Evidence-based Social Emotional Learning Research Articles

A Mixed Methods Approach to Exploring Social Emotional Learning Program Implementation in an Alternative High School

Schools are turning to research-based social emotional learning (SEL) practices to improve student achievement and school progress. Research to support SEL implementation, however, has lagged behind outcomes-based evaluations, often resulting in poor SEL program quality and fidelity. This mixed methods study explores SEL implementation at a high-needs high school to determine the extent the program’s implementation adhered to the identified model. The findings indicate the study school only minimally implemented the evidence-based model due to barriers also cited in peer-reviewed research and, therefore, the evidence-based program was not implemented as intended. This study validates the need for research to shift attention from efficacious outcomes-based studies toward establishing best implementation practices to ensure interventions are transferred and implemented with fidelity. Doing so should strengthen adherence to evidence-based models, improve the overall quality of SEL program implementation, and increase the likelihood of achieving the desired outcomes attributed to SEL program implementation. Impact Statement Currently the lack of evidence-based SEL implementation practices places schools interested in SEL at risk of poor program implementation in their unique settings. The findings in this study indicate there is a need to develop evidence-based SEL program implementation practices to support implementation in a context-specific manner that produces the desired outcomes, particularly in schools serving diverse student populations focused on closing race and income-based achievement gaps.

RULER: A Social Emotional Learning Program’s Impact on School Climate

An urban public school system in the northeastern United States implemented the RULER Program, an evidence-based social emotional learning program, into schools in 2014. This case study investigates the impact of the RULER Program on school climate at one pre-K-8 school within that larger urban system. The study sought to determine if there are statistically significant changes in student suspensions, attendance, and academic achievement at that school since the initial implementation of the RULER Program by performing 2-proportion z tests. This study also sought to determine faculty and staff perceptions of school climate at the subject school by performing a descriptive analysis of survey data and coding interview and observation data for themes. The quantitative and qualitative data merge to provide a comprehensive explanation of the impact of a school wide social emotional learning program on school climate.

Reducing Adolescent Psychopathology in Socioeconomically Disadvantaged Children With a Preschool Intervention: A Randomized Controlled Trial.

Living in poverty increases exposure to adversities that undermine healthy development, impeding growth in the social-emotional and language skills that support adaptive coping and promote mental health. Evidence-based programs have the potential to improve current preschool practice and strengthen these early skills, potentially reducing risk for later psychopathology. The authors tested the hypothesis that an enrichment program in preschool would be associated with reduced levels of psychopathology symptoms at the transition from middle to secondary school. The Head Start REDI (Research-Based, Developmentally Informed) intervention was used to enrich preschool classrooms serving children from low-income families with an evidence-based social-emotional learning (SEL) program and a coordinated interactive reading program. Centers were randomly assigned to the intervention or usual practice, and 356 4-year-olds (58% White, 25% Black, 17% Latino; 54% female) were followed into early adolescence. Hierarchical linear models were used to evaluate intervention effects on teacher-rated psychopathology symptoms using the Strengths and Difficulties Questionnaire in grade 7 (ages 12-13) and grade 9 (ages 14-15), 8-10 years after the end of the intervention. Statistically significant intervention-related reductions were observed in conduct problems and emotional symptoms in the intervention group. In addition, the proportion of youths with clinically significant levels of conduct problems, emotional symptoms, and peer problems was reduced in the intervention group, with rates one-third of those in the control group. The study findings indicate that enriching preschool programs serving at-risk children with a relatively inexpensive evidence-based SEL program with interactive reading substantially improved the later benefits for adolescent emotional and behavioral health. This kind of SEL enrichment represents an approach that can leverage public investments in preschool programs to enhance public health.

Positive Outcomes of a Social-Emotional Learning Program to Promote Student Resiliency and Address Mental Health

This paper supports that social-emotional learning (SEL) programs are used as a method to increase resiliency and promote positive mental health in youth and will focus on one program, Positive Action (PA). This paper engages in a review of the literature that utilized the program to increase resiliency and address the mental health needs of students in school settings. PA is a program that is aimed at character development and decreasing problem behaviors. Several studies have been conducted with diverse populations and they found that this program does improve character development, decreases problem behaviors, and promotes resiliency. This review encourages practitioners to utilize evidence-based SEL programs to promote resiliency and increase positive mental health in the students that they work with. To my knowledge, this is the first article of its kind, making the necessary connection between already created and developed social-emotional learning programs and explicitly connecting the programs to building resilience among students. This analysis draws the connection between SEL programs and the promotion of student resiliency. SEL programs are designed to improve student outcomes that can include student achievement and reduce problem behaviors. These programs already have the theoretical foundation to increase resiliency; this analysis explicitly connects the SEL program to promote resiliency among students.

The Core Components of Evidence-Based Social Emotional Learning Programs.

Implementing social emotional learning (SEL) programs in school settings is a promising approach to promote critical social and emotional competencies for all students. However, there are several challenges to implementing manualized SEL programs in schools, including program cost, competing demands, and content that is predetermined and cannot be tailored to individual classroom needs. Identifying core components of evidence-based SEL programs may make it possible to develop more feasible approaches to implementing SEL in schools. The purpose of this study was to systematically identify the core components in evidence-based elementary school SEL programs, using the five interrelated sets of competencies identified by the Collaborative for Academic, Social, and Emotional Learning (CASEL) as an organizing framework. We present the components that were identified, and the rates at which each component was included in the sample of evidence-based SEL programs. The core components that occurred most frequently across programs were Social Skills (100% of programs), Identifying Others' Feelings (100% of programs), Identifying One's Own Feelings (92.3% of programs), and Behavioral Coping Skills/Relaxation (91.7% of programs). These findings illustrate the feasibility of systematically identifying core components from evidence-based SEL programs and suggest potential utility of developing and evaluating modularized SEL programs.

