scholarly journals Adolescent Achievement: Relative Contributions of Social Emotional Learning, Self-efficacy, and Microsystem Supports

2020 ◽  
pp. 001312452096208
Author(s):  
Meghan E. Fairless ◽  
Cheryl L. Somers ◽  
Rachel L. Goutman ◽  
Carla A. Kevern ◽  
Francesca M. Pernice ◽  
...  

This study examined the role of select intrapersonal and microsystem factors in high school adolescents’ academic achievement. A combination of factors, derived from an ecological framework, were hypothesized to be unique in their ability to explain greater proportions of variance in academic achievement in adolescents. Participants included 379 high school students (176 males, 193 females) from a mid-western high school in a large metropolitan area with a 53% poverty rate that enrolls approximately 1,500 students. A variety of variables emerged as significant predictors of academic achievement, with social emotional learning, self-efficacy, socio-economic status, parental involvement, peer support, and teacher support all explaining significant proportions of variance in achievement, and some to stronger degrees than others. This lends support to the notion that learning is shaped by a myriad of ecological factors. These findings are discussed with regard to their usefulness in understanding ways in which to target each of the investigated variables to ultimately increase academic achievement in adolescents.

Author(s):  
Anita Gardner ◽  
Michelle Wong ◽  
Belinda Ratcliffe

Abstract Social-emotional learning (SEL) is key to student success. Teachers can effectively implement SEL programs to a variety of school populations, with demonstrated improvements in emotional, social, and academic outcomes. Research also suggests that SEL for students on the autism spectrum can result in improved outcomes. Although social-emotional difficulties are core characteristics of autism, there is a dearth of research identifying the SEL needs for high school students on the autism spectrum and how to meet these needs. The aim of this preliminary qualitative study was to explore teachers’ perceptions of SEL needs in a high school setting with adolescents on the autism spectrum. A focus group was conducted with 8 experienced teachers from mainstream and special needs settings. The thematic analysis identified 3 themes: (a) SEL needs of students on the autism spectrum, (b) teaching SEL in high school settings, and (c) gaps in SEL. The study also revealed suggestions for how a SEL program could be developed so that it best meets the needs of the teachers who would be implementing it. Outcomes from this study provide important insights into SEL in adolescents on the autism spectrum in special education and have practical implications for intervention models.


Author(s):  
Ronald D. Morgan ◽  
Sonia Rodriguez ◽  
Sladjana Rakich

Schools are increasing the use of social emotional learning (SEL) curriculum, especially at the elementary level. As this trend continues, it's important to examine the SEL curriculum and the competencies that define it. While there are similar definitions for explaining what's involved in SEL, most educators agree that it's basically the process through which students acquire and effectively apply the knowledge, attitudes, and skills necessary to understand and manage emotions, in order to help them make more responsible decisions. In this chapter, the detailed elements of SEL will be reviewed first, followed by an overview of the basic tenets of culturally responsive teaching. Additional cultural needs that today's elementary, middle, and high school students face will also be addressed in this chapter. The last part of the chapter will discuss the importance of merging SEL and culturally responsive teaching in co-existence in order to develop a stronger curriculum for creating equitable outcomes for diverse groups of students.


2013 ◽  
Vol 23 (1) ◽  
pp. 95-105 ◽  
Author(s):  
Abdul-Kareem M. Jaradat

Counsellors need to be able to understand perfectionism in students, and the different forms that this perfectionism may take, in order to provide their students with the appropriate counselling services. This study investigated gender differences in perfectionism, and examined the relationship of perfectionism to general self-efficacy, life-satisfaction, academic achievement and satisfaction with academic achievement among a sample of 419 high school students (47.0% female, 53.0% male). Data were collected using five scales: (1) The Almost Perfect Scale — Revised (APS-R; Slaney, Rice, Mobley, Trippi, & Ashby, 2001); (2) the General Self-Efficacy Scale (GSES; Schwarzer & Jerusalem, 1995); (3) the Satisfaction With Life Scale (SWLS; Diener, Emmons, Larsen & Griffin, 1985); (4) a single item scale for measuring satisfaction with academic achievement; and (5) a demographic information form. Results indicated that females are significantly more perfectionist than males. Adaptive perfectionists had higher self-efficacy, satisfaction with life, academic achievement and satisfaction with academic achievement than did both maladaptive perfectionists and nonperfectionists. Furthermore, there were no significant differences between maladaptive perfectionists and nonperfectionists on any of these variables. This implies that prevention and intervention programs should be designed to enable high school students to set realistically high standards.


2019 ◽  
Vol 9 (3) ◽  
pp. 100-113
Author(s):  
Martha Patricia Gutiérrez Tapia ◽  
Alejandra Del Carmen Domínguez Espinosa ◽  
María Mercedes Ruiz Muñoz ◽  
Jaime Fuentes Balderrama ◽  
Emiliano Gutiérrez Fierros

Within individual factors that affect academic achievement, personality traits have been the least explored eventhough there is evidence that suggest conscientiousness, neuroticism and self-efficacy are direct contributors ofacademic achievement. We used a sample of 725 Mexican public high school students (Mage =18, SDage =1.09,59% female) to test three Path Analysis models based on those proposed by Stajkovic, Bandura, Locke, Lee andSergent, (2018). Although the models present very similar fit statistics and explanatory power, the intrapersonalmodel is more parsimonious, presents better fit indices and was therefore chosen as our final model. The modelidentifies middle school GPA, self-efficacy, neuroticism and conscientiousness as direct predictors of high schoolacademic achievement, and both extraversion and academic self-concept as indirect predictors when mediatedby self-efficacy. Students can use the power of their own self-efficacy beliefs as support for staying in school,boosting their aptitudes and enhancing previously acquired knowledge. We would suggest the addition of stronger correlates to high school academic achievement such as self-control as well as experimental data on how easy cognitions and capabilities can change in the sample.


Sign in / Sign up

Export Citation Format

Share Document