emotions, such as an indicator of a situation that needs attention. | Distinguish emotions one holds from how others expect them to feel. |
SeA.2Demonstrates awareness of personal strengths, challenges, aspirations and cultural, linguistic, and community assets. | Describe their personal qualities, such as likes and dislikes, needs and wants, strengths and challenges. | Describe the personal strengths and assets they possess that make them successful members of their school and community. | Self-reflect to recognize their strengths to meet a need and/or address a challenge. | Evaluate strengths and challenges in relation to achieving goals (personal, academic and social). |
SeA.3Demonstrates awareness of personal rights and responsibilities. | Describe what it feels like to feel safe and respected. | Define their role in ensuring safety and respect for others. | Demonstrate how to assert rights in a way that respects the rights of others. | Advocate for the rights of self and others. |
⚙️Self-Management | ||||
SM.1Demonstrates the skills to manage and express their emotions, thoughts, impulses and stress in effective ways. | Demonstrate calming strategies in order to manage emotions, thoughts, impulses and stress. | Use coping skills such as calming down, walking away, self-talk, seeking help or mediation to manage their emotions and behaviors. | Apply strategies to manage stress. | Practice strategies for recognizing and coping with complex emotions such as rejection, social isolation, and other forms of stress/distress. |
SM.2Demonstrates the skills to set, monitor, adapt, achieve and evaluate goals. | Identify personal goals with assistance from an adult. | Identify goals across multiple domains (e.g., academic, personal, and social). | Connect goal-setting skills to academic, personal and civic success. | Develop both medium- and longer-term goals – by the end of the school year or in six months. |
👥Social Awareness | ||||
SoA.1Demonstrates awareness of and empathy for individuals, their emotions, experiences and perspectives through a cross-cultural lens. | Identify a range of emotional expressions in others, e.g., by facial expression or tone of voice. | Identify how their behavior affects the emotions of others. | Analyze how their behavior affects the emotions of others, and determine ways to adjust accordingly. | Express understanding of those who hold different opinions. |
SoA.2Demonstrates awareness and respect of groups and their cultures, languages, identities, traditions, values and histories. | Describe ways that people are similar and different. | Describe benefits of personal qualities of others and why everyone shouldn't be the same. | Analyze how people of different groups can help one another and show appreciation for one another. | Demonstrate respect for individuals from different social and cultural groups. |
SoA.3Demonstrates awareness of how individuals and groups cooperate toward achieving common goals and ideals. | Identify and execute responsibilities that contribute to their classroom. | Work collaboratively with peers to identify, understand and respond to a social need. This work could be a community or school service project. | Explain how individual attitudes and behaviors affect the well-being of their school or community. | Work collaboratively with peers to analyze and address a shared social cause. |
SoA.4Demonstrates awareness of external supports and when supports are needed. | Identify an adult they can trust. | Recognize qualities of positive peer and adult role models. | Apply qualities of positive peer and adult role models to self. | Seek out peer and adult role models who will help students achieve goals. |
🤝Relationship Skills | ||||
RS.1Demonstrates a range of communication and social skills to interact effectively. | Take turns and share with others. | Recognize how groups behave differently than individuals and affect an individual's emotions, attitudes and behaviors. | Understand the different roles in a group, such as leader, facilitator, and follower and how these roles contribute to failure or success in group efforts. | Create positive group dynamics to move group efforts forward. |
RS.2Cultivates constructive relationships with others. | Recognize how various relationships are different. | Recognize the difference between positive and negative relationships and identify behaviors that contribute to each. | Demonstrate strategies for resisting negative peer pressure. | Demonstrate ability to develop romantic and non-romantic relationships with peers that are effective, supportive, and can be stable over time. |
RS.3Identifies and demonstrates approaches to addressing interpersonal conflict. | Describe what conflict is and feelings associated with it. | Identify conflicts as a natural part of life. | Reflect on their role in conflict. | Evaluate and reflect on their role in a conflict and use this information to inform their behavior in the future. |
🎯Responsible Decision-Making | ||||
RDM.1Considers ethical standards, social and community norms and safety concerns in making decisions. | Identify and follow shared bus, classroom and school norms. | Contribute to school safety by supporting classroom, lunchroom, and playground shared norms and rules. | Analyze the reasons for school rules and local laws and identify the ethical values and social norms they support. | Demonstrate ability to consider personal responsibility, social norms, safety concerns and ethical standards in making decisions. |
RDM.2Applies and evaluates decision-making skills to engage in a variety of situations. | Implement "Stop, Think, and Act" strategy when making decisions. | Identify a variety of decisions/problems that students have at school. | Identify and apply the steps of systematic decision-making, using creativity and innovation. | Regularly demonstrate use of systematic decision-making, by identifying a decision, gathering information, and assessing alternative resolutions. |
Using the Rubric
Assessment
• Use benchmarks to assess current skill levels
• Identify areas of strength and growth
• Track progress over time
• Set developmentally appropriate goals
• Document student achievement
Instruction
• Design lessons targeting specific benchmarks
• Differentiate based on grade level
• Integrate across curriculum areas
• Create learning progressions
• Align with ROYGBIV and DOES-C frameworks
Communication
• Share expectations with students and families
• Report on SEL development
• Facilitate goal-setting conversations
• Provide specific feedback
• Celebrate growth and achievement
Program Evaluation
• Measure program effectiveness
• Identify gaps in curriculum
• Guide professional development
• Support continuous improvement
• Demonstrate impact to stakeholders