McKay School of Education > News > Strong Start Program Helps Social and Emotional Learning in Second Grade Students
Strong Start Program Helps Social and Emotional Learning in Second Grade Students
Using an innovative intervention, McKay School researchers have made significant improvements in the social-emotional well-being of at-risk children while preventing problems in these students’ peers. McKay faculty member Paul Caldarella and administrator Lynnette Christensen teamed up with Kalli Kronmiller, a local elementary school arts teacher and part-time research faculty member, and Thomas Kramer, an incoming doctoral student in counseling psychology, to implement a social and emotional learning (SEL) program in a second grade classroom. Their findings were recently published in the Early Childhood Education Journal, as an article entitled “Promoting Social and Emotional Learning in Second Grade Students: A Study of the Strong Start Curriculum.”
Kronmiller initiated the study after noticing social-emotional problems in her own students. “Our goal was to foster social and emotional competence in second grade students,” Caldarella stated. The SEL program used in the study, known as Strong Start, was evaluated using a quasi-experimental, non-equivalent control group design, in which classrooms were randomly assigned as treatment or control. An important aspect of the Strong Start program was that it was implemented within the regular education classroom; at-risk students were not singled out or pulled from the classroom.
The researchers found that the Strong Start program benefited students in the classroom, whether they were at-risk or not. “The intervention appeared to have a preventative effect for students not at risk and a therapeutic effect for those at-risk,” Caldarella explained. The researchers hope the results of this study will encourage educators to implement SEL programs in their classrooms. “We’re primarily hoping to reach elementary general education teachers, as well as administrators and policy makers—basically anyone who helps determine what happens in a classroom,” Caldarella said.
The research process was made easier because of the BYU-Public School Partnership. “The McKay School’s partnership with local school districts really facilitates work in this area,” Caldarella explained. “That prior relationship made this study much easier.” Response to the study’s findings has been positive, partly because there is little prior literature on the topic. “There aren’t a lot of empirical studies on social and emotional learning programs for younger students,” Caldarella noted.
The researchers have also conducted a follow-up study using the same program with kindergarten children. An article based on this second study is in progress, and Caldarella said results have again indicated improvement in students’ social-emotional well-being. This study expanded on the first by including four classrooms and soliciting parent ratings in addition to teacher ratings. The researchers hope their work will help to bless the lives of early elementary school children.
5 October 2009