Social and emotional skills are increasingly recognised as critical skills and are, thus, being increasingly introduced in the curricula in many countries.

Recent evidence demonstrates that stronger social and emotional skills are associated with more positive life outcomes, such as higher academic success, job performance and employment, while also positively correlating with better mental health, civic engagement and prosocial behaviours. Critically, evidence indicates different skills impact different life outcomes. Evidence also clearly establishes that most social and emotional skills are teachable, thus able to be improved through deliberate educational interventions, which is an incentive for teachers, schools and policy makers to invest in social and emotional learning.

The majority of assessments on social and emotional skills currently used in school settings relies on teacher- and self-reports, but there are also many promising innovative tools being developed, which rely on direct measurement of behaviours. In certain settings, these can potentially allow for more objective, standardised and comparable data on students’ performance.

Some educational actors voice concerns on whether focusing on social and emotional skills can compromise academic teaching. Others express the need for clear instructions on how to teach these skills effectively, while raising concerns about how to assess these skills fairly and use the assessment results appropriately.

This policy brief recommends strategies and actionable policies that policy makers can adopt to advance the social and emotional development of children and adolescents, ensuring high-quality, evidence-based teaching and assessment that lead to long-term benefits in students’ lives.