“When students participate in programs that help them to recognize and
control their emotions, it provides a long-lasting impact on not only their academic
performance, but overall well-being, according to new research.
Students who were part of social-emotional intervention training, not
only fared better than students who didn’t participate in development programs,
but the impact carried through for years. This led to such positive outcomes as
higher graduation rates and a decrease in drug use and other negative
behaviors.
The data
was compiled through a number of studies from the University of Illinois at
Chicago; Loyola University; the University of British Columbia; and the
Collaborative for Academic, Social, and Emotional Learning (CASEL). The
meta-analysis reviewed 82 school-based, universal social and emotional learning
interventions in both the U.S. and Europe, involving 97,406 children
ranging from kindergarten up through to high school.
The positive effects were seen in students regardless of race, school
location, or socioeconomic background.
The main purpose of “positive youth development” in the SEL programs is
to set young people on a positive developmental trajectory so that they have
the proper emotional skills to realize their potential and adapt to any
obstacles they may encounter. Fostering healthy emotional skills in students
serves as a combatant against the emotional distress that comes from the many
trials and tribulations of growing up.
Students who participated in the SEL programs had a college graduation
rate 11 percent higher than their peers who did not. Their secondary school
graduation rate was six percent higher.
Drug abuse and behavior problems were six percent lower for program participants,
as well as lower chances of being arrested or contracting an STD. Participating
students also were 13.5 percent less likely to develop a clinical mental health
disorder.
This research does not show which SEL programs are the most effective, but
the data from the studies speaks to a need for more SEL skills training in
schools, says Tim Shriver, CASEL chair and co-chair of the Aspen Institute’s
National Commission on Academic, Social, and Emotional Development. “We’re not
just reducing problem behaviors or improving attitudes; we’re shaping a
healthier, more positive, more fulfilling kind of life course,” Shriver
said. “This is marking a shift from SEL as a program to SEL as critical to
education.”
CASEL is currently working to make finding the right SEL program easier
for schools through its new District Resource Center. The resource center is a
compilation of various evidence-based SEL interventions already in schools”.
Article by Joel Stice, Education World
Contributor[1]
Student: Jeniffer Cabrera
[1]
http://www.educationworld.com/a_news/social-emotional-learning-has-positive-impact-success-students-according-new-study-936176731
