SEL Screener Report and Guide
Understand your student's SEL screener outcomes
Translate this page
Would you like to speak with someone regarding your student's SEL Screener results? Are you interested in mental wellness resources for immediate needs or when school is not in session?
SEL Screener Results
Most Fairfax County Public Schools students complete the SEL screener. This survey offers valuable information about students' SEL skills, relationships, school environment, and well-being.
SEL Screener results are generally available within a few weeks after the test is taken. Parents and guardians can use the resources below when talking with school staff about screener results.
Grade 3-12 SEL Screener Parent/Guardian Report and Guide
Full Text: Grade 3-12 SEL Screener Report and Guide Letters
The following provides content from the division's social-emotional learning (SEL) screener report and guide for grades 3-12.
SOCIAL EMOTIONAL LEARNING (SEL) SCREENER – PARENT/GUARDIAN REPORT AND GUIDE, GRADES 3-12
To the Parents/Guardians of _________ SID: _______ GRD:___
Your child recently participated in the Social and Emotional Learning (SEL) Screener. The screener is used to gather information about your student’s perceptions of their skills, relationships, mood, and the school environment. SEL is the process through which all young people and adults acquire and apply the knowledge, skills, and attitudes to develop healthy identities, manage emotions, achieve personal and collective goals, feel and show empathy for others, establish and maintain supportive relationships, and make responsible and caring decisions (CASEL, 2021). These factors are critical to positive academic, social, and emotional success.
Students participate in the screener twice a year, providing updated information in these areas. Schools use the screener results along with other data to inform practices for SEL skill development and support mental wellness. These data also help staff and families partner together to promote student success.
Understanding this report: The SEL Screener results are your student’s report of their strengths and experiences at a particular moment in time. The “Student’s Average Rating” column provides the average of your student’s responses across all items in the topic area. The rating helps you understand if your student identified the topic as a strength or an area for growth. On all topics, ratings of 4.30-5.00 are High Strengths. Ratings of 3.50-4.29 are Strengths. Ratings of 2.00-3.49 are Medium Strengths. Ratings below 1.99 are Low Strengths. “No Rating” indicates that your student did not respond to questions for the topic.
Use results alongside your own knowledge of your student and other sources of information as you develop a more complete picture of your student’s current strengths and needs. You may wish to review this report together with your student. Here are some tips that may help:
– Reflect on both strengths and areas for growth. They are equally important.
– Remind your student that the report is not a "grade." Instead, it is a chance to reflect on their experiences.
– Follow your student's lead. Some students may be able to talk openly about their feelings and experiences. Others may need to have shorter conversations or be active while you talk.
– End on a positive note. What did your student learn about themselves? What are their strengths? Who can they ask for help if they need it?
If you have questions about this report or your student’s strengths and needs, please contact their teacher or school-based counselor, psychologist, or social worker. You can find additional information, including how to access support and resources when school is not in session, on the SEL Screener Report and Guide webpage (https://www.fcps.edu/node/43946).
Screener Window: ______ Administered By: __________
Screener Topic | What Does this Topic Look Like? | Student’s Average Rating |
---|---|---|
Responsible Decision-Making | Forming decisions that help me to be successful at my goals. | ___ |
Self-Management | Coping with my thoughts and feelings. Behaving in ways that help me manage different situations successfully. | ___ |
Social Awareness | Understanding the viewpoints of others. Considering how people with different experiences than me, or in different situations than me, might feel. | ___ |
Relationship Skills | Building and keeping strong and healthy relationships with adults and peers. Knowing how to "agree to disagree." | ___ |
Supportive Relationships | How supported I feel in my relationships with my peers and teachers. | ___ |
Valuing of School | Believing that school is useful and will help me in the future. | ___ |
Belonging | How much I feel that I am a valued member of my school community. | ___ |
Cultural Awareness and Action | How often my peers and I learn about, discuss, and confront issues of race, ethnicity, and culture in school. | ___ |
Challenging Feelings | How frequently I feel challenging emotions like worry or sadness. | ___ |
Positive Feelings | How frequently I feel positive emotions like happiness or hopefulness. | ___ |
Printable PDFs: Translations of Grade 3-12 SEL Screener Report and Guide Letters
Family Guide for Understanding SEL Strengths
Full Text: Talking with Your Student about the SEL Screener -- Families as Partners
Families as Partners: Social and emotional learning (SEL) occurs at home and school. Families are our student’s first teachers for social and emotional skills. Families continue to be important partners with schools. Together, they work to build social and emotional skills in the classroom and beyond. Examples of these social and emotional skills include:
- developing healthy identities
- understanding and managing emotions
- achieving goals
- feeling and showing empathy for others
- establishing and maintaining relationships
- making responsible decisions
The following resource will help you prepare for a conversation with your student about the results of the SEL screener. These results are a report of your student's experiences at a particular moment in time. This is not a standalone assessment. The SEL screener provides another source of information in addition to what you already know about your student.
