Social-emotional standards for secondary students in the United States: A systematic review and synthesis

Social-emotional (SE) standards have garnered substantial attention recently, both among the research community and in public policy forums. While state-level standards in early childhood and elementary schools have been common for over a decade, standards in secondary schools have only recently emerged in some states. In phase one, we conducted a systematic review of existing state standards in the United States for secondary schools in 2022. This review included an examination of standaloneSE standards and those embedded in the state’s gifted, vocational, health, physical education, and counseling standards. For each state’s standards, weidentified grade level and foundational frameworks. We found that 24 states had standalonestandards for secondary students, and 20 states had standards applicable to secondary students embedded within health, physical, gifted, career technical education, or counseling curriculum. We identified 2,200 state SE standards for secondary students. In phase two, we synthesized this unwieldly list to 11 SE competencies supported by developmental science, and prioritized in the American School Counselor Association standards, Common Career Technical Core Standards, and adaptive functioning indicators in the APA’s DSM-5. Implications for practice and research are discussed regarding the development of SE standards for secondary students