Effects of the Nurturing Curriculum on Social, Emotional, and Academic Behaviors in Kindergarten Classrooms

Researchers and educators argue that social and emotional development affect academic success, and therefore should be targets for intervention. It is strongly suggested that such intervention begin during kindergarten. The purpose of this study was to evaluate the effectiveness of the Nurturing Curriculum, which is designed to improve emotional and social behaviors in the classroom. Eight kindergarten teachers conducted the Nurturing Curriculum throughout the school year. Aggression, dominance, disruptive behavior, socially immature behavior, and academic immaturity decreased significantly over time. Prosocial behavior increased significantly over time. Comparison to a cohort not exposed to the Nurturing Curriculum indicated that these improvements are not simply due to normal developmental changes in emotional and social behaviors. Collectively, the emotional and social behaviors measured accounted for 82 percent of the variance in academic immaturity at the end of the school year. Thus, the Nurturing Curriculum positively influenced social, emotional, and academic behaviors in kindergarten classrooms. (Contains 3 tables.)