Transformative Social and Emotional Learning (T-SEL): The Experiences of Teenagers Participating in Volunteer Club Activities in the Community.

Beginning with social inequities in terms of access to quality, inclusive education for children from disadvantaged backgrounds, especially rural teenagers who leave school early, the Holtis Association, with the support of the UNICEF Representative in Romania, developed a number of interventions intended to facilitate the transition from lower to higher secondary education of students from vulnerable and disadvantaged groups. One of the interventions was the establishment of teenagers' clubs for volunteer activities, leadership development, and participation in the community to encourage social and emotional learning. (1) Background: This study aims to investigate the extent to which participation in the Holtis club projects contributed to the development of transformative social and emotional learning (T-SEL), as observed from the perspective of the Collaborative for Academic, Social and Emotional Learning (CASEL) competencies among adolescents. (2) Methods: The study was qualitative and used focus groups for data collection. Out of the 65 active clubs, 18 were selected, and their representatives participated in the focus groups. (3) Results: Participating in the club activities, which were organized in the school, with the aim of organizing activities outside the school space stimulated and developed T-SEL competencies among adolescents. (4) Conclusions: The data, which were collected through the voices of teenagers, underlined the personal transformation from the perspective of the CASEL model competencies of SEL, and the study privileged their perspectives.

Student self-ratings of social-emotional competencies: Dimensional structure and outcome associations of the WCSD-SECA among Hispanic and non-Hispanic White boys and girls in elementary through high school.

School-based assessments of students' self-reported social-emotional competencies (SECs) are an essential part of social and emotional learning (SEL) initiatives. Few studies, however, have investigated whether such assessments align with the frameworks that inform SEL practices, especially for diverse populations. In the present study we investigated the dimensional structure of the 40-item Washoe County School District Social-Emotional Competency Assessment (WCSD-SECA), which was designed to measure the five domains of SECs defined by the widely used Collaborative for Academic Social and Emotional Learning framework (CASEL 5). Findings showed that a subset of 21 items fit a 3-factor solution that reflected Intrapersonal, Interpersonal, and Emotion-Focused competencies, a structure consistent with previous theorizing of broad SEC constructs. This 3-dimensional structure was partially invariant, with differences especially evident in item thresholds across subpopulations (defined by the intersection of grade level, gender, and race/ethnicity). Accounting for differences in item thresholds increased mean differences among subpopulations in the three domains. Across subpopulations, Intrapersonal scores were positively associated with students' standardized test scores and GPAs, and negatively related to the number of days they were absent from school, in multilevel models that adjusted for school-level clustering and included all three SEC scores and student demographic controls. Interpersonal scores were associated with fewer suspensions. Interpersonal and Emotion-Focused scores demonstrated unexpectedly negative associations with some outcomes in these models. Findings contribute to an emerging body of research that aims to deepen understandings of the content and structure of students' SECs as well as the factors that contribute to growth in these competencies.

Believe in You student empowerment program: A pilot study.

Introduction: The social and emotional health of youth is important, especially after students experience the COVID-19 pandemic. The purpose of this study was to understand the influence that the Believe In You Student Empowerment Program had on students social emotional learning (SEL) behaviors over a 10 week period during the COVID-19 pandemic. Materials and methods: A part of this quantitative study, one school in each the intervention and the control group (delayed intervention; 2 schools total) participated in the study. Students enrolled in physical education within each school participated (n = 166; Intervention = 88). Students in each group took a survey at week 1 (baseline measure), week 5, and week 10. Students who were in the intervention group started the program after week 1, while the delayed intervention group began the program in week 5. Results: A series of ANCOVA's examined the difference of social emotional learning knowledge and social emotional learning scales between the treatment and control groups. Self-awareness (F = 13.91, p < .01), self-management (F = 6.14, p < .01) & relationship skills (F = 5.50, p < .05) saw significant differences over time compared to the control group. The second series of analyses looked only at the intervention group and analyzed to determine significant differences in mean scores of SEL variables between weeks one and ten. Emotional regulation saw significant differences (t = 2.5, p < .01). The final set of analyses conducted were with the delayed intervention group and examined the difference in mean SEL scores over the three time periods. Again, emotional regulation saw significance with an interaction of time and gender (F = 4.162, p < .01). Discussion and Conclusion: In a short period of time, Believe in You Student Empowerment Program has shown the potential to have a positive influence on students social emotional learning behaviors, even during the COVID-19 pandemic. More research should be conducted over a longer period of time, in-person, and with an experimental design to better understand the effects of the Varsity Brands Believe in You Student Empowerment Program and its implications with student social emotional learning behaviors.

