The Associations of Classroom Quality and Social Emotional Wellbeing for Preschool-Aged Children

• In Event: Poster Session 05
  In Poster Session: PS 05 Topic - Education, Schooling

Abstract

Social emotional wellbeing, which encompasses an individual’s energy and feelings, mood regulations, expressions, and sensory reactions, is believed to be learned by personal experience, observations, and interactions with others (McCormick et al., 2015; Seligman, 2012). Social emotional wellbeing in early childhood has been linked with the ability to form better peer relationships, higher academic success, and better mental and physical health throughout life (Jones et al., 2017; McCoy et al., 2018). Preschool-aged children who attended a high-quality classroom where social emotional support was provided by teachers are more likely to develop these skills (Abenavoli & Greenberg, 2016; Cash et al., 2019; Jones et al., 2017; McCoy et al., 2018). However, the previous studies examining classroom quality with global classroom quality measures such as Classroom Assessment Scoring System (CLASS) may not be able to sufficiently capture individual children’s experiences with high quality support, which may be more closely related to these children’s social emotional well-being than global classroom quality. A new observation tool, the Teacher Observation in Preschool (TOP) scale (Farran, 2017), employs a snapshot approach which allows researchers to collect a more in-depth and accurate data of the teacher’s interactions with children. Therefore, the present study examined the associations between classroom quality using the Teacher Observation in Preschool scale (TOP) and children’s gains in social emotional wellbeing over a year in Head Start programs.
Data from the present study was secondary data from a Head Start program evaluation study conducted by a research institute in a midwestern state. This data included 372 participants who were nested within 60 classrooms from fall 2018 through spring 2019. Table 1 represents participants’ demographic information (e.g., gender, race/ethnicity, and home language). Children’s social emotional well-being and protective factors were assessed using the Leiter-3 Scale (Roid et al., n.d.) and the Devereux Early Childhood Assessment for Preschools (DECA-P2, LeBuffe & Naglieri, 2012). The Teacher Observation in Preschool (TOP, Farran, 2017) was used to assess the classroom quality at the classroom level. Analysis was conducted using a multilevel random intercept and slope model to examine associations between classroom quality and changes in social-emotional well-being during a Head Start program after controlling for child characteristics (i.e. age, gender, race, home language) and teacher perceived children’s positive behavior aspects.
Results revealed that children’s social emotional well-being was significantly associated with both level-1 and level-2 predictors. The child’s social emotional wellbeing and protective factor when entering the school year positively predicted their emotional wellbeing at the end of the school year. Results showed that teachers who were observed interacting and engaging in learning activities while providing academic instruction significantly increased the child’s social emotional wellbeing. On the other hand, teachers who were observed using a negative tone and making mild threats to children significantly seemed to link to children’s social emotional wellbeing in a negative way. By investing in quality classroom environments, teachers may better support social emotional wellbeing in the children they are serving.

Authors

• Samantha L Evans, University of Oklahoma
  Presenting Author

• Shinyoung Jeon, University of Oklahoma
  Non-Presenting Author

• Kyong-Ah Kwon, University of Oklahoma
  Non-Presenting Author