School-Based Social-Emotional Learning Interventions for Students With Emotional and Behavioral Disorders: A Systematic Literature Review

Abstract

Students with emotional and behavioral disorders (EBD) represent a population in today's schools who have significant needs. Further, researchers estimate between two and seven percent of students in the United States (US) exhibit long-term emotional or behavioral problems, often involving strong negative emotions and aggression such that behaviors interfere with academic and social learning (Kauffman, 2005;Kauffman & Landrum, 2009;Forness, Kim, & Walker, 2012). Identification with EBD is also highly predictive of a variety of adverse longterm outcomes, including interpersonal conflict, poor employment, and criminal justice involvement (Bradley, Doolittle, & Bartolotta, 2008;Kauffman & Landrum, 2009;Siperstein, Wiley, & Forness, 2011). According to Bradley and colleagues (2008), the academic, social, and emotional outcomes continue to be "…the worst…of any disability group" (p. 19).While the stability of behaviors and extreme negative outcomes of students with EBD have proven to be particularly challenging for educators, social-emotional learning (SEL) may represent a promising area of intervention. According to the Collaborative for Academic, Social, and Emotional Learning (CASEL; 2017), SEL is the process by which students learn and apply the knowledge and skills required for emotion regulation and identification, goal-oriented behavior, empathy, the development and maintenance of positive relationships, and effective problem-solving. Researchers report universal school-based SEL improve short-term and longterm student outcomes (Durlak et al., 2011;Taylor, Oberle, Durlak, & Weissberg, 2017). The skill sets promoted by SEL directly align with behavioral needs observed in students identified with EBD (Individuals with Disabilities Education Act, 2004).