The Missing Foundation of Learning: Self-Regulation and Student Success

Across classrooms nationwide, educators are noticing a shift, especially among younger learners. More frequent emotional outbursts. Difficulty listening or sharing. Struggles with transitions that once felt routine.

These behaviors aren’t just classroom disruptions. They’re signals.

According to the Education Week (EdWeek) article “Elementary Students Can’t Manage Their Emotions. What Schools Can Do to Help,” self-regulation plays a critical role in how students learn, engage, and grow, not only in the early years but throughout elementary school and beyond. And when self-regulation skills are underdeveloped, the impact can ripple across academic outcomes, classroom climate, and student well-being.

This shift is not anecdotal. According to the national data cited in the EdWeek article, more than 8 in 10 public schools report delays in students’ abilities to manage emotions and behavior, and educators say these challenges negatively affect both learning and staff morale.

What was once most visible in the earliest grades is now appearing among older elementary students in grades 3–5, signaling a growing challenge for classrooms across the elementary years. This challenge needs to be tackled head on with programs that strengthen, reinforce, and nurture these critical human skills.

When students struggle to regulate emotions, behavior, and attention, it becomes harder for them—and their classmates—to fully engage in learning, not only disrupting their current academic growth and achievements but derailing future ones.

What the research tells us

Self-regulation refers to a student’s ability to manage emotions, behavior, and attention in ways that support learning and relationships. It’s what helps a child pause before reacting, follow multi-step directions, or stay engaged during a challenging task.

Research cited in this EdWeek article, “Elementary Students Can’t Manage Their Emotions. What Schools Can Do to Help,” emphasizes that the early elementary years are a critical period for developing these skills and that when they are underdeveloped, issues often show up as classroom disruptions, difficulty sustaining attention, and disengagement from learning. Schools cannot ignore these issues if they want to give their students the strongest start in life.

Real-world evidence from schools using the Second Step® Elementary digital program reinforces this connection. In rigorous evaluations conducted by WestEd, schools implementing the program with sufficient fidelity showed improvements in self-management, academic motivation, and school climate, along with fewer out-of-school suspensions compared to lower-fidelity or non-implementing schools.

Notably, these improvements were observed within one year of implementation.

Additional classroom reporting in the EdWeek article underscores a consistent finding: strong self-regulation is a foundational predictor of academic success. Students who can manage frustration, focus attention, and navigate social interactions are better positioned to learn in the moment and over time.

This matters because many educators are seeing more students arrive at school without these skills fully developed. Teachers report increases in shutdowns, tantrums, and difficulty with basic classroom expectations like listening, taking turns, and collaborating with peers. Not only do these challenges affect individual students, but they also affect entire learning environments.

Why early learning makes a difference

The research highlighted in the EdWeek article reinforces what early childhood educators have long known: the earlier students begin developing self-regulation skills, the stronger their foundation for future learning.

Early learning environments provide daily, repeated opportunities for students to practice managing emotions, following routines, and navigating peer interactions. And these experiences become harder to replicate once academic demands intensify.

When our young learners have opportunities to incorporate these skills consistently, classrooms become calmer and more predictable. Teachers can spend more time teaching. Students can spend more time learning. And relationships grow stronger across the board.

Supporting educators on the front lines

For district and school leaders, growing self-regulation challenges show up as system-level strain. In the EdWeek article “Elementary Students Can’t Manage Their Emotions. What Schools Can Do to Help,” teachers report spending increasing amounts of time responding to emotional outbursts, shutdowns, and peer conflict—time that would otherwise be spent on instruction and targeted academic support.

The EdWeek article also reports that these disruptions are contributing to higher levels of teacher stress and burnout, affecting staff morale across schools as teachers attempt to balance academic expectations with growing emotional and behavioral needs without the bandwidth or resources to address both.

That’s why research-backed approaches to building self-regulation matter—not as add-ons or one-off lessons but as practical, developmentally appropriate ways to support students day to day. It’s most beneficial to use approaches that fit into real classrooms, that scale across classrooms and schools, and that help educators feel supported, not stretched thinner.

Self-regulation in practice

Understanding the science of self-regulation is an important first step. The next step is translating that understanding into practice, especially in early learning and early elementary settings where the impact can be long-lasting.

Programs designed to strengthen human skills can help educators create positive, predictable environments where students learn how to manage emotions, navigate social situations, and stay engaged in learning. Over time, these skills can support not only academic growth but student confidence and resilience.

For districts and schools looking to strengthen early learning, this work isn’t about chasing buzzwords or trends. It’s about investing in what research continues to show works: helping students develop the human skills that make learning possible, enjoyable, and sustainable.

Where does self-regulation fit in your learning approach?

For districts looking to strengthen early learning and elementary environments, supporting self-regulation is a practical, research-based step toward calmer classrooms and more time for learning.

If you’re exploring ways to strengthen learning environments with proven approaches, Second Step® Early Learning and Second Step® Elementary are designed to support self-regulation, relationship-building, and positive classroom climate in developmentally appropriate ways.

Schedule a free consultation with our team of experts to explore evidence-based human skills programs that can make a positive, districtwide impact and give students the strongest start in school and beyond.