Effect of Universal Social and Emotional Learning (SEL) Programs on State Test Scores in Georgia

Abstract

Students' social-emotional abilities are associated with a variety of favorable life outcomes in several studies, including their academic success in the future (Payton et al., 2008). In addition to parents' contribution, children learn to cultivate empathy and understand others' desires and wishes through social and emotional learning (SEL) programs. There is widespread enthusiasm for introducing SEL programs in schools (CASEL, 2019); however, there is little evidence on the effect of universal SEL programs on students' academic success. Student's academic performance is assessed by state test results, which is a policy-relevant metric. Furthermore, state test results are readily accessible and appropriate for investigating the effect of universal SEL programming on student academic achievement.

This paper investigates the connection between SEL programs in Georgia public schools and students' success on Georgia's state test, the Georgia Milestones Test. I merge Georgia Department of Education data on students in grades 3, 5, and 8 with survey data on the availability of universal SEL programming in a district to create my model. I compare the average test results of school districts that have adopted an SEL program to school districts that have not. Students' mean English and Math scores in Grades 3, 5, and 8 are the study's dependent variables. Schools with an SEL program have fewer low-income students, a higher proportion of Black students, more students enrolled, and outperform districts without an SEL program on the ACT.

While the results do not provide statistical evidence to suggest that SEL programs have a significant effect on student's state test scores, it cannot be concluded that SEL programs have no impact on student achievement (Merrell et al., 2008). Prospective research on this issue would benefit from identifying a particular form of SEL program for the study, restricting the categories of programs considered. The qualitative components of each SEL program adopted in Georgia schools should be analyzed to determine which programs are expected to have an impact on test results, opening the way for a tailored quantitative analysis to estimate those programs' impact.