Research Summary

Exploring Social and Emotional Learning Competencies and Other Protective Factors that Foster
Resilience in At-Risk Youth

Intro
Alternative education students are often characterized and identified as at-risk youth who

experienced poor school attendance, failing grades, family crisis, social/emotional or medical

issues, discipline problems, poor peer relationships and significant deficiencies in credits (Aron,

2003 p.8). Unfortunately, some students in this setting have yet to develop the resilience needed

to counter their at-risk situations and persevere through them to make the necessary transition to

complete college or start a career (Griffin, 2022). Much like a comprehensive school site,

alternative education sites have many support systems in place for their student population

including one-on-one interactions with teachers, credit recovery, school counselors, principals,

and vice principals (Shaw, 2021). Some alternative education settings are known for the

comprehensive programs offered that teach SEL competencies uniquely co-designed by school

counselors and teachers (Lehr, et al., 2009). Therefore, one of the goals of alternative education

is to provide an educational program that will help students be academically and emotionally

successful (Shaw, 2021).

The purpose of this qualitative research study was to identify and examine the key factors

that aided in building educational resilience in at-risk youth who attend alternative education

schools. Furthermore, this qualitative research was intended to seek information and gather data

from educators to determine if, in fact, there were current interventions and strategies used in

alternative education school settings resulting in educational resilience development.

Additionally, this qualitative study examined social and emotional learning (SEL) interventions

using the Collaborative for Academic, Social, and Emotional Learning (CASEL) core
competencies (self-management, self-awareness, social awareness, relationship skills, and

responsible decision-making) as a framework.

Participants Selection/Methodology

A total of three participants were recruited to participate in this study. All participants

identify as school counselors that work with at-risk students. All participants work in the Central

Unified School District, a school district that locally serves a high percentage of low-income and

first generation students. The participants have diverse cultural and academic backgrounds.

There were two females and one male interviewed in this study.

Two of the interviews were conducted on zoom and one interview was conducted in

person. The zoom interviews were recorded via video-recording and the in person interview

audio was recorded on a cell phone. Audio recordings were then transcribed by using Otter Ai, a

real-time transcription service, and individually saved onto Google Docs. Each participant’s

interview transcription was reviewed while playing alongside their audio file to ensure transcript

accuracy.

Findings/Conclusion

At the conclusion of the thematic content analysis four themes emerged from the semi-structured

interviews that highlight what strategies educators do to help build resilience in at-risk students.

Most importantly, these themes were able to identify the ways educators use external factors to

help build resilience in at-risk students. The four themes of resilience building protective factors

were:

1. Modeling Healthy Adult Relationships

 2. Restorative Justice Initiatives

3. Hope

4. Self-Efficacy

The significance of this study was to explore what social and emotional learning

competencies and other protective factors exist in alternative schools to foster resilience in

at-risk youth. Ultimately, the findings of this study revealed that experiencing at least one healthy

adult relationship on campus for an at-risk youth can be the catalyst to foster their inner

resilience. A healthy relationship between the adult on campus and the at-risk student can serve

as a model for other relationships, provide meaningful hope and can also serve as a tool as at-risk

students learn best practices for restoring broken relationships and self-efficacy tools such as

goal setting, identifying and regulating emotions, and self-reflection.

From this study, I gained invaluable insight from each participant’s techniques and best

practices when working with at-risk students in alternative schools. I was able to explore

CASEL’s SEL 5 Core Competence Areas in depth along with the importance of partnering other

protective factors that aid fostering resilience in at-risk students. Although the collected data

illuminated multiple effective strategies used by the participants, school counselors, it was

evident that the catalyst for effective interventions is founded on the relationship between the

student and educator.