Grow Through Reading research
LITERATURE-DRIVEN GROWTH IN social emotional learning
Research Based Curriculum
At the University of South Florida, we collaborated with a local childcare agency to implement this curriculum with young children. Findings from our pilot study indicate the following:
What Are The CASEL Frameworks?
The Five Core Frameworks, developed by CASEL, form a trusted foundation for nurturing essential social-emotional skills in children. These include Self Awareness, Self Management, Social Awareness, Relationship Skills, and Responsible Decision-Making. Each area plays a vital role in helping children understand themselves, manage emotions, build positive relationships, and make thoughtful, ethical choices.
What Are Florida’s Resiliency Standards?
Florida’s Resiliency Standards, adopted in March 2023, are a statewide educational initiative designed to equip students with essential life skills such as perseverance, empathy, critical thinking, and responsible decision-making. These standards integrate character development, civic responsibility, and life skills into the K–12 curriculum, aiming to foster resilience and prepare students to navigate challenges effectively.
Perseverance
Perseverance
Continuing to try even when things are hard (Resiliency Florida, 2024).
Grit
Grit
Working consistently toward a long term goal (Resiliency Florida, 2024).Gratitude
Gratitude
Being thankful and sharing appreciation with others (Resiliency Florida, 2024).Responsibility
Responsibility
Owning my actions, using good judgement and practicing self control (Resiliency Florida, 2024).Responsible Decision Making
Responsible Decision Making
Thinking about all options and outcomes to make the best choices(Resiliency Florida, 2024).Critical Thinking & Problem Solving
Critical Thinking & Problem Solving
Gathering information to think through and determine the best solution (Resiliency Florida, 2024).Self Awareness & Self Management
Self Awareness & Self Management
Understanding and governing out thoughts, actions and impact on others (Resiliency Florida, 2024).Mentorship
Mentorship
Giving or asking for support, guidance, training or expertise (Resiliency Florida, 2024).Citizenship
Citizenship
Helping my neighbor, community and nation (Resiliency Florida, 2024).Honesty
Honesty
Telling the truth (Resiliency Florida, 2024).Empathy
Empathy
Understanding others thoughts, feelings and actions (Resiliency Florida, 2024).How Do These Overlap?
We reviewed Florida’s Resiliency Framework and the Florida Department of Education’s guidelines for implementing new K-12 resiliency standards. With experience using the CASEL Social-Emotional Learning (SEL) framework in research and teaching, we noticed overlapping qualities between the two frameworks, such as responsible decision-making, self-awareness, self-management, and relationship skills.
To examine their alignment, we created a crosswalk comparing the five CASEL competencies with the 11 Florida Resiliency Characteristics (FRC). Our process involved collaboratively reviewing the definitions, individually identifying alignments between FRC and CASEL indicators, and discussing our selections. When both researchers identified two or more matching indicators, we considered the FRC aligned with a CASEL competency. The final crosswalk is presented below.
| Self Awareness | Self Management | Social Awareness | Relationship Skills | Responsible Decision Making | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Perseverance | 🟢 | 🟢 | |||
| Grit | 🟢 | ||||
| Gratitude | 🟢 | 🟢 | 🟢 | ||
| Responsibility | 🟢 | 🟢 | 🟢 | ||
| Responsible Decision Making | 🟢 | 🟢 | 🟢 | ||
| Critical Thinking & Problem Solving | 🟢 | ||||
| Self Awareness & Self Management | 🟢 | 🟢 | 🟢 | ||
| Mentorship | 🟢 | 🟢 | |||
| Citizenship | 🟢 | ||||
| Honesty | 🟢 | 🟢 | 🟢 | ||
| Empathy | 🟢 | 🟢 | 🟢 |
