THE ROLE OF EMOTIONAL INTELLIGENCE IN THE ACADEMIC ACHIEVEMENT OF LATIN AMERICAN STUDENTS IN SECONDARY SCHOOL Richard A. Mendelson, Ph.D.: Keiser University Rebecca A. Mendelson: Keiser University Tim Mantz, D.B.A.: Keiser University Felicia Guity, D.B.A.; Microsoft

Introduction To The Problem  Emotional Intelligence (EI) has been examined in the education setting, but only in the context of behavioral impact on students, or Administrative Leaders (Ayiro, 2009; Bloom, 2004; Bumphus, 2008; Church, 2009; Collie & Shapka, 2012; Craig, 2008).

Introduction To The Problem  EI studies involving student populations have examined the impact of EI levels as well as competencies on the occurrence of bullying behaviors ("Yale Center for Emotional Intelligence," 2015).

Introduction To The Problem  Data regarding the impact of EI on academic performance, non-bullying behavioral issues, as well as attendance of Latin American secondary school students has not been examined (Lockwood, 1997; Wendorf-Heldt 2009).

Latinos In Action (Enriquez, 2012)  Latinos in Action (LIA), a repeatable elective course for junior high and high school students who speak some English and some Spanish (Enriquez, 2012).  Led by an advisor with cultural expertise, LIA students train as paraprofessional literacy tutors and then volunteer hundreds of hours assisting at-risk students at local elementary schools (Enriquez, 2012).  Goals of the program include keeping Latino students enrolled in school and priming them to succeed in higher education (Enriquez, 2012).  Students are evaluated through tracking attendance, behavior, and curriculum mastery (A,B,C’s).

Review Of The Literature  What is emotional intelligence?  Salovey and Mayer (1990) lay claim to the phrase emotional intelligence (EI), and define this construct as the capacity to experience and manage one’s own, as well as others’, feelings and emotions.  Caruso (1999) defined EI as the ability to employ emotions to assist with problem solving and to be more effective at all endeavors that comprise a rich and full life.

Review Of The Literature  Bar-On (1997) defined EI as a way to effectively manage daily pressures and situations through the ability to comprehend the emotional experiences and actions of ones self and others, as well as regulate one’s response to environmental stimuli and data accordingly.

Review Of The Literature  Particularly in education, components of emotional intelligence such as stress management, adaptability, and empathy directly influence performance of the educator as well as the student (Mendelson, Djokic, Brignano, and Pavic, 2015).  Having a high EI is a possible catalyst to individuals either volunteering for, or being thrust into leadership roles and responsibilities by their peers (Bar-On, Handley, & Fund, 2006; Mantz, T., Guity, F., Mendelson, R., Ritter, J., 2015; Mendelson, R., Mantz, T., Guity, F., 2015).

Review Of The Literature  EI and Academic Achievement  The National Center for Educational Statistics (2007) reported that in 2005, the dropout rate for Hispanics was 23%, higher than the 7% rate for Whites and the 11 % rate for students of African ancestry.  Implications  The substantial numbers of students who are overlooked by the educational system each year are far more likely to be unemployed, under employed, and have far less earning power than those who complete high school.

Review Of The Literature  Recent studies are beginning to demonstrate the impact of social and emotional development on academic achievement and academic success (Elias & Haynes, 2008; Extremera & Fernández-Berrocal, 2003; Stipek & Miles, 2008).  Harden and Pihl (1995) found that primary students who displayed an average IQ but who performed poorly in educational tasks were more likely to be anxious and impulsive, whereas students with positive socio-emotional development adapted easily to new experiences and developed a positive attitude towards school, resulting in achieving higher educational goals.

The Gap In The Literature  Examination of attendance and behavior as they relate to EI has not been performed.  Examination of the relationship between the EI of Latino students in secondary school and the attendance, behavior, and academic performance of those students has not been explored.

Driving The Knowledge Base Forward  Driving the knowledge base regarding EI and academic achievement forward, the current research defines the relationship between EI and academic performance, behavior, and attendance of Latino students in secondary schools.

Sample  N= 189; 100 male students and 89 female  n= a total of 157 students completed all data collection processes; therefore, the analyses performed with this research in mind were performed on a dataset of 157 student entries with a confidence interval of 95% meaning the alpha is  Participants are students enrolled in one of 6 different public high schools in South Florida.  Participants are enrolled in an elective course called “Latinos In Action”.  Enrollment in the course was voluntary, so participants were self-selected so long as they met the qualifying criteria listed below:  Latin Ancestry  A classification in the school system as Limited English Proficient (LEP)  Students are also categorized by the interventions the school district has in place to assist them.

Sample  LEP Categories and Explanations (ESE Guidelines, 2009) :

Sample  LEP Interventions (ESE Guidelines, 2009) :

Instrumentation  EI Related Measure:  The EQi 2.0 is a self-report, designed to assess emotional intelligence. It contains five indices: self-perception, self-expression, interpersonal skill, decision-making, and stress management.  The assessment includes validity indices that ensure the accuracy of the answers provided by the participant taking the assessment. Internal consistency has been found to be.97 (Perlini & Halverson, 2006).  Concurrent validity of the EQi 2.0 is measured based on comparative analyses with the original Bar-On EQi.

