Context Matters for Social-Emotional Learning: Examining Variation in Program Impact by Dimensions of School Climate

Profiles of teachers' classroom management style: Differences in perceived school climate and professional characteristics

Teachers are tasked with not only delivering high-quality, evidence-based academic instruction, but they are also responsible for managing student behavior within the classroom and school. To manage these behaviors, teachers can use a variety of strategies that result in a range of outcomes on student and school-wide functioning. Although an overreliance on punitive strategies has been shown to worsen behavior problems, positive strategies and social-emotional learning (SEL) techniques are associated with more favorable outcomes for students' global functioning. In a sample of K-12 teachers (N = 111), we examined direct associations between teachers' use of behavior management techniques (i.e., punitive, positive, and SEL) and their self-reports of perceived school climate. Furthermore, latent profile analysis was used to identify teachers' behavior management styles and evaluate whether teachers' characteristics and perceived school climate predicted behavior management style. Findings not only replicate previous research examining direct associations between behavior management techniques and school climate, but also extend the theoretical understanding of teachers' behavior management approaches. Three profiles of teacher behavior management style emerged, including a (a) Moderate Proactive profile characterized by frequent use of positive strategies and SEL techniques and infrequent use of punitive strategies; (b) Moderate Reactive/Proactive profile characterized by moderate use of both punitive strategies and positive strategies, as well as slightly lower use of SEL techniques; and (c) High Proactive profile characterized by very frequent use of positive strategies and SEL techniques and very infrequent use of punitive strategies. Use of these profiles may enhance understanding of how school psychologists can support teachers' behavior management practices through consultation or professional development to promote effective school and classroom behavior management practices.

Effectiveness of a social-emotional learning program on developmental assets and subjective well-being

The present study was done to evaluate the effectiveness of a Social Emotional Learning (SEL) intervention designed based on social marketing on developmental assets and the well-being of female adolescents in Yazd, Iran. This mixed-method quasi-experimental study was conducted in 2018-2019. A total of 190 female students were selected by multi-stage sampling from the female middle and high schools in Yazd, Iran. A SEL intervention designed based on social marketing principles was implemented among the parents and students of the intervention group. The control group did not receive any intervention. Quantitative data were collected in three stages: pre-test, post-test after two months, and follow-up after six months via Developmental Assets Profile and EPOCH measure of wellbeing. A qualitative evaluation was also performed after the intervention. Results of the Repeated-Measures test indicated that the intervention significantly influenced social competence (p-value = .02). However results did not show improvement in the positive identity development of the participant girls. Qualitative findings suggested the effectiveness of the intervention on social competencies and positive identity. Based on the results of the present study, the SEL program might have a significant but small positive effect on the social competencies of the participating adolescents.

"ZARPAR"-Educational Program for Cognitive and Behavioral Development: Results of an Experiment to Evaluate Its Impact on Antisocial and Pro-Social Behavior

Using an experimental design and a multi-measure and multi-informant approach, the current study sought to evaluate the impact of the early developmental prevention program "ZARPAR"-an intervention designed as a social and cognitive skills training program, that seeks to promote children's behavioral adjustment. A sample of elementary school children (experimental group n = 37; control group n = 66), attending Portuguese schools, was assessed before and 6 months after the intervention on the program's key-dimensions: behavioral problems, social skills, and executive functioning. Based on parent and teacher reports, the results largely suggested that the intervention had no effect or, for some dimensions, even the existence of negative outcomes. Possible reasons for these results are discussed. The current study highlights that, despite the overwhelmingly positive message about developmental prevention programs, not all interventions work, thus reinforcing the need for rigorous evaluations, in order to enhance the success of future interventions.

Evaluation of competency and job satisfaction by positive human psychology among physical education teachers at the university level: A systematic review

The study aimed to determine how a teacher's competency at the university level related to professional commitment and job satisfaction. This systematic review intends to determine physical education teachers' competency and job satisfaction. One of the main objectives of physical education programs is to increase various activities of the student, especially physical activities and participation in it. Students who participate in physical activities feel a variety of emotions, and these may enhance their mental and physical well-being. The study concerns the teachers' satisfaction in effectively influencing and teaching the students. Job satisfaction refers to teachers' feelings and positive attitudes toward their work. The five components of job satisfaction are pay, promotion, supervision, co-workers, and work itself. Job satisfaction is broken down into these five components. Work as a teacher is one of the most important components of a teacher's or teacher's success at work and one of the key criteria for the school's achievement. Electronic libraries were explored, including Google Scholar, PubMed, Embase, Bing Academic, and Cochrane. Appropriate keywords were used for searching the literature. By applying certain inclusion and exclusion criteria, the final studies were selected for evaluation. The study's findings showed that physical education instructors had high levels of teaching competence and moderate levels of job satisfaction. The findings demonstrated that job satisfaction and competency rise when degree levels rise, and relatedness, skill, and autonomy self-motivation ensue. Students' motivation for physical education was greatly influenced by the teachers' support, motivation, and mastery climate. The self-determination theory positively enhances physical education from the teacher's perspective on PE, increasing instruction effectiveness.

Choose Your Own Adventure: Promoting Social and Emotional Development Through Outdoor Learning

Primary school (i.e., Kindergarten to Grade 3) educators typically support students' social and emotional learning (SEL) through targeted lessons delivered in the classroom; however, integrating SEL strategies into other subject areas both within and outside the classroom context can expand their ability to support students' SEL. Research suggests that outdoor learning (OL) can help promote students' social and emotional development. Thus, this study explored qualitative data generated through focus group interviews with 36 Canadian primary school educators who implemented OL to understand their perspectives on the benefits of OL for primary school students, including whether SEL promotion was perceived as a key benefit. Most of the themes generated through thematic analysis pertained to students' social and emotional development and aligned with SEL competencies defined in a dominant SEL framework. One overarching theme suggested that educators perceived the emergent, unstructured nature of OL as driving the SEL-related benefits. Findings suggest that educators can leverage the OL context to help integrate SEL more deeply into their teaching practice.

