The effect of teachers’ social and emotional competencies on students’ academic achievement

Abstract

The purpose of this study is to describe teachers through the lens of social-emotional learning (SEL) constructs and the impact that teachers’ social and emotional competencies may have on student achievement. Data in this correlational study are collected through a survey measuring teachers’ emotion regulation and relationship management skills, well-being, and school climate perceptions across teacher background characteristics and through student achievement data. Findings indicate that teachers’ gender and racial identities influence relationship management skills and that there is a positive correlation between teachers’ well-being and their emotion regulation skills. However, when examining teachers’ results with their students' performance on math and reading benchmark assessment scores, there was no association between teachers’ emotion regulation and relationship management skills, well-being, or school climate perceptions on student academic growth. Our results also emphasize the impact of the percentage of students in a school enrolled in the National School Lunch Program on students’ academic performance. Finally, there is a discussion of SEL frameworks that focus on equity and how they could support students and teachers from traditionally marginalized backgrounds.