Socio-emotional learning. Promising synergies with academic development in early adolescence

Rimm-Kaufman, Sara E. Socio-emotional learning. Promising synergies with academic development in early adolescence Becker, Michael [Hrsg.]; Dignath, Charlotte [Hrsg.]; Bihler, Lilly-Marlen [Hrsg.]; Gaspard, Hanna [Hrsg.]; McElvany, Nele [Hrsg.]: Socio-emotional and cognitive development in learning. Educational goals in competition?! Münster ; New York : Waxmann 2026, S. 15-33. - (Dortmunder Symposium der Empirischen Bildungsforschung; 9) Quellenangabe/ Reference: Rimm-Kaufman, Sara E.: Socio-emotional learning. Promising synergies with academic development in early adolescence - In: Becker, Michael [Hrsg.]; Dignath, Charlotte [Hrsg.]; Bihler, Lilly-Marlen [Hrsg.]; Gaspard, Hanna [Hrsg.]; McElvany, Nele [Hrsg.]: Socio-emotional and cognitive development in learning. Educational goals in competition?! Münster ; New York : Waxmann 2026, S. 15-33 - URN: urn:nbn:de:0111-pedocs-345043 - DOI: 10.25656/01:34504 https://nbn-resolving.org/urn:nbn:de:0111-pedocs-345043 https://doi.org/10.25656/01:34504 in Kooperation mit / in cooperation with: http://www.waxmann.com Nutzungsbedingungen Terms of use Dieses Dokument steht unter folgender Creative Commons-Lizenz: http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/4.0/deed.de - Sie dürfen das Werk bzw. den Inhalt unter folgenden Bedingungen vervielfältigen, verbreiten und öffentlich zugänglich machen sowie Abwandlungen und Bearbeitungen des Werkes bzw. Inhaltes anfertigen: Sie müssen den Namen des Autors/Rechteinhabers in der von ihm festgelegten Weise nennen. Dieses Werk bzw. der Inhalt darf nicht für kommerzielle Zwecke verwendet werden. Die neu entstandenen Werke bzw. Inhalte dürfen nur unter Verwendung von Lizenzbedingungen weitergegeben werden, die mit denen dieses Lizenzvertrages identisch oder vergleichbar sind. This document is published under following Creative Commons-License: http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/4.0/deed.en - You may copy, distribute and transmit, adapt or exhibit the work in the public and alter, transform or change this work as long as you attribute the work in the manner specified by the author or licensor. You are not allowed to make commercial use of the work. If you alter, transform, or change this work in any way, you may distribute the resulting work only under this or a comparable license. Mit der Verwendung dieses Dokuments erkennen Sie die Nutzungsbedingungen an. By using this particular document, you accept the above-stated conditions of use. Kontakt / Contact: peDOCS DIPF | Leibniz-Institut für Bildungsforschung und Bildungsinformation Informationszentrum (IZ) Bildung E-Mail: [email protected] Internet: www.pedocs.de Sara E. Rimm-Kaufman Socio-emotional learning Promising synergies with academic development in early adolescence 1. Introduction Picture Spring Middle School1, a school serving youth between age 11 and 13 in a small northeast city in the United States. Historically, the city was mostly populated by white, middleand working-class families and their children. Since 2000, the city experienced an influx of immigrants and now roughly 1 in 10 people in the city are immigrants (Office of New Americans Report, 2023). Now, Spring Middle School has about 480 students with 32 % born outside of the U.S., representing 28 different home countries. 47 % of the students speak a first language other than English and this school has 21 home languages rep‐ resented. Students come from Guatemala, Burundi, Angola, Sudan, Ethiopia, Iraq, Honduras, Namibia, Gabon, Rwanda among others (LeClaire, 2022). Like most U.S. middle schools, the school strives to meet the needs of early adolescents who are experiencing dramatic developmental changes in physical, emotional, cognitive, and social domains. What makes Spring Middle School particularly unique is the tremendous ethnic diversity of students and the var‐ ied needs of youth and families who are very recent immigrants. This scenario calls attention to a question: How can schools meet psychological needs and promote academic growth among youth with such a wide range of backgrounds and experiences? The solution for this school has been complex. Instead of focusing on aca‐ demic achievement as the sole focus, they broadened their goals to advance a three-dimensional vision of student achievement that includes mastery of skills and knowledge, cultivation of character attributes, and high-quality student work on topics that are relevant and engaging to their students (Berger et al., 2021). Engaging in Crew – daily meetings with about 15–20 students and one adult—is one practice that contributes to this multifaceted vision of student 1 Spring Middle School is a pseudonym. 