Interventions integrating health and academic interventions to prevent substance use and violence: a systematic review and synthesis of process evaluations

BACKGROUND

Within increasingly constrained school timetables, interventions that integrate academic and health education to reduce substance use and violence may hold promise as a category of intervention that can positively affect both academic and health outcomes. There are no current systematic reviews exploring the effectiveness of such interventions or factors that affect their implementation.

METHODS

A total of 19 bibliographic databases and 32 websites were searched. References were also extracted from the reference lists of included studies, and experts and authors were contacted to identify relevant studies. We included reports with no restrictions on language or date. References were screened on title/abstract and those not thus excluded were screened on full report. Data extraction and appraisal followed the Critical Appraisal Skills Programme, Evidence for Policy and Practice Information and Co-ordinating Centre and Cochrane tools. Extracted process data were qualitatively meta-synthesised for common themes.

RESULTS

Seventy-eight thousand four hundred fifty-one unique references were identified, and 62 reports were included. A total of 16 reports (reporting on 15 studies of 12 interventions) evaluated process. Key facilitators of integrated academic and health curricula were supportive senior management and alignment of the intervention with school ethos; a positive teaching environment, including positive perceptions around the ability to be flexible in the adaptation and delivery of integrated academic and health curricula; positive pre-existing student and teacher attitudes towards intervention content; and parental support of interventions, largely through reinforcement of messaging at home. Important barriers were over-burdened teachers, with little time to learn and implement integrated curricula.

CONCLUSION

Several useful facilitating and inhibiting factors linked to the implementation of interventions that integrate academic and health education for reduced substance use and/or violence were identified, providing tentative but insightful evidence of context-specific issues that may impact intervention success. However, overall, there is still a considerable gap in our understanding of how to achieve the successful implementation of these interventions.

School-Based Caries Prevention, Tooth Decay, and the Community Environment

The school and community context can contribute to inequity in child oral health. Whether the school and community affect the effectiveness of school-based caries prevention is unknown. The association between the school and community environment and dental caries, as well as their moderating effects with school-based caries prevention, was assessed using multilevel mixed-effects regression. Data were derived from a 6-y prospective cohort study of children participating in a school-based caries prevention program. For the school and community, living in a dental-shortage area and the proportion of children receiving free or reduced lunch were significantly related to an increased risk of dental caries at baseline. Caries prevention was associated with a significant per-visit decrease in the risk of untreated caries, but the rate of total caries experience increased over time. Caries prevention was more effective in children who had prior dental care at baseline and in schools with a higher proportion of low socioeconomic status students. There was significant variation across schools in the baseline prevalence of dental caries and the effect of prevention over time, although effects were modest. The school and community environment have a direct impact on oral health and moderate the association between school-based caries prevention and dental caries. Knowledge Transfer Statement: School-based caries prevention can be an effective means to reduce oral health inequity by embedding dental care within schools. However, the socioeconomic makeup of schools and characteristics of the surrounding community can affect the impact of school-based care.

Links Between Contexts and Middle to Late Childhood Social-Emotional Development

Guided by the social-emotional learning (SEL) framework, we studied developmental trajectory patterns of five key competency outcomes spanning middle through late childhood: altruism, empathy, self-efficacy, aggression, and hyperactivity. We then assessed their links to middle childhood home, parental, and community contexts. Data from the Institute of Education Sciences' Social and Character Development Program, which comprised nearly 2,400 elementary school students who were followed from Grades 3 through 5, were analyzed using growth mixture modeling. Three trajectory groups emerged for each outcome, which were linked to childhood contexts. Positive parenting was associated with a lower likelihood of following a negative empathy trajectory among children. Neighborhood intergenerational closure promoted a stable self-efficacy trajectory. Residing in a high-risk community was linked to increasing normative beliefs about aggression. These findings suggest an important role of contexts in influencing childhood social-emotional development in the later elementary school years.

Schooling and Children's Mental Health: Realigning Resources to Reduce Disparities and Advance Public Health

Schools have long been the primary setting for children's mental health services but have neither the resources nor the expertise to manage these services independently. The critical importance of school success for children's adjustment provides a strong rationale for schooling as an essential component of children's mental health services. In this article, we review evidence for how schooling and mental health coalesce, suggesting an alignment of school and community mental health resources that prioritizes successful schooling as a key mental health outcome. We describe collaborative principles and ecological practices that advance a public health focus on children's mental health while also reducing the burden on schools to maintain mental health services. We close with a model of mental health services illustrating these principles and practices in high-poverty urban schools and propose future directions for research and practice to promote positive mental health for all children and youth.

Profiles of Student Perceptions of School Climate: Relations with Risk Behaviors and Academic Outcomes

School climate has been linked to a variety of positive student outcomes, but there may be important within-school differences among students in their experiences of school climate. This study examined within-school heterogeneity among 47,631 high school student ratings of their school climate through multilevel latent class modeling. Student profiles across 323 schools were generated on the basis of multiple indicators of school climate: disciplinary structure, academic expectations, student willingness to seek help, respect for students, affective and cognitive engagement, prevalence of teasing and bullying, general victimization, bullying victimization, and bullying perpetration. Analyses identified four meaningfully different student profile types that were labeled positive climate, medium climate-low bullying, medium climate-high bullying, and negative climate. Contrasts among these profile types on external criteria revealed meaningful differences for race, grade-level, parent education level, educational aspirations, and frequency of risk behaviors.