Families and Children

A wide body of research has documented the relationship between social norms and individual behaviors. There is growing evidence that academic behaviors in early adolescence-when most children begin middle schoolmay be subject to normative influence as well. However, the structure and composition of peer relationships within middle schools have yet to be fully incorporated into current conceptualizations of academic norms. A social network approach that considers the structure of students' friendship networks can be a useful framework for informing understanding of middle school academic norms. This article integrates research and theory on social norms and social networks to introduce a model to improve understanding of academic norms in middle schools. Implications for future research are discussed.

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A robust body of research finds positive cross-sectional and longitudinal associations between teacher-child relationships and children's academic achievement in elementary school. Estimating the causal effect of teacher-child relationships on children's academic achievement, however, is challenged by selection bias at the individual and school level. To address these issues, we used two multilevel propensity score matching approaches to estimate the effect of high-quality teacher-child relationships in kindergarten on math and reading achievement during children's transition to first grade. Multi-informant data were collected on 324 low-income, Black and Hispanic students, and 112 kindergarten and first-grade teachers. Results revealed significant effects of high-quality teacher-child relationships in kindergarten on math achievement in first grade. No significant effects of teacher-child relationships were detected for reading achievement. Implications for intervention development and public policy are discussed.

Peers become increasingly influential in children's development during late childhood and early adolescence. A large body of research has documented children's proclivity for forming friendships with peers who share similar attributes to themselves, a phenomenon termed homophily. Researchers have used multiple procedures to operationalize homophily. However, a measure of homophily that accounts for the diversity of children in classrooms has yet to be validated in elementary and middle school settings. Using social network data collected from a racially diverse sample of 553 elementary and middle school students (53 classrooms; 7 schools), this study aims to validate a measure of friendship homophily that accounts for differential opportunity structures in classroom contexts. Using race and gender as grouping attributes, we find evidence for the reliability, as well as the convergent and predictive validity, of the friendship homophily measure. Implications for researchers and educators are discussed.

This study investigated the efficacy of INSIGHTS into Children’s Temperament (INSIGHTS) in supporting the
behaviors and engagement of low-income kindergarten and first-grade children with high-maintenance
temperaments. INSIGHTS is a temperament-based social–emotional learning intervention that includes
teacher, parent, and classroom programs. Participants in the study included N = 435 children (Mean
age = 5.38 SD = 0.61) from 22 under-resourced, urban elementary schools who were randomly assigned
to INSIGHTS or a supplemental after-school reading program. Sixty-nine children were identified as
having a high-maintenance temperament, characterized by low levels of task persistence and high
levels of motor activity and negative reactivity. Individual growth modeling showed that children
with high-maintenance temperaments in INSIGHTS evidenced faster reductions in disruptive behaviors
and off-task behaviors across kindergarten and first grade than their peers in the supplemental
reading program. Such children in INSIGHTS also had lower overall levels of both disruptive behaviors
and off-task behaviors and higher levels of behavioral engagement than children in the comparison
group at the end of first grade. Intervention effects for children with high-maintenance temperaments
were partially mediated through improvements in their relationships with their teachers. Implications
for social–emotional learning intervention for high-risk children and early educational policy are
discussed.

This paper examines whether three dimensions of school climate – leadership, accountability, and safety/respect – moderated the impacts of the INSIGHTS program on students’ social-emotional, behavioral, and academic outcomes. Twenty-two urban schools and N = 435 low-income racial/ethnic minority students were enrolled in the study and received intervention services across the course of two years, in both kindergarten and first grade. Intervention effects on math and reading achievement were larger for students enrolled in schools with lower overall levels of leadership, accountability, and safety/respect at baseline. Program impacts on disruptive behaviors were greater in schools with lower levels of accountability at baseline; impacts on sustained attention were greater in schools with lower levels of safety/respect at baseline. Implications for SEL program implementation, replication, and scale-up are discussed.

IN PRESS AT AERA OPEN:

Social-Emotional Learning (SEL) programs have demonstrated positive effects on children’s social-emotional, behavioral, and academic outcomes, as well as classroom climate. Some programs also theorize that program impacts on children’s outcomes will be partially explained by improvements in classroom social processes, namely classroom emotional support and organization. Yet, there is little empirical evidence for this hypothesis. Using data from the evaluation of the SEL program INSIGHTS, this paper tests whether assignment to INSIGHTS improved low-income kindergarten and first grade students’ math and reading achievement by first enhancing classroom emotional support and organization. Multilevel regression analyses, instrumental variables estimation, and inverse probability of treatment weighting (IPTW) were used to conduct quantitative analyses. Across methods, the impact of INSIGHTS on math and achievement in first grade was partially explained by gains in both classroom emotional support and organization. The IPTW method revealed that the program impact on reading achievement in first grade was partially explained through an improvement in classroom organization. Implications for research and practice are discussed.

This study investigated the efficacy of the INSIGHTS into Children’s Temperament intervention in supporting the academic development of shy kindergarten and first-grade children. INSIGHTS is a temperament-based intervention
with teacher, parent, and classroom programs. The participants included 345children from 22 low-income, urban elementary schools who were randomly assigned to INSIGHTS or a supplemental after-school reading program. Growth curve
modeling showed that shy children in INSIGHTS evidenced more rapid growth in critical thinking and math than their shy peers in the attention-control condition during kindergarten and the transition to first grade. The effects of INSIGHTS were partly indirect through improved behavioral engagement.
INSIGHTS enhances the academic development of early elementary school children with shy temperaments.

Social-Emotional Learning (SEL) programs aim to improve students’ social-emotional competencies in order to enhance their achievement. Although SEL programs typically implement classroom curricula, some programs also include a component for parents. Yet, little is known about the types of parents likely to participate in services, and whether parent participation moderates program effects on student outcomes in low-income urban schools. This paper aims to fill these gaps in the literature using data from the randomized trial of the SEL program INSIGHTS into Children’s Temperament (N = 435 parent/child dyads), which was conducted in 22 low-income urban elementary schools during children’s kindergarten and first grade year. Descriptive findings revealed that children at lower risk for poor achievement had parents who were more likely to participate in program services. In addition, findings from inverse probability of treatment weighting models demonstrated larger effects of INSIGHTS on academic, attentional, and behavioral outcomes for children whose parents participated at lower rates. Implications for prevention science and SEL program implementation and scale-up are discussed.

Children in late elementary and middle school tend to form friendships with same-race peers. Yet, given the potential benefits of cross-race friendships, it is important to understand the individual and contextual factors that increase the likelihood of cross-race friendship over time. Guided by contact hypothesis and systems theory, we examine the student and classroom predictors of change in same-race friendships over 1 school year using a sample of 553 African American and European American students in 53 classrooms. Results suggest that same-race friendships increase over time, with greater increases among European American and older children. Youth externalizing behavior predicted a greater increase in same-race friendships; classroom support predicted less of an increase in same-race friendships from fall to spring. Lastly, African American students in classrooms with greater differential teacher treatment were more likely to engage in cross-race friendships over time. Findings are discussed in light of psychological and educational theories and prior research.