A Dual-Focused Approach of Fostering Youths' Well-Being and Cultivating Academic Achievement: Experimentally Testing a Positive Education School-Wide Program

Positive psychological interventions have gained recognition in the field for their relation to positive youth development (Froh, Sefick, & Emmons, 2008), but continue to lack substantial recognition within the school system. Positive education was introduced to the field as an approach that draws on positive psychology's emphasis of developing personal strengths, while fostering students' motivation to promote academic success (Seligman et al., 2009).;The current study implemented a school-wide, year-long positive education program with 834 students from two K-5 elementary schools in Port Washington, to examine its impact on students' subjective well-being, prosocial behaviors, and academic achievement (report card grades and Northwestern Evaluation Association [NWEA] Reading and Mathematics scores at both mid-year [T2] and end-of-year [T3]). Students and staff members at the treatment school participated in an 8-month positive education program consisting of monthly implicit question sets implemented by teachers in the classroom (whereby content is directly embedded into the English Common Core) and 7 explicit lessons (content directly focused on positive education concepts) taught by the researcher and research assistants. Data were analyzed using ANCOVA analyses.;Results indicated that Kindergarten students who received the positive education program, compared to controls, reported significantly higher subjective well-being post-intervention, and 5th grade students, compared to controls, showed significantly higher prosocial behaviors. Kindergarten, 1st, and 2nd grade students who received the positive education program, compared to controls, showed significantly higher Mathematics grades at T2. Additionally, 3rd, 4th, and 5th grade students who received the positive education program, compared to controls, showed significantly higher Work Habit grades at T2.;Fourth grade students who received the positive education program, compared to controls, showed significantly higher NWEA Math scores at both T2 and T3, and 5th grade students showed significantly higher NWEA Math scores at T2. Fourth grade students who received the positive education program, compared to controls, also showed significantly higher NWEA Reading scores at both T2 and T3. Third and 5th grade students who received the positive education program, compared to controls, showed significantly higher NWEA Reading scores at T2. Findings are discussed regarding the implications for future research and potential school-based program development.