The Effects of Universal Social and Emotional Learning on Students’ Academic Achievement: A Meta-analytic Review

• In Event: Accelerating Student Academic Achievement and Well-Being Through Social and Emotional Learning: Opportunities and Challenges

Abstract

Objective. Recent reports pointed out that many students are struggling in school learning experiences due to their low academic achievement. This study disentangles the scientific evidence of students’ academic benefits from Universal Social and Emotional Learning (SEL) programs and how SEL support can support students’ successful academic learning.

Perspective. Researchers emphasize the strong connection between students' social, emotional, and cognitive development, which is crucial for effective learning and positive academic outcomes (Jones & Kahn, 2017); children’s social and emotional growth can boost their academic success (Osher et al., 2016).

Methods. We adhered to the PRISMA guidelines for systematic reviews and meta-analyses (Page et al., 2021). Multiple coders conducted the coding procedures, achieving acceptable Kappa coefficients (mean kappa = 0.89). This study includes 40 universal SEL studies from 2008 to 2020, pooling 76 effect sizes of students' academic achievement from elementary to high school (k = 76, n = 40; see Figure 1). With 76 effect sizes and a high heterogeneity setting, the statistical power was estimated as higher than .99.

Data. This study is secondary analyses of the pre-registered and publicly available data by Cipriano et al. (2023). We reviewed students’ academic outcomes reported by 40 universal SEL programs over the last 13 years (2008-2020) from 33,737 students in grades 1-12. For the final data analysis, we used multiple packages in software R, such as ‘metafor’, ‘robumeta’, ‘meta’, and ‘clubSandwich’. We reported the results estimated by the sandwich estimator method based on the robust hierarchical meta-analysis approach (Tipton & Pustejovsky, 2015) and set the Rho (⍴) value as .60.

Results. Table 1 shows the SEL effects on students’ achievement outcomes. Students showed overall greater levels of academic achievement in universal SEL intervention groups compared to others in control groups (g = .101, 95CI = [ .035, .168], p = .004).
To be specific, we tested the academic effects of SEL using different measurements. Student achievement measured by grades was marginally significant (g = .104, 95CI = [-.006, .213], p = .062), while test-based outcomes were statistically significant (g = .122, 95CI = [.031, .213], p = .011). In different academic domains, SEL’s academic effect on literacy was g = .148 (95CI = [.029, .266], p = .017) and on math was g = .096 (95CI = [.013, .180], p = .026). The academic effects of SEL were g = .084 (95CI = [.009, .150], p = .029) in elementary schools and g = .262 (95CI = [-.052, .575], p = .084) in middle schools. SEL programs of longer duration showed a greater effect (g = .180, 95CI = [.066, .273], p = .004) compared to shorter ones (g = .025, 95CI = [-.036, .086], p = .388).

Significance. Students’ SEL experiences significantly and positively impact academic achievement. While SEL programs primarily promote social and emotional development, they also enhance academic growth. Our findings support that SEL contributes to equitable academic development and highlight the need for policies to reduce disparities in access to these opportunities.

Authors

• Cheyeon Ha, Yale University

• Michael McCarthy, Yale Child Study Center

• Michael Strambler, Yale School of Medicine

• Christina Cipriano, Yale University