Students’ perception of relationship skills during an adventure-based learning unit within physical education

Adventure-based Learning (ABL) is a sequence of highly structured physical activities and periods of reflection (i.e., debriefs) with the aim to promote personal and social development (Cosgriff, 2000). ABL has been used as a synonym in describing Adventure Education or adventure programming conducted within physical education (PE) programmes (Dyson & Sutherland, 2014). ABL has been shown to have a positive effect on intrapersonal and interpersonal relationship skills (IIRS) amongst students, such as enhanced leadership skills, patience, and working with others (Passarelli, Hall, & Anderson, 2010; Quezada & Christopherson, 2005). Adventure youth camps have also shown positive results in regard to promoting IIRS (e.g., improving self-esteem and friendship) among adolescent populations (Thurber, Scanlin, Scheuler, & Henderson, 2007). Within PE settings ABL has the potential to help students develop IIRS (Cosgriff, 2000; Dyson, 1995; Sutherland & Stuhr, 2014), yet our knowledge regarding student outcomes from ABL within structured PE is limited, reflecting a paucity of research in this area. This qualitative case study aimed to narrow this research gap through an investigation of middle school students' perceptions of their IIRS while involved in a 15-lesson ABL unit of instruction during PE. Conceptual framework The social emotional learning (SEL) literature was used to help frame this study and as a means to connect the importance of using ABL to promote IIRS. According to the Collaborative for Academic, Social, and Emotional Learning (CASEL), SEL is the ability to problem solve, make responsible decisions, manage one's emotions, and build positive relationships with others (Collaborative for Academic, Social, and Emotional Learning, 2013). The study of SEL has risen since the 1990s and as such, many researchers believe SEL should be an integral part of the educational experience provided to our youth (Hoffman, 2009). The primary reason to teach and promote inclusion of SEL experiences within school is to help students acquire social skills (Cohen, 2006). SEL also plays a role in student academic success (Elias, Zins, Graczyk, & Weissberg, 2003). Specifically, CASEL has successfully examined and found advantages of using evidence-based SEL programmes to promote academic success within schools (CASEL, 2013). SEL instruction has also had positive effects on health, citizenship, IIRS, and improved happiness (Zins & Elias, 2006). Why use SEL to frame a study in ABL? There are similarities between the use of an ABL curriculum and SEL instruction that provide sound rationale for using the latter to frame this study. Studying ABL outcomes through the lens of SEL is supported by commonalities between these two types of programming. For example, the philosophical foundation of ABL is predicated on students learning how to develop community, cooperation, trust, and problem solving abilities (Frank, 2013), a commonality shared, and proven to be enhanced through SEL instruction (Zins & Elias, 2006). ABL and SEL specifically focus attention on the affective domain of learning and student learning outcomes associated with IIRS. Theoretically, both types of programming are designed to create community within the classroom and provide students with opportunities to work through issues of conflict (Cohen, 2006; Frank, 2013). ABL and SEL place high importance on providing students with the opportunity to talk and reflect on social-emotional experiences (Cohen, 2006; Stuhr & Sutherland, 2013; Zins & Elias, 2006). Other characteristics seen in ABL and SEL include the focus on creating emotionally safe, caring, and inclusive classroom environments in order to create ideal learning conditions for students (Cohen, 2006; Stuhr, Sutherland, Ressler, & Ortiz-Stuhr, in press). Thus, ABL can be seen as a type of SEL programme that focuses on promoting social and emotional competencies. …

Impact of the Common Core on Social-Emotional Learning Initiatives with Diverse Students

A leading challenge for educators in the twenty-first century is to effectively promote academic outcomes among diverse student learners. Indeed, students from diverse and/or minority ethno-cultural, linguistic, and socioeconomic backgrounds are much more likely to experience academic difficulties and dropout. The Common Core initiative has been endorsed nationally, with a majority of states and federal territories following suit rapidly with implementation of new standardized testing regiments in the hopes of improving student learning and raising academic knowledge of all students. While this desire to improve academic outcomes of children is laudable, critics contend that the new standards are being established hastily and without due care as to how implementation of the new testing standards will impact school programming, student engagement, or long-term student learning. Research increasingly is showing that implementation of evidence-based social-emotional learning (SEL) interventions by classroom teachers and other school personnel can improve both immediate and long-term social-emotional competencies and also can result in direct and measurable academic gains. Advocates fear that implementation of Common Core initiatives will result in increased instructional demands and classroom time related to helping students pass standardize testing requirements, at the expense of social-emotional programming and other classroom enrichment activities that may better promote long-term student outcomes. This article will explore the growing evidence base for SEL programming in the schools and will discuss how Common Core initiatives, while perhaps well-intentioned, may actually hinder rather support student achievement outcomes.

School Psychologists’ Knowledge and Use of Evidence-based, Social-Emotional Learning Interventions

This article describes the results of a national survey pertaining to school psychologists’ knowledge and use of evidence-based, social-emotional learning (SEL) interventions. For the study, 331 school psychologists responded to a survey that listed (a) techniques for identifying SEL interventions, (b) 16 SEL programs that have been identified by more than one source as having strong evidence for their effectiveness, and (c) factors that school psychologists may use for deciding on a program to use in their schools. Participants in the survey were asked to rate their opinions about selecting and using SEL interventions, as well as their knowledge and experience with various SEL programs that have received much research attention. Results of the survey indicated that school psychologists have limited awareness of the majority of published, evidence-based SEL programs. These results are of interest to school psychologists and other school personnel who make decisions about purchasing and implementing SEL programs. Implications for training and practice are discussed.