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University of Chicago study shows social-emotional learning reaps benefits for students, schools

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* The 74

A recent study out of the University of Chicago showed high schools that prioritized social- emotional development had double the positive long-term impact on students as compared to those that focused solely on improving test scores.

As part of their work, researchers determined school’s effectiveness based upon its impact on students’ social-emotional development, test scores and behaviors. They concluded that the most effective schools provide a welcoming environment for students, an experience that shapes their later years. […]

Researchers drew their data from six cohorts of 160,148 of eighth and ninth grade students who attended CPS between 2011–12 and 2016–17: 42% were Black, 44% were Hispanic and 86% received free or reduced-price lunch, a key indicator of poverty. The college attendance-related data came only from those who attended ninth grade for the first time between 2012 and 2014. They totaled 55,564 students. […]

The study found that students who attended a highly effective school — one ranked by the researchers as being in the 85th percentile based on their collected data and student and teacher survey responses — saw their test scores improve more than those at other CPS campuses. They noted, too, that attendance increased for this group while suspensions and disciplinary infractions dropped. The likelihood of graduation by 2.41 percentage points and the chance of attending college within two years of graduation by 2.57 percentage points. They also were 20% less likely to be arrested on campus as compared to the average rate of arrest for all high schoolers in the district.

* From the study

Three aspects of school climate—Supportive Environment, Ambitious Instruction, and Collaborative Teachers— were the strongest predictors of school effectiveness. These results are consistent with other evidence pointing to the importance of relationships in educational settings, which feature prominently in these climate measures.

One important implication of this work (and other work with similar findings) is that it may be more productive to understand rigor and relationships as functioning in concert rather than independently.

Consider, for example, a school community in which educators collaborate with one another to develop rigorous instructional strategies, teachers and students build relationships that enable the creation of classwork and experiences that feel relevant to students, and students feel empowered to deeply engage with challenging work given the support of their teacher and peers.

* The study also looked at the short and long-term impact of social-emotional development on students

In the short-run, we examined the impact of attending an effective school on ninth-grade measures, including math and ELA [English, Language Arts] test scores, SED [social-emotional development], and behaviors. We found that, on average, attending a school at the 85th percentile of school effectiveness, vs. one at the median, improved test scores by 8.90% of a standard deviation, self-reports of SED by 10.2% of a standard deviation, and observed behaviors by 5.71% of a standard deviation.

In the long-run, effective schools promoted successful progression through high school and into post-sec education. Attending a high school at the 85th percentile of effectiveness, vs. the median, increased the likelihood of high school graduation by 2.41 percent- age points and college-going (within two years of high school completion) by 2.57 percentage points (see Table 2). It also reduced the likelihood of being arrested on school grounds by 0.80 percentage points. The average school-based arrest rate was 3.72%, and thus this seemingly small reduction in school-based arrests amounted to about a 20% reduction in the likelihood that a student was arrested on school grounds. […]

We found that relative to schools’ impacts on test scores, schools’ impacts on SED mattered about as much or more for students’ short-run trajectories. […]

The long-run impact of fostering SED was also greater than fostering test score growth. Fostering SED yielded nearly double the impact on high school graduation relative to fostering test score growth. Fostering SED was also 15–20% more impactful for improving enrollment in college and reducing school-based arrests relative to fostering test score growth. Comparing across all VAMs, fostering SED had the greatest impact on educational attainment and fostering behaviors had the greatest impact on reducing school-based arrest.

* Related…

posted by Isabel Miller
Friday, Jul 21, 23 @ 11:22 am

Comments

  1. ===Consider, for example, a school community in which educators collaborate with one another to develop rigorous instructional strategies, teachers and students build relationships that enable the creation of classwork and experiences that feel relevant to students, and students feel empowered to deeply engage with challenging work given the support of their teacher and peers.===

    Good schools & educators have been doing this for years, unless, of course, a few school board members decide to impose their personal views on the administration and teachers.

    Comment by Interim Retiree Friday, Jul 21, 23 @ 12:36 pm

  2. Interim Retiree is 100% correct on all accounts.

    Comment by JS Mill Friday, Jul 21, 23 @ 1:34 pm

  3. Head Football Coach Lane Kiffin and Ole Miss became the 1st college football program to implement mental health training this off-season.

    Makes you wonder more about Northwestern.

    Northwestern would never consider hiring Kiffin, but Fitzgerald?

    Yeah… culture of the athletic department.

    Comment by Oswego Willy Friday, Jul 21, 23 @ 2:04 pm

  4. To the post,

    Mental health as part of a whole package, in grade school, in junior high… high school… at the collegiate levels of high athletics, the need to early on engage students not only as part of a learning experience but as learning in life, mental health should concern us all no matter age, and especially no matter in educational age too… and if engagement makes students better, in all measures, then this idea of “readin’, ritin’, rithmatic only” isn’t best for academic success, looking at Kiffin and Ole Miss, and understanding the necessity they are now providing… it’s these studies that are greater measure.

    Comment by Oswego Willy Friday, Jul 21, 23 @ 2:16 pm

  5. Schools are not hospitals. We don’t have the resources or the expertise to support a slew of medical professionals. The state has pushed more and more on us and it is totally wrong. We take it and run and do the best we can because we care about our kids. But we are 100% not qualified for this heavy lift. Politicians push it our way because it gets them off the hook. INstead they need to build out infrastructure that is accessible in ALL areas of the state with trained and licensed professionals. They need to recruit and fund training, including medical and nursing school in an intentional way. Maybe it costs billions, but that is what they would do if they were even remotely serious.

    Comment by JS Mill Friday, Jul 21, 23 @ 2:53 pm

  6. “Head Football Coach Lane Kiffin and Ole Miss became the 1st college football program to implement mental health training this off-season.”

    Fantastic idea.
    Total health concept.
    Makes better athletes and better people.

    Comment by btowntruth from forgottonia Friday, Jul 21, 23 @ 3:17 pm

  7. - JS Mill -

    I do very much appreciate your take and you always make me think, especially in education matters.

    Thank you for that, good points, all

    Comment by Oswego Willy Friday, Jul 21, 23 @ 3:22 pm

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