NotesFAQContact Us
Collection
Advanced
Search Tips
Back to results
Peer reviewed Peer reviewed
ERIC Number: ED672630
Record Type: Non-Journal
Publication Date: 2025-Apr-24
Pages: 45
Abstractor: As Provided
ISBN: N/A
ISSN: N/A
EISSN: N/A
Available Date: 0000-00-00
Belonging Contributes to Compassion: A Longitudinal Study of Middle School Students' Prosocial Competencies
Allison Rae Ward-Seidel1; Sara E. Rimm-Kaufman1; Bethany A. Bell1; Lia E. Sandilos2
Grantee Submission, Paper presented at the Annual Conference of the American Education Research Association (2025)
Crucial skills for early adolescents to develop include respecting people from different backgrounds, showing empathy and compassion, and making ethical decisions in challenging situations. This exploratory study aims to understand the extent to which "students' perceptions of teacher caring and belonging related to changes in their self-reported prosocial competencies (i.e., cultural respect, empathy, compassion, integrity)?" We conducted a multilevel longitudinal analysis with diverse sample of early adolescents from nine schools in four U.S. cities in their first two years of middle school (n = 186; M[subscript age] = 10.91 years). Results indicate that school experiences are correlated with prosocial competencies at the beginning of middle school. Yet only sense of belonging in the school community was positively associated with the rate of development of compassion over two years of middle school. Implications for promoting school conditions that support students' development of prosocial competencies are discussed. [Additional funding provided by the Einhorn Collaborative.]
Publication Type: Speeches/Meeting Papers; Reports - Research
Education Level: Junior High Schools; Middle Schools; Secondary Education
Audience: N/A
Language: English
Sponsor: Institute of Education Sciences (ED); John Templeton Foundation
Authoring Institution: N/A
Identifiers - Assessments and Surveys: Program for International Student Assessment
IES Funded: Yes
Grant or Contract Numbers: R305B200005
Department of Education Funded: Yes