Protective Factors for Literacy Achievement: The Role of Social-Emotional Learning and Executive Function in Reducing Academic and Behavioral Risk

Kimberly Moody^1, , CCC SLP¹, Jason Herron² and Reagan Murnan¹

¹TALS, Wichita State University, Wichita, USA

²ISLE, Wichita State University, Wichita, USA

Cite this paper:
Kimberly Moody, CCC SLP, Jason Herron and Reagan Murnan. Protective Factors for Literacy Achievement: The Role of Social-Emotional Learning and Executive Function in Reducing Academic and Behavioral Risk. Research in Psychology and Behavioral Sciences. 2026; 12(1):1-12. doi: 10.12691/rpbs-14-1-1

Abstract

Students placed at academic and behavioral risk often face overlapping challenges that hinder engagement and long-term achievement. This study explored how social-emotional learning (SEL) and self-regulation capacity (SRC) serve as protective factors within a school-based mentoring and support program implemented across 24 schools. Guided by frameworks of resilience and active, self-regulated learning, the study examined how SEL and SRC support literacy growth and overall school engagement through improved attendance and behavior. Findings indicated that students demonstrating stronger SEL and SRC skills were more likely to show improvements in literacy performance and reductions in disciplinary incidents and absenteeism. These results highlight the importance of integrating regulation-based and trauma-informed supports within literacy and prevention initiatives. Implications for educational policy and practice emphasize the need for coordinated, cross-sector efforts that strengthen protective factors and promote equitable learning environments.

Keywords:
academic risk literacy protective factors self-regulation

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License. To view a copy of this license, visit http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/

References:

