Teaching Self-Management Strategies to Upper-Elementary Students: Evidence of Promise from the "We Have Choices" Program
Keith Smolkowski; Brion Marquez; Jessie Marquez; Claudia Vincent; Jordan Pennefather; Hill Walker; Lisa A. Strycker (2023). Psychology in the Schools, v60 n6 p1681-1705. Retrieved from: https://eric.ed.gov/?id=EJ1375042
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examining2,055Students, grades4-6
Single Study Review
Review Details
Reviewed: January 2025
- Single Study Review (findings for We Have Choices)
- 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
|
Upper Elementary School Behavior Assessment |
We Have Choices vs. Business as usual |
0 Days |
Full sample;
|
2.68 |
2.65 |
Yes |
|
|
Strengths and Difficulties Questionnaire |
We Have Choices vs. Business as usual |
0 Days |
Full sample;
|
0.28 |
0.27 |
No |
-- |
|
Outcome measure |
Comparison | Period | Sample |
Intervention mean |
Comparison mean |
Significant? |
Improvement index |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
|
Teacher Sense of Efficacy Scale (TSES) |
We Have Choices vs. Business as usual |
0 Days |
Full sample;
|
7.43 |
7.27 |
Yes |
|
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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Other or unknown: 100% -
Rural, Urban
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California, Oregon
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Race Other or unknown 100% -
Ethnicity Other or unknown 100% -
Eligible for Free and Reduced Price Lunch Other or unknown 100%
Study Details
Setting
The study tested the implementation of the 9-week "We Have Choices" program in grades four through six general education classrooms, in three California school districts and in one Oregon district. The researchers described the districts as being racially diverse and in urban and rural areas.
Study sample
Demographic data was unavailable for the student participants. Teachers in the study were predominately White (91%). Their ages ranged from 23 to 63 years old, and they have 14 years of teaching experience on average. On average, across the schools participating in the study, 23 to 70% of students were White, 12 to 53% were Latino / Hispanic, 0.5 to 9% were African American, 1 to 18% were Asian, 0.4 to 2% were American Indian / Alaska Native, and 2 to 9% were multiracial.
Intervention Group
The intervention "We Have Choices" is a general education program aimed at helping students become independent in making positive behavioral choices. The "We Have Choices" program is a series of nine videos and related 30-minute lessons. The first lesson is about "brain science," and the following eight are about eight different classroom behavioral skills. Students use a booklet to track their own use of the behavioral skills throughout the school day and reflect on their performance. Each week targets a different skill that has been introduced in the videos. In the final week, they rate the extent to which they used all eight skills. The teacher also rates their observation of the student's use of the skill.
Comparison Group
Classrooms in the business-as-usual control condition could implement typical practices and interventions (including behavior management, social emotional learning, etc.). No information was reported about what was implemented in control classrooms.
Support for implementation
Training for teachers consisted of a 1-hour session either in-person (n = 34) or online (n = 10). The content of the training covered the purpose of the research, reviewing of the lesson plans, and modeling of how to teach the curriculum.
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.
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A related publication that was reviewed alongside the main study of interest.
Study findings for this report.
Based on the direction, magnitude, statistical significance, and sample size of the findings within a domain, the WWC assigns effectiveness ratings as one of the following: Tier 1 (strong evidence), Tier 2 (moderate evidence), Tier 3 (promising evidence), uncertain effects, and negative effects. For more detail, 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).