SEL teaches kids to deal with their emotions. It's under attack as 'woke' indoctrination.

STORM LAKE — Surrounded by 13 wriggling classmates sitting on a colorful mat, kindergartner Dara Peralta-Ponce thought briefly as her teacher asked her what made her unique.

In a quiet voice, Dara talked about holding her friend's hand to comfort her when she was feeling bad.

Her story of kindness helped kick off a conversation in teacher Teresa Miller's classroom about what made each student different and special.

As happens in elementary classrooms, many of the students — instead of listening quietly while sitting crisscross applesauce — began calling out answers. Miller gently encouraged students to sit on their bottoms.

"Get your eyes up here, because you have a good brain, and I want you to use it," she said, redirecting the children back to the day's lesson.

The exercise is part of a larger push this school year in the Storm Lake Community School District to incorporate social-emotional learning into the first 15 minutes of elementary students’ day.

Educators in the northwest Iowa district see social-emotional learning, known as SEL, as a benign way to teach children how to cope with their feelings constructively and get along with fellow classmates.

But SEL has taken on a much more sinister aspect among many conservatives, who have dismissed it as a thinly veiled attempt at liberal indoctrination in public schools. Florida lawmakers have banned its use in schools.

Others have compared it to critical race theory — the study of systemic racism in U.S. institutions that has become a target of conservative lawmakers and parents .

In deep red Iowa, SEL increasingly has come under attack from Republicans as allegedly engaging in "woke" principles and endorsing a left-leaning political agenda. Lawmakers have introduced legislation to eliminate teaching social-emotional learning, along with critical race theory.

And the Iowa Department of Education has scrubbed reams of SEL links and documents from its website — material that districts had relied on to help instruct students — as part of what the department called a "review."

In Storm Lake, SEL means calming messages, music, meditation or dance

But Iowa districts like Storm Lake remain committed to SEL instruction, saying it has proven invaluable in helping young children and teens cope with unsettling emotions such as fear, anger or anxiety by learning problem-solving techniques and building connections between students and staff.

Educators say students are able to learn better when they feel connected and safe. That, in turn, builds better classrooms, schools and communities, they contend.

“Nurturing SEL skills isn't merely about individual growth; it's about building a community where empathy, resilience, and interpersonal understanding thrive — a society we all, I hope, desire to live in,” said Storm Lake Superintendent Stacey Cole.

In Storm Lake, the SEL initiative is known as the morning message. An elementary student's day will often start with some variation of quiet music and meditation or dancing before a short discussion.

Some teachers have a daily check-in system — which parents can opt out of — meant to help identify students or families who might need additional help. The district also has begun offering a new leadership class to its high school students.

“We decided that we wanted the building to be a calming environment,” said Storm Lake Elementary Principal Barb Lange of the elementary school’s morning message routine.

Lawmakers introduce bills to restrict SEL; some parents raise concerns

In Iowa, at least two bills have been introduced since 2023 aimed at curbing or ending social-emotional learning and related practices in schools.

In early February, House Republicans put forward House File 2545(formerly House File 2329) that would have required the Iowa Department of Education to create a “plan to eliminate the teaching of critical race theory and social and emotional learning.” Lawmakers have since removed the requirement from the bill.

Much of the bill focuses on a required review of the state’s high school graduation requirements, core curriculum, core content standards and educational standards. It remains alive for possible passage this legislative session.

Gov. Kim Reynolds’ office did not respond to a request for comment about the bill.

During the 2023 legislative session, state Sen. Sandy Salmon introduced Senate File 85 which would have prohibited the Iowa Department of Education from featuring on its website or "otherwise disseminating any references or materials related to or created" for Collaborative for Academic, Social and Emotional Learning, SEL or "using such materials as a framework for social and emotional learning.”

Most of the bill focused on requiring parental consent before students take surveys in schools.

Collaborative for Academic, Social and Emotional Learning or CASEL is a nonprofit, nonpartisan clearinghouse for SEL programs used worldwide.

Salmon did not return requests for comment.

Researchers and educators say much of the backlash toward SEL comes from misinformation.

During a Feb. 13 committee hearing for House File 2545, bill co-sponsor state Rep. Skyler Wheeler, R-Hull, compared social-emotional learning with critical race theory.

At the time, Wheeler expressed concern that the methods could be used to "install and insert some of these different things to divide kids based off of traits they can't control," such as their race.

Linn-Mar and Van Meter school districts have both made headlines after parents and caregivers protested the district's use of SEL. Van Meter community members also asked the district to drop curriculum curated by CASEL, accusing it of teaching kids "gender ideology." Van Meter ultimately stuck with its curriculum.

SEL 'happens everywhere' during the school day

Researchers say there is little to no evidence to back up concerns about SEL.

Yale Child Study Center associate professor Christina Cipriano and her colleagues conducted a worldwide study of more than 400 SEL curriculums and accompanying materials over a 13-year period. The team found no content that included critical race theory or references to antiracist practices.

A search during the study for content about patriotism also yielded no results, she said.

