Promoting Social and Emotional Learning in Preschool Students: A Study of "Strong Start Pre-K" [Strong Start Pre-K vs. business as usual]
Gunter, Leslie; Caldarella, Paul; Korth, Byran B.; Young, K. Richard (2012). Early Childhood Education Journal, v40 n3 p151-159. Retrieved from: https://eric.ed.gov/?id=EJ963276
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examining84Students, gradePK
Practice Guide
Review Details
Reviewed: July 2021
- Practice Guide (findings for Strong Start Pre-K)
- Randomized Controlled Trial
- Meets WWC standards without reservations because it is a cluster randomized controlled trial with low cluster-level attrition and individual-level non-response.
This review may not reflect the full body of research evidence for this intervention.
Evidence Tier rating based solely on this study. This intervention may achieve a higher tier when combined with the full body of evidence.
Findings
|
Outcome measure |
Comparison | Period | Sample |
Intervention mean |
Comparison mean |
Significant? |
Improvement index |
Evidence tier |
|
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
|
Preschool and Kindergarten Behavior Scales--Second Edition (PKBS-2): internalizing problem behaviors |
Strong Start Pre-K vs. Business as usual |
0 Days |
Full sample;
|
86.75 |
81.34 |
No |
-- | ||
|
Preschool Behavioral and Emotional Rating Scale (PreBERS; 2nd Edition): Emotional Regulation Subscale |
Strong Start Pre-K vs. Business as usual |
0 Days |
Full sample;
|
13.96 |
13.56 |
No |
-- | ||
| Show Supplemental Findings | |||||||||
|
Student-Teacher Relationship Scale (STRS)-Conflict Score |
Strong Start Pre-K vs. Business as usual |
6 Weeks |
Full sample;
|
34.71 |
20.53 |
No |
-- | ||
|
Preschool and Kindergarten Behavior Scales--Second Edition (PKBS-2): internalizing problem behaviors |
Strong Start Pre-K vs. Business as usual |
6 Weeks |
Full sample;
|
89.64 |
82.34 |
No |
-- | ||
|
Student-Teacher Relationship Scale (STRS)-Total Score |
Strong Start Pre-K vs. Business as usual |
6 Weeks |
Full sample;
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96.88 |
87.47 |
No |
-- | ||
|
Student-Teacher Relationship Scale (STRS)-Closeness Score |
Strong Start Pre-K vs. Business as usual |
6 Weeks |
Full sample;
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77.75 |
72.81 |
No |
-- | ||
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Preschool Behavioral and Emotional Rating Scale (PreBERS; 2nd Edition): Emotional Regulation Subscale |
Strong Start Pre-K vs. Business as usual |
6 Weeks |
Full sample;
|
13.74 |
13.94 |
No |
-- | ||
|
Student-Teacher Relationship Scale (STRS)-Dependency Score |
Strong Start Pre-K vs. Business as usual |
6 Weeks |
Full sample;
|
-0.68 |
8.53 |
No |
-- | ||
Evidence Tier rating based solely on this study. This intervention may achieve a higher tier when combined with the full body of evidence.
Sample Characteristics
Characteristics of study sample as reported by study author.
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Female: 50%
Male: 50% -
Suburban, Urban
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Utah
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Race Black 2% Native American 1% White 26% -
Ethnicity Hispanic 67% Not Hispanic or Latino 33%
Study Details
Setting
The study was conducted in a Title I preschool in a metropolitan area in Utah.
Study sample
Study participants were 66.7% Hispanic, 26.2% White, 3.6% Mixed Ethnicities, 2.4% African American, and 1.2% Native American. Students were 50% female and 50% male.
Intervention Group
The Strong Start Pre-K curriculum consists of 10 lessons and two optional booster session lessons. It also includes a bulletin sent home to parents at the end of each of the ten lessons. The curriculum emphasizes social-emotional learning (SEL) that is developmentally appropriate and aimed to reduce students' internalizing problem behaviors and increase students' peer-related prosocial behaviors.
Comparison Group
The comparison condition was business-as-usual.
Support for implementation
Teachers were given a brief orientation to the study. Intervention teachers received a one-hour introduction to SEL and manuals for the Strong Start Pre-K curriculum approximately 3 weeks before teaching the first lesson.
An indicator of the effect of the intervention, the improvement index can be interpreted as the expected change in percentile rank for an average comparison group student if that student had received the intervention.
For more, please see the WWC Glossary entry for improvement index.
An outcome is the knowledge, skills, and attitudes that are attained as a result of an activity. An outcome measures is an instrument, device, or method that provides data on the outcome.
A finding that is included in the effectiveness rating. Excluded findings may include subgroups and subscales.
The sample on which the analysis was conducted.
The group to which the intervention group is compared, which may include a different intervention, business as usual, or no services.
The timing of the post-intervention outcome measure.
The number of students included in the analysis.
The mean score of students in the intervention group.
The mean score of students in the comparison group.
The WWC considers a finding to be statistically significant if the likelihood that the finding is due to chance alone, rather than a real difference, is less than five percent.
The WWC reviews studies for WWC products, Department of Education grant competitions, and IES performance measures.
The name and version of the document used to guide the review of the study.
The version of the WWC design standards used to guide the review of the study.
The result of the WWC assessment of the study. The rating is based on the strength of evidence of the effectiveness of the intervention. Studies are given a rating of Meets WWC Design Standards without Reservations, Meets WWC Design Standards with Reservations, or >Does Not Meet WWC Design Standards.
A related publication that was reviewed alongside the main study of interest.
Study findings for this report.
Based on the direction, magnitude, and statistical significance of the findings within a domain, the WWC characterizes the findings from a study as one of the following: statistically significant positive effects, substantively important positive effects, indeterminate effects, substantively important negative effects, and statistically significant negative effects. For more, please see the WWC Handbook.
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Tier 1 Strong indicates strong evidence of effectiveness,
Tier 2 Moderate indicates moderate evidence of effectiveness, and
Tier 3 Promising indicates promising evidence of effectiveness,
as defined in the
non-regulatory guidance for ESSA
and the regulations for ED discretionary grants (EDGAR Part 77).