How Preschoolers' Social-Emotional Learning Predicts Their Early School Success: Developing Theory-Promoting, Competency-Based Assessments

TLDR

Early positive trajectories at school entry are crucial for later academic success. The study aims to map relationships among SEL components and assess their predictive power for later classroom adjustment and academic readiness. Using partial least squares, the authors assessed self‑regulation, emotion knowledge, social problem solving, and social‑emotional behaviour in 101 preschoolers and collected teacher reports of classroom adjustment and academic readiness in kindergarten. The robust measurement model confirmed distinct SEL latent variables, and the structural model revealed that executive control predicts social cognition and negative behaviour, emotion knowledge predicts prosocial behaviour, and all SEL components directly or indirectly predict teachers’ evaluations of later classroom adjustment and academic readiness. © 2014 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

Abstract

Starting on positive trajectories at school entry is important for children's later academic success. Using partial least squares, we sought to specify interrelations among all theory-based components of social–emotional learning (SEL), and their ability to predict later classroom adjustment and academic readiness in a modelling context. Consequently, self-regulation, emotion knowledge, social problem solving, and social–emotional behaviour were assessed via direct assessment and observation for 101 preschoolers; teachers provided information on classroom adjustment through kindergarten and academic readiness in kindergarten. Our final outer (measurement) model showed robust latent variables for SEL components. Regarding the inner (structural) model, latent variables showed expected predictive relations among SEL components, and with later classroom adjustment and academic readiness: preschoolers' executive control predicted aspects of their social cognition (i.e., emotion knowledge and social problem solving) and emotionally negative/aggressive behaviour, and emotion knowledge predicted their emotionally regulated/prosocial behaviour. Further, most SEL components directly and/or indirectly predicted teachers' evaluations of later classroom adjustment and kindergarten academic readiness. Our findings extend our understanding of SEL during preschool, suggesting that early assessment and monitoring is possible using these instruments, and potentially aiding the development of programmes to maximize children's SEL in the service of early school success. Copyright © 2014 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.