The effectiveness of a contextually grounded social emotional learning program in Haiti: A pilot cluster randomized control trial

Abstract

Social emotional learning (SEL) has a robust evidence basis, but there remains a large gap in literature on the effectiveness of programs across educational settings in low- and middle-income countries and conflict-affected settings. The present study was a pilot trial aimed at evaluating the effects of a classroom based SEL program on dimensions of classroom climate and individual student social emotional skills. In the present study, fourth through sixth grade classrooms in 10 schools (N = 39 teachers, 75.68% female; N = 1048 students, 62.3% female) were randomly allocated to the SEL or wait-list control condition. The SEL program was associated with significant improvements in teacher reports of student achievement orientation (d_r = 1.21) and responsible decision-making (d_r = 0.49). There were no significant differences between conditions on peer sensitivity, teacher-pupil interactions, student interpersonal skills, or overall social emotional skills. Findings suggest that this community-developed, contextually relevant SEL curriculum may hold promise even in the context of ongoing adversity, including the COVID-19 pandemic and heightened insecurity due to political violence.