16 Sara E. Rimm-Kaufman success. Crew creates an opportunity for students to develop positive relation‐ ships with adults and other students, have courageous conversations about is‐ sues in students’ lives, create a sense of community, experience belonging, and reflect on the purpose of school learning (Berger et al., 2021). This anecdote sets the stage for a conversation about how schools can cul‐ tivate social and emotional competencies and create meaningful academic ex‐ periences. This chapter describes the basic definitions of social and emotional learning (SEL), explores typical trajectories of growth of social and emotional competencies (SEC), and examines the ways in which meaningful learning cre‐ ates classroom experiences that optimize academic learning while also meeting the psychological needs of youth. The paper closes with implications for educa‐ tors striving to meet the needs of early adolescents. 2. What is social and emotional learning? The Collaborative for Academic, Social and Emotional Learning (CASEL) is an organization at the University of Illinois-Chicago that is the central-most hub in the U.S. for SEL research, practice and policy. The CASEL definition of SEL is “the process through which all young people and adults acquire and apply the knowledge, skills, and attitudes to develop healthy identities, manage emotions and achieve personal and collective goals, feel and show empathy for others, establish and maintain supportive relationships, and make responsible and caring decisions” (CASEL, 2025). There are two attributes of this definition that require careful attention. The definition points out that all young people and adults can experience SEL. This is important because many people assume that SEL is just for children and youth. In fact, SEL also occurs in adults. For example, when educators learn and apply new intercultural skills for working with students of color or recent immigrants, that represents an aspect of adult SEL. A second attribute of this definition refers to what people learn and can ap‐ ply – SEL involves the development of more than skills. SEL also involves new knowledge and attitudes that people acquire. For instance, in the U.S. there has been a movement to increase cultural responsiveness of SEL. To achieve this goal, educators have had to learn and apply new skills, develop new knowledge about cultures, and change their attitudes about people who were unfamiliar to them in the past (Wanless et al., 2023). All this is necessary before teachers are ready to apply these competencies in their classrooms. By definition, SECs occur as a product of SEL. SECs fall into three broad cat‐ egories: self-skills, social skills, and decision-making (CASEL, 2025), as shown in Figure 1. The broad category of self-skills corresponds to the intrapersonal Socio-emotional learning 17 Figure 1: CASEL model showing the development of social and emo‐ tional competencies competencies of self-awareness and self-management. Self-awareness refers to a person’s ability to understand their own values, thoughts, and emotions and the ways these ideas link to their behavior. Self-awareness involves identifying one’s own emotions, their personal and cultural assets, examination of one’s own prejudices and biases, developing self-efficacy, a growth mindset and a sense of purpose. When an eighth grader describes themselves as viewing mistakes as a normal part of learning and indication that they need to try a different idea to solve a problem, they are demonstrating growth mindset, which is one aspect of self-awareness. Self-management refers to the ability of a person to regulate and manage their thoughts, behaviors, and emotions and to adjust those behav‐ iors to match different contexts. Use of stress management strategies, managing strong emotions, existing self-discipline, showing initiative and directing their attention to personal and collective goals are examples of self-management. Codeswitching, the modification of one’s behavior or way of speaking to match their immediate cultural environment, also requires self-management skills. The broad category of social skills also has two subcategories and includes social awareness and relationship skills. Social awareness refers to the ability to understand the perspective of others, even if they are from cultures and backgrounds that are different than oneself. It involves an understanding that 18 Sara E. Rimm-Kaufman other people have had different experiences than oneself and have beliefs and actions that derive from those experiences. It means showing compassion for others and understanding what was considered right in one historical period is not necessarily considered noble in another. Being able to identify injustices fits within social awareness. Relationship skills refer to people’s ability to create and maintain relationships and manage social situations with diverse groups. A person with strong relationship skills can communicate well, listen carefully to others, work with others to solve problems, navigate conflict well, lead or follow, when the situation calls for it. Relationship skills can mean showing cultural competency, resisting negative social pressure, seeking or offering