This paper highlights a (2022) study conducted in a Canadian school division with middle school teachers. The purpose of this study was to learn what middle school teachers did to positively connect with their students. Due to COVID-related concerns, four participants were interviewed individually via zoom and asked to share strategies that they…

Childhood social and emotional competencies are recognized as teachable skills affecting well-being and developmental outcomes across the life span. This study sought to develop and validate a brief self-report measure of social-emotional competencies in middle childhood. The study used items from the 2015 Middle Childhood Survey, administered to…

This study was conducted to test whether social-emotional learning skills are a significant predictor of academic achievement and happiness in middle school students. A total of three different data collection tools were used in the study: A Personal Information Form, The Social-Emotional Learning Skills Scale, and The Adolescent Happiness Scale.…

To explore the impact of the True Goals (TG) school counseling curriculum on important constructs related to school success for students, we conducted two studies: one with elementary and middle school students and the other with high school students. In this, the first of the two studies, 43 students in Grades 4 through 7 participated in the…

Youths' development can be positively or negatively impacted by various factors in their internal and external environment. This study investigated the interactive effects of self-regulation and internalizing and externalizing problems on academic achievement (reading and maths) and positive youth development (PYD) across one year. Data were…

Trauma-informed school practices are interventions intended to mitigate the effects of traumatic experiences that hinder students' abilities to learn and experience success in school settings. This quantitative comparative study aimed to examine archival data on the impact of trauma-informed school practices on middle school students' grade point…

Reclassification can be an important juncture in the academic experience of English Learners (ELs). Literature has explored the potential for reclassification to influence academic outcomes like achievement, yet its impact on social-emotional learning (SEL) skills, which are as malleable and important to long-term success, remains unclear. Using a…

As teachers and administrators focus increasing attention on the mental health needs of students, researchers are exploring ways that addressing social-emotional needs is essential to academic growth as well as personal wellness. This descriptive investigation explored ways that seventh and eighth grade students perceived their social-emotional…

This pilot study involved fourth and fifth-grade students (N = 25) from two elementary schools that receive the True Goals (TG) small group intervention during an after-school program in one school district in the Midwest region of the United States. A one-group pre-post design was used to assess classroom teachers' perceptions of student learning…

Values are conceptualized as the standards individuals use to determine the status of events and actions and are considered to influence individuals' behaviours, reasoning, and perceptions. Based on a synthesis of six school-based student values enhancement programs, this paper reports on the development of the Children's Values Questionnaire…

In the project MultiMa (Multiple solutions for mathematics teaching oriented toward students' self-regulation), we investigated the effects of prompting students to use multiple solution methods while solving real-world problems on their learning. In this quasi-experimental study, we compared three treatment conditions. In one condition, students…

This report analyzes construct and predictive validity of a Social and Emotional Learning (SEL) Competency Survey. Students' SEL skill ratings were correlated with other measures of SEL skills and other outcomes of interest. Separate research brief and executive summary were published. [For the Research Brief, see ED626925. For the Executive…

In this article, the authors discuss how school counselors at two middle schools identified and intervened with eighth-grade students who were at risk for academic failure using the Student Success Skills (SSS) small-group curriculum (Brigman, Campbell, & Webb, 2010). Participants reported significant increases in self-regulation and perceived…

The field of mathematics is complex, areas such as arithmetic, and geometry each consist of several sub-domains and encompass many cognitive processes. Achievement tests for elementary pupils assess a wide range of arithmetic skills such as number sense, procedural knowledge, and using problem solving strategies. Although mathematical tests often…

This study examines the role of self beliefs in the self-regulatory engagement of 1,304 middle school students in Singapore. Developing academic self-regulatory skills is particularly critical for these students when the syllabi are more cognitively demanding and regulation of one's behaviour towards effective learning is increasingly called upon…