[1]	Chen, C.-C., Chang, L.-L., and Lee, Y.-H., Transactions between problem behaviors and academic performance in early childhood, International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health, 19(19), 9583, 2022.
[2]	Balfanz, R., and Byrnes, V., The importance of being in school: A report on absenteeism in the nation's public schools, Johns Hopkins University Center for Social Organization of Schools, 2012.
[3]	Rumberger, R. W., and Losen, D. J., The high cost of harsh discipline and its disparate impact, The Center for Civil Rights Remedies at the Civil Rights Project, UCLA, 2016.
[4]	Snow, C. E., Reading comprehension: Reading for learning, Science, 328(5977), 450-453, 2010.
[5]	Cartwright, K. B., Insights from cognitive neuroscience: The importance of executive function for early reading development and education, Early Education and Development, 23(1), 24-36, 2012.
[6]	Duke, N. K., and Cartwright, K. B., The active view of reading: Lessons learned from neuroscience and education, Scientific Studies of Reading, 25(1), 1-26, 2021.
[7]	Snow, C. E., Early literacy development and instruction: What science knows and we still need to learn, Reading Research Quarterly, 51(4), 553-567, 2016.
[8]	Torgesen, J. K., The prevention of reading difficulties, Journal of School Psychology, 40(1), 7-26, 2002.
[9]	Domitrovich, C. E., Durlak, J. A., Staley, K. C., and Weissberg, R. P., Social-emotional competence: An essential factor for promoting positive adjustment and reducing risk in school children, Child Development, 88(2), 408-416, 2017.
[10]	CASEL, What is SEL? Collaborative for Academic, Social, and Emotional Learning, Available: https://casel.org/what-is-sel/, 2020.
[11]	Blair, C., and Raver, C. C., School readiness and self-regulation: A developmental psychobiological approach, Annual Review of Psychology, 66(1), 711-731, 2015.
[12]	Morrison, F. J., and Grammer, J. K., Conceptual clutter and measurement mayhem: Proposals for cross-disciplinary integration in conceptualizing and measuring executive function, Developmental Neuropsychology, 41(1-2), 1-25, 2016.
[13]	Vitiello, V. E., and Williford, A. P., Relations between social skills and academic achievement in early childhood: The role of classroom quality, Early Education and Development, 27(6), 776-792, 2016.
[14]	Gottfried, M. A., Chronic absenteeism and its effects on students' academic and socioemotional outcomes, Journal of Education for Students Placed at Risk, 19(2), 53-75, 2014.
[15]	Kieffer, M. J., and Parker, C. E., Chronic absenteeism and its relationship to reading achievement among middle school students, Journal of Education for Students Placed at Risk, 22(2), 1-15, 2017.
[16]	Losen, D. J., and Skiba, R. J., Suspended education: Urban middle schools in crisis, Civil Rights Project/Proyecto Derechos Civiles, UCLA, 2010.
[17]	Masten, A. S., Ordinary magic: Resilience in development, Guilford Press, 2014.
[18]	Durlak, J. A., Weissberg, R. P., Dymnicki, A. B., Taylor, R. D., and Schellinger, K. B., The impact of enhancing students' social and emotional learning: A meta-analysis of school-based universal interventions, Child Development, 82(1), 405-432, 2011.
[19]	Osher, D., Kidron, Y., Brackett, M., Dymnicki, A., Jones, S., and Weissberg, R. P., Advancing the science and practice of social and emotional learning: Looking back and moving forward, Review of Research in Education, 40(1), 644-681, 2016.
[20]	Jones, S. M., and Doolittle, E. J., Social and emotional learning: Introducing the issue, The Future of Children, 27(1), 3-11, 2017.
[21]	Sesma, H. W., Mahone, E. M., Levine, T., Eason, S. H., and Cutting, L. E., The contribution of executive skills to reading comprehension, Child Neuropsychology, 15(3), 232-246, 2009.
[22]	Denham, S. A., Bassett, H. H., Way, E., Mincic, M., Zinsser, K., and Graling, K., Preschoolers' emotion competence: Pathway to social competence? Child Development, 83(1), 200-216, 2012.
[23]	Gregory, A., and Fergus, E., Social and emotional learning and equity in school discipline, The Future of Children, 27(1), 117-136, 2017.
[24]	Lyon, A. R., Bruns, E. J., and Weathers, E. S., Leveraging social-emotional learning to improve school-based mental health services, School Mental Health, 10(3), 220-234, 2018.
[25]	Hosokawa, R., and Katsura, T., Longitudinal associations between self-regulation, social-emotional skills, and academic performance among school-age children, Child Development Research, 2024, Article 6630219, 2024.
[26]	McCormick, M. P., Cappella, E., O'Connor, E. E., and McClowry, S. G., Social-emotional learning and academic achievement: Using causal methods to explore classroom-level mechanisms, Learning and Instruction, 65, 101282, 2020.
[27]	Wilson, K., Soria, N., and Polite, W., Exploring the relationship between social-emotional risk and literacy outcomes: Evidence from a collective impact, targeted mentoring initiative, School University Partnerships, 18(1), 59-80, 2025.
[28]	CASEL, Core SEL competencies, Collaborative for Academic, Social, and Emotional Learning, Available: https://casel.org/sel-framework/, n.d.
[29]	Greenberg, M. T., Evidence for social and emotional learning in schools, Learning Policy Institute.
[30]	Caughy, M. O., Peredo, R. A., Owen, M. T., and Mills-Koonce, W. R., Cognitive and emotional self-regulation in early adolescence: Links to academic success and risk-taking behavior, Developmental Psychology, 54(2), 288-300, 2018.
[31]	Learning Policy Institute, Social and emotional learning and student success, Available: https://learningpolicyinstitute.org/, 2023.
[32]	Purvis, K. B., Trust-based relational intervention (TBRI): A systematic approach to caring for children who have experienced trauma, TCU Institute of Child Development, 2013.
[33]	Kania, J., and Kramer, M., Collective impact, Stanford Social Innovation Review, 9(1), 36-41, 2011.
[34]	Henig, J. R., Riehl, C. J., Rebell, M. A., and Wolff, J. R., Putting collective impact into context: A review of the literature on cross-sector collaboration to improve education, Teachers College Record, 117(6), 1-36, 2015.
[35]	Fox, L., Dunlap, G., Hemmeter, M. L., Joseph, G., and Strain, P., The teaching pyramid: A model for supporting social competence and preventing challenging behavior in young children, Young Children, 58(4), 48-58, 2003.
[36]	Cohen, D. R., Lewis, C., Eddy, C. L., Henry, L., Hodgson, C., Huang, F. L., Reinke, W., and Herman, K. C., In-school and out-of-school suspension: Behavioral and psychological outcomes in a predominantly Black sample of middle school students, School Psychology Review, 52(1), 1-14, 2023.
[37]	Wyman, P. A., Cross, W., Brown, C. H., Yu, Q., Tu, X., Eberly, S., Quin, M., Kirchner, T., et al., Intervention to strengthen emotional self-regulation in childhood and reduce risk for behavioral and academic problems, American Journal of Public Health, 100(4), 646-653, 2010.
[38]	von der Embse, N. P., Kilgus, S. P., and Martinez, R. S., The Social, Academic, and Emotional Behavior Risk Screener (SAEBRS): Development and validation within a multi-tiered system of supports framework, School Psychology Review, 45(3), 256-276, 2016.
[39]	Kilgus, S. P., Chafouleas, S. M., Riley-Tillman, T. C., and von der Embse, N. P., Psychometric properties and diagnostic accuracy of a brief universal screening tool for social-emotional and behavioral risk, Assessment for Effective Intervention, 43(1), 28-38, 2018.
[40]	Duckworth, A. L., and Kern, M. L., A meta-analysis of the convergent validity of self-control measures, Journal of Research in Personality, 45(3), 259-268, 2011.
[41]	Bandura, A., "Perceived self-efficacy in the exercise of control over AIDS infection," Evaluation and Program Planning, 13(1), 9-17, 1990.
[42]	Brew, C., Beatty, C., and Watt, A., Measuring students' sense of connectedness to school: The development of the Student Connectedness Scale, Educational and Psychological Measurement, 64(5), 939-954, 2004.
[43]	Whitlock, J. L., Youth perceptions of life at school: Contextual correlates of school connectedness in adolescence, Applied Developmental Science, 10(1), 13-29, 2006.
[44]	Brown, J. M., Miller, W. R., and Lawendowski, L. A., The self-regulation questionnaire, in Innovations in clinical practice: A sourcebook, Vol. 17, L. VandeCreek and T. L. Jackson, Eds., Professional Resource Press/Professional Resource Exchange, Sarasota, FL, 281-292, 1999.
[45]	Christ, T. J., Monaghen, B., Zopluoglu, C., and Van Norman, E. R., Curriculum-based measurement of oral reading (CBM-R): Evaluation of growth estimates derived with pre-post assessment methods, Assessment for Effective Intervention, 37(4), 19-57, 2013.
[46]	FastBridge Learning, FastBridge technical manual, FastBridge Learning, Roseville, MN, 2021.
[47]	Hubel, G. S., Davies, P. T., Goodnight, J. A., and Sturge-Apple, M. L., Adverse childhood experiences and academic achievement: The role of self-regulation and executive function, Developmental Psychology, 56(7), 1326-1339, 2020.
[48]	Izard, C. E., Emotional development and self-regulation in early childhood: Implications for education and intervention, Educational Psychologist, 51(2), 149-165, 2016.