Social-Emotional Small Groups and At-Risk Students at Highland Elementary
Start Date
April 2026
Location
3rd floor - Library
Abstract
Social-emotional learning (SEL) encompasses a broad range of programs and interventions that target the development of key social and emotional skills. These can include emotional awareness, emotional expression and management, decision making, positive social skills, and interpersonal skills. In school settings, SEL interventions are commonly provided in small-group form. At Highland Elementary, SEL small groups are provided to kindergarten through sixth grade students. Most groups are facilitated by a social work student. Students are referred to SEL small groups by their classroom teacher or the school social worker.
Highland Elementary is a preschool through sixth grade Title I school in the Hamilton City School District. The district uses academic, attendance, and behavioral metrics to identify students who are at-risk as part of their early warning intervention system. This study will investigate whether there were more students identified as at-risk in SEL small groups at Highland Elementary than in the whole school population from August 2025 to March 2026. Data for this research project will be collected from the Hamilton City School District’s report on which students are at-risk at Highland Elementary. This data will be compared with small group rosters from August 2025 to March 2026. The sample is eighty-one students who participated in SEL small groups during this period and still attend Highland Elementary as of March 2026. Results will highlight if there is a relationship between risk status and enrollment in an SEL small group.
Keywords: Social-emotional learning (SEL), Small Group Interventions, Public Schools, Elementary Schools, At-Risk students
Social-Emotional Small Groups and At-Risk Students at Highland Elementary
3rd floor - Library
Social-emotional learning (SEL) encompasses a broad range of programs and interventions that target the development of key social and emotional skills. These can include emotional awareness, emotional expression and management, decision making, positive social skills, and interpersonal skills. In school settings, SEL interventions are commonly provided in small-group form. At Highland Elementary, SEL small groups are provided to kindergarten through sixth grade students. Most groups are facilitated by a social work student. Students are referred to SEL small groups by their classroom teacher or the school social worker.
Highland Elementary is a preschool through sixth grade Title I school in the Hamilton City School District. The district uses academic, attendance, and behavioral metrics to identify students who are at-risk as part of their early warning intervention system. This study will investigate whether there were more students identified as at-risk in SEL small groups at Highland Elementary than in the whole school population from August 2025 to March 2026. Data for this research project will be collected from the Hamilton City School District’s report on which students are at-risk at Highland Elementary. This data will be compared with small group rosters from August 2025 to March 2026. The sample is eighty-one students who participated in SEL small groups during this period and still attend Highland Elementary as of March 2026. Results will highlight if there is a relationship between risk status and enrollment in an SEL small group.
Keywords: Social-emotional learning (SEL), Small Group Interventions, Public Schools, Elementary Schools, At-Risk students
