Oregon's Transformative SEL standards, explained for parents
Alongside subjects like math and science, the Oregon State Board of Education adopted Transformative Social and Emotional Learning (SEL) standards in 2023: the skills students use to understand themselves, manage their feelings, get along with others and make caring choices. Schools weave them into every subject. The same five domains run from kindergarten to 12th grade, because children grow at their own pace, and ODE says they are not a way to test children or find deficits.
Self-Awareness and Identity
Noticing your own feelings, thoughts and strengths, and understanding who you are.
- Emotions and strengths. Naming feelings, thoughts and strengths, and noticing how they change.
- Stress and calm. Recognizing how stress feels in the body and what helps you feel calm again.
- Identity. Understanding your identity and how it connects to your interests and sense of belonging.
Ideas for home
- Name feelings out loud, yours and theirs: “You look frustrated. Is the puzzle tricky?”
- Ask your child what helps them calm down, and notice it together next time.
- Talk about your family's story, languages and traditions, and what your child is proud of.
Self-Management and Agency
Handling feelings and stress, setting goals and taking initiative.
- Managing feelings. Expressing thoughts, emotions and stress in healthy ways.
- Goals. Making a plan, checking progress and adjusting to reach a goal.
- Agency. Showing courage, speaking up and taking initiative, alone and with others.
Ideas for home
- Practice a calm-down step together, like three slow breaths or a short walk.
- Help your child set a small weekly goal and check in on it together.
- Let your child make real choices, then talk about how they turned out.
Social Awareness and Belonging
Understanding others, valuing differences and helping everyone feel they belong.
- Identities. Noticing the similarities and differences that shape people and groups.
- Empathy. Using empathy and kindness to build healthy relationships.
- Belonging. Including and supporting others so everyone feels part of the community.
Ideas for home
- When reading a story, ask how a character feels and why.
- Read books and watch shows about families and communities different from yours.
- Ask your child how they could help a new or left-out classmate feel welcome.
Relationship Skills and Collaborative Problem-Solving
Building healthy relationships, working as a team and repairing harm after a conflict.
- Relationships. Communicating with care and respecting other people's perspectives.
- Teamwork. Solving problems together and making room for everyone's ideas.
- Repair. Noticing harm or conflict, knowing when to get help, and making things right.
Ideas for home
- Play a board game and practice taking turns and losing gracefully.
- After a disagreement, talk through what each person wanted and what could work for both.
- Model a real apology, then talk about how to make things right, not only say sorry.
Responsible Decision-Making and Curiosity
Asking questions, weighing information and making caring choices.
- Curiosity. Being curious, open-minded and thinking critically.
- Informed choices. Using information and facts to find fair solutions to problems.
- Impact. Thinking ahead about how choices affect yourself, your family and your community.
Ideas for home
- Wonder out loud together: “Why do you think that happened? How could we find out?”
- Before a family decision, list the options and what might happen with each.
- Plan a small way to help a neighbor or your community, then talk about how it went.
Common questions
No. ODE says the standards are not a way to test children or identify deficits, and they are not meant for tracking or labeling students. Some districts mention work habits or social skills on the report card, but how they do it is up to the district.
Self-Awareness and Identity, Self-Management and Agency, Social Awareness and Belonging, Relationship Skills and Collaborative Problem-Solving, and Responsible Decision-Making and Curiosity. Each domain has one standard with several practices and growth indicators.
Oregon wrote one set of standards for kindergarten through 12th grade on purpose. Children (and adults) can show these skills differently from day to day and place to place, so the standards describe growth over time rather than a target for each grade.
No. Gradelings practices subject skills in math, English language arts, science and social studies. Its kind hints, small goals and calm options can help children stick with hard things, but social and emotional skills grow through conversation, play and teamwork, so we suggest home activities rather than scores.
Ask your child's teacher or school counselor how the school builds these skills and what you can do at home. ODE's website has the full Transformative SEL Framework & Standards.
Next: understand the Oregon report card levels or browse all Oregon parent guides. Gradelings practices subject skills; social and emotional skills grow through conversation, play and everyday responsibilities.
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