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.
This study examined (a) the contribution of math self-efficacy to students’ perception of their emotional and social engagement in fifth grade math classes, and (b) the extent to which high quality ...teacher-student interactions compensated for students’ low math self-efficacy in contributing to engagement. Teachers (n=73) were observed three times during the year during math to measure the quality of teacher-student interactions (emotional, organizational, and instructional support). Fifth graders (n=387) reported on their math self-efficacy at the beginning of the school year and then were surveyed about their feelings of engagement in math class three times during the year immediately after the lessons during which teachers were observed. Results of multi-level models indicated that students initially lower in math self-efficacy reported lower emotional and social engagement during math class than students with higher self-efficacy. However, in classrooms with high levels of teacher emotional support, students reported similar levels of both emotional and social engagement, regardless of their self-efficacy. No comparable findings emerged for organizational and instructional support. The discussion considers the significance of students’ own feelings about math in relation to their engagement, as well as the ways in which teacher and classroom supports can compensate for students lack of agency. The work has implications for school psychologists and teachers eager to boost students’ engagement in math class.
Educators have become increasingly committed to social and emotional learning in schools. However, we know too little about the typical growth trajectories of the competencies that schools are ...striving to improve. We leverage data from the California Office to Reform Education, a consortium of districts in California serving over 1.5 million students, that administers annual surveys to students to measure social and emotional competencies (SECs). This article uses data from six cohorts of approximately 16,000 students each (51% male, 73% Latinx, 11% White, 10% Black, 24% with parents who did not complete high school) in Grades 4-12. Two questions are addressed. First, how much growth occurs in growth mindset, self-efficacy, self-management, and social awareness from Grades 4 to 12? Second, do initial status and growth look different by parental educational attainment and gender? Using accelerated longitudinal design growth models, findings show distinct growth trends among the four SECs with growth mindset increasing, self-management mostly decreasing, and self-efficacy and social awareness decreasing and then increasing. The subgroup analyses show gaps between groups but patterns of growth that are more similar than different. Further, subgroup membership accounts for very little variation in growth or declines. Instead, initial levels of competencies predict growth. Also, variation within groups is greater than variation between groups. The findings have practical implications for educators and psychologists striving to improve SECs. If schools use student-report approaches, predicting steady and consistent positive growth in SECs is unrealistic. Instead, U-shaped patterns for some SECs appear to be normative with notable declines in the sixth grade, requiring new supports. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2024 APA, all rights reserved).
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This study examines concurrent teacher-student interaction quality and 5th graders' (n = 387) engagement in mathematics classrooms (n = 63) and considers how teacher-student interaction quality ...relates to engagement differently for boys and girls. Three approaches were used to measure student engagement in mathematics: Research assistants observed engaged behavior, teachers reported on students' engagement, and students completed questionnaires. Engagement data were conducted 3 times per year concurrent with measures of teacher-student interaction quality. Results showed small but statistically significant associations among the 3 methods. Results of multilevel models showed only 1 significant finding linking quality of teacher-student interactions to observed or teacher-reported behavioral engagement; higher classroom organization related to higher levels of observed behavioral engagement. However, the multilevel models produced a rich set of findings for student-reported engagement. Students in classrooms with higher emotional support reported higher cognitive, emotional, and social engagement. Students in classrooms higher in classroom organization reported more cognitive, emotional, and social engagement. Interaction effects (Gender × Teacher-student interaction quality) were present for student-reported engagement outcomes but not in observed or teacher-reported engagement. Boys (but not girls) in classrooms with higher observed classroom organization reported more cognitive and emotional engagement. In classrooms with higher instructional support, boys reported higher but girls reported lower social engagement. The discussion explores implications of varied approaches to measuring engagement, interprets teacher-student interaction quality and gender findings, and considers the usefulness of student report in understanding students' math experiences.
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Theory suggests that African American students benefit from warm and demanding teachers. This study examines the relation between students' perceptions of 634 teachers' warm demander characteristics ...and achievement growth in fourth and fifth grades (Mstudent age = 9-11.5 years). Analyses explored whether relations were moderated by the proportion of African American students in the classroom or the ethnic match or mismatch between African American students and their teachers. Results indicated that students' perceptions of teachers' demand (challenge and control) related to student achievement growth. Findings showed a stronger relation between challenge and academic growth in classrooms with more African American students, but no significant findings were identified for ethnic match or mismatch.
Executive functioning (EF) refers to higher order thought processes considered foundational for problem-solving. EF has both ‘cool’ cognitive and ‘hot’ emotional components. This study asks: (a) what ...are the relative contributions of ‘hot’ and ‘cool’ EF to children's academic achievement? (b) What are the relative contributions of ‘hot’ and ‘cool’ EF to learning-related classroom behaviors and observed engagement? (c) Do learning-related classroom behaviors and observed engagement account for the relation between EF and achievement? For a sample of 173 kindergarteners, cool EF predicted math achievement, learning-related classroom behaviors, and observed engagement. Hot EF did not predict any achievement or behavior outcomes when examined concurrently with cool EF. Children's classroom behavior did not account for the relation between cool EF and math achievement, suggesting cool EF and math performance are directly associated.
