Impact
Developing SEL Skills and Re-Engaging with High School Students After COVID-19 and Other Disruptions
Objective
To evaluate the efficacy of Personalization for Academic and Social and Emotional Learning (PASL) in 50 Florida high schools.
Approach
We used a large-scale quasi-experimental design study to determine how effectively PASL improved student engagement, self-efficacy, and self-regulation.
Impact
We found that PASL increased engagement for students who were already disengaged before starting high school.
When the COVID-19 pandemic forced schools across the United States to pivot to online learning, students lost access to valuable social interactions with their peers, teachers, and counselors. These in-school relationships foster social and emotional learning (SEL) skills and are critical to students staying invested in their education.
However, disengagement isn’t the only challenge today’s students face. Recent analyses suggest that some students are months behind where they should be on academic skills like reading and math. Addressing these outcome gaps has become a top priority for federal agencies and educators on the ground alike.
Federal investments in evidence-based education programs are needed to reengage students in learning and help them cultivate the social and emotional learning and academic skills they need to graduate and pursue their postsecondary education or careers.
RTI partnered with Florida State and Vanderbilt Universities on an Investing in Innovation (i3) Fund early phase grant to evaluate the efficacy of Personalization for Academic and Social and Emotional Learning (PASL), a whole school reform providing personalized social and emotional support to students in 50 Florida high schools. The program uses regular check-ins with students conducted by school-based staff to help them set goals and track their progress over one year. The RTI team developed and implemented a quasi-experimental design (QED) study to determine if PASL is an effective approach to improve academic and social and emotional outcomes for students.
Personalizing Learning to Develop Academic and Social and Emotional Learning (SEL) Skills
9th graders who fall behind on academic skills like reading and math may grow frustrated at their lack of progress and risk becoming disengaged. PASL strives to improve students’ engagement with schooling, which often wanes as high schoolers get closer to graduation. Engagement encompasses students’ relationships with their teachers, other students, and school staff; their level of attention and interest in learning and school activities; and their sense of belonging and being a part of the school community. Numerous studies have demonstrated that high school students who exhibit higher levels of engagement with school have higher levels of academic achievement, report a greater sense of overall well-being, and are less likely to drop out of school (Caraway et al., 2003; Finn & Zimmer 2012; Li et al. 2011; Wang & Eccles 2012).
PASL’s approach to social and emotional learning is informed by well-known learning theories such as social cognitive theory, which argues that providing personalized attention to a student makes them more invested in their education and may lead to improved student engagement, self-efficacy, and self-regulation.
Our large-scale quasi-experimental design study evaluated how effectively PASL improved these three outcomes. Helping students improve in these areas empowers them to confidently progress toward their academic and life goals, graduate from high school, and pursue postsecondary education or careers.
Understanding the Efficacy of PASL to Improve Student Outcomes
9th grade is already a time of significant transition when students must navigate a new learning environment for the first time. The significant disruptions caused by COVID-19 left many 9th graders even more disengaged and needing support to recover their academic progress, develop missing SEL skills, and reengage in learning.
Our evaluation found that PASL increased engagement for students who were already disengaged before starting high school. Further, because PASL focuses on engaging students early in their high school career, they may have a support system that will help them grow into the skilled, confident employees the U.S. workforce needs.
To understand what federal investments are needed to increase student engagement, there are many questions for future research to consider. Further evaluations may need to explore how effectively programs like PASL engage 10th through 12th graders who are disengaged.
Further research is also needed on the specific factors that lead to improved social and emotional learning outcomes. Although our study indicates that personalization is an effective approach to increase engagement and self-efficacy for those students who were already disengaged before entering high school, additional qualitative analysis could provide further insight into how educators can consistently increase student engagement.
