Causal-comparative Study: Differences in Academic Achievement by Levels of Social-emotional Skills in Grade Five Students

Students’ social-emotional skills contribute to academic achievement and life success. This causal-comparative study examined differences in mathematics and English Language Arts (ELA) achievement test scores among grade five students by their levels of proficiency (low, moderate, or high) in particular social and emotional skills, namely, academic self-efficacy, persistence, self-control, mastery orientation, and social competence. Participants were 115 grade five students from Title I schools in a metropolitan school district in south Florida. Each social and emotional skill was assessed using the Child Trends Social and Emotional Skills Survey battery. Multivariate Analysis of Variance, Analysis of Variance, and post hoc tests were used to test null hypotheses that there were no statistically significant differences in Florida Standards Assessment mathematics and ELA achievement test scores among participants by their levels of proficiency in the social-emotional skills examined in the study. Statistically significant differences in math scores were found among participants from moderate to high levels of persistence, from moderate to high levels of academic self-efficacy, and from moderate to high levels of self-control. Statistically significant differences in ELA scores were found among participants from moderate to high levels of persistence, from moderate to high levels of social competence, from moderate to high levels of self-control, from moderate to high levels of academic self-efficacy, and from moderate to high levels of persistence combined with moderate to high levels of self-control. Recommendations for future research are presented