While social emotional learning (SEL) and equity have always been important, the events of the past year have brought these issues to the forefront. From social isolation to civil unrest to equity gaps, students and educators are facing challenges that a myopic focus on academics cannot address. To help K-12 districts and schools support SEL and equity in education, 7 Mindsets, the leader in online SEL solutions, today announces SELEQUITY™.
Coming in summer 2021, SELEQUITY is the latest iteration of the 7 Mindsets portal. The 7 Mindsets portal currently includes a wealth of resources and tools to help build the social emotional health of educators and students, and support equity in schools and classrooms. With the new SELEQUITY portal, 7 Mindsets is taking intentional actions to infuse the principles of justice, equity, diversity, and inclusion (JEDI) into the 7 Mindsets curriculum and professional development for the 2021-2022 school year.
Within the 7 Mindsets curriculum, all lessons are aligned to 10 SEL competencies. For the 2021-2022 school year, all lessons will be aligned to the Learning for Justice (formerly Teaching Tolerance) Social Justice Standards, American School Counselor Association Mental Health Standards, and Centers for Disease Control and Prevention National Health Standards.
Each of the 18 courses that are currently offered in the 7 Mindsets curriculum will include updated SEL and growth mindset-based lessons in the SELEQUITY portal. The lessons will be developed in an equitable and culturally responsive manner with diverse images, stories, and videos, and engaging activities and experiences. Seven new JEDI in Action lessons will also be added to each course. A new course for prekindergarten students will be added as well. In addition, 7 Mindsets will release a Spanish translation for course one in each grade level band to meet the needs of students who are English language learners or participating in dual language immersion programs.
The SELEQUITY portal will provide access to a new JEDI Educator professional development course, which will expand upon the introductory Educator Equity course in the 7 Mindsets portal. The new course will offer an in-depth look into JEDI principles and concepts to enable educators to connect in relevant ways to the current environment, and lives and experiences of each student. These strategies will help educators positively impact SEL and JEDI, as well as students’ mental health and academic performance.
“Historically, SEL and equity have been compartmentalized. Yet, justice, equity, diversity, and inclusion are inseparable from social emotional learning. That’s why we are launching SELEQUITY,” said Lupita Knittel, president of 7 Mindsets. “The principles of SEL and JEDI are necessary for the holistic development of students and educators. We believe than an intentional, cohesive focus on these principles will lead to a more inclusive, culturally relevant, and impactful curriculum and professional development to help every student and educator thrive.”
