Identifying Effective and Equitable Socio-Emotional Supports for Students and Educators

The COVID-19 pandemic has affected the socio-emotional wellbeing of students, teachers, administrators, and communities in deep and ongoing ways. Isolation, trauma, challenge, and loss defined much of 2020 and 2021 for many and has had broad and not yet fully understood impacts. The purpose of this mixed methods project is to explore these issues, with the overall aim to identify how districts are supporting equitable socio-emotional outcomes. This aim will be addressed through the following research questions: (1) What do districts report as planned socio-emotional supports?; (2) What do districts and schools report as the socio-emotional supports actually being delivered, for whom and under what conditions?; (3) How do districts and schools report that the pandemic generally, periods of isolation due to remote learning, and return to in-person schooling have influenced the socio-emotional wellbeing of students, teachers, and administrators?; (4) How are school district and building leaders supporting teachers and other school staff to promote equitable socio-emotional outcomes for students?; and (5) How do key groups perceive effectiveness of the supports being delivered?

Start Date: January 2023
End Date: September 2024

Research Team: 

Principal Investigator: Sandra M. Chafouleas, University of Connecticut
Latoya Haynes-Thoby , University of Connecticut
Lee Morgan, Sacred Heart University
Michael Strambler, Yale University School of Medicine