Program
Education Doctorate
Number of Pages
195
Year Approved
2023
First Advisor
Judith Nagel
Second Reader
Tracy Reimer, Krista Soria
Abstract
The purpose of this quantitative study was to examine (1) the relationship between teachers’ perceived cultural competence and the perceived implementation of culturally responsive Social-Emotional Learning (SEL) practices, conditional on teachers’ race, and (2) the relationship between teachers’ perceived implementation of culturally responsive SEL practices and students’ SEL outcomes in Minnesota public school districts, conditional on students’ race. A survey was emailed to all licensed teachers in the state of Minnesota; 1,348 teachers participated in the survey. Qualtrics was used to obtain the teacher survey data. Teachers’ cultural competence was measured using the Educators Scale of Student Diversity survey (ESSD; Patel, 2017). Teachers’ implementation of culturally responsive SEL practices was measured by teachers’ perception of their implementation of culturally responsive SEL practices. Student data were collected through the 2022 Minnesota Student Survey that is publicly available online. The survey items included seven areas which reflect the CASEL framework’s five core competencies and positive outcomes of SEL implementation: academic achievement, self-awareness, self-management, social awareness, relationship building, responsible decision-making, and school connectedness. In order to analyze the hypotheses, a bivariate correlation was used to measure a statistically significant relationship within each racial/ethnic group. The findings suggest a positive relationship between teachers’ cultural competence and the implementation of culturally responsive SEL practices; however, these practices are not positively impacting students’ SEL competency outcomes across all students’ race/ethnic groups. Future research examining culturally responsive practices and teacher implementation would benefit all students’ social and emotional wellbeing and academic development.
Degree Name
Education Doctorate
Document Type
Doctoral dissertation
Recommended Citation
Rothstein, S. L. (2023). Social-Emotional Learning and Teachers’ Cultural Competency: The Relationship Between Implementation Practices and Student Outcomes [Doctoral dissertation, Bethel University]. Spark Repository. https://spark.bethel.edu/etd/974