"Our science suggests that CRT is not embedded within SEL programs," Cipriano said.

In addition, removing SEL from schools would not be an easy process.

“It happens everywhere,” said Alyson Finley, Des Moines Public Schools director of student services. “In the lunchroom, how we say 'please' and 'thank you,' how we walk through the lunch line, how we sit together with our peers and talk with them.”

Related: Rural Iowa has a mental health care crisis, and school superintendents want more help

The Iowa Department of Education's 2022 report on Social-Emotional Learning Competencies backs up how commonplace SEL is in schools.

“While there are many methods of initiating something considered ‘new’ in a school’s systems, it is important to remember that social-emotional learning is already taking place every day in schools,” the report states.

Iowa Department of Education removes SEL references

Even so, the state Department of Education has made attempts to move away from SEL.

In 2023, with what educators say was no notice, the department removed most of its guidance and references to SEL and CASEL from its website, dozens of links, as well as SEL-related news releases, documents and guidance.

Information related to SEL and CASEL was removed as part of a review the department was conducting as it got ready to move content to a new website, said Heather Doe, the department’s spokesperson, in May.

Related: Disruption or free speech? Linn-Mar mom sues over yearlong ban from school board meetings

“As part of that work, we are working through web content in regards to plain language and to ensure the information and resources we share are accurate, timely and relevant,” Doe said.

The website changes have been completed, but most of the references to SEL have been removed.

No federal mandates or laws require a state to provide schools with SEL resources, Doe said. Districts make their own curriculum decisions including “curricular materials, textbooks and other classroom materials,” she said at the time.

If asked, the state will help districts look for resources, she said.

"The department provides many resources and supports to promote student engagement in learning, which include employability skills, behavior management, responsible decision-making, and setting and achieving positive goals," Doe said earlier this month.

The department’s student services webpage includes information on behavioral health screening, healthy and safe learning environments, protecting student safety and supports for learning and performance, Doe said.

The department's school counseling page offers additional information on bullying and harassment and Positive Behavioral Interventions and Supports or PBIS.

The Department of Education also provides support for "schools to establish therapeutic classrooms to support learners whose emotional, social or behavioral needs interfere with their ability to be successful in their current classroom environment and provides resources to support the mental health needs of students," she said.

But none of that is the social-emotional learning competencies and guidance that districts say was so valuable.

The Department of Education’s materials served as “the foundation for everything we do,” said Matt Cretsinger, Marshalltown Community School District director of special services.

Without that guidance, each district is forced to create its own social-emotional learning curriculum from scratch, he said. Then the issue becomes whether students across the state are learning similar skills, he said.

Several education experts and school officials said the state's move away from SEL is puzzling because studies and anecdotal evidence show the benefits.

The skills students learn from social-emotional learning help them in and out of school, said Maurice Elias, a psychology professor at Rutgers University and director of the Rutgers Social-Emotional and Character Development Lab.

"They should take off the term 'education' from the department's name," Elias said. "Their decision reflects miseducation. Better, Department of Ideology, or Political Expediency."

Kids are not 'crybabies' for embracing their feelings, teacher says

While the political debate around SEL continues, Storm Lake officials have no plans to change their approach.

“Psychologists stress that research highlights the crucial role of Social and Emotional Learning (SEL) skills in fostering student learning, mental health, and overall well-being,” Cole said. “Yet, if bans succeed, it's our children and teenagers — many of whom are already grappling with crises — who will bear the brunt. At a time when anxiety, depression, and suicidal tendencies are escalating, depriving them of SEL support would exacerbate these issues.”

Often, parents of younger students tell staff they are concerned their child lacks self-awareness, social awareness, self-management and other crucial skills, Cole said.

“If we fail to prioritize the development of these skills, we risk shaping a society that falls short of our collective aspirations,” she said.

It will be a few months before the district has enough data to measure the impact of the focus on social-emotional learning for Storm Lake's students, officials said.

“We know that our students are coming from some trauma situations. They're coming from low socioeconomic situations," Lange said. "We want to meet them where they're at. And this seemed to be a really good fit for us. We have seen other teachers trying it, and it was working and we wanted to build (on that work).”

Miller knows students have come through her classroom in the past who needed more support. She appreciates that there is now a strategy in place that focuses on all of a child's needs.

“Sometimes I think people get the idea that if a child is acting out it is because they weren't disciplined or there's no structure in the home,” she said.

In reality, they may be dealing with a big issue in their personal life, Miller said.

“I think it's nice that now they're recognizing it openly,” she said of people embracing their feelings. “I know that some older people will say, ‘Oh, you're just a bunch of crybabies now’ … and it's like ‘No, we're just finally realizing that stuff hurts, and it's OK to have those feelings, and it's proper to deal with them.’”

Samantha Hernandez covers education for the Register. Reach her at (515) 851-0982 or svhernandez@gannett.com. Follow her on Twitter at @svhernandez or Facebook at facebook.com/svhernandezreporter.

This article originally appeared on Des Moines Register: Why is SEL in Iowa schools under attack as 'woke' indoctrination?