help. The fifth competency is responsible decision-making, reflecting people’s abil‐ ity to make effective choices about one’s own behavior in a variety of different situations. Responsible decision-making involves being able to think through the consequences of one’s actions and how those actions will influence oneself, others, and society collectively. Responsible decision-making requires openmindedness, learning how to size up complex situations and make judgments, and identifying and enacting solutions for social and personal problems. Social and emotional skills, knowledge and attitudes are multiply deter‐ mined. People learn these at home, school, neighborhood, through social media and via other social interactions. Because classrooms and schools are malleable, a great deal of attention has been given to SEL in those contexts, corresponding to the classroom and school effects described in Figure 1. 3. Educating for social and emotional learning SEL is certainly not new. Educators have been teaching students manners, kind‐ ness, empathy, self-control, and other related skills for decades—even centuries (Osher et al., 2016). What is new is that efforts to improve youth SECs have become an explicit aspect of the school experience of children and youth. There are two main ways that SEL takes shape in schools – by introducing programs designed to enhance SEL or by using SEL-practices organically as a part of the culture of the school. SEL programs are prevalent in the U.S. as evidenced by the $ 765 million spent on such programs between November 2019 and April 2021 (Tyton Part‐ ners, 2021). SEL programs typically include a paper or online manual, training, and coaching that can be purchased and used for in-service professional devel‐ opment. These programs can be described in a few main ways; some integrate SEL into academic instructional content, others offer free-standing lessons on SEL topics, yet others are school-wide approaches that involve classroom and Socio-emotional learning 19 school-level activities designed to enhance students’ attitudes, knowledge and skills while also striving to create a school culture that is conducive to learning social and emotional competencies. Programs can be implemented in individ‐ ual classrooms or school-wide, depending on the program and district. The adoption of SEL programs contrasts to SEL that occurs without pro‐ grams in place. SEL can be naturally embedded into the culture of a school as teachers model social and emotional competencies toward students. For in‐ stance, when youth see respectful interactions among teachers and between teachers and other students, children learn how to interact with peers. Teachers cultivate emotion learning through the daily experiences of classroom life (e.g., a teacher getting frustrated and then talking aloud to calm themselves down when the technology is not working). Whether SEL is delivered through a program or organically via the culture of the school, SEL can be universal and delivered to all students or targeted and designed for people with moderate or chronic, severe needs requiring inten‐ sive, one-on-one work between a school counselor or teacher and the student. Universal SEL resembles the idea of fluoride in water – it is an intervention that can benefit each and every student. However, many students need more intensive support to develop SECs, in which cases offering more one-on-one opportunities to touch base with adults or access to clinical services can address those needs. 4. Trends in social and emotional learning Researchers at the RAND Corporation conducted a nationally representative survey of almost 28,954 teachers and 12,954 principals asking them to rate the importance of teaching a range of social and emotional skills (Hamilton et al., 2019). The survey asked about self-skills including understanding and managing emotions, setting and achieving positive goals, developing a sense of identity, relationships skills including establishing and maintaining positive re‐ lationships and feeling and showing empathy toward others, as well as decisionmaking skills such as making responsible decisions. For all skills measured, over 90 % of principals and teachers described these skills as fairly or very important. For most skills, 97–99 % of educators reported them as fairly or very important. The importance of SEL has been evident in recent policies with 27 states having state standards for SEL for grades K-12 in place as of 2022 (Dermody & Dusen‐ bury, 2022). On one hand, the U.S. has shown a rise in SEL priorities and policies yet there are counterforces at work, as well. SEL has emerged as a political flash‐ point. Many conservative-leaning politicians and conservative parent groups 20 Sara E. Rimm-Kaufman have pushed back on SEL stating that teaching social and emotional compe‐ tencies is outside of the scope of schools and that youth should be learning those values from their families and religious organizations. Most left-leaning