Overview

Skills for Action, a program to build positive character values and life and citizenship skills for students in grades 9–12, includes classroom lessons and service learning. The program, with more than 100 lessons focused around 26 personal, social, and thinking skills, ranges from one semester to four years in length. Students explore personal stories highlighting values and behavior through teachers’ questions and group discussion and resource pages in the curricular materials. For service learning, students perform school-based or community-based projects and reflect on their experiences. Optional components include a student magazine, an Advisory Team, and supplemental units on drug use prevention. A related program is reviewed in the What Works Clearinghouse (WWC) intervention report on Skills for Adolescence.

Research

One study of Skills for Action met the WWC evidence standards with reservations. The study included almost 1,800 high school students in 26 classrooms from 25 rural, suburban, and urban schools in seven states in the eastern and central United States. The study authors examined results on students’ knowledge, attitudes, and values.¹

Effectiveness

Skills for Action was found to have no discernible effects on students’ knowledge, attitudes, and values.