Kendra M. Lewis

Using Social-Emotional and Character Development to Improve Academic Outcomes: A Matched-Pair, Cluster-Randomized Controlled Trial in Low-Income, Urban Schools

BACKGROUND School-based social-emotional and character development (SECD) programs can influence not only SECD but also academic-related outcomes. This study evaluated the impact of one SECD program, Positive Action (PA), on educational outcomes among low-income, urban youth. METHODS The longitudinal study used a matched-pair, cluster-randomized controlled design. Student-reported disaffection with learning and academic grades, and teacher ratings of academic ability and motivation were assessed for a cohort followed from grades 3 to 8. Aggregate school records were used to assess standardized test performance (for entire school, cohort, and demographic subgroups) and absenteeism (entire school). Multilevel growth-curve analyses tested program effects. RESULTS PA significantly improved growth in academic motivation and mitigated disaffection with learning. There was a positive impact of PA on absenteeism and marginally significant impact on math performance of all students. There were favorable program effects on reading for African American boys and cohort students transitioning between grades 7 and 8, and on math for girls and low-income students. CONCLUSIONS A school-based SECD program was found to influence academic outcomes among students living in low-income, urban communities. Future research should examine mechanisms by which changes in SECD influence changes in academic outcomes.

Effects of the Positive Action Program on Indicators of Positive Youth Development Among Urban Youth

This study evaluated effects of Positive Action, a school-based social-emotional and character development intervention, on indicators of positive youth development (PYD) among a sample of low-income, ethnic minority youth attending 14 urban schools. The study used a matched-pair, cluster-randomized controlled design at the school level. A multiple-measure self-report protocol assessed four key strengths and resources for PYD: self-concept, peer affiliations, ethics, and social skills. Students (n = 1170) were assessed from grades 3 to 8; the duration of the intervention, with drop-outs and late entrants was included in analyses. Growth curve analyses revealed evidence of favorable program effects on each of the four types of resources. The study contributes to PYD research by providing evidence for school-based interventions in low-income, urban contexts for ethnic minority youth.

A Pilot Evaluation of the "Positive Action" Prekindergarten Lessons.

There is a definite need for effective intervention programmes that address the social–emotional, character and healthy development of preschool children. Strong social-emotional skills are necessary for successful transitions to formal schooling and for healthy developmental trajectories. The Positive Action (PA) programme has a long history of effectiveness in schools (K-12) and communities, but has only recently developed lessons for preschool settings. The current study reports the results of the first evaluation of these lessons. Children were randomly assigned to classrooms/instructors who had previously decided to offer PA lessons or not. Instructors in both PA and control classrooms rated childrens behaviour at pretest and immediate post-test. Results suggest that the PA prekindergarten lessons are effective at improving childrens skills and behaviours across all of the domains that the programme addresses.

Adolescent Substance Use Following Participation in a Universal Drug Prevention Program: Examining Relationships With Program Recall and Baseline Use Status

BACKGROUND The study examined whether adolescents receiving a universal, school based, drug prevention program in Grade 7 varied, by student profile, in substance use behaviors post program implementation. Profiles were a function of recall of program receipt and substance use at baseline. METHODS A secondary analysis was conducted on data from the Adolescent Substance Abuse Prevention Study, a large, geographically diverse, longitudinal school-based cluster-randomized controlled trial of the Take Charge of Your Life drug prevention program. Profiles were created using self-reported substance use (preintervention) and program recall (postintervention) at Grade 7. First, characteristics of each of the 4 profiles of treatment students who varied by program recall and baseline substance use were explored. Then, multilevel logistic regression analyses were used to examine differences in the odds of substance use (alcohol, tobacco, and marijuana) among student profiles at the 6 additional study waves (Time 2 [Grade 7] through Time 7 [Grade 11]). RESULTS Pearsons chi-square tests showed sample characteristics varied by student profile. Multilevel logistic regression results were consistent across all examined substance use behaviors at all time points. Namely, as compared with students who had no baseline substance use and had program recall (No Use, Recall), each of the remaining 3 profiles (No Use, No Recall; Use, Recall; Use, No Recall) were more likely to engage in substance use. Post hoc analyses showed that for the 2 subprofiles of baseline substance users, there were only 2 observed, and inconsistent, differences in the odds of subsequent substance use by recall status. CONCLUSIONS Findings suggest that for students who were not baseline substance users, program recall significantly decreased the likelihood of subsequent substance use. For students who were baseline substance users, program recall did not generally influence subsequent substance use. Implications for school-based drug prevention programs are discussed.

Effects of a School-Based Social-Emotional and Character Development Program on Self-Esteem Levels and Processes: A Cluster-Randomized Controlled Trial:

This study evaluated effects of Positive Action (PA), a school-based social-emotional and character development program, on self-esteem levels and processes among minority, low-income, urban youth. A matched-pair, cluster-randomized controlled trial was conducted in 14 Chicago Public Schools with outcomes assessed longitudinally for a cohort of youth followed from Grades 3 to 8. A total of 1,170 students participated in the study (53% female, 48% African American, and 27% Hispanic). Students in PA schools had more favorable change and endpoint scores on indices of self-esteem in the domains of peer and school and use of both adaptive and (to a lesser extent) maladaptive processes for developing and maintaining self-esteem. These results align with areas of emphasis within the PA program and illustrate how important areas of impact on self-esteem-related outcomes may be overlooked without differentiated assessments of both self-esteem levels and processes.

Can Universal SEL Programs Benefit Universally? Effects of the Positive Action Program on Multiple Trajectories of Social-Emotional and Misconduct Behaviors.

Behavioral trajectories during middle childhood are predictive of consequential outcomes later in life (e.g., substance abuse, violence). Social and emotional learning (SEL) programs are designed to promote trajectories that reflect both growth in positive behaviors and inhibited development of negative behaviors. The current study used growth mixture models to examine effects of the Positive Action (PA) program on behavioral trajectories of social-emotional and character development (SECD) and misconduct using data from a cluster-randomized trial that involved 14 schools and a sample of predominately low-income, urban youth followed from 3rd through 8th grade. For SECD, findings indicated that PA was similarly effective at improving trajectories within latent classes characterized as “high/declining” and “low/stable”. Favorable program effects were likewise evident to a comparable degree for misconduct across observed latent classes that reflected “low/rising” and “high/rising” trajectories. These findings suggest that PA and perhaps other school-based universal SEL programs have the potential to yield comparable benefits across subgroups of youth with differing trajectories of positive and negative behaviors, making them promising strategies for achieving the intended goal of school-wide improvements in student outcomes.

Meeting the Challenges of Longitudinal Cluster-Based Trials in Schools: Lessons From the Chicago Trial of Positive Action

We describe challenges in the 6-year longitudinal cluster randomized controlled trial (CRCT) of Positive Action (PA), a social–emotional and character development (SECD) program, conducted in 14 low-income, urban Chicago Public Schools. Challenges pertained to logistics of study planning (school recruitment, retention of schools during the trial, consent rates, assessment of student outcomes, and confidentiality), study design (randomization of a small number of schools), fidelity (implementation of PA and control condition activities), and evaluation (restricted range of outcomes, measurement invariance, statistical power, student mobility, and moderators of program effects). Strategies used to address the challenges within each of these areas are discussed. Incorporation of lessons learned from this study may help to improve future evaluations of longitudinal CRCTs, especially those that involve evaluation of school-based interventions for minority populations and urban areas.