You may be in touch with your child’s school to partner on next steps as needed. Schools can help support the growth of SEL skills and wellness for all students this school year.
Supporting Your Student’s Social Emotional Learning: Students have different learning strengths and needs. Consider how they learn best. Here are some tips for connecting with your student.
- Share with your student strengths noted in their report. Point out strengths you notice in daily life.
- Ease into a conversation with sentence starters using words, pictures, or symbols.
- Try “I feel __________ because ___________.” or
- “I notice you do (insert a skill) well. What do you think you do well?”
- Offer your student choices to support their learning and decision making.
- “When you were at ______what made you feel happy/sad/frustrated?”
- “Was it easy or hard for you to say hello to (name a friend) today?
- Use pictures to support your conversation and explain ideas that might be new. Create charts using words or symbols to help reinforce ideas. Visuals might include:
- Feeling words or pictures
- Coping ideas (i.e., music, taking a quiet break, asking for help, etc.)
- Family and school routines or schedules
- Use pictures of family members and friends when talking about relationships.
Use examples from real life experiences, books, and movies to explain new ideas.
Full Text: Conversation Starters and Skill Building Strategies -- Introduction
Here are some conversation starters and strategies to support the growth of your student's SEL skills. This information is organized by SEL Screener domains and topics. You may find that you will move naturally between topics as you talk, or that you cover more than one topic at a time.
Full Text: Conversation Starters and Skill Building Strategies -- DOMAIN: Supports and Environments
The environment in which students learn, which influences their academic success and social-emotional development.
Topic: BelongingHow much students feel that they are valued members of the school community. |
For younger students:
|
Topic: Supportive RelationshipsHow supported students feel through their relationships with friends, family and adults at school. |
For younger students:
For older students:
|
Topic: Cultural Awareness and ActionHow well a school supports students in learning about, discussing, and confronting issues of race, ethnicity, and culture. |
For younger students:
For older students:
|
Topic: Valuing SchoolHow much students feel that school is interesting, important, and useful. |
For younger students:
For older students:
|
Full Text: Conversation Starters and Skill Building Strategies -- DOMAIN: Skills and Competencies
The social, emotional, and motivational skills that help students excel in school, career and life.
Topic: Relationship Skills and Social AwarenessHow efficiently students establish and maintain healthy and supportive relationships, understand the perspectives of and empathize with others and effectively navigate settings with diverse individuals and groups. |
For younger students:
For older students:
For more ideas, explore Greater Good in Education (GGIE) Berkeley SEL for Students: Social Awareness and Relationship Skills |
Topic: Self ManagementHow well students manage their emotions, thoughts, and behaviors effectively in different situations and to achieve goals and aspirations. |
For younger students:
For older students:
For more ideas, explore GGIE Berkeley SEL for Students: Self Awareness and Self Management |
Topic: Responsible Decision MakingHow effectively students make caring and constructive choices about personal behavior and social interactions across diverse situations. |
For younger students:
For older students:
|
Full Text: Conversation Starters and Skill Building Strategies -- DOMAIN: Well-being
Well-being refers to students' positive and challenging feelings, as well as how supported they feel through relationships with others.
Topic: Positive and Challenging FeelingsHow frequently students feel positive and challenging emotions. |
For younger students:
For older students:
For more ideas, check out: |