Instrumentation  Performance Metrics:  Performance data including attendance records, GPA, and behavioral records were provided by the school district for all participants.  Demographic Measures:  Demographic data was provided by the school district upon request and included students names, gender, assigned Latinos In Action tier, Level of English Proficiency (LEP), unweighted GPA, whether or not a student was enrolled in the “Free or Reduced Lunch Program” as a measure of socioeconomic status,

Results RQ1  RQ1: Does a significant relationship exist between academic achievement, as demonstrated by the unweighted grade point average (GPA), and emotional quotient (EQ) as demonstrated by scores generated on the EQi 2.0 assessment?  A significance level of was generated through the t Test of these two variables. Based on this analysis, the H a was accepted.

Results RQ2  RQ2: Does a significant relationship exist between one or more specific facets of emotional intelligence, as demonstrated by scores generated on the EQi 2.0 assessment, and academic achievement as demonstrated by the unweighted grade point average (GPA)?  A significance level of was generated through the t Test of GPA and Self- Expression variables. Also, interpersonal skill was correlated with GPA at the.05 level. Based on this analysis, the H a was accepted.

Results RQ3  RQ3: Does a significant relationship exist between emotional intelligence, as demonstrated by scores generated on the EQi 2.0 assessment, and attendance as demonstrated by the attendance records from the school year?  No significant results were generated through analysis of the Attendance variable. Based on this analysis, the H a was rejected.

Results RQ4  RQ4: Does a significant relationship exist between emotional intelligence, as demonstrated by scores generated on the EQi 2.0 assessment, and behavior as demonstrated by the number of referrals generated for students during the school year?  No significant results were generated through analysis of the Behavior variable. Based on this analysis, the H a was rejected.  This is especially curious because the bulk of grant money invested in SE learning projects is invested in behavioral endeavors.

Suggestions For Future Research  Collect comparable data for participants after completion of the school year and the Latinos In Action intervention.  Examine effect size of performance metrics in order to determine efficacy of the Latinos In Action program.  As significance has been established with regard to the EI variables and academic performance, it is important to perform further analyses in order to determine the impact of that significance.  Continue data collection during the school year with access to a N increased by a factor of approximately 500%

QUESTIONS AND ANSWERS Richard A. Mendelson, Ph.D.

References  Ayiro, L. P. (2009). An Analysis of the Emotional Intelligence and the Performance of Principals In Selected Schools In Kenya. Kenya Institute of Education, 11(6),  Bar-On, R. (1997). The Emotional Quotient Inventory (EQ-i): Technical manual. Toronto, Ontario, Canada: Multi-Health Systems.  Bar-On, R., Handley, R., & Fund, S. (2006). The impact of emotional intelligence on performance. In V.  Bloom, G. S. (2004). Emotionally intelligent principals. School Administrator, 61(6), Retrieved from  Bumphus, A. T. (2008). The emotional intelligence and resilience of school leaders: An investigation into leadership behaviors (Doctoral dissertation). Available from ProQuest. (UMI No )  Caruso, D. (1999). Multifactor Emotional Intelligence Scale™ (MEIS™) feedback booklet. Simsbury, CT: Wolfe.

References  Church, C. F. (2009). Principal Preparation: Learning to become an effective leader of people through the lens of emotional intelligence (Doctoral dissertation). Available from ProQuest. (UMI No )  Collie, R. J., Shapka, J. D., & Perry, N. E. (2012). School climate and social-emotional learning: Predicting teacher stress, job satisfaction, and teaching efficacy. Journal of Educational Psychology, 104,  Craig, J. B. (2008). The relationship between the emotional intelligence of the principal and teacher job satisfaction (Doctoral dissertation). Available from ProQuest. (UMI No )  Elias, M., & Haynes, N. (2008). Social competence, social support, and academic achievement in minority, low-income, urban elementary school children. School Psychology Quarterly, 23,  Enriquez, J. (2012). Improving student engagement: An evaluation of the latinos in action program (Doctoral Dissertation) Available from Proquest.  ESE guidelines and QA Review [Supplemental material]. (2009). In (Comp.), ESE guidelines and QA review (pp. 1-2). Broward County, FL: Broward County Public Schools.

References  Extremera, N., & Fernández-Berrocal, P. (2003). La inteligencia emocional en el contexto educativo: hallazgos científicos de sus efectos en el aula. Revista de Educación, 332,  Harden, P., & Pihl, R. (1995). Cognitive function, cardiovascular reactivity, and behavior in boys at high risk for alcoholism. Journal of Abnormal Psychology, 104,  Lockwood, D. (1997, October). Violence among middle school and high school students: Analysis and implications for prevention. US Department of Justice Office of Justice Programs.  Mantz, T., Guity, F., Mendelson, R., Ritter, J. (2014) Emotional intelligence applied to global sales channels. International Journal of Business Strategy, 15(1),  Mendelson, R.; Djokic, B., Brignano, A., Pavic, Z. (2015) An exploratory study of emotional intelligence between educators in the USA and Serbia. International Journal of Business Research. (15)  Mendelson, R., Mantz, T., Guity, F. (2015) Quantitative analysis of emotional intelligence in the workplace. Journal of International Business and Economics. (15)

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