Social emotional learning in schools began with Dr. James Comer in 1968 along with his colleagues at Yale University’s Child Study Center as they pioneered a program to support the whole child in education in two schools in Connecticut. After about ten years, they found a decline in behavior issues and an increased academic performance. In 1994, the organization, Collaborative for Academic, Social, and Emotional Learning (CASEL), formed to provide evidence-based strategies for developing SEL skills from preschool through high school (CASEL, 2022).

In a ten year systematic review of the international use of SEL programs in urban schools, research concluded that SEL interventions are “promising in supporting student outcomes” (McCallops et al., 2019, p. 24). These positive outcomes have led to independent studies of various SEL curricula and their effectiveness in regard to prosocial behaviors, bullying, grades, attendance, office referrals, and other effects.

A meta-analysis of the SEL program Second Step analyzed 27 studies of 18,847 participants internationally to evaluate the program’s effectiveness on knowledge and attitudes about violence and violence prevention, prosocial behavior outcomes, and antisocial behavior outcomes. The meta-analysis results found that SEL intervention had only small to moderate effect sizes. The findings stated that the “antisocial and prosocial outcomes were small and positive whereas the knowledge outcomes were large and positive” which shows that students must first learn the knowledge about the skills in order to then have the ability to implement them, however, the knowledge has not yet transferred into action (Moy et al., 2018, p. 332, 334).

Figure 1: Second Step Data, 2018

Another commonly used SEL program is called PATHS. To assess PATHS’s effectiveness on wellbeing, peer social support, and school connectedness, 45 schools in England were selected to assess the program’s effectiveness on these outcomes on students seven to nine years old for two years (Panayiotou et al., 2020, p. 236). When focusing on the program’s effect on early elementary students, the study found that the most promising factor in a successful implementation of the program is the level of dosage, or in other words, how much of the program was administered. In order for the program’s effects to be significant, a minimum of 67 percent of the program must be taught. Teaching more than 67 percent of the program did not lead to more improved outcomes (Panayiotou et al., 2020, p. 245). Therefore, it is recommended for teachers to consistently find time to prioritize the PATHS lessons since time is the greatest barrier to implementation and subsequent success.

References:

CASEL. (2021, September 9). Our history. CASEL. Retrieved May 18, 2023, from https://casel.org/about-us/our-history/

McCallops, K., Barnes, T. N., Berte, I., Fenniman, J., Jones, I., Navon, R., & Nelson, M. (2019). Incorporating culturally responsive pedagogy within social-emotional learning interventions in urban schools: An International Systematic Review. International Journal of Educational Research, 94, 11–28. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ijer.2019.02.007

Moy, G., Polanin, J. R., McPherson, C., & Phan, T.-V. (2018). International adoption of the Second Step program: Moderating variables in treatment effects. School Psychology International, 39(4), 333–359. https://doi.org/10.1177/0143034318783339

Panayiotou, M., Humphrey, N., & Hennessey, A. (2020). Implementation matters: Using complier average causal effect estimation to determine the impact of the Promoting Alternative Thinking Strategies (paths) curriculum on children’s quality of life. Journal of Educational Psychology, 112(2), 236–253. https://doi.org/10.1037/edu0000360