The SocialEmotional Development of Students in Schools Facing Challenging Circumstances: An Examinat

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The Social-Emotional Development of Students in
Schools Facing Challenging Circumstances An
Examination of the Non-Academic Programs and the
School-Community Partnerships that Foster School
SuccessDawn E. Pollon, PhD Candidate OISE,
University of Toronto

• 22 International Congress for School
  Effectiveness and Improvement, Vancouver, BC, 2009

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Objectives

• To explore
• The beliefs educators hold about the
  social-emotional development of students
• Understand how educators beliefs relate to the
  implementation of social-emotional non-academic
  programs (NAPs) in schools
• Understand how the implementation of NAPs
  positively impact school success

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Introduction Schools in Challenging
Circumstances

• The term Challenging Circumstances is used to
  denote schools and student populations that face
  issues that arise due to
• Poverty
• Childrens poor health
• Lack of adequate housing
• Student/family mobility
• Family stress
• (Gore Smith, 2001 Levin, 2006)

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Introduction Schools in Challenging
Circumstances

• This study examines 10 Schools that face
  Challenging Circumstances (SCC)

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Schools in Challenging Circumstances

• The 10 schools in this study face challenging
  circumstances and have demonstrated trends of
  improvement in the provincially administered
  standardized assessment (EQAO)

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Schools in Challenging Circumstances

• Schools that face challenging circumstances are
  often the focus of school effectiveness and
  school improvement research
• Challenging circumstances research assists
  researchers in their understanding of how school
  context impacts school performance (Harris,
  Chapman, Muijs, Russ, Stoll, 2006 Muijs,
  Harris, Chapman, Stoll, Russ, 2004)

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School Improvement School Success

• Researchers have identified school factors that
  are associated and/or related to school
  improvement/success and include such factors as
• School leadership (Harris, Brown, Abbott, 2006)
• Teacher professional development (Frampton,
  Vaughn, Didelot, 2003)
• Practices relating to instruction and learning
  (Mosenthal, Lipson, Torncello, Russ, Mekkelsen,
  2004)

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School Improvement School Success

• Factors continued
• Use of data to track student progress (Sammons,
  Hillman, Mortimore, 1995a)
• School climate (Urdan Schoenfelder, 2006)
• High expectations of students (Muijs, Harris,
  Chapman, Stoll, 2004)
• Parental involvement (Opdenakker Van Damme,
  2006)

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School Improvement School Success

• While these factors have been empirically
  confirmed to be associated with school
  improvement and or success, these factors do not
  directly examine or consider how the social and
  emotional development of students impacts school
  performance

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Child Development Education

• Research has shown that children who live in
  disadvantaged contexts, and who experience
  familial, social, and economic stressors are at
  risk for decreased educational and developmental
  outcomes (Roeser, van der Wolf, Strobel, 2001)

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Child Development Education

• Child developmental success may be contingent on
  the type and number of opportunities and
  experiences present in a the social contexts of
  the developing child (Morales Guerra, 2006)

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Theoretical Framework Biopsychosocial

• Biopsychosocial framework A developmental
  inquiry into the physical, emotional, cognitive,
  and social factors that influence child
  development

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Method Mixed Methods

• Mixed methods is a methodology that views
• All methodological paradigms and their associated
  data as equally valuable

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Method Mixed Methods

• The collection and analytical integration of both
  quantitative and qualitative data as creating the
  opportunity for research outcomes that are
  greater than the sum of their independent parts
  (Greene Caracelli, 2003)

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Method Mixed Methods

• Principal 1 Sixth Ave. P.S.
• I think that, the biggest difference for me
  coming to this school from some of the other
  schools that Ive been at is - that whole sense
  of a moral imperative. That there is a commitment
  to the work that we do here. We take it
  seriously. We treat kids seriously when were
  dealing with them and we take their concerns
  seriouslyI dont know if it can be
  quantitatively diagnosed or gleaned, but we know
  that the different things that were doing are
  making a difference for kids (Line 813)

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Sample

• 10 elementary schools from School Board B
• These schools are situated primarily in urban
  locales
• All face varying degrees of challenging
  circumstances
• All have demonstrated academic improvement over
  time on the provincially administered
  standardized assessment

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Academic Improvement in 10 SCC
Figure 1. Student achievement from Grade 3 EQAO
in School Board B
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Data Analytic Strategy

• This study utilizes a mixed-method data analytic
  strategy that consists of both parallel and
  cross-track analysis (Li, Marquart, Zercher,
  2000) of the qualitative and quantitative data
  sources
• The participant interviews and the survey data
  were analyzed as separate parallel strands
• The data was then consolidated, and the
  convergence of the data strands was used to test
  findings in the individual strands

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Data Sources

• This study draws from two primary data sources
  from the 10 schools
• School Life Survey data from 209 teachers
• 52 participant interviews with select educators

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Findings

• The purpose of this study was to understand the
  beliefs educators hold about the social-emotional
  development of students, how their beliefs relate
  to the implementation of social-emotional
  non-academic programs in their schools, and how
  these programs may account for the improvement in
  standardized assessments

