Moving to School Accountability 2.0 in the United States: Do Socio-Emotional Learning Standards Promote Students' Well-Being?

• In Event: Whole Child/Youth Development as an Imperative: Education Reform Challenges in Asia and the United States

Abstract

Objectives
Historically, states have measured the educational progress of their students based primarily on academic proficiency outcomes. A typical example of this approach is embodied in the No Child Left Behind (NCLB) policy. The Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA), which replaced NCLB in 2015, gives state policymakers opportunities to redesign accountability systems and incorporate non-academic measures. In light of the policy shift (‘school accountability 2.0’), this study explores the progress and variations of states’ standards for children's socioemotional learning (SEL), and the relationship between SEL standards, learning environment, and well-being outcomes. This study gives critical reviews of American standards-based education policy movement and advances understanding of the policy challenges for whole child/youth development.

Perspectives
This study is grounded on the ecological systems theory (Bronfenbrenner, 1976) that looks to understanding SEL in the interrelated context of multiple environments; child development and learning is viewed according to the ‘whole-child approach’ that encompasses both academic proficiency and socioemotional well-being as central to college, career and citizenship readiness (Darling-Hammond, 2015). Our notion of ‘protective environment (PE)’ acknowledges the family-school-community connections that play a crucial role for SEL; PE creates crucial learning conditions such as safe and inclusive school climate and culture. Our combined construct of SEL and PE guides accompanying analysis of state SEL development.

Data & Methods
This mixed-methods study draws upon multiple data sources. The study of SEL standards and measures utilize 50-state surveys on formal state standards and measures as well as reports—CASEL, 2018 and Center for American Progress (Martin, Sargrad, & Batel, 2016). Protective environment and child socioemotional well-being measures were derived from 2016 National Survey of Children’s Health (NSCH) data which involved 50,212 child-level questionnaires completed by parents (approximately 985 per state). Correlation and regression analyses were conducted to explore the relationships of student demographics, SEL standards, academic proficiency, and protective environment for child well-being at the state level.

Findings and Significance
Opportunities under ESSA have sparked several states to adopt SEL standards as part of, or in conjunction with, existing or revised academic learning standards. State SEL standards have a common emphasis on intrapersonal, interpersonal, and decision-making skills. They are often scattered and lack connections to academic standards, however, and data are rarely collected in a way that informs school accountability for progress in these areas. State SEL standards tend to focus narrowly on specific skills and competencies, but fail to address learning environment gaps for whole child development. Even when we control for demographic risk factors such as child poverty level, protective environment in and of itself stands out as the key driving factor of students’ academic proficiency and socioemotional well-being.
The study informs policy actions to enact meaningful SEL standards and ensure their effective implementation for whole child development: reenvisioning school accountability policy for whole child development; well-balanced integration of academic and socioemotional learning standards and measures; investment in school/teacher capacity-building and a protective environment for child well-being; and effective partnership between schools, families, and community agencies for interventions (e.g., community school programs).

Authors

• Jaekyung Lee, University at Buffalo - SUNY

• Namsook Kim, University at Buffalo - SUNY

• Ayse Cobanoglu, Yale University

• Michael O'Connor