Mensurando Habilidades Socioemocionais de Crianças e Adolescentes: Desenvolvimento e Validação de uma Bateria (Nota Técnica) / Avaliando las Habilidades Socioemocionales de Niños y Adolescentes: Desarrollo e Validación de una Batería / Measuring Socioemotional Skills of Children and Adolescents: Development and Validation of Battery (Technical Note)

Resumo As habilidades socioemocionais (HSE) têm sido compreendidas como um construto multidimensional, composto por variáveis emocionais, cognitivas e comportamentais que auxiliam no desenvolvimento saudável ao longo do ciclo vital. Estudos recentes têm demonstrado que as HSE podem ser desenvolvidas e aprendidas. Nesse sentido, há, atualmente, uma ampla concordância que o sistema educacional de ensino deve focar não só no desenvolvimento cognitivo, mas também no desenvolvimento das competências sociais e emocionais de crianças e adolescentes. A presente nota técnica descreve, brevemente, o procedimento de criação e as propriedades psicométricas de seis instrumentos de avaliação de HSE. As escalas foram desenvolvidas para mensurar o Programa Semente - um novo programa de aprendizagem de habilidades socioemocionais. Os instrumentos mensuram as facetas propostas pelo Collaborative for Academic, Social, and Emotional Learning (CASEL), a saber: autoconhecimento, autocontrole, perseverança, empatia, decisões responsáveis e comportamentos prossociais. Todos os instrumentos apresentam evidências de validade baseada na estrutura interna (estrutura fatorial, fidedignidade, invariância configural, métrica e escalar) bem como na relação com medidas externas (padrões de validade convergente e/ou concorrente). A versão final da bateria é composta por 45 itens. Juntos os construtos formam um fator de segunda-ordem, denominado HSE, que, também apresentou adequados índices de ajuste.

Resumen Las habilidades socioemocionales (HSE) son comprendidas como un constructo multidimensional, que consiste en variables emocionales, cognitivas y comportamentales que ayudan en el desarrollo saludable durante todo el ciclo de vida. Estudios recientes han demostrado que las HSE suelen ser desarrolladas y aprendidas. En este sentido, hoy en día existe un amplio consenso en que el sistema educativo de enseño debe centrarse no sólo en el desarrollo cognitivo, sino también en el desarrollo de habilidades sociales y emocionales de los niños y adolescentes. Esta nota técnica describe brevemente el procedimiento de creación y las propiedades psicométricas de seis herramientas de evaluación de HSE. Las escalas fueran diseñadas para medir el Programa Semente - un nuevo programa brasileño de aprendizaje de habilidades socioemocionales. Los instrumentos mensuran las HSE en conformidad con la propuesta del Collaborative for Academic, Social, and Emotional Learning (CASEL): autoconocimiento, autocontrol, perseverancia, empatía, decisiones responsables y comportamientos pro-sociales. Todos los instrumentos presentaran evidencias de validez en base a la estructura interna (estructura factorial, fiabilidad, invariancia configuracional, métrica y escalar), así como en relación con las medidas externas (validez convergente y/o concurrente). La versión final de la batería es compuesta de 45 ítems. Juntos, los constructos forman un factor de segundo-orden llamado HSE, que también mostró índices de ajuste adecuados.

Abstract Social emotional skills (SES) is comprehended as a multidimensional construct, composed of emotional, cognitive and behavioral variables that positively affect healthy development throughout the life span. Recent studies have shown that SES can be developed and learned. In this sense, there is currently a broad agreement that the educational system should not solely focus on cognitive development but also on the development of children and adolescents' social and emotional competencies. This technical note briefly describes the development process and the psychometric properties of six scales aiming to measure SES. The scales were designed to measure the Programa Semente - a newly developed Brazilian social emotional learning (SEL) program. The instruments measure the constructs proposed by Collaborative for Academic, Social, and Emotional Learning (CASEL): self-knowledge, self-control, perseverance, empathy, responsible decision-making and prossocial behaviors. All the instruments presented evidence of validity based on the internal structure (factorial structure, reliability, configural, metric and scalar invariance) as well as based on external measures (convergent and/or concurrent validity). The final battery is composed of 45 items. Together, the constructs form a second-order factor, called SES, which, also, presented adequate goodness-of-fit indexes.