politicians and parent groups agree with the premises of SEL. Yet, some leftleaning scholars and educators raise issues because typical SEL is too focused on “mainstream” white U.S. values and does too little to adapt to cultural diversity present in the schools. For example, many strengths in students of color are not recognized as strengths nor are amplified by typical SEL (e.g., the ability of Black students to codeswitch) (Rimm-Kaufman et al., 2023). SEL is not only a U.S. phenomenon. Many schools in Germany use SEL. Some programs focus narrowly on anti-bullying and anti-violence, for instance, whole school anti-bullying problems using approaches by Olweus (1993), the ‘Faustlos’ curriculum-violence prevention, the ProACT+E approach and use of the ‘Fairplayer Manual’ (Scheithauer & Bull, 2008). Other schools focus more broadly on cultivating SECs. For instance, Second Step has been adapted from the U.S. program to be used in Germany, as has the Mindmatters program. Yet other schools have focused on mental health needs of students by adopting programs such as Lion’s Quest that supports adolescents’ development of sense of self, teaches listening, empathy, and wise decision-making through a series of lessons (Cefai et al., 2018). These are all examples of efforts to enhance social and emotional compe‐ tencies. New meta-analytic work shows the ways in which SEL contributes to shortand long-term gains in social, emotional, academic and behavioral out‐ comes (Cipriano et al., 2023; Taylor et al., 2017). SEL approaches have garnered widespread attention impacting both policy and practice. Despite this focus, we know too little about how SECs change over time, especially during adoles‐ cence. 5. The development of social and emotional competencies It is easy to assume that children and youth learn steadily and gradually as they mature. Achievement provides a basis for that assumption in that we know, on average, youth show gains in reading and math skills over time with the greatest magnitude of growth annually in early childhood and then smaller increases during the middle and high school years (Hill et al., 2008). Unlike achievement, youth development of SECs does not show a simple, upward trend. Instead, there are qualitative shifts in development that can lead to interruption and even U-shaped patterns (Soto & Tackett, 2015). Take self-management as an example. One longitudinal study (Ross et al., 2019) showed that self-manage‐ ment (e.g., deciding on a goal and sticking to it) was best modeled quadratically; Socio-emotional learning 21 self-management decreased from age 10 to age 17 followed by an increase to age 18. Findings like this question assumptions in the field. Before investigating fur‐ ther, there are important issues related to measurement of these constructs to raise. Some SECs, such as self-efficacy or growth mindset, can only be assessed through student-report which means outcomes reflect actual presence of SECs as well as students’ perception of themselves relative to others around them. Interpretation of student-report data has some advantages, for instance, the work elevates youth voice and helps researchers understand students’ actual lived experience. However, student-report also introduces bias based on the variation in students’ internal appraisal of their competencies. To pursue inquiry about how SECs develop, the author (S. Rimm-Kaufman) and two colleagues (J. Soland and M. Kuhfeld) identified an ideal data set. A group of California school districts called the CORE districts started conduct‐ ing annual surveys about youth’s development of SECs in 2015 (West et al., 2018). These data were available to researchers for analysis and were ideal be‐ cause of the large sample and use of standardized measures. Thus, the paper by Rimm-Kaufman and colleagues (2024) was designed to better understand developmental trends in SECs. The study was informed by the Stage-Environment Fit Theory (Eccles et al., 1993) which posits that devel‐ opmental declines in motivation and perception of self in adolescence “result from a mismatch between the needs of developing adolescents and the oppor‐ tunities afforded them by their social environments” (Eccles et al., 1993, p. 91). Despite the theory being thirty years old, early adolescents still experience a problematic stage-environment fit. Early adolescent youth develop more need for autonomy and become very sensitive to social comparison, yet they con‐ tinue to need close relationships with adults (National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine [NASEM], 2019; Yu et al., 2018). Further, young adolescents desire respect and status and traditional schooling can seem un‐ interesting as they develop a fundamental need to use their skills to improve the contribute to the world around them (Fuligni, 2019). Just as these devel‐ opmental changes are occurring, most youth are moving from elementary to middle school. In elementary school, students typically stay in a