The Role of Social Emotional Competencies in Student Discipline and Discipline Disparities

ABSTRACT

While research suggests that social emotional competencies (SECs) influence students’ disciplinary outcomes, less is known of their potential to explain racial disparities or grade level differences in those outcomes. This study used survey and administrative data from 30,494 students in grades 3–12 to examine the degree to which SECs were related to discipline outcomes, and whether the relationship differed by race or grade tier. Results indicated that students with higher SEC had fewer behavior incidents, in-school suspensions, and out-of-school suspensions. Further analyses revealed that race and grade tier were predictive of all discipline outcomes. Regardless of SEC level, Black and mixed-race students had higher behavior incidents. When race and grade tier were included as factors, the relationship between SEC and discipline was diminished. Results suggest that SECs cannot explain racial disparities in discipline, but students who report low SEC in middle and high school could potentially benefit from intervention.

KEYWORDS:

• Social emotional competencies
• student discipline outcomes
• discipline disparities
• social emotional learning

Acknowledgments

This project was supported by a cooperative agreement # 2016-CK-BX-K002 awarded by the National Institute of Justice, Office of Justice Programs, U.S. Department of Justice as part of the Comprehensive School Safety Initiative. The opinions, findings, and conclusions expressed in this article are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect those of the U.S. Department of Justice. This article is a by-product and extension of the dissertation completed by Davis (2020) while she was affiliated with the Department of Curriculum and Instruction at Tennessee Technological University. The authors extend gratitude to the school district that partnered on the project.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Additional information

Funding

The work was supported by the National Institute of Justice [2016-CK-BX-K002].

Notes on contributors

Krista M. Davis

Krista Davis is an Independent Researcher and Lead Evaluator at a large school district in a Southeastern state. She received her PhD and MA from Tennessee Technological University in the College of Education and has an MA in Psychology from American University. Her research focuses on evaluating the impact of educational programs and initiatives, social emotional learning, student engagement, and school climate.

Maury Nation

Maury Nation is Professor and Robert Innis Chair in Human and Organizational Development in Peabody College at Vanderbilt University. His research focuses on school and neighborhood factors that promote positive youth development and prevent violence that affects youths.

Caroline Christopher

Caroline Christopher is a Research Assistant Professor in the Department of Human and Organizational Development at Vanderbilt University. She received her doctorate from the University of Texas, Austin and completed a postdoctoral fellowship at the Prevention Research Center at Arizona State University. Her research focuses on investigating the efficacy of social and educational programs designed to improve outcomes for at-risk youth.

Benjamin W. Fisher

Ben Fisher is Associate Professor of Civil Society and Community Studies at the University of Wisconsin. His research focuses on the intersection of education and criminal justice with particular attention to issues of racial equity in school safety, security, and discipline.