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Abstract
This research study examined the impact that Emotional Intelligence (EI) instruction could have on a sample of participants from a single rural Appalachian Kentucky high school. The study consisted of a randomly selected sample of 50 students grades 9-12 that were further randomly selected into a Treatment Group and a Control Group. The Treatment Group received ten one-hour EI instructional lessons one per week for ten weeks. The Six Seconds® Social Emotional Learning-Youth Version (SEL-YV) was used as the primary instrument to determine an EI score and scores for the Six Seconds® Model that consists of three pursuits, eight competencies, and five “Life Barometers” or outcomes. This study utilized a pre/post-test design using the SEI-YV to measure the influence that EI lessons over the period of ten weeks and also a mixed-methods design administering the Social Emotional Learning General Survey (SELGS) developed by the researcher to the whole sample. The 25 Treatment Group participants participated in an individual exit interview with the researcher. The data was analyzed with a one-way dependent t-test and there were results of significance that EI instruction could increase EI.
