Academic Achievement of American Indian and Alaska Native Students: Does Social Emotional Competence Reduce the Impact of Poverty.

• Main Authors: Chain, Jennifer, Shapiro, Valerie B, LeBuffe, Paul A, Bryson, Ann McKay, American Indian and Alaska Native Advisory Committee
• Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
• Language: unknown
• Published: eScholarship, University of California 2017
• Subjects: American Indian and Alaska Native Advisory Committee; Humans; Poverty; Students; Adolescent; Child; Indians; North American; Female; Male; Social Skills; Alaska Natives; Academic Success; Substance Abuse; Indian; Alaska; American Indian and Alaska native mental health research
• Online Access: https://escholarship.org/uc/item/8n6575n2

Social-emotional competence may be a protective factor for academic achievement among American Indian and Alaska Native (AI/AN) students. This study used Fisher's r to Z transformations to test for group differences in the magnitude of relationships between social-emotional competence and achievement. Hierarchical linear modeling was used to determine the variance in academic achievement explained by student race, poverty, and social-emotional competence, and the schoolwide percentage of students by race. Data are from 335 students across 6 schools. This study suggests that promoting social-emotional competence among AI/AN students could be a strategy for reducing disparities in academic achievement and the consequences of these disparities.