What does the research say on teacher’s social-emotional development?

Following an established REL Northeast & Islands research protocol, we conducted a search for recent research on teachers' social-emotional development. We focused on identifying resources that specifically addressed research on the effects of teachers' social-emotional competence on student outcomes. The sources searched included ERIC and other federally funded databases and organizations, academic research databases, and general Internet search engines (For details, please see the methods section at the end of this memo.)

We have not evaluated the quality of references and the resources provided in this response and we offer them only for your reference. Because our search for references is based on the most commonly used resources of research, it is not comprehensive and other relevant references and resources may exist.

Research References

1. Greenberg, M. T., Brown, J. L., & Abenavoli, R. M. (2016). Teacher stress and health effects on teachers, students, and schools. Edna Bennett Pierce Prevention Research Center, Pennsylvania State University.
   https://www.rwjf.org/en/library/research/2016/07/teacher-stress-and-health.html
   From the abstract: “This research brief examines causes of teacher stress, its effects on teachers, schools, and students, and strategies for reducing its impact. Key findings include: Forty-six percent of teachers report high daily stress, which compromises their health, sleep, quality of life, and teaching performance; When teachers are highly stressed, students show lower levels of both social adjustment and academic performance; Interventions on the organizational or individual level, or those that reach both, can help reduce teacher stress by changing the culture and approach to teaching; Programs for mentoring, workplace wellness, social emotional learning, and mindfulness are all proven to improve teacher well-being and student outcomes. The authors suggest improving school organization, job demands, support and autonomy, and personal emotional resources for teachers.”
2. Jennings, P. A., Brown, J. L., Frank, J. L., Doyle, S., Oh, Y., Davis, R., Rasheed, D., DeWeese, A., DeMauro, A., Cham, H. & Greenberg, M. T. (2017). Impacts of the CARE for Teachers program on teachers' social and emotional competence and classroom interactions. Journal of Educational Psychology, 109(7), 1010-1028.
   https://createforeducation.org/wp-content/uploads/2018/10/Jennings-NYU-Study-ED-Psych-2017-published.pdf
   From the abstract: “Understanding teachers' stress is of critical importance to address the challenges in today's educational climate. Growing numbers of teachers are reporting high levels of occupational stress, and high levels of teacher turnover are having a negative impact on education quality. Cultivating Awareness and Resilience in Education (CARE for Teachers) is a mindfulness-based professional development program designed to promote teachers' social and emotional competence and improve the quality of classroom interactions. The efficacy of the program was assessed using a cluster randomized trial design involving 36 urban elementary schools and 224 teachers. The CARE for Teachers program involved 30 hours of in-person training in addition to intersession phone coaching. At both pre- and postintervention, teachers completed self-report measures and assessments of their participating students. Teachers' classrooms were observed and coded using the Classroom Assessment Scoring System (CLASS). Analyses showed that CARE for Teachers had statistically significant direct positive effects on adaptive emotion regulation, mindfulness, psychological distress, and time urgency. CARE for Teachers also had a statistically significant positive effect on the emotional support domain of the CLASS. The present findings indicate that CARE for Teachers is an effective professional development both for promoting teachers' social and emotional competence and increasing the quality of their classroom interactions.”
3. Jones, S. M., Bouffard, S. M., & Weissbourd, R. (2013). Educators' social and emotional skills vital to learning. Phi Delta Kappan, 94(8), 62-65.
   https://pdfs.semanticscholar.org/bf8b/e548d74df6dfe3248fe27c931e91d0368819.pdf?_ga=2.40919266.1341365847.1587613120-305301713.1587613120
   From the abstract: “Teachers' social and emotional competencies are very important to their overall effectiveness, but such skills are frequently overlooked. Social and emotional competencies like managing emotions and stress are needed more today than ever before. More practices and policies to support and foster educators' social and emotional competencies are needed. Schools must overcome the false assumption that all educators naturally possess these abilities in equal measure. They don't. But, as with other competencies, they can be built through coaching and other forms of support.”
4. Roeser, R. W., Schonert-Reichl, K. A., Jha, A., Cullen, M., Wallace, L., Wilensky, R., Oberle, E., Thomson, K., Taylor, C., Harrison, J. (2013). Mindfulness training and reductions in teacher stress and burnout: Results from two randomized, waitlist-control field trials. Journal of Educational Psychology, 105(3), 787.
   https://www.researchgate.net/publication/263919667_Mindfulness_Training_and_Reductions_in_Teacher_Stress_and_Burnout_Results_From_Two_Randomized_Waitlist-Control_Field_Trials
   From the abstract: “The effects of randomization to mindfulness training (MT) or to a waitlist-control condition on psychological and physiological indicators of teachers' occupational stress and burnout were examined in 2 field trials. The sample included 113 elementary and secondary school teachers (89% female) from Canada and the United States. Measures were collected at baseline, post-program, and 3-month follow-up; teachers were randomly assigned to condition after baseline assessment. Results showed that 87% of teachers completed the program and found it beneficial. Teachers randomized to MT showed greater mindfulness, focused attention and working memory capacity, and occupational self-compassion, as well as lower levels of occupational stress and burnout at post-program and follow-up, than did those in the control condition. No statistically significant differences due to MT were found for physiological measures of stress. Mediational analyses showed that group differences in mindfulness and self-compassion at post-program mediated reductions in stress and burnout as well as symptoms of anxiety and depression at follow-up. Implications for teaching and learning are discussed.”
5. Schonert-Reichl, K. A. (2017). Social and emotional learning and teachers. The future of Children, 137-155.
   https://files.eric.ed.gov/fulltext/EJ1145076.pdf
   From the abstract: “Teachers are the engine that drives social and emotional learning (SEL) programs and practices in schools and classrooms, and their own social-emotional competence and wellbeing strongly influence their students. But when teachers poorly manage the social and emotional demands of teaching, students' academic achievement and behavior both suffer. How can we boost teachers' social-emotional competence, and how can we help them create the kind of classroom environment that promotes students' SEL? In this article, Kimberly Schonert-Reichl reviews the results of several interventions that have specifically sought to improve teachers' social-emotional competence and stress management in school, many of which are promising. She also shows how teachers' beliefs--about their own teaching efficacy, or about whether they receive adequate support, for example--influence the fidelity with which they implement SEL programs in the classroom. When fidelity is low, SEL programs are less successful. Finally, she examines the extent to which US teacher education programs prepare teacher candidates to promote their own and their students' social-emotional competence.”

