Approaches to Equity in Systemic SEL Implementation Research: A Scoping Review of the Literature

• In Event: Rooted in History, Emboldening the Future: Scoping the SEL Implementation Literature and Enacting Statewide Change

Abstract

Background
Scholars have called for deeper analysis of equity in the social emotional learning (SEL) literature. We define equity as seeing injustice, acting every day to disrupt inequities, creating the conditions we want for learning, teaching, and leading, and systematically accounting for our progress toward these ends. Theoretical frameworks that intersect equity and SEL include Transformative SEL (tSEL), which calls for the disruption of power/privilege and inequitable environments, and attempts to critically examine root causes of inequity, facilitate meaningful co-learning experiences, and develop collaborative solutions to promote individual and collective thriving. While tSEL acknowledges the legacy of racialized oppression in the U.S. and focuses on inequities that impact development (Jagers et al., 2019), it does not go as far as humanizing alternatives to SEL, which call for a complete “reimagining of possibilities, redistribution of power, and recovery from the vestiges of colonialism and inherent, intersecting systems of oppression” (Camangian & Cariaga, 2022, p.905). While previous reviews have explored equity in SEL interventions (Cipriano et al., 2023; Jones et al., 2025), none have explored how equity is conceptualized or operationalized within SEL implementation, particularly as related to systemic SEL implementation. Drawing on the tSEL and humanizing literature, we conduct a scoping review to amplify suggestions for improving educational systems for SEL practice and equitable thriving.

Methods
Our systematic search queried the SEL implementation literature with iterations of the terms transformative and humanizing. 1607 articles were retrieved, 652 duplicates were removed, and 652 articles were removed through title/abstract screening. A full text review of 263 articles excluded 147, resulting in a corpus of 118 articles. Articles were coded by a team of three; 15% of articles were coded to consensus by the whole team to create a codebook, and the codebook was applied to remaining articles (33 articles each).

Results
We observed that there were a variety of motivations for infusing equity in SEL - that varied on a spectrum of criticality from remediating at-risk youth to interrogating racial, ethnic, socioeconomic inequalities or educational disparities (e.g.disciplinary outcomes, special education placements, or achievement gaps) as a driver of their interest in equity - and often had cultural validity as a central goal. Most articles took up the tSEL framework for conceptualizing equity, with some bringing in critical race theory and indigenous survivance. Some literature pointed out fundamental incompatibilities between SEL and equity, arguing that SEL ignores the existence of racism and centers white middle class norms The literature also suggested many strategies for infusing equity in SEL were named, such as developing critical consciousness and racial identities, and adopting universal designs and restorative practices.

Significance
The strength of tSEL and humanizing alternatives to SEL are the calls for disruption and reimagination, outlining the ways in which SEL falls short of achieving equity. Neither tSEL nor humanizing alternatives to SEL have, based on this review, been substantially explored in practice. Future research needs to integrate ideas proposed by articles in this review into practice-based solutions that achieve the goals of equity.

Authors

• Valerie Shapiro, University of California - Berkeley

• Tiffany M. Jones, Colorado State University

• Addison Duane, Sacramento State University

• Kamryn Morris, University of Washington

• Ashley Metzger, University of California - Berkeley