Enhancing peer cultures of academic effort and achievement in early adolescence: Promotive effects of the SEALS intervention.

Abstract

Peer cultures of effort and achievement influence early adolescents' academic adjustment. A randomized controlled trials design was used to test the extent to which aspects of peer cultures of effort and achievement were enhanced following teachers' participation in the Supporting Early Adolescents' Learning and Social Success (SEALS) intervention. Observational and survey data from teachers (N = 188) and survey data from 6th-graders (N = 2,453) in 36 rural schools across the United States were analyzed. Results indicated that in SEALS versus matched control schools, social prominence was more favorably associated with effort and school valuing, and peer group injunctive norms were more supportive of effort and achievement. Findings indicate that aspects of peer cultures respond to the school context and provide evidence of the efficacy of the SEALS model.

Influence of Family and School-Level Factors on Age of Sexual Initiation

“…The present study supports the need for interventions that address not only the attitudes of immediate peers but also the schoolwide peer culture. Previous intervention has shown success in changing school-wide attitudes about academic achievement [40]. Similar efforts could be facilitated with regard to attitudes about early sex and pregnancy, for example, with alumni groups who can model resistance skills and have achieved higher education and other positive milestones.…”

Perceptions of Relatedness with Classroom Peers Promote Adolescents’ Behavioral Engagement and Achievement in Secondary School

“…Results also suggest that peer relatedness benefits learning regardless of the average entering achievement level of the class. One implication is that even in remedial track classes where the peer group culture may appear uninterested in the subject matter (e.g., see Hamm et al 2014), perceptions of social belonging and relatedness with classroom peers nonetheless promote engagement with the course material (or conversely, it may be that lack of these factors make a student’s experience in that classroom aversive and therefore distract from engagement further).…”

“…Developmentally, middle and high school students are increasingly relying on peers’ reactions to determine (and to shape) their own evolving identities (Dishion and Tipsord 2011). Educators are most likely to be able to influence adolescents’ peer relatedness occurring in their classroom as opposed to in the lunchroom or outside of school contexts (Hamm et al 2014). Therefore, secondary school may be an opportune time for educators to target classroom peer relatedness to promote students’ academic engagement and ultimately, achievement.…”

Teacher attunement to peer‐nominated aggressors

“…Participants were recruited from elementary schools as part of a larger longitudinal study (Project REAL: Rural Early Adolescent Learning; see Hamm, Farmer, Lambert, & Gravelle, 2014 for further description). The purpose of Project REAL was to develop a teacher training program designed to support students at-risk for poor school adjustment.…”

“…In addition, it is critical for teachers to understand how social dynamics contribute to the use of aggression behavior (Farmer & Xie, 2007) and how they can manage the social dynamics within the school ecology that facilitate positive learning environments (Hamm, Farmer, Lambert, & Gravelle, 2014). First, future research can investigate student characteristics which explain teacher attunement of aggressive youth in other areas (e.g., urban).…”