classroom with one adult and roughly 25 students. In middle school, students typically move from classroom to classroom and teachers have as many as 130 students in any given day. The demands of middle school are high – teachers expect students to come to class prepared, open only certain tabs on their computer without being distracted by the internet, and work on long term projects without waiting until last minute to complete them. Middle school also means high-stakes grading, ability grouping, more disciplinary action, and an increase in the public eval‐ 22 Sara E. Rimm-Kaufman uation of academic work (Deutsch, 2022). Taken together, this new context creates a challenge for the developing child. To pursue deeper understanding of development of SECs, analyses were conducted to examine how much growth occurs in social and emotional competencies from Grades 4–12? 6. Quantitative analysis and results The CORE data collection included nine districts in California that adminis‐ tered surveys to all students each year starting in 2015, resulting in a sample of 95,998 students in grades four through 12 (roughly ages nine to 18). Collecting data each year resulted in longitudinal data for up to four years. Thus, the analy‐ sis included students who took the survey at least once between 2015 and 2018. The sample of students was almost evenly split between girls (49 % ) and boys (51 % ).2 Roughly 25 % were from families with parents with low educational attainment (i.e., high school or below). The sample was 73 % Latine, 11 % White, 10 % Black, and 7 % Asian. Table 1. Measures Collected in the CORE Districts with Selected Items Constructs Example Items # items Alphas Growth Mindset I can change my intelligence with hard work. I am capable of learning anything. 4 .70 Self-Efficacy I can master the hardest topics in my classes. I can do well on my tests, even when they are difficult. 4 .86 Self-Management I came to class prepared. I paid attention, even when there were distractions. 5 .85 Social Awareness How often did you compliment others’ accomplishments? How well did you get along with students who are different from you? 5 .81 The 18-item measure administered assessed growth mindset, self-efficacy, selfmanagement, and self-awareness, as shown in Table 1. To address the key re‐ 2 Gender data were limited to binary categories of girl and boy. Socio-emotional learning 29 Processes of sociopolitical development were more common in EL Education (45 % , n=9) than comparison schools (8 % , n=1). Engaging schoolwork. Engaging schoolwork was a theme that emerged in more than half of the students interviewed (56 % , n=18). Specifically, work was deemed meaningful if it was personally relevant (25 % , n=8), hands-on (22 % , n=7) or socially interactive (13 % , n=4). This theme was more prevalent among EL Education students (75 % , n=15) than among comparison students (25 % , n=3). One student gave two examples of how socially interactive experiences made learning meaningful. First, she said that a morning meeting was meaningful “Because [I] got to talk in front of the whole middle school.” Second, she said that her experiences “focusing on the community commitments [are] mean‐ ingful because they make me and a lot of other people feel safe in our learning environment” (Genny, Latina female, EL Education). Future orientation. Approximately half the sample (47 % , n=15) reported meaningful schoolwork as developing skills that would be useful in their future. These included academic skills (e.g., math for taxes), social-emotional skills (e.g., relationship building, empathy, respect), or goal-oriented skills (e.g., de‐ veloping goals for getting good grades to get into college). EL Education and comparison students mentioned this theme equivalently (45 % , n=9 of EL Edu‐ cation; 50 % , n=6) of comparison students. As one example, “I mean it’s important that we’re learning this stuff because . . . it’s just good to have like a wide variety of things that you know you can do for the future. And if we’re learning about kindness then it’s good to just be kind.” (Kate, EL Education) Several key findings emerge. First, the findings demonstrate that school-wide changes that connect SEL and academics can produce more meaningful learn‐ ing for youth. In this case, students at EL Education schools found working with others at school, studying and doing homework for class, participating in class and doing school projects were more meaningful than students at compar‐ ison schools. The differences between EL Education and comparison schools were particularly prominent for students of color (Black, Latine). Often, schools strive to create equity by improving the quality of experiences in school, partic‐ ularly to better meet the needs of students of color. EL Education appears to be successful in this goal. Findings also reveal ways that educators can meet the needs of developing youth by refreshing their curriculum so that learning is more meaningful. Ex‐ ample practices include: focusing content on contemporary issues, engaging in processes that enervate sociopolitical development (enhancing reflective prac‐ 30 Sara E. Rimm-Kaufman tices, enhancing awareness of contemporary issues, creating opportunities for efficacy, action and activism), using socially interactive activities, and linking learning to students’ future goals. 