Additional Organizations to Consult

The Collaborative for Academic, Social, and Emotional Learning (CASEL). https://casel.org/
From the website: “The Collaborative for Academic, Social, and Emotional Learning (CASEL) is a trusted source for knowledge about high-quality, evidence-based social and emotional learning (SEL). CASEL supports educators and policy leaders and enhances the experiences and outcomes for all PreK-12 students.”

Methods

Keywords and Search Strings

The following keywords and search strings were used to search the reference databases and other sources:

[Teacher OR Educator] AND [Social and Emotional Learning]

[Teacher OR Educator] AND [Social and Emotional Learning Competency]

[Teacher OR Educator] AND [Social and Emotional Learning Skills]

[Teacher OR Educator] AND [Social and Emotional Learning Development]

[Teacher OR Educator] AND [Stress] AND [Classroom Outcomes OR Student Outcomes]

[Teacher OR Educator] AND [Preparation] AND [Social and Emotional Learning]

[Teacher OR Educator] AND [Professional Development] AND [Social and Emotional Learning]

Databases and Resources

We searched ERIC for relevant resources. ERIC is a free online library of over 1.6 million citations of education research sponsored by the Institute of Education Sciences. Additionally, we searched Google Scholar, JSTOR, and EBSCOhost.

Reference Search and Selection Criteria

When we were searching and reviewing resources, we considered the following criteria:

Date of the publication: References and resources published for last 10 years, from 2010 to present, were included in the search and review.

Search Priorities of Reference Sources: Search priority is given to study reports, briefs, and other documents that are published and/or reviewed by IES and other federal or federally funded organizations, academic databases, including WWC, ERIC, and NCEE.

Methodology: The following methodological priorities/considerations were given in the review and selection of the references: (a) study types – randomized control trials, quasi experiments, surveys, descriptive data analyses, literature reviews, policy briefs, etc., generally in this order; (b) target population, samples (representativeness of the target population, sample size, volunteered or randomly selected, etc.), study duration, etc.; (c) limitations, generalizability of the findings and conclusions, etc.