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Promoting Social and Emotional Learning in Middle School: Intervention Effects of Facing History and Ourselves

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Abstract

There are fewer evidence-based social and emotional learning programs for middle school students compared to younger grades. This randomized controlled trial tests the effectiveness of Facing History and Ourselves (hereafter, Facing History) with a sample of 694 (Facing History n = 437; Comparison n = 257) students from a low-resourced school district. Youth self-identified as female (59%), Black/African American (61%), Hispanic/Latinx (18%), White (2%), and multi-racial or some other race/ethnicity (19%). Intervention students perceived their classrooms as more caring and democratic than students in the comparison group. They reported higher levels of empathy, prosocial behavior, and stronger participatory citizenship beliefs. This study expands the evidence-based of effective SEL programs available to schools.

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Acknowledgements

The authors would like to thank the administration, teachers, and families of the school district for their partnership with the Penn State Prevention Research Center. Judith Nuss, the district’s Social-Emotional Coordinator, was a tireless advocate of evidence-based programming at the district during the years of this project and was responsible for bringing all of the partners together. Additionally, appreciation is extended to the team at Facing History for the quality of their educational materials and for their commitment to ending discrimination and promoting social justice and educational equity.

Authors’ Contributions

C.E.D. conceived of the study and provided overall project leadership, managed the relationship with the school district, and lead the writing of the manuscript; A.H. assisted with data collection, performed statistical analyses, and helped draft the manuscript; A.K.S. helped design the study instruments, assisted with data collection and interpretation, and helped draft the manuscript; L.J. performed statistical analyses and helped draft the manuscript; N.M. performed statistical analyses and helped draft the manuscript; M.C. performed statistical analyses and edited the manuscript; J.E.M. helped design the study instruments, assisted with data collection and interpretation, and edited the manuscript; M.T.G. helped secure project funded, consulted on the study design and findings, and edited the manuscript. All authors read and approved the final manuscript.

Funding

This paper was supported by a grant to the school district from the US Department of Education, Office of Safe and Drug Free Schools (Q213S060069-08).

Data Sharing and Declaration

The datasets generated and/or analyzed during the current study are not publicly available but are available from the corresponding author on reasonable request.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Georgetown University, 3303 Whitehaven Street, NW, Washington, DC, 20057, USA

    Celene E. Domitrovich

  2. Pennsylvania State University, 314 Biobehavioral Health Building, State College, PA, 16803, USA

    Celene E. Domitrovich, Nicole Morgan, Linda Jacobson & Mark T. Greenberg

  3. University of Virginia, 405 Emmet Street, Charlottesville, VA, 22904, USA

    Alexis R. Harris

  4. Search Institute, 3001 Broadway Street NE, Suite 310, Minneapolis, MN, 55413, USA

    Amy K. Syvertsen

  5. Washington State University, Johnson Tower 516, Pullman, WA, 99164, USA

    Michael Cleveland

  6. The Center for Implementation, 5199 County Road 45, Baltimore, ON, K0K1CO, USA

    Julia E. Moore

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Correspondence to Celene E. Domitrovich.

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Domitrovich, C.E., Harris, A.R., Syvertsen, A.K. et al. Promoting Social and Emotional Learning in Middle School: Intervention Effects of Facing History and Ourselves. J Youth Adolescence 51, 1426–1441 (2022). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10964-022-01596-3

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