Recently Published Articles & Research
MINDSETS, ESSENTIAL SKILLS, & HABITS (MESH) HIGHLIGHTS
How One District Is Spreading Social-Emotional Learning across Its Schools
Education Week – Evie Blad, March 9, 2018
Guest Commentary: Every Student Succeeds Act Represents True Opportunity for Quality Early Education
WBUR – Nonie Lesaux & Stephanie M. Jones, March 6, 2018
Formative Assessment of Social and Emotional Skills
Measuring SEL – Tom Vander Ark & Mary Ryerse, February 28, 2018
MESH IN PRACTICE
Creating Schools that Fit Our Kids
Education Dive – Linda Jacobson, March 13, 2018
Embracing the Whole Child
Edutopia – Rebecca Alber, March 12, 2018
What is Mindfulness? Students Share What It Looks Like in Public Schools
EdSurge – Jenny Abamu, March 7, 2018
Effective Student-Led Discussions
Edutopia – Ryan Tahmaseb, March 6, 2018
What Kids Think about Bullying and Kindness in the Trump Era
NPR Ed – Anya Kamenetz, March 5, 2018
Students Thrive When They See Purpose in Their Learning
Education Week – Evie Blad, January 17, 2018
MESH IN EDUCATION POLICY
State Policy Implementation: An Imperative for Equity
Education Week – Joey Hunziker, March 9, 2018
MESH IN RESEARCH & MEASUREMENT
Character Lab Expands School Research Capacity with Qualtrics Partnership
THE Journal – David Nagel, March 12, 2018
What Do Self-Efficacy Items Measure? Examining the Discriminant Content Validity of Self-Efficacy Items
British Journal of Health Psychology – Alison M. G. Burrell, Julia L. Allan, David M. Williams, and Marie Johnston, March 8, 2018
Abstract: Objectives: Self-efficacy – an individual’s judgement of their ability to successfully perform a behaviour – is commonly used to explain and predict behaviour. It is measured through self-report questionnaires. These scales require good content validity, that is must measure the full scope and content of the construct without contamination from similar constructs. This study uses a systematic, transparent quantitative method (discriminant content validation, DCV) to assess the content validity of a variety of self-efficacy items and qualitatively explores participant interpretations of these items. Design: A quantitative DCV and qualitative think-aloud study of self-efficacy item interpretation. Methods: Participants (n = 21) were presented with items designed to measure self-efficacy and related constructs following standard DCV methodology. Items were rated against construct definitions to determine whether they measured a particular construct (yes/no). Judges’ confidence in each assessment were also assessed (%) and used to establish quantitative estimates of content validity for each item. A qualitative think-aloud student explored the judgements made in a subset of participants. Results: 8/8 self-efficacy items were found to measure self-efficacy; however, 2/8 of these also measured motivation. 6/8 items displayed discriminant content validity and thus can be considered ‘pure’ measures of self-efficacy. The think-aloud study indicated that item wording is a likely cause of item misinterpretation. Conclusions: Self-efficacy items vary in terms of their content validity with only some of the items assessed providing ‘pure’ measures of the self-efficacy construct. Item wording should be considered during study design to avoid misinterpretation.
How Does Gender Relate to Social Skills? Exploring Differences in Social Skills Mindsets, Academics, and Behaviors among High-School Freshman Students
Psychology in the Schools – Kevin Tan, Jin Shin Oe, and Minh Dung Hoang Le, March 8, 2018
Abstract: Boys struggle academically and behaviorally more than girls and are more likely to have difficulty with social skills. It seems likely that boys and girls do not perceive social skills in the same light. Past research has not investigated this or its relationship to academic and behavioral performance. Using data from a cohort of 9th-grade students (n = 323) in one high schools in central Illinois, this study involves interaction analyses of student mindsets about their social skills and gender. Findings indicated that females who perceive social skills as more important had higher grade point averages (GPAs), higher attendance rates, and fewer disciplinary problems than their male counterparts. Conversely, females who perceive social skills as of lesser importance have lower GPAs, poorer attendance, and more disciplinary referrals than their male counterparts. Findings highlight pertinent gender differences in relation between social skills mindsets and outcomes among high-school freshmen students.
