Grade Ranges & High School Applicability

Core Standards Overview

1. Standard 1 – Self-Awareness: Identifying emotions, personal assets, growth areas, and external resources.
2. Standard 2 – Self-Management: Regulating emotions, thoughts, impulses, and stress in constructive ways.
3. Standard 3 – Self-Efficacy: Motivating oneself, setting and adapting goals, persevering, and practicing self-advocacy.
4. Standard 4 – Social Awareness: Empathizing with and taking perspectives of individuals from diverse backgrounds and cultures. e factors.
5. Standard 5 – Social Management: Using communication and interpersonal skills to build healthy relationships and resolve conflicts.
6. Standard 6 – Social Engagement: Demonstrating school/community responsibility and contributing productively to shared environments.

Educator Mandate: State Explanation & Interpretation

Standard 1: Self-Awareness

• What the State Identifies: Demonstrating awareness of internal emotions, physical responses, strengths, cultural identity, and external supports (Benchmarks 1A–1C).
• What This Looks Like in High School: Recognizing sensory and cognitive fatigue during high-stakes testing, identifying personal accommodation needs, and evaluating individual strengths.
• Neurodivergent Teaching Considerations: High school Autistic and ADHD students frequently experience alexithymia (difficulty naming internal feelings) or delayed interoceptive processing. Expecting emotional identification without teaching internal body cues bypasses essential baseline processing.
• Communication Considerations: Use non-verbal check-ins, visual body maps, or digital rating scales rather than requiring immediate, on-the-spot verbal emotional labeling.

Standard 2: Self-Management

• What the State Identifies: Regulating emotions, thoughts, impulses, and stress constructively across diverse environments (Benchmark 2A).
• What This Looks Like in High School: Managing complex high school block schedules, handling sensory overload in crowded CTE labs or cafeterias, and navigating academic burnout.
• Neurodivergent Teaching Considerations: Executive dysfunction (working memory limitations, task initiation barriers) and sensory processing differences heavily impact self-management. Do not misinterpret sensory overload or executive burnout as willful non-compliance.
• Communication Considerations: Provide predictable visual schedules, pre-arranged sensory recovery passes, and structured transition supports rather than relying solely on abstract "self-control" prompts.

Standard 3: Self-Efficacy & Self-Advocacy

• What the State Identifies: Setting, monitoring, and adapting personal goals, engaging in problem-solving, and speaking up for personal rights and advocacy needs (Benchmarks 3A–3C).
• What This Looks Like in High School: Setting realistic study goals, adjusting strategies during academic setbacks, and requesting 504/IEP accommodations directly from instructors.
• Neurodivergent Teaching Considerations: Self-advocacy is a core component of self-efficacy. When executive dysfunction impairs multi-step planning under stress, structured advocacy frameworks eliminate barriers to action.
• Communication Considerations: Supply pre-formatted email templates, self-advocacy scripts, and choice matrices so students can request accommodations with minimal social friction.

Standard 4: Social Awareness

• What the State Identifies: Demonstrating awareness of others' emotions, perspectives, cultures, identities, and abilities while respecting diversity (Benchmarks 4A–4C).
• What This Looks Like in High School: Participating in diverse group projects, understanding differing communication styles, and recognizing systemic and structural barriers in society.
• Neurodivergent Teaching Considerations: Apply Damian Milton's Double Empathy Problem. Social breakdowns are often mutual communication mismatches between neurodivergent and neurotypical individuals, not a one-sided neurodivergent empathy deficit.
• Communication Considerations: Frame social norms as explicit, contextual rules to navigate rather than moral imperatives. Validate authentic neurodivergent interaction styles while offering functional tools to decode peer dynamics.

Standard 5: Social Management (Relationship Skills)

• What the State Identifies: Utilizing communication skills, resolving interpersonal conflicts constructively, and maintaining healthy relationships across diverse groups (Benchmarks 5A–5C).
• What This Looks Like in High School: Collaborating in team assignments, setting healthy boundaries with peers, and managing communication mismatches in social settings.
• Neurodivergent Teaching Considerations: Masking (suppressing natural traits to blend in) causes severe mental health fatigue and burnout. Relationship goals should prioritize authentic communication and mutual clarity over neurotypical conformity.
• Communication Considerations: Explicitly teach paralinguistics (decoding vocal pitch, cadence, volume, and posture) as objective context signals. Never demand forced eye contact or suppress natural self-regulatory movements (stimming).

Standard 6: Social Engagement (Community Contribution)

• What the State Identifies: Demonstrating school and community responsibility, collaborating to achieve collective goals, and contributing productively (Benchmarks 6A–6C).
• What This Looks Like in High School: Participating in school clubs, contributing to group projects, and advocating for accessible learning spaces for all students.
• Neurodivergent Teaching Considerations: Social engagement should reflect genuine inclusion, where neurodivergent students participate as authentic contributors without being pressured into neurotypical social roles.
• Communication Considerations: Offer flexible avenues for community contribution (e.g., written, visual, or non-traditional group roles) that match student communication preferences.

Neurodivergent Interpretation of Washington SEL

Example 1: Interoception & Stress Management in CTE / Science Labs (Standard 2: Self-Management)

• Scenario: A 10th-grade Autistic student in a Career-Technical Education (CTE) lab experiences intense sensory overload from machinery noise and fluorescent lights, leading to sudden shutdowns.
• SEL Strategy: Aligned with Washington Standard 2 benchmarks, the student tracks physiological stress indicators (e.g., elevated heart rate, muscle tightness) using an interoception check-in scale. The student uses a pre-arranged accommodation pass to step into a quiet library area for 5 minutes before safely returning to complete lab work.

Example 2: Paralinguistic Decoding in Academic Seminars (Standard 5: Social Management)

• Scenario: An 11th-grade ADHD student in a history seminar speaks rapidly at a high volume when passionate, which group members misinterpret as dominant or aggressive.
• SEL Strategy: Supporting Washington Standard 5 communication benchmarks, the teacher delivers a mini-lesson on paralinguistics (how pitch, volume, and pacing alter message delivery). The group adopts an objective communication checklist to evaluate ideas based on content rather than vocal inflection.

Example 3: Self-Advocacy Matrix for Post-Secondary Transitions (Standard 3: Self-Efficacy)

• Scenario: A 12th-grade student with executive function challenges struggles to ask teachers for extended deadlines on senior capstone projects, risking graduation credits.
• SEL Strategy: Grounded in Washington Standard 3 self-advocacy benchmarks, the student uses a 3-step self-advocacy framework: (1) Identify the project roadblock 48 hours early, (2) Select an approved IEP/504 accommodation option, and (3) Use a structured email template to submit the request to the teacher.

Official State Resources & Links

• OSPI Social Emotional Learning Main Page
• OSPI SEL Standards, Benchmarks, and Indicators Document (Link to external PDF)
• OSPI Washington SEL Implementation Guide (Link to external PDF)
  
• OSPI Multi-Tiered System of Supports (MTSS)
  

State-Specific FAQs