Supporting Early Adolescent Learning and Social Strengths: Promoting Productive Contexts for Students at-risk for EBD during the Transition to Middle School

Abstract

This study involved a pilot examination of the impact of the Supporting Early Adolescent Learning and Social Strengths (SEALS) model on the 6th grade academic and social context following the transition to middle school. Two middle schools from a high poverty Appalachian school district were randomly assigned to the intervention and control condition. Following the SEALS training, students in the intervention school had higher peer norms for academic effort. Also, teachers in the intervention school had sustained levels of positive efficacy for meeting the instructional, behavioral,

Bullying Involvement and the School Adjustment of Rural Students With and Without Disabilities

“…Finally, Native American students in particular perceived the school climate to be less emotionally risky for academic participation. In a similar RCT in Appalachian schools, students’ perceptions of peer norms for effort and achievement remained supportive across the sixth grade middle school transition year and into the fall of seventh grade for all students in intervention schools (Farmer, Hamm, Petrin, Robertson, et al, 2010). In contrast, for students in control schools, the peer norms trajectory declined across the transition year and into the seventh grade year.…”

“…Furthermore, in this same study, teachers in intervention schools were rated by trained observers blind to the intervention condition as being better managers of classroom dynamics as compared to ratings for control school teachers. In a third RCT, there was a differential impact on teachers’ efficacy to meet students’ academic and behavioral needs in intervention as compared to control school teachers (Farmer, Hamm, Petrin, Robertson, et al, 2010). After controlling for background characteristics, teachers in intervention schools maintained a positive sense of their efficacy to meet students’ needs from fall to spring whereas control teachers had a decline in efficacy.…”

Relationships among school climate, school safety, and student achievement and well‐being: a review of the literature

“…Classrooms serve as quintessential settings where students and teachers build and negotiate a climate that influences academic, behavioural and social adjustment of all students within the group (Farmer et al ., ). As Urban () argued, unless students experience a positive and supportive climate, some may never achieve the most minimum standards or realise their full potential.…”

“…As Urban () argued, unless students experience a positive and supportive climate, some may never achieve the most minimum standards or realise their full potential. It is for this reason that teachers' skills and personal characteristics can serve as risk factors or protective factors for students' development of antisocial and aggressive behaviours (Farmer et al ., ). Teachers' expectations for students influence the academic performance of their students.…”

Transition Between Primary and Secondary School: Why it is Important and How it can be Supported

“…Teachers involved in the transition program had sustained levels of positive efficacy for meeting the instructional, behavioural and social needs of all students compared with teachers in the control group, who did not participate in the transition program. Students with higher levels of aggression who were participating in the transition program tended to socialise more with academically productive peers than students with higher levels of aggression in the control group, who were not participating in the transition program (Farmer, Hamm, Petrin, Robertson, Murray, Meece & Brooks, 2010).…”