https://muse.jhu.

edu/article/535933

Promoting Social and Emotional Competencies in Elementary

School
Stephanie M. Jones, Sophie P. Barnes, Rebecca Bailey, Emily J. Doolittle
The Future of Children
Princeton University
Volume 27, Number 1, Spring 2017
pp. 49-72
10.1353/foc.2017.0003
Article

Abstract

Summary:

There's a strong case for making social and emotional learning (SEL) skills and competencies a central
feature of elementary school. Children who master SEL skills get along better with others, do better in
school, and have more successful careers and better mental and physical health as adults.

But evidence from the most rigorous studies of elementary-school SEL programs is ambiguous. Some
studies find few or no effects, while others find important and meaningful effects. Or studies find effects
for some groups of students but not for others. What causes such variation isn't clear, making it hard to
interpret and act on the evidence.

What are the sources of variation in the impacts of SEL programs designed for the elementary years? To
find out, Stephanie Jones, Sophie Barnes, Rebecca Bailey, and Emily Doolittle examine how the theories
of change behind 11 widely used school-based SEL interventions align with the way those interventions
measure outcomes. Their central conclusion is that what appears to be variation in impacts may instead
stem from imprecise program targets misaligned with too-general measures of outcomes. That is to say,
program evaluations often fail to measure whether students have mastered the precise skills the
programs seek to impart.

The authors make three recommendations for policy makers, practitioners, and researchers. The first is
that we should focus more on outcomes at the teacher and classroom level, because teachers' own
social-emotional competency and the quality of the classroom environment can have a huge effect on
students' SEL. Second, because the elementary years span a great many developmental and
environmental transitions, SEL programs should take care to focus on the skills appropriate to each
grade and age, rather than taking a one-size-fits-all approach. Third, they write, measurement of SEL
skills among children in this age range should grow narrower in focus but broader in context and depth.

Ada alasan kuat untuk menjadikan keterampilan dan

kompetensi pembelajaran sosial dan emosional (SEL)
sebagai fitur utama sekolah dasar. Anak-anak yang
menguasai keterampilan SEL bergaul lebih baik
dengan orang lain, berprestasi lebih baik di sekolah,
dan memiliki karier yang lebih sukses serta kesehatan
mental dan fisik yang lebih baik sebagai orang dewasa.
Tetapi bukti dari studi yang paling ketat tentang
program SEL sekolah dasar masih ambigu. Beberapa
penelitian menemukan sedikit atau tidak ada efek,
sementara yang lain menemukan efek penting dan
bermakna. Atau studi menemukan efek untuk beberapa
kelompok siswa tetapi tidak untuk yang lain. Apa yang
menyebabkan variasi tersebut tidak jelas, sehingga sulit
untuk menafsirkan dan menindaklanjuti bukti tersebut.
Apa sajakah sumber variasi dampak program SEL
yang dirancang untuk tahun-tahun dasar? Untuk
mengetahuinya, Stephanie Jones, Sophie Barnes,
Rebecca Bailey, dan Emily Doolittle meneliti
bagaimana teori perubahan di balik 11 intervensi SEL
berbasis sekolah yang banyak digunakan selaras
dengan cara intervensi tersebut mengukur hasil.
Kesimpulan utama mereka adalah bahwa apa yang
tampak sebagai variasi dampak mungkin berasal dari
target program yang tidak tepat yang tidak selaras
dengan ukuran hasil yang terlalu umum. Artinya,
evaluasi program sering gagal untuk mengukur apakah
siswa telah menguasai keterampilan yang ingin
diberikan oleh program.