This post is part of our 'Quick Reads for Curious Beans' series, offering bite-sized research on child development to help busy parents turn scientific insights into clear, actionable takeaways!
Research has shown that social and emotional learning (SEL) programs do wonders for kids, helping them grow academically, socially, and emotionally. These programs arenât just about teaching kids how to manage their emotionsâtheyâre also proven to boost academic performance, improve relationships, and build resilience. With more schools embracing SEL, the positive effects are clear! In this post, weâll dive into how SEL is making a difference in childrenâs lives, from helping them ace their studies to strengthening their social skills and emotional well-being.
Improvement in Academic Achievement
SEL programs have been shown to improve academic achievement by an average of 11% compared to control groups (Durlak et al., 2011)
SEL programming improved students' academic performance by 11 to 17 percentile points across the three reviews including 317 studies and involving 324,303 children(Payton et al., n.d.).
Long Lasting Effects
A meta-analysis involving 82 schools with 97,406 kindergarten to high school students revealed an average of 12.93% increase in academic performance after 6 months to 18 years post SEL intervention (Taylor et al., 2017)
Cumulative Positive Outcomes
A study of 414 third grade students showed that participation in multiple SEL services is linked to noticeable improvements in children's social-emotional, academic skills, and student-teacher relationships, with a scaled increase in benefits correlating to the number of SEL activities engaged (Zhai et al., 2015).
Higher Implementation Quality Linked to Better Student Outcomes
A study evaluated the implementation quality of social-emotional learning (SEL) programs across 424 studies from 53 countries, involving 575,361 students. Students at the schools with high implementation quality showed much better improvements compared to low implementation schools: Their social-emotional skills improved 57% more and their academic performance was 37% better (Cipriano et al., 2023).
References
- Durlak, J. A., Dymnicki, A. B., Taylor, R. D., Weissberg, R. P., & Schellinger, K. B. (2011). The Impact of Enhancing Studentsâ Social and Emotional Learning: A Meta-Analysis of School-Based Universal Interventions. Child Development, 82(1), 405â432. http://www.jstor.org/stable/29782838
- Payton, J., Weissberg, R. P., Durlak, J. A., Dymnicki, A. B., Taylor, R. D., Schellinger, K. B., & Pachan, M. (2008). The Positive Impact of Social and Emotional Learning for Kindergarten to Eighth-Grade Students: Findings from Three Scientific Reviews. Technical Report. Collaborative for Academic, Social, and Emotional Learning (NJ1).
- Taylor, R. D., Oberle, E., Durlak, J. A., & Weissberg, R. P. (2017). Promoting Positive Youth Development Through School-Based Social and Emotional Learning Interventions: A Meta-Analysis of Follow-Up Effects. Child Development, 88(4), 1156â1171. http://www.jstor.org/stable/45046371
- Zhai, F., Raver, C. C., & Jones, S. M. (2015). Social and Emotional Learning Services and Child Outcomes in Third Grade: Evidence from a Cohort of Head Start Participants. Children and youth services review, 56, 42â51. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.childyouth.2015.06.016
- Cipriano, C., Strambler, M. J., Naples, L. H., Ha, C., Kirk, M., Wood, M., Sehgal, K., Zieher, A. K., Eveleigh, A., McCarthy, M., Funaro, M., Ponnock, A., Chow, J. C., & Durlak, J. (2023). The state of evidence for social and emotional learning: A contemporary metaâanalysis of universal schoolâbased SEL interventions. Child Development, 94(5), 1181â1204. https://doi.org/10.1111/cdev.13968
Planted with love, Jade