270,034 children starting from kindergarten through to high school. This was the largest scale meta-analytical social study in the U.S with results that indicated that the implementation of SEL interventions were a success. ‘Compared to controls, SEL participants demonstrated significantly improved social and emotional skills, attitudes, behaviour, and academic performance that reflected an 11-percentile-point gain in achievement’ Durlak et al. (2011a). It may be argued that the SEL interventions are a valuable preventive and promote positive outcomes as well as reducing negative outcomes in all children, however it could be concluded that the interventions were not carried out on children who needed the SEL the most, such as children who had pre-existing behavioural or emotional problems.
A similar meta-analysis study has recently been carried out, by a team including Durlak who participated in the 2011 study and this showed an average 13 percentile point increase higher than pupils who did not have the interventions, social skills and positive attitudes towards others also increased, however once again the study excluded children you would consider in need of the interventions such as children with behavioural issues (Durlak et al. 2017b). In brief, the meta-analysis was carried out on a large sample of children who did not have any pre-existing problems and it has shown successes. Nonetheless, it could be argued that the children who are showing the pre-existing problems such as children who have been excluded for bad behaviour need the SEL more than most children; early intervention is imperative. Therefore, supporting those children with pre-existing problems as early as possible, could have equally positive outcomes. Furthermore, they did offer self-reporting questionnaires and this could be subjective based on the opinion of Cotterel (2014). Early intervention can be effective and improve outcomes for young people and families (Early Intervention Foundation, n.d.)

Firstly, we must consider the development of the individual. Intervention and interactions with care givers are vital to the child’s brain development, a child’s brain development begins prenatal and continues into adulthood (Centre on the Developing child, 2007). Psychological, emotional, social, and cognitive development are all inextricably linked therefore, if one of them is not developed correctly it can have an impact on the other