The Effect of Social-Emotional Learning Program on Social-Emotional Skills, Academic Achievement and Classroom Climate

Abstract

This research aimed to examine the effects of “You Can Do It! Education” and “Emotional and Social Development” which are social-emotional learning programs, on fourth-grade students’ development of social-emotional skills, academic achievement, and perceptions of the classroom climate in Turkey. A mixed methods research design was used to investigate the effectiveness of the programs. Fourth-grade students were randomly assigned to the groups. Two classes in YCDI! Education and ESDP are taught each week. Thus, each program was applied for 8 weeks in the experimental groups. Besides, elementary teachers conducted their regular Turkish lessons for the control and experimental groups. Reflective diaries were kept and observations were made by the researcher during the experiment to explain the findings in detail. The results indicate that You Can Do It! Education program had a positive effect on students’ social-emotional skills, academic achievement, and classroom climate perceptions in contrast to the Emotional and Social Development Program. Findings will contribute to the development of elementary students' social-emotional learning in national and international contexts.