Tailor SEL programming to developmental level, from preschool skill practice through adolescent status-and-respect opportunities¶

Strategy · All strategies
Evidence · 4 claims (3 for, 1 mixed) · 8 studies (5 quant-synthesis, 2 review, 1 causal), q3–q4 · 5 of 8 report an effect size · 1 claim rests on one study

Description¶

The article recommends matching SEL approaches to children's developmental stage: young children benefit from programs focused on "skill development, skill supplementation and skill revision" using sharing, sociodramatic play, and teacher feedback; elementary practices include Morning Meetings and inquiry formats; adolescent programs build on desires for status and respect through community service and student-led discussions of developmental topics.

Design Implications¶

Context¶

Requirements¶

• Implementation tailored to children's developmental level; adolescent programs must provide meaningful opportunities to use SEL skills

Constraints¶

• Isolated mindfulness programs show mixed results, suggesting integrated curricula with classroom teachers may be key

Target Learners¶

• preschool children
• elementary students
• adolescents

Target Learning Goals¶

• emotion understanding and regulation
• social-emotional skills supporting academic learning

Affordances¶

• Poverty Related Stress Framework

Claims¶

• SEL programs implemented well show positive impacts on targeted skills and academic outcomes, including meta-analytic support [+M]
• Social-emotional learning benefits persist at follow-up [+M]
• SEL programs improve social emotional skills [+S]
• Universal school-based SEL programs improve students' behaviour, with a small and, in recent randomised trials, negligible effect on academic achievement [~S]

Related Strategies¶

• Provide self-regulation interventions at varying levels and intensity matched to youth context and needs
• Tailor active methodologies to the specific educational context and subject matter
• Sequence SEL intervention content by developmental stage, targeting skills most salient to each grade or age that serve as building blocks for later complex skills

Examples¶

-

Key Sources¶

• Madeline B. Harms and Sherona D. Garrett-Ruffin. (2023). Disrupting links between poverty, chronic stress, and educational inequality. npj Science of Learning 8:50. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41539-023-00199-2