Empirical benchmarks for changes in social and emotional skills over time

Abstract

This study provides empirical benchmarks that quantify typical changes in students’ reports of social and emotional skills in a large, diverse sample. Data come from six cohorts of students (N = 361,815; 6% Asian, 8% Black, 68% White, 75% Latinx, 50% Female) who responded to the CORE survey from 2015 to 2018 and help quantify typical gains/declines in growth mindset, self‐efficacy, self‐management, and social awareness. Results show fluctuations in skills between 4th and 12th grade (changes ranging from −.33 to .23 standard deviations). Growth mindset increases in fourth grade, declines in fifth to seventh grade, then mostly increases. Self‐efficacy, self‐management, and social awareness decline in sixth to eighth grade. Self‐management and social awareness, but not self‐efficacy, show increases in 10th to 12th grade.

Social and emotional competency development from fourth to 12th grade: Relations to parental education and gender.

“…Extensive analyses established evidence suggesting the wording was simple enough not to confuse English learning students (West, Buckley, et al, 2018). See West, Buckley, et al (2018) or Gelbach and Hough (2018) for background and Loeb et al (2019), Soland et al (2019), and Soland et al (2022) for psychometric analyses.…”

Assessment for Effective Screening and Progress Monitoring of Social and Emotional Learning Skills

“…Thus, we provide recommendations to navigate this research as it continues to evolve in order to set goals based on (a) standardized rates of growth and (b) individual pre- and post-test scores. First, we point to research conducted by Soland and colleagues (2022), which lists benchmark gains for a large sample of students in Grades 4 through 12 who self-reported their SEL skills. Gains across school years for SEL were notedly variable, ranging from −0.33 to 0.23 pooled standard deviations depending on the grade level and component skills measured.…”

“…Recently, Bruhn and colleagues (2018) provided a step-by-step guide to data-based decision-making related to behavioral intervention. Such guidance has not yet been described for social and emotional learning (SEL) interventions (McKown, 2019; Soland et al, 2022).…”

Does Reclassification Change How English Learners Feel About School and Themselves? Evidence From a Regression Discontinuity Design

“…Finally, studies provide mixed evidence on certain SEL skills by age groups. Generally, studies consistently suggest that self-management (e.g., Duckworth et al, 2010; West et al, 2020) and self-efficacy (e.g., Pajares et al, 2000; Schunk & Meece, 2006; Schunk & Pajares, 2002) both decline in middle school during the onset of early adolescence (Soland et al, 2022). The findings on growth mindset are mixed (Pintrich & Zusho, 2002; West et al, 2020; Wigfield et al, 1996) and the array of evidence on this construct by age is limited, as much of the growth mindset literature focuses on the relationship between growth mindset and academic achievement rather than the construct in and of itself.…”