Social-Emotional and Behavioral Strategies to Improve School Outcomes for Black Males

ABSTRACTSocial-emotional interventions (SEL) are purported to be beneficial toward all students (e.g. Durlak et al. 2011; Taylor et al. 2017), yet researchers call into question their effectiveness toward Black boys because of the limited SEL interventions that have been culturally adapted for them to account for their lived experiences (e.g. experiencing disparate discipline within schools; Jager et al. 2019). Within this review, we discuss the state of research on Black boys, provide an overview of SEL interventions, and discuss the strengths and weaknesses of the current SEL intervention research base. Next, we emphasize the need for culturally relevant SEL interventions and how practitioners can make SEL interventions culturally relevant for Black boys using a universal Afrocentric framework. Finally, this article highlights recommendations for practitioners, policymakers, and researchers to improve the cultural adaptation of SEL interventions for Black boys to promote improved school outcomes.DisclaimerAs a service to authors and researchers we are providing this version of an accepted manuscript (AM). Copyediting, typesetting, and review of the resulting proofs will be undertaken on this manuscript before final publication of the Version of Record (VoR). During production and pre-press, errors may be discovered which could affect the content, and all legal disclaimers that apply to the journal relate to these versions also. Additional Resources for Classroom Use1. Hayashi, A., Liew, J., Aguilar, S. D., Nyanamba, J. M., & Zhao, Y. (2022). Embodied and social-emotional learning (SEL) in early childhood: Situating culturally relevant SEL in asian, african, and north american contexts. Early Education and Development, 33(5), 746–763.https://doi.org/10.1080/10409289.2021.2024062The article outlines how universally social-emotional competencies are inherently situated in students’ authentic learned experiences and presents research from three cultural contexts (i.e., North America, Japan, and South Africa). The article concludes with strategies educators can use to develop culturally adapted SEL interventions for Black boys.2. Jagers, R. J., Rivas-Drake, D., & Borowski, T. (2018). Equity &social and emotional learning: A cultural analysis. CASEL. https://measuringsel.casel.org/wp-content/uploads/2018/11/Frameworks-Equity.pdfThiscultural analysis outlines concerns with the CASEL competencies and includes recommendationsfor incorporating equity into the implementation of SEL interventions for Blackboys.3. CASEL Program Guide [website]: https://pg.casel.org/review-programs/This program guide is a resource to help educators determine and choose SEL programming that can be culturally adapted and promotes improved school outcomes in Black boys.