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Can Social–Emotional Learning Reduce School Dropout in Developing Countries?
Author(s) -
Wang Huan,
Chu James,
Loyalka Prashant,
Xin Tao,
Shi Yaojiang,
Qu Qinghe,
Yang Chu
Publication year - 2016
Publication title -
journal of policy analysis and management
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 2.898
H-Index - 84
eISSN - 1520-6688
pISSN - 0276-8739
DOI - 10.1002/pam.21915
Subject(s) - dropout (neural networks) , drop out , social emotional learning , anxiety , psychology , china , developing country , school dropout , medical education , developmental psychology , medicine , geography , computer science , demographic economics , socioeconomics , psychiatry , economic growth , sociology , archaeology , machine learning , economics
An alarming number of students drop out of junior high school in developing countries. In this study, we examine the impacts of providing a social–emotional learning (SEL) program on the dropout behavior and learning anxiety of students in the first two years of junior high. We do so by analyzing data from a randomized controlled trial involving 70 junior high schools and 7,495 students in rural China. After eight months, the SEL program reduces dropout by 1.6 percentage points and decreases learning anxiety by 2.3 percentage points. Effects are no longer statistically different from zero after 15 months, perhaps due to decreasing student interest in the program. However, we do find that the program reduces dropout among students at high risk of dropping out (older students and students with friends who have already dropped out), both after eight and 15 months of exposure to the SEL program.