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The State of Evidence for Social and Emotional Learning: A Contemporary Systematic Review of Universal School-Based SEL Interventions

Sat, March 25, 11:30am to 12:15pm, Salt Palace Convention Center, Floor: 1, Meeting Room 150 B-C

Abstract

This systematic review provides the current evidence for universal school-based (USB) social and emotional learning (SEL) interventions for students in kindergarten through 12th grade from 2008 - 2020. We executed a pre-registered report of USB SEL interventions, in accordance with the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses (PRISMA) standards (Figure 1). The resulting sample of 392 studies were roughly split in design between randomized controlled trials (222, 56.4%) and quasi-experimental designs (170, 43.4%), with less than half (45.1%) reporting any implementation data. Outcome measures spanned the 12 domains of interest in frequency, with the most commonly measured domains being emotional distress/internalizing problems (43%), externalizing behaviors (41%), and skills (41%), and the least commonly measured domain being civic attitudes/behaviors (4%). Studies reflect 51 identified countries (16% of the sample did not report the country), and 196 studies (50%) were conducted in the same country where the SEL intervention was developed. The sample reflects 254 discrete SEL interventions, and 48 interventions are reflected more than once. Interventions were developed in 34 identified countries (33% of sample unknown), with the most frequently reported countries including the United States (37.8%), Australia (17%), England (10%), and Spain (10%). Thirty-eight percent (149) of studies explicitly self-identified interventions with the term SEL. Interventions were primarily delivered by teachers/aides (68.6%), and ranged from up to half a school year (42.1%), up to one whole school year (40.6%), or more than 1 year (15.8%). Regarding the features of effective programs (Durlak et al., 2011; CASEL, 2020), only 226 interventions met the criteria as sequenced, active, focused, and explicit (SAFE, 57%). Most interventions were classroom-based (95%), included free-standing lessons (81%), and a focus on school climate (68.4%). Two hundred and three (51.8%) interventions provided content beyond the core lessons, 149 (38%) were multi-component programs, and 125 (31.9%) offered tiered programming. Only 88 (24%) focused on adult SEL and only 140 (36%) explicitly integrated SEL into academic instruction. Most interventions reported no family component (41.3%), and nearly all studies did not have a community engagement component (81.5%). Most interventions included steps to increase program implementation, including pre-program training that was provided (9.1%), ongoing support or training throughout (0.5%), and detailed manuals (1.8%), with 73.2% providing some combination of these steps. Although nearly all interventions instructed skills in a specific order (95.9% taught intrapersonal skills before interpersonal skills), the content of the interventions ranged widely. In alignment with the EASEL Taxonomy, 74.7% taught cognitive regulation, 78.6% taught emotional processes, 78.8% taught social/interpersonal skills, 43.6% taught values, 25.8% taught perspectives, and 27.6% taught identity. Lessons within interventions ranged in duration from 6 to 180 sessions, with means regarding dosage of SEL interventions at nearly 45 minutes/session. Strengths and limitations of the current evidence as it informs the forthcoming meta-analysis of intervention effects and their implications for future SEL research, policy, and practice will be discussed.

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