Category: Social and Motivational Outcomes

Categories
Achievement Kindergarten Primary School Education Secondary School Education Social and Motivational Outcomes

What do we know about well-being?

The Department for Education’s Childhood Wellbeing Research Centre has published a new review of evidence on well-being and learning. Their starting point was that, although previous literature suggests a link, less is known about how multiple dimensions of well-being (emotional, behavioural, social, school) predict later educational outcomes. The authors conducted a review of relevant literature, as well as using data from the Avon Longitudinal Study of Parents and Children (ALSPAC).

Key findings included:

  • Children with higher levels of emotional, behavioural, social, and school well-being, on average, have higher levels of academic achievement and are more engaged in school.
  • As children move through the school system, emotional and behavioural well-being become more important in explaining school engagement, while demographic and other characteristics become less important.
  • The relationships between emotional, behavioural, social, and school well-being and later educational outcomes are generally similar for children and adolescents, regardless of their gender and parents’ educational level.

The authors concluded that the decline in school wellbeing from childhood to adolescence was worrisome, as the findings suggested that school engagement during the early teenage years could significantly predict the later GCSE achievement.

 

Source (Open Access) :Gutman, L. M., & Vorhaus, J. (2012). The impact of pupil behaviour and wellbeing on educational outcomes (research report def-rr253). London, England: The Childhood Wellbeing Research Centre. … Read the rest

Categories
Kindergarten Social and Motivational Outcomes

Mental wellness in early childhood

Child Trends has released a new research brief on mental wellness in early childhood. Using research from various sources such as university publications, journal articles, and government websites, they identify five “things to know” to help parents and caregivers lay a solid foundation for healthy childhood development.

  1. Infants experience and perceive a range of emotions. Caregivers may underestimate the degree to which infants’ social-emotional development is affected by early experiences. Although infants as young as six months can “begin to sense and be affected by their parents’ moods,” fewer than 35% of caregivers believe that infants are capable of experiencing emotions in this way.
  2. Early positive interactions promote emotional wellness throughout the lifespan. Interactions between caregivers and infants are critically important, as “neural connections are formed through the interaction of genes and a baby’s environment and experiences,” especially through communication with caregivers.
  3. Having appropriate expectations of young children’s development is important. Emotional development is a critical component of brain development that is not always emphasised as much as cognitive, physical, or verbal development. Each person’s development is unique, but caregivers should understand general social-emotional milestones – such as copying caregivers’ actions – in order to keep expectations appropriate and monitor potential red flags.
  4. Parents and caregivers should be mindful of their own emotional well-being, seeking support if they need it. Caregivers who effectively treat their mental illness may lower the effects of the illness on their children.
  5. Young children are resilient and, if properly supported, can overcome potentially traumatic events. Young children may be able to overcome the effects of adverse events through consistent, predictable, supportive interactions.

These findings on mental wellness for infants and toddlers from birth through 3 years old were written for caregivers to help children to develop to their full potential.

&nbsp

Source (Open Access) :Halle et al. (2015). 5 things to know about mental wellness in early childhood. Retrieved from https://www.childtrends.org/child-trends-5/5-things-to-know-about-mental-wellness-in-early-childhood/… Read the rest

Categories
Educational Administration and Leadership Secondary School Education Social and Motivational Outcomes

Two behaviours linked to dropout rates in high school

A study published in the Journal of School Health examines how two behaviours – aggression and poor study skills – may be a factor in why some pupils do not finish high school.

Pamela Orpinas and colleagues randomly selected 620 sixth-grade (Year 7) pupils from northeast Georgia schools. Teachers completed a behaviour rating scale for these pupils every year from grades six to twelve (Year 7 to Year 13). Based on teacher ratings, the pupils were categorised into low, medium and high aggression trajectories from middle to high school and into five study skills groups (low, average-low, decreasing, increasing and high).  Examples of behaviours considered to be aggressive were threatening to hurt, hitting, bullying and teasing others. Examples of study skills were doing extra credit work, being well organised, completing homework, working hard and reading assigned chapters. Participants in the study were classed as a dropout if they were not enrolled in school and had not obtained a high school diploma by the end of the spring term in grade 12 (Year 13).

It was found that:

  • Pupils who were identified in the high-aggression/low-study-skills group had a 50% dropout rate compared to pupils with low aggression and high study skills who had a dropout rate of less than 2%.
  • Most pupil in the high-aggression group were in the low-study-skills group.
  • All pupil in the high-study-skills group were in the low-aggression group.

The results highlight the importance of early interventions that combine academic enhancement and behavioural management for reducing school dropout rates.