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Findings Educators Beliefs

• Educators believe that a developmental hierarchy
  of needs exists
• Educators believe that in order for students to
  meaningfully engage in the curriculum and achieve
  academic success, the students physical, social,
  emotional, and behavioural developmental needs
  must first be addressed

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Developmental Hierarchy of Students Needs

• Suffolk Principal 2
• In this community, going to university is not a
  priority for a lot of our kids. Eating breakfast
  and coming to school warm and stuff, thats their
  priorities (Line 229)

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Educators Believe Students Physical Development
is a Foundational Prerequisite for Student
Learning
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Developmental Hierarchy of Students Needs

• Principal 1 Sixth Ave. P.S.
• so it, its in addition to some of the
  academic programs that are available and the high
  quality teaching thats in place, I think some of
  the other things that we do to support the
  social, emotional growth of kids is really,
  really worth it, and I think it is, I think its,
  you know, if you look at meeting basic needs,
  that is a huge focus of what we do in the school,
  just to get kids to the point where they can
  participate meaningfully in the curriculum (Line
  107)

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Educators Believe Students Social, Emotional,
and Behavioral Development is a Foundational
Prerequisite for Learning
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Relationship Between Child Social, Emotional, and
Behavioral Development Learning/Cognitive
Development

• Teacher 2, Sixth Ave. P.S.
• For us theres two parts of this school and you
  can put it in any way one is the emotional
  well-being of the students and the other is the
  academic and we work really hard on both because
  we see them as interrelated (Line 117)

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Relationship Between Child Social, Emotional, and
Behavioral Development Learning/Cognitive
Development

• Teacher 2, Sixth Ave. P.S.
• For us theres two parts of this school and you
  can put it in any way one is the emotional
  well-being of the students and the other is the
  academic and we work really hard on both because
  we see them as interrelated (Line 117)

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Relationship Between Child Social, Emotional, and
Behavioral Development Learning/Cognitive
Development

• Teacher 2, Sixth Ave. P.S.
• For us theres two parts of this school and you
  can put it in any way one is the emotional
  well-being of the students and the other is the
  academic and we work really hard on both because
  we see them as interrelated (Line 117)

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Child Development Concurs

• The domains of child development (physical,
  social, emotional, and cognitive) are reciprocal
  and interdependent
• Development in one domain fosters the growth and
  development in other domains, while obstacles to
  growth impedes development in subsequent domains

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Findings Educators Beliefs

• Educators believe that gaps in students
  development must be addressed in order for
  students to be able to meaningfully engage in the
  curriculum

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Findings Educators Beliefs

• Brook Creek Principal 2
• So what we did was we voiced that opinion to
  our area Superintendent and we sensed that there
  was real urgency in getting and taking a serious
  look at this so what we did with the help of the
  Super was put together a group called The Brook
  Creek Mental Health Collective And what the
  group is, is a group that started to get together
  about a year and half ago and we started out as a
  philosophy of admin saying you know we need to
  get the support to help students, to help
  parents, to help families that are struggling in
  this area- because we realized that it had a
  direct affect on student achievement (Line 101)

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Findings Educators Beliefs About NAPs

• Educators believe that School/Community
  Partnerships would be an effective way to address
  developmental needs of students

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Findings Educators Beliefs About NAPs

• NAPs that Focus on Physical Development
• City Parks and Recreation
• Healthy Schools Healthy Kids
• Church Ladies Breakfast Program
• Lions Club food hampers/food drive
• Public Health Nurse

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Findings Educators Beliefs About NAPs

• NAPs that Focus on Social-Emotional Development
• Brook Creek Mental Health Collective
• Girls Inc.
• ABLE (Association of Black Law Enforcers)
• Girls on the Run
• FAST Families and Schools Together
• In-house First Nations CYW

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Conclusion

• The educators in these 10 schools that face
  challenging circumstances believe that there is a
  relationship between child development and
  students ability to meaningfully engage with the
  curriculum and achieve academic success

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Conclusions

• Analysis revealed that all 10 schools have
  implemented non-academic programs (NAPs) that
  foster the social-emotional development of
  students

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Conclusion

• By addressing the gaps in students physical,
  social, and emotional development through the
  implementation of NAPs, these educators may have
  fostered students cognitive development and
  their academic achievement

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Conclusions Developmental Impact and School
Success

• These schools may be offsetting the developmental
  disadvantages that students face in their homes,
  schools, and community contexts

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Educational Importance Student and School
Transformation Through Innovation

• In shifting from the traditional focus of
  education to focus on students social-emotional
  development, these educators have expanded how
  they define student success, and have arrived at
  an innovative approach to achieving school
  success through school-community partnerships

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• Thank you!
• Your feedback would be welcomed
• I wish to thank
• Dr. Eunice Jang, OISE, U of T
• Dr. Doug McDougall, U of T
• Dr. Ruth Childs, U of T
• Data Host, U of T
• UVic FMJA

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Contact Information

• Dawn Pollon, PhD Candidate
• OISE, University of Toronto
• dpollon_at_oise.utoronto.ca
• Please email me for a digital copy of my paper
• References available upon request

