It’s Not All or Nothing: Exploring the Impact of a Social-Emotional and Character Development Intervention in the Middle Grades

Informed by the Social-Emotional and Character Development (SECD) approach to school turnaround, the present study examined the relationship between students’ recollection and reflection of their experience in a SECD program and academic achievement and explored the mediating effect of student-teacher relationships. Based on an intervention in an urban New Jersey school district, three data sources were used: program feedback surveys, student self-report surveys that assessed students on key SECD variables, and academic grades. The final sample consisted of 255 youths from two middle schools. Results demonstrated a significant relationship between SECD reflection and academic achievement. Partial mediation also was observed, with an indirect relationship between SECD reflection, student-teacher relationships, and academic achievement. Results of this study imply that positive SECD program reflections and student-teacher relationships can positively, and uniquely, impact academic achievement. Other implications of these findings for future research and practice, as well as the study’s strengths and weaknesses that may have contributed to these results, are discussed.