Patterns and Mindsets of Social-Emotional Learning Needs Among Urban High School Freshmen Students

Background and Purpose: Social-emotional learning (SEL) needs are critical for student success and schools play a critical role in identifying students in need of additional supports. Especially for students in high-risk urban settings, the timely identification and response to their SEL needs as they enter high school may be more salient. The multiple stressors students experience in their environments can affect how they regulate their behaviors and emotions and their ability to maintain relationships, which can ultimately impact their academics and behaviors. While urban students may experience more stressors than their non-urban counterparts, not all students respond similarly to the challenges of urban living. Different patterns of co-occurring SEL needs can emerge among urban students. However, to date, no studies have explored for patterns of co-occurring SEL needs and their corresponding mindsets on the importance of their SEL needs among a sample of urban students.

Methods: Data is from one high school in urban New Jersey (n=292; 70% Hispanic, 30% African American). All freshmen students completed the Social Skills Improvement System (SSIS). The SSIS evaluates student frequencies and mindsets of social skills involving seven social skills domains such as communication, cooperation, assertion, and four problem areas involving externalizing, bullying, hyperactivity, and internalizing issues. Latent class analysis was used to identify patterns of co-occurring SEL needs. To understand how patterns differ by demographics (e.g., gender, students with Individualized Educational Plans, and English Language Learners), a posterior probability Wald chi-square was used. Lastly, to evaluate how social skills mindsets differ across the patterns, three-step multinominal logistic regression models were used.

Results: Fit indices suggest three to five patterns of co-occurring SEL needs. The three-pattern model reflected a group of students with low needs in all areas, a group with high needs in the behavioral and emotional domains, and a group with needs in all social skills domains. In the four-pattern model, a new pattern emerged reflecting needs in communication, assertion, empathy, and engagement. Lastly, the five-pattern model showed a new pattern reflecting needs across social skills, behavioral and emotional domains. Across all models, males were consistently over-represented in the pattern of high social skills needs. English Language Learners were over-represented in the social skills problems and high-all patterns group. Individualized Educational Plan status did not differentiate across the patterns. Lastly, across all models, when compared to the low-all pattern, higher levels of mindsets are associated with lower odds of membership in the high all social skills needs. However, consistent across all models, mindsets are not associated with membership in the high behavioral problem patterns as compared to the low-all group. 

Conclusions and Implications: To address behavioral issues in schools, findings draw attention to the significance of understanding patterns of co-occurring SEL needs, and their associated mindsets of its importance. Targeted programs based on specific patterns of needs should be delivered to students based on expected benefit. Schools can benefit from a universal screening approach of student SEL needs to develop multi-tiered intervention supports for students.