Importance of Socio-Emotional Learning for Academic Achievement of Homeless and Highly Mobile Students

• In Event: Promoting Positive Adaptation Among Homeless and Highly Mobile Students

Abstract

A large body of research has established socio-emotional learning (SEL) processes as an important predictor of children’s academic success, with implications for their long-term health and well-being (Durlak, Weissberg, Dymnicki, Taylor, & Schellinger, 2011; Moffitt et al., 2011). Specific examples of SEL typically include self-management (e.g., effectively regulating thoughts, attention, and emotions), and social awareness (e.g., feeling and showing empathy, and forming positive relationships) (Jones & Bouffard, 2012). Recently, SEL has been expanded to incorporate self-efficacy (e.g., belief in one’s ability to succeed), and growth-mindset (e.g., belief that one’s intelligence is malleable and can grow with effort) (Bandura, 1977; Dweck, 2000).
Homelessness and highly mobile (HHM) students have been widely shown to be at greater risk for lower academic achievement compared to their stably housed peers (Buckner, 2008; Cutuli et al., 2013; Herbers et al., 2012; Obradović et al., 2009). Recent increases in the number of HHM students enrolled in U.S. public schools has intensified interest in identifying protective factors that can promote school success for these high risk students (Cutuli & Herbers, 2014; National Alliance to End Homelessness, 2012). Indeed, prior research has shown that children who exhibit better self-management skills are more likely to demonstrate positive school adaptation (Masten et al., 2012; Obradović, 2010). The current study expands previous work on the role of SEL in HHM’s student academic outcomes by testing the following research question: Do multiple domains of students’ self-reported SEL predict growth in academic achievement?
The study included data for 1,140 HHM students from a large, ethnically and socio-economically diverse urban school district in California (see Table 2 for descriptive statistics). The sample comprised HHM students who self-reported on their SEL processes (i.e., self-management, social awareness, growth mindset, and self-efficacy) on the 2015-16 California Office to Reform Education (CORE) survey. Outcomes included English Language Arts (ELA) and mathematics scores collected from state standardized assessments in the 2015-16 academic year. Control variables included gender, race/ethnicity, free and reduced price lunch status, grade level, attendance rate, and prior math and ELA achievement. All models included random intercepts at the school level to account for the clustering of students within schools.
Results for two multilevel regression models are presented in Table 3. Student self-management and growth mindset positively predicted ELA and math achievement, controlling for significant contribution of previous achievement as well as gender and attendance rate. These findings corroborate and extend prior work linking self-management skills to positive school adjustment for HHM students (Masten et al., 2012; Obradović, 2010) by showing the unique contribution of multiple domains of SEL to longitudinal change in the academic achievement of HHM students. Results point to the importance of self-management and growth mindset as protective factors for HHM students and suggest the benefit of targeting these skills to promote educational success for this vulnerable population.

Authors

• Sarah Bardack, Stanford University

• Hadar Baharav, Stanford University

• Jacob Leos-Urbel, Stanford University

• Jelena Obradovic, Stanford University