IES Predoctoral Program Seminar: Dr. Meghan McCormick

The University of Pennsylvania Predoctoral Training Program in Interdisciplinary Research Methods for Field-based Research in Education, sponsored by the Institute for Education Sciences (IES), welcomes Dr. Meghan McCormick to our weekly seminar series.

Long-term Effects of Social-Emotional Learning: Experimental Evidence to Inform Policy and Practice
Presented by Dr. Meghan McCormick, MDRC

Social-Emotional Learning (SEL) programs are school-based preventive interventions that aim to improve children’s social-emotional skills and behaviors. Although meta-analytic research has shown that SEL programs implemented in early childhood can improve academic and behavioral outcomes at the end of treatment, there is limited work examining program effects on children’s math and language skills in the longer-term. Moreover, few studies have considered variation in impacts by children’s pre-intervention academic skills or examined how subsequent learning environments do or do not sustain initial impacts. Using an experimental design, the current study leveraged administrative data available through school records to examine the impacts of one SEL program—INSIGHTS into Children’s Temperament—implemented in early elementary school on math and language standardized test scores from third through sixth grade. Findings revealed positive average treatment effects on English/Language Arts (ELA) test scores in third and fourth grade, but not in fifth and sixth grade. Students who had higher academic skills at study enrollment showed lasting impacts on ELA scores in fourth, fifth, and sixth grade. There were no treatment impacts on math skills, and no variation in effects on math achievement by baseline skills. Implications for policy, practice, and continued research on lasting effects of early interventions will be discussion.

More information
The IES Predoctoral Program’s weekly seminar series connects program fellows and affiliates to scholars and practitioners who engage in educational research and the development of research methods.

Seminars are likely of interest to doctoral students and faculty. If you are interested in attending virtually, please email Melanie Bahti for Zoom information.