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Session Submission Summary

Implementation findings from three different approaches to social emotional learning in Brazil early education

Mon, April 15, 3:15 to 4:45pm, Hyatt Regency, Floor: Pacific Concourse (Level -1), Pacific F

Group Submission Type: Paper Session

Proposal

Social, emotional, and behavioral skills matter for many areas of development including learning, health, and wellbeing. Research indicates that classrooms function better and students learn more when children have the skills to manage emotions, focus attention, persist in the face of difficulty, and navigate relationships with peers and adults (Ladd, Birch, & Buhs, 1999; Raver, 2002). SEL is especially relevant for children exposed to violence and poverty-related stressors, as children’s social and emotional development is sensitive to the negative effects of chronic poverty and trauma (Evans & Kim, 2013; Noble, Norman, & Farah, 2005; Shonkoff, Boyce, & McEwan, 2009; Raver et al., 2013).

Research from the US demonstrates that early childhood interventions focused on social-emotional development can improve children’s skills and buffer them from some of the negative effects of early adversity (Bierman et al., 2008; Diamond et al., 2007; Raver et al., 2009). Recent meta-analyses find that high-quality SEL programming improves classroom climate and teacher practices, as well as children’s social, emotional, behavioral, and academic outcomes (Durlak et al., 2011; Sklad et al., 2012; Jones, Barnes, Bailey, & Doolittle, 2017). However, implementation of SEL programs is variable, and this variability is hypothesized to be an important moderator of program outcomes (Durlak, 2016; Humphrey, Barlow, & Lendrum, 2017). A large-scale review of prevention programs found that in more than 500 studies, implementation practices had an impact on key outcomes (Durlak & DuPre, 2008). Specifically, higher quality SEL implementation is positively associated with better student outcomes (Domitrovich & Greenberg, 2000; Durlak et al., 2011) suggesting that SEL program implementation is essential to study, especially when considering sustainability over time.

Despite growing interest in SEL from the international education community, most SEL research comes from the US, and little is known about whether and how the benefits of SEL programming will hold true across diverse international, cultural, and political contexts. While some recent findings suggest that SEL programming has the potential to be effective in low-income and conflict settings beyond the US (Aber et al., 2017; Dolan & Weiss-Yagoda, 2017), findings are mixed (Kim, et al., 2018). We don’t yet have a global knowledge base for SEL and even less is known about how various dimensions of SEL implementation may influence program impacts in international contexts (IRC, 2017).

This panel focuses on implementation findings from three different studies of SEL programming in early education settings in Brazil. Over the past several decades, Brazil has made significant strides in improving access to early childhood education services for young children. Enrollment rates in crèches, for example, doubled between 1999 and 2009, and continue to rise (Evans & Kosec, 2012). Several national policies have been developed in recent years to support improvements in early childhood access and quality, including the Base Nacional Curricular Comum and the Marco da Primeira Infância. At the same time, the quality of early educational programs in Brazil remains low, particularly for children from low-income backgrounds (Campos, 2010). Furthermore, most of Brazil’s early learning focuses on care and basic literacy. Relatively little attention is given to the development of social-emotional skills that have been shown to be critical for children’s schooling as well as later life outcomes. By integrating SEL into education, each of the projects in this panel aim to support Brazilian teachers to enhance the quality of instruction in early learning classrooms, in hopes of improving developmental outcomes for children at scale.

The papers in this panel describe three different approaches to promoting SEL: (1) a traditional programmatic approach using lesson-based scripted curriculum, (2) a novel strategy-based approach using brief games that are designed to build executive function skills, and (3) a flexible approach using strategies and routines that target a range of SEL skills which teachers select based on their needs and preferences. All three studies take place in low-income urban communities in Brazil and are focused on teachers’ integration and implementation of SEL in the classroom. By investigating different SEL modalities, these papers contribute to the growing knowledge base about what types of SEL can be integrated and sustained in low-resource contexts.

The first paper uses data from a randomized control trial (RCT) of a comprehensive SEL program called Programa Compasso in 94 public primary schools in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. The authors use a two-level regression model to explore what factors predict program implementation. Preliminary findings indicate that teachers already engaged in social-emotional practices at the start of the study were more likely to complete a greater number of lessons, and teachers with higher self-efficacy at baseline were more likely to report positive perceptions of the program’s impact on children, compared to teachers who did not report these characteristics at baseline. The second paper uses data from an RCT of Brain Games in 60 public crèches (early childhood centers) in São Paulo, Brazil. The paper uses mixed-methods data on teachers’ activity use and reflections on the games, specifically focusing on dosage (measured by teachers’ daily logbook), fidelity and quality (measured via monthly observation tool), and perceptions of successes and challenges (collected via structured conversations with teachers). The third paper uses qualitative data from a study designed to adapt and field test SEL Kernels, a set of strategies pulled from a database of 25 evidence-based SEL programs commonly used in the US. Researchers collected data in early childhood crèches in São Paulo and Paraty via focus groups with teachers and families, classroom observations, and structured conversations with teachers. Preliminary findings include the SEL skills most frequently identified by teachers and parents as important to the Brazil early learning context, and specific SEL challenges and needs to emphasize during teacher trainings in Brazil.

Each of these studies provides insight into the features of adaptation and implementation that can be considered in future efforts to integrate SEL programming into early education in Brazil. These implementation papers highlight the multiple ways that researchers and program developers can design, deliver, and evaluate SEL programs in international contexts, with special attention to both initial uptake and sustainability over time.

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