In this study, the authors examined the extent to which children's self-regulation upon kindergarten entrance and classroom quality in kindergarten contributed to children's adaptive classroom ...behavior. Children's self-regulation was assessed using a direct assessment upon entrance into kindergarten. Classroom quality was measured on the basis of multiple classroom observations during the kindergarten year. Children's adaptive classroom behavior in kindergarten was assessed through teacher report and classroom observations: Teachers rated children's cognitive and behavioral self-control and work habits during the spring of the kindergarten year; observers rated children's engagement and measured off-task behavior at 2-month intervals from November to May. Hierarchical linear models revealed that children's self-regulation upon school entry in a direct assessment related to teachers' report of behavioral self-control, cognitive self-control, and work habits in the spring of the kindergarten year. Classroom quality, particularly teachers' effective classroom management, was linked to children's greater behavioral and cognitive self-control, children's higher behavioral engagement, and less time spent off-task in the classroom. Classroom quality did not moderate the relation between children's self-regulation upon school entry and children's adaptive classroom behaviors in kindergarten. The discussion considers the implications of classroom management for supporting children's early development of behavioral skills that are important in school settings.
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This study examined the extent to which the quality of teacher-child interactions and children's achievement levels at kindergarten entry were associated with children's achievement trajectories. ...Rural students (
n
= 147) were enrolled in a longitudinal study from kindergarten through first grade. Growth trajectories (initial level and slope) were modeled with hierarchical linear modeling for 3 areas of achievement: word reading, phonological awareness, and mathematics. Cross-classified analyses examined the extent to which quality of teacher-child interactions and children's starting level predicted achievement growth rates over 2 years, and they also accounted for the changing nesting structure of the data. Results indicated that achievement at kindergarten entry predicted children's growth for all 3 outcomes. Further, first-grade teachers' strong emotional support related to greater growth in students' phonological awareness. Emotional and instructional support in first grade moderated the relationship between initial achievement and growth in word reading. Kindergarten classroom organization moderated the relationship between initial achievement and growth in mathematics. The implications of schooling for early growth trajectories are discussed.
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•Professional investment stress related negatively to change in emotional and instructional support for the control condition.•Professional investment stress was positively related to instructional ...support for the intervention (course) condition.•The professional development intervention buffered the negative association between professional investment stress and emotional support.•With regard to instructional support, professional investment stress may have served as an indicator of readiness for the intervention.
The present study examines the extent to which participation in a 14-week professional development course designed to improve teacher–child interactions in the classroom moderated the relation between teacher-reported job stress and gains in observed teacher–child interaction quality from the beginning to the end of the intervention. Participants were preschool teachers (N=427;M age=42) with an average of 11 years of experience teaching. Teachers reported how intensely they experienced different sources of stress at pre-test only (i.e., prior to being randomized into the treatment condition course or control). Teacher–child interactions were measured through classroom observations at pre and post intervention. Results demonstrated that control teachers reporting higher professional investment stress showed fewer gains in observed emotional support relative to control teachers experiencing less professional investment stress. These findings were not evident for teachers in the course condition. Interestingly, teachers with higher professional investment stress showed fewer gains in instructional support in the control condition and greater gains in the course condition, relative to teachers in their respective treatment groups who reported lower levels of professional investment stress. Findings suggest that participation in the professional development intervention had a buffering effect on the negative association between professional investment stress and emotional support. With regard to instructional support, it is possible that teachers’ heightened awareness and anxiety over their need to develop professionally may have made them more responsive to an intervention designed to improve practice.
The development of energy literacy for all citizens is critical as we face climate change and rapid depletion of existing energy resources. This study explores energy literacy development in fourth ...grade classrooms. Our team developed a curriculum on energy resources aligned with the Next Generation Science Standards. We then trained teachers how to implement the program and support their students’ engagement in a service-learning project related to energy conservation. We used qualitative methods to analyze students’ open-ended responses from an energy literacy assessment. Students were familiar with solar, hydropower and wind energy, and suggested that solar energy should be used more in the future. Students were more easily able to explain energy transfer in wind turbines and solar panels than in other electricity production systems. Students learned important energy and natural resource concepts in the context of an environmental service-learning program. Discussion focuses on the importance of integrated science instruction that helps students see how their electricity use impacts the environment, and provides them with opportunities to take action. We also suggest important ways that renewable energy companies can contribute to energy and climate literacy initiatives.
•Fourth grade students can understand the connections between the electricity use and natural resources.•Modeling energy systems can help children make sense of energy transfer and evidence of energy.•Wind turbines and solar panels are a good entry point for energy literacy initiatives in younger grades.•Service-learning programs can foster energy and climate literacy development through exploration of energy problems and solutions.
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