The purpose of this quantitative study was to examine the extent to which students’ social-emotional competencies predicted academic achievement among Grade 7 students in an urban public school district in Connecticut. Social-emotional competencies were measured using the Devereux Student Strengths Assessment (DESSA) Post-T-Scores, while academic achievement was measured using i-Ready overall scale scores in mathematics and English language arts. This study employed a quantitative, non-experimental research design using archival secondary data collected during the 2024 to 2025 academic year. Descriptive statistics were used to summarize the distribution of the study variables, and simple linear regression analyses were conducted to examine whether students’ social-emotional competencies significantly predicted academic achievement outcomes. The findings indicated that social-emotional competencies significantly predicted both mathematics and English language arts achievement, accounting for a meaningful proportion of variance in academic performance. These results contribute to the growing body of research examining the role of social-emotional learning within educational settings. The findings suggest that social-emotional competencies play an important role in supporting students’ academic outcomes and highlight the value of integrating social-emotional learning practices within school environments to promote both student well-being and academic success.
Bianca Alexis-Sylvain (Thu,) studied this question.