 

Source : Orpinas, P., Raczynski, K., Hsieh, H.-L., Nahapetyan, L., & Horne, A. M. (2018). Longitudinal examination of aggression and study skills from middle to high school: implications for dropout prevention. Journal of School Health, 88(3), 246–252. … Read the rest

Categories
Kindergarten Primary School Education Secondary School Education Social and Motivational Outcomes

How ESSA supports social and emotional learning

The Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA) allows US states to use federal funding to adopt research-proven programmes to improve pupil achievement. This includes social-emotional learning (SEL) programmes. To offer some guidance and inform decision makers, RAND has released a report, Social and emotional learning interventions under the Every Student Succeeds Act, which reviews recent evidence on these programmes. The report discusses how ESSA supports SEL programmes and outlines the programmes that meet the ESSA evidence standards.

Specifically, authors found:

  • 60 SEL programmes that met strong, moderate, or promising evidence standards in grades K-12 (Years  1 to 13). Most were evaluated at the primary school level in urban communities with minority populations.
  • Interpersonal competencies, such as hostile attribution biases, prosocial behaviors, interpersonal communication, and social problem-solving skills, were most likely to be positively affected by these programmes.
  • Following that, intrapersonal competencies, such as attention, concentration, emotional regulation, and perseverance, were the second most common outcomes positively impacted by these programmes.

A second report describes these programmes and the research that supports them in detail.

 

Source (Open Access) : Grant, S., Hamilton, L., Wrabel, S., Gomez, C., Whitaker, A., Leschitz, J., … Ramos, A. (2017). Social and Emotional Learning Interventions Under the Every Student Succeeds Act: Evidence Review. Santa Monica, CA: RAND Corporation.         … Read the rest

Categories
Kindergarten Social and Motivational Outcomes

Looking at the research on screen time

Courtney Nugent and Lauren Supplee from Child Trends have released a research brief on five ways screen time can benefit children and families. The brief looks at guidelines from the American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) and links to multiple sources of research on the topic, such as journal articles in the International Journal of Child-Computer Interaction and Infant and Child Development.

The five recommendations are as follows:

  • Certain kinds of digital tools can support family interactions. For example, using video chat (Skype, Facetime, etc) allows family members to connect with one another when in-person interactions may not be possible.
  • It’s important to support children’s healthy development through co-viewing and co-playing. For example, it is important that parents answer and ask questions about the material they are co-viewing, point out important concepts and blend the content they are viewing together into their daily lives and routines.
  • Parents can choose high-quality digital content for their child’s viewing. The brief notes that websites like Common Sense Media, PBS Kids and Sesame Workshop can help parents decide which apps and programs are best for their children.
  • Like physical tools, digital tools can promote school readiness. According to the brief, research suggests that preschool children can learn best from well-designed e-books with limited distracting features (such as games and sounds) and when parents’ questions focus on the stories themselves rather than the features of the electronic medium (such as pushing buttons).
  • Digital tools can support parent and child togetherness.For example, technology can elicit exciting topics for conversation and encourage family members to spend time with one another.

The importance of parent’s engagement when using digital media was highlighted by the new guidelines from the AAP for children aged from zero to five.

 

Source (Open Access) : Nugent, C. & Supplee, L. (2018). 5 ways screen time can benefit children and families. Retrieved from https://www.childtrends.org/child-trends-5/5-ways-screen-time-can-benefit-children-and-families/… Read the rest

Categories
Achievement Secondary School Education Social and Motivational Outcomes

Screen addicts missing out on GCSE potential

An article in the International Journal of Behavioral Nutrition and Physical Activity investigated the association between GCSE results and three aspects of the way that teenagers had spent their time when they were 14.5 years old:

  1. Physical activity
  2. Screen time sedentary behaviour (TV/films, internet, computer games)
  3. Non-screen sedentary behaviour (reading, homework)

The study was based on 845 teenagers from Cambridgeshire and Suffolk. Data was taken from the ROOTS study, which aims to determine the relative contributions of genetic, physiological, psychological, and social variables to well-being and mental health during adolescence. Trained researchers administered questionnaires, conducted physical measurements, and gave instructions regarding physical activity measurements at participating schools.

The participants’ median daily screen time was approximately 1.9 hours. The authors found that:

  • Teenagers reporting an extra hour of daily screen time at 14.5 years old achieved 9.3 fewer GCSE points (almost two grades lower) at 16.
  • All three separate screen behaviours were independently negatively associated with academic performance.
  • However, participants doing an extra hour of daily homework and reading (up to four hours/day) achieved 23.1 more GCSE points (an increase of four grades).
  • Physical activity did not appear to be either detrimental or beneficial to academic performance.
  • Boys were more active and less sedentary than girls, and boys reported more screen time but less non-screen sedentary time than girls. Girls had higher academic performance than boys.

The authors noted some limitations in the study, including the possibility that less-academic pupils are likely to be doing the less-academic subjects and may be given less homework.

 

Corder, K., Atkin, A. J., Bamber, D. J., Brage, S., Dunn, V. J., Ekelund, U., … Goodyer, I. M. (2015). Revising on the run or studying on the sofa: prospective associations between physical activity, sedentary behaviour, and exam results in British adolescents. International Journal of Behavioral Nutrition and Physical Activity, 12, 106.… Read the rest