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BONE YARD
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Conclusion

• Educators address students social-emotional
  development through innovative school-community
  partnerships

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Conclusion

• NAPs appear to originate from educators beliefs
  about students social-emotional development

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Conclusion

• All 10 of these schools have implemented NAPs
  that address the physical, and social-emotional
  development of students

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Educational importance of this study

• It is my hypothesis that these non-academic
  programs may be playing a compensatory role in
  the overall development of these students
• By addressing the social-emotional development of
  students, these 10 schools are attaining academic
  success.
• In schools that face challenging circumstances a
  value added curriculum may be essential in
  offsetting the developmental disadvantages that
  may be a result of the community, school, and
  home environment of students.
• I conclude that non-academic programs with a
  social-emotional focus that are offered through
  school/community partnerships may have
  significant educational implications for schools
  facing challenging circumstances
• These NAPs may be addressing the physical,
  social, and emotional developmental gaps in
  students lives. By addressing these
  developmental issues, the school/community
  partnerships that offer NAPS may be fostering
  students cognitive growth and students academic
  achievement.

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Educational importance of this study

• Transformation through innovation and networks
• The educators in this study have undergone a
  radical transformation in how they define
  success. School success has traditionally been
  defined by student achievement. In these 10
  schools facing challenging circumstances, the
  educators did not lower their expectations, but
  rather, broadened their understanding of school
  success to include student developmental success.
  By forging innovative school-community
  partnerships, and shifting from the traditional
  focus of education, these educators identified
  developmental gaps that existed in these
  students lives and addressed them, and by
  shifting to focus on students social-emotional
  development, have arrived at an innovative
  approach to achieving school success.

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Educators Believe Relationship Between Child
Social, Emotional, and Behavioral Development
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Relationship Between Child Social, Emotional, and
Behavioral Development Learning/Cognitive
Development
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Visual Recap of Purpose
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Visual Recap of Purpose
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Visual Recap of Purpose
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Visual Recap of Purpose
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Visual Recap of Purpose
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Conclusions

• Educators in all 10 schools have identified that
  social-emotional developmental gaps exist in
  their students lives

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Findings Non-academic Programs

• NAPs are often run through School/Community
  Partnerships
• All 10 schools have NAPs (COULD BREAK DOWN INTO
  PHYS, SOC/EMO, COU and add DIAGRAM of pyramid)
• Examples are
• NAPs with mental health support teams
• Social services
• Grass-roots socially-focused community programs
• City Parks and Recreation services, as this
  agency willingly assisted schools in creating and
  delivering after-school and summer-holiday
  programs for students.

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Conclusion School/Community Partnerships
School Improvement

• The finding emerged that most educators reported
  that the social-emotional NAPs and community
  partnerships served to provide students with an
  additional structured environment in which
  students could acquire social-emotional
  skills.(ADD DEVELOPMENTAL PIECE PHYS, SOCIAL,
  EMOTIONAL, COG)
• Educators believed that the cumulative effect of
  the NAPs was that the developmental opportunities
  for students had been expanded past regular
  school hours, and that educators believed that
  they could observe this cumulative developmental
  effect in the classroom.

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• Transformation through innovation and networks
• The educators in this study have undergone a
  radical transformation in how they define
  success. School success has traditionally been
  defined by student achievement. In these 10
  schools facing challenging circumstances, the
  educators did not lower their expectations, but
  rather, broadened their understanding of success
  to include student developmental success. By
  forging innovative school-community partnerships,
  and shifting from the traditional focus of
  education, these educators identified
  developmental gaps that existed in these
  students lives and addressed them, and by
  shifting to focus on students social-emotional
  development, have arrived at an innovative
  approach to achieving school success.

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Conclusions

• Analysis reveals all 10 schools have implemented
  NAPs that foster the social-emotional development
  of students.
• Educators believe that there is a relationship
  between child social-emotional development and a
  students ability to meaningfully engage with the
  curriculum and achieve academic success
• Educators have identified social-emotional
  developmental gaps that exist in students lives.
  
• Educators address students social-emotional
  development through innovative school-community
  partnerships.
• NAPs appear to originate from educators beliefs
  about students social-emotional development

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INSERT DIAGRAM DOMAINS OF DEV
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Objectives

• Understand the relationship between educators
  beliefs about students social-emotional
  development and the school-community partnerships
  play in students development
• And
• Understand how programs run by school-community
  partnerships may account for the improvement in
  these schools that face challenging
  circumstances

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Theoretical Framework Biopsychosocial

• This study utilizes a biopsychosocial approach to
  examine the ways in which educators in these
  schools are compensating for the developmental
  gaps in the students lives
• Biopsychosocial framework A developmental
  inquiry into the physical, emotional, cognitive,
  and social factors that influence child
  development

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Theoretical Framework Biopsychosocial

• This study aims to provide a developmental
  explanation that will expand the understanding of
  the processes that occur in improving schools
  that face challenging circumstances
• This developmental approach aims to compliment
  our current understanding of the factors and
  processes that contribute to school success and
  improvement