To What Extent and Under Which Circumstances Are Growth Mind-Sets Important to Academic Achievement? Two Meta-Analyses
Psychological Science – Victoria F. Sisk, Alexander P. Burgoyne, Jingze Sun, Jennifer L. Butler, and Brooke N. Macnamara, March 5, 2018
Abstract: Mind-sets (aka implicit theories) are beliefs about the nature of human attributes (e.g., intelligence). The theory holds that individuals with growth mind-sets (beliefs that attributes are malleable with effort) enjoy many positive outcomes—including higher academic achievement—while their peers who have fixed mind-sets experience negative outcomes. Given this relationship, interventions designed to increase students’ growth mind-sets—thereby increasing their academic achievement—have been implemented in schools around the world. In our first meta-analysis (k = 273, N = 365,915), we examined the strength of the relationship between mind-set and academic achievement and potential moderating factors. In our second meta-analysis (k = 43, N = 57,155), we examined the effectiveness of mind-set interventions on academic achievement and potential moderating factors. Overall effects were weak for both meta-analyses. However, some results supported specific tenets of the theory, namely, that students with low socioeconomic status or who are academically at risk might benefit from mind-set interventions.
Unruly Affect in the Kindergarten Classroom: A Critical Analysis of Social-Emotional Learning
Contemporary Issues in Early Childhood – Clio Stearns, March 5, 2018
Abstract: This article offers a critique of social-emotional learning programs through the lens of psychoanalytic theory and with a particular focus on the theoretical contributions of Kleinian psychoanalysis. In particular, the article draws on concepts of affective positions to show that social-emotional learning is mired in a paranoid-schizoid mentality that does not allow for ambivalence or exploration of disappointment. The article contends that social-emotional learning offers a rendition of learning that makes too little space for negative affect and difficult feelings, including aggression and excitement, in the early childhood classroom. After reviewing literature about social-emotional learning, showing the importance in social-emotional learning discourse of positive affect, the regulated self, and the managed classroom, the article explicates the concepts of paranoid-schizoid and depressive functioning, showing what the depressive position in particular might imply for learning and classroom relationships. The article draws on three vignettes from a qualitative research project in a public kindergarten classroom, theorizing these vignettes via a psychoanalytic lens. It argues for the importance of making space for negative affect, aggression, and awareness of the body in the classroom, showing how working with and through these phenomena allows for creativity and learning.
Adolescents’ Regulatory Emotional Self-Efficacy Beliefs and Daily Affect Intensity
Motivation and Emotion – Marta Bassi, Antonella Delle Fave, Patrizia Steca, and Gian Vittorio Caprara, February 28, 2018
Abstract: Self-efficacy beliefs in emotion regulation were shown to foster well-being and psychosocial adaptation over time. In this study, we investigated their relationship with daily affect intensity among 199 adolescents aged 15–19. Participants completed the Regulatory Emotional Self-Efficacy Scale measuring perceived capability to manage the experience and expression of negative emotions (SE-NE) and positive emotions (SE-PO). Through Experience Sampling Method, for 1 week they also repeatedly rated their positive affect (happiness and contentment) and negative affect (anger, anxiety, sadness). Multilevel regression models revealed an additive intensifying predictive effect of SE-PO and SE-NE on happiness and contentment, and a single direct negative effect of SE-NE on sadness. Models also highlighted an interactive effect of SE-PO and SE-NE on all negative affect variables, such that only at low SE-PO levels did high SE-NE predict lower negative affect. Findings support the relation between adolescents’ regulatory emotional self-efficacy beliefs and their daily affect intensity, bringing forward suggestions for intervention.
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