WWC review of this study

A Cluster Randomized Trial of the Social Skills Improvement System-Classwide Intervention Program (SSIS-CIP) in First Grade

DiPerna, James Clyde; Lei, Puiwa; Cheng, Weiyi; Hart, Susan Crandall; Bellinger, Jillian (2018). Journal of Educational Psychology, v110 n1 p1-16. Retrieved from: https://eric.ed.gov/?id=EJ1166162

  • Randomized Controlled Trial
     examining 
    696
     Students
    , grade
    1

Reviewed: February 2018

No statistically significant positive
findings
Meets WWC standards without reservations
Comprehension outcomes—Indeterminate effect found for the domain
Outcome
measure
Comparison Period Sample Intervention
mean
Comparison
mean
Significant? Improvement
    index
Evidence
tier

STAR Reading Test

IES Funded Studies (NCER) vs. Business as usual

0 Days

Full sample;
696 students

145.97

140.10

No

--
General Mathematics Achievement outcomes—Indeterminate effect found for the domain
Outcome
measure
Comparison Period Sample Intervention
mean
Comparison
mean
Significant? Improvement
    index
Evidence
tier

STAR Math Assessment

IES Funded Studies (NCER) vs. Business as usual

0 Days

Full sample;
696 students

356.93

351.32

No

--