9. Call to action The anecdote at the start of the chapter aligns with the Stage-Environment Fit Theory and exemplifies the synergy between academic and social-emotional learning (SEL). Early adolescence is a particularly vulnerable period when youth often perceive their SECs as lower than in the late elementary school years. Classrooms and schools can respond during this delicate time by pro‐ viding supportive learning experiences that are well-matched to youths’ devel‐ opmental needs. Further, this match seems most important for youth who have experienced marginalization because of their race / ethnicity. The findings here highlight that the highest quality practices geared to create meaningful learn‐ ing may matter most for youth of color, thus resulting in recursive cycles of meaningful engagement in learning that leads to affective connection to school contexts and academic achievement (Thomas et al., 2025). Decades of research underscore the value of caring and responsive teachers, a sense of classroom community, and rich opportunities for SEL (Durlak et al., 2025). While these features are necessary, they are not sufficient for aca‐ demic learning. Educators can leverage caring and responsive classroom ex‐ periences to enhance academic learning by recognizing the unique features of adolescence, especially those youth who tend to be underserved in educational settings. By building classroom environments that meet students’ social, emo‐ tional, and academic needs, educators can make learning matter for youth. References . Berger, R., Vilen, A., & Woodfin, L. (2021). We are crew: A teamwork approach to school culture. EL Education. . Bundick, M., Andrews, M., Jones, A., Mariano, J. M., Bronk, J. C., & Damon, W. (2006). Revised youth purpose survey. New perspectives on youth purpose: Seeking purpose versus having purpose. https://doi.org/10.1037/t10273-000 . Cefai, C., Bartolo, P. A., Cavioni, V., & Downes, P. (2018). Strengthening social and emo‐ tional education as a core curricular area across the EU: A review of the international evidence. https://nesetweb-eu.webpkgcache.com/doc/-/s/nesetweb.eu/wp-content/ uploads/AR3_Full-Report.pdf . Cipriano, C., Strambler, M. J., Naples, L. H., Ha, C., Kirk, M., Wood, M., Sehgal, K., Zieher, A. K., Eveleigh, A., McCarthy, M., Funaro, M., Ponnock, A., Chow, J. C., & Socio-emotional learning 31 Durlak, J. (2023). The state of evidence for social and emotional learning: A con‐ temporary meta-analysis of universal school-based SEL interventions. Child Devel‐ opment, 94(5), 1181–1204. https://doi.org/10.1111/cdev.13968 . Collaborative for Academic, Social and Emotional Learning. (2025). CASEL’s SEL frame‐ work. https://casel.org/fundamentals-of-sel/what-is-the-casel-framework/ . Dermody, C. M., & Dusenbury, L. (2022). 2022 social and emotional learning state score‐ card scan. https://casel.org/2022-state-scan/?view=1 . Deutsch, N. L. (2022). ‘You just have to get through it’: Letting go of enduring stereo‐ types about middle school. Phi Delta Kappan, 104(2), 6–10. https://doi.org/10.1177/ 00317217221130624 . Durlak, J. A., Domitrovich, C. E., & Mahoney, J. L. (2025). Handbook of social and emotional learning (2nd ed.). Guilford. . Eccles, J. S., Midgley, C., Wigfield, A., Buchanan, C. M., Reuman, D., Flanagan, C., & MacIver, D. (1993). Development during adolescence: The impact of stage-envi‐ ronment fit on young adolescents’ experiences in schools and in families. American Psychologist, 48(2), 90–101. https://doi.org/10.1037/0003-066X.48.2.90 . Engels, M. C., Colpin, H., Van Leeuwen, K., Bijttebier, P., Van Den Noortgate, W., Claes, S., Goossens, L., & Verschueren, K. (2016). Behavioral engagement, peer status, and teacher-student relationships in adolescence: A longitudinal study on reciprocal in‐ fluences. Journal of Youth and Adolescence, 45, 1192–1207. https://doi.org/10.1007/ s10964-016-0414-5 . Fuligni, A. J. (2019). The need to contribute during adolescence. Perspectives on Psycho‐ logical Science, 14(3), 331–343. https://doi.org/10.1177/1745691618805437 . Hamilton, L. S., Doss, C. J., & Steiner, E. D. (2019). Teacher and principal perspectives on social and emotional learning in America’s schools. Findings from the American Educator Panels. https://doi.org/10.7249/RR2991 . Hartshorne, J. K., & Germine, L. T. (2015). When does cognitive functioning peak? The asynchronous rise and fall of different cognitive abilities across the life span. Psychological Science, 26(4), 433–443. https://doi.org/10.1177/0956797614567339 . Hill, C. J., Bloom, H. S., Black, A. R., & Lipsey, M. W. (2008). Empirical benchmarks for interpreting effect sizes in research. Child Development Perspectives, 2(3), 172–177. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1750-8606.2008.00061.x . Hughes, J. N., & Cao, Q. (2018). Trajectories of teacher-student warmth and conflict at the transition to middle school: Effects on academic engagement and achievement. Journal of School Psychology, 67, 148–162. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jsp.2017.10.003 . LeClaire, C. (2022, April). We are crew: School climate and culture. In S. E. RimmKaufman (Chair), Creating good human beings: New perspectives on cultivating eth‐ ical character in expeditionary learning middle schools. Symposium at the American Education Research Association, San Diego, CA. . Musci, R. J., Voegtline, K., Raghunathan, R., Ialongo, N., Johnson, S. (2022). Differential impact of a universal prevention program on academic self-efficacy: The moderating 32 Sara E. Rimm-Kaufman role of baseline self-control. Prevention Science, 23, 513–522. http://doi.org/10.1007/ s11121-021-01315-7 . National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine. (2019). The promise of adolescence: Realizing opportunity for all youth. National Academies Press. https:// doi.org/10.17226/25388 . Office of New Americans Report. (2023). Plan to establish the Maine Office of New Americans. https://www.maine.gov/future/sites/maine.gov.future/files/inline-files/ ONA%20Report%20V.FinalLayout.pdf . Olweus, D. (1993). Bullying at school: What we know and what we can do. Blackwell. . Osher, D., Kidron, Y., Brackett, M., Dymnicki, A., Jones, S., & Weissberg, R. P. (2016). Advancing the science and practice of social and emotional learning: Looking back and moving forward. Review of Research in Education, 40(1), 644–681. https://doi. org/10.3102/0091732X16673595 . Rimm-Kaufman, S. E., Strambler, M. J., & Schonert-Reichl, K. A. (2023). In S.E. RimmKaufman, M. J. Strambler, & K. A. Schonert-Reichl (Eds.), Social and emotional learning in action: Creating systemic change in schools (pp. 1–32). Guilford. . Rimm-Kaufman, S. E., Soland, J., & Kuhfeld, M. (2024). Social and emotional compe‐ tency development from fourth to 12th grade: Relations to parental education and gender. American Psychologist. Advance online publication. https://doi.org/10.1037/ amp0001357 . Ross, K. M., Kim, H., Tolan, P. H., & Jennings, P. A. (2019). An exploration of normative social and emotional skill growth trajectories during adolescence. Journal of Applied Developmental Psychology, 62, 102–115. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.appdev.2019.02. 006 . Scheithauer, H., & Bull, H. D. (2008). fairplayer.manual: Förderung von sozialen Kom‐ petenzen und Zivilcourage – Prävention von Bullying und Schulgewalt. Vandenhoeck & Ruprecht. . Soto, C. J., & Tackett, J. L. (2015). Personality traits in childhood and adolescence: Structure, development, and outcomes. Current Directions in Psychological Science, 24(5), 358–362. http://doi.org/10.1177/0963721415589345 . Taylor, R. D., Oberle, E., Durlak, J. A., & Weissberg, R. P. (2017). Promoting positive youth development through school-based social and emotional learning interven‐ tions: A meta-analysis of follow-up effects. Child Development, 88(4), 1156–1171. https://doi.org/10.1111/cdev.12864 . Thomas, K., Ross, L., & Ruzek, E. (2025). Teacher discrimination and student en‐ gagement in the context of classroom quality: The mediating effect of relational trust. Journal of Educational Psychology. Advance online publication. https://doi.org/ 10.1037/edu0000920 . Tyton Partners. (2021). Finding your place 2021: Social emotional learning takes cen‐ ter stage in K-12. https://tytonpartners.com/app/uploads/2021/10/Tyton-Partners_ Finding-Your-Place-2021_SEL-Takes-Center-Stage-in-K12.pdf Socio-emotional learning 33 . Wanless, S., Spear, C. F., Artinger, J. V., & Briggs, J. O. (2023). Creating spaces for adult learning and professional development: SEL skills for facilitating racial equity discus‐ sions. In S. Rimm-Kaufman, M. J. Strambler, & K. A. Schonert-Reichl (Eds.), Social and emotional learning in action: Creating systemic change in schools (pp. 138–156). Guilford Press. . Ward-Seidel, A. R., Rimm-Kaufman, S. E., & Sandilos, L. E. (2024). Schoolwork with purpose: A mixed methods study on youths’ perspective on what makes learning meaningful. Journal of Adolescent Research. Advance online publication. https://doi. org/10.1177/07435584241280266 . West, M. R., Buckley, K., Krachman, S. B., & Bookman, N. (2018). Development and implementation of student social-emotional surveys in the CORE Districts. Journal of Applied Developmental Psychology, 55, 119–129. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.appdev. 2017.06.001 . Yu, M. V. B., Johnson, H. E., Deutsch, N. L., & Varga, S. M. (2018). “She calls me by my last name”: Exploring adolescent perceptions of positive teacher-student rela‐ tionships. Journal of Adolescent Research, 33(3), 332–362. https://doi.org/10.1177/ 0743558416684958