Socio-Emotional Skills as Protective Factors for Homeless and Highly Mobile Children

• In Event: Marriott Roundtable Session 15
  In Roundtable Session: Protective Factors and Social and Emotional Learning Skills in Special Education and At-Risk Students

Abstract

In this longitudinal study, we predict annual growth in math achievement from social and emotional learning (SEL) skills, and we test whether these relations differ for homeless and highly mobile (HHM) students. An ethnically diverse sample of third through eighth grade students was divided into three mutually exclusive risk groups: HHM (N = 772), free and reduced-price lunch (FRPL; N = 9,099), and non-FRPL (N = 7,144). Predictors included students’ self-reported self-management (SM), growth mindset (GM), self-efficacy (SE), and social awareness (SA), as well as interactions between GM and other SEL skills. SM and GM were the strongest unique predictors of academic achievement for HHM students. An SM × GM interaction was especially protective for HHM students.

Authors

• Carrie Townley Flores, Stanford University

• Sarah Bardack, Stanford University

• Michael Sulik, Stanford University

• Hadar Baharav, Stanford University

• Jelena Obradovic, Stanford University