Closing the achievement gap

Some new studies offer extremely good news for efforts to close the achievement gap by giving kids an effective social and emotional education.

Those of us out in the field see firsthand the significant impact that social and emotional skills make – and the terrible toll for those who do not get them. Strengthening these fundamental capabilities is a key that unlocks success for all kids, especially those living in poverty.

Manpower Development Research Corporation reports: “There is a surprisingly thin base of rigorous research investigating how preschool programs can most effectively support children’s social and emotional development.”

Head Start CARES and Foundations of Learning are two research projects launched by MDRC to delve into the social and emotional development of children from low-income families.

Previous studies cited by MDRC suggest that 20-40 percent of the students in low-income preschool classrooms demonstrate difficulty regulating their behavior and managing their emotions.  Findings show that these students receive less instruction, are less engaged, less positive about their role as learners and learn less from their peers. They also impede the academic success of others because teachers must spend more classroom time managing problem behavior.

Increasingly educators are recognizing that social and emotional competence strengthens attachment to school – a significant predictor of student success. Robert Blum of Johns Hopkins University found that kids who feel strongly attached to school:

• have a sense of belonging
• perceive teachers as supportive and caring
• have good friends within school
• feel engaged in current and future academic progress
• believe school discipline is fair and effective

The relatively recent field of social and emotional learning, SEL, that emerged from new findings in brain science has given us a different understanding of the ways in which emotions and intellect are intertwined.

SEL helps kids express their emotions constructively, recognize the feelings of others and manage conflict. They become good communicators and cooperative members of a team who can interact effectively with others. They learn how to set and achieve goals, and how to persist despite difficulties.

SEL is “the missing piece of education,” according to Maurice Elias of Rutgers University, a founding member of the Collaborative for Academic, Social and Emotional Learning, CASEL, which is dedicated to advancing the science and evidence-based practice of SEL.

CASEL President Weissberg and Joseph Durlak of  Loyola University Chicago conducted a meta-analysis of controlled outcome research to assess the programming impacts on student behavior and academic performance of more than 700 interventions that promote social and emotional development.

Their analysis found that students who receive effective SEL instruction demonstrated more positive attitudes about school and improved an average of 11 percentile points on standardized achievement tests compared to students who did not receive SEL training.

What we have learned at WINGS for kids is that it takes two years and 400 hours of our systematic and sequential after school curriculum to impart a full dose of social and emotional learning that will fortify kids with the tools they need to succeed. Yet frequently we find in discussions with funders and other nonprofit organizations a reluctance to devote limited resources to the sustained effort required to monitor and measure programming impact on an ongoing basis.

After school programming often lacks data-driven decision-making and evaluation of whether implementation and outcomes measure up. Putting research and theory to the test frequently takes a back seat to the desperate need to provide safe harbor to kids whose only alternative may be the temptation of the streets. Fluctuating budgets, rapid staff turnover and inadequate facilities characterize many of these programs in low-income neighborhoods across the country.

But well-intentioned after school programs must be held accountable for documenting and assessing student outcomes – however costly and time-consuming. This kind of scientific rigor provides an essential foundation for the strategies and practices that truly make an enduring impact on the lives of kids.

We must not settle for less. No quick fixes exist. Good intentions are insufficient. It takes an intentional curriculum grounded in empirical evidence, carefully recruited and well-trained staff, disciplined resource allocation and ongoing  monitoring to maintain quality and effectiveness. Investing this kind of sustained effort delivers results that can be measured.

At a time when so many kids are being lost – becoming school dropouts, teen parents, victims of violence and drug or alcohol abuse – effective programs that build social and emotional skills offer a promising model. Rigorous analytic investigation of what it takes to implement these models with quality and effectiveness will help shape program design and operational practices across the country so that we can finally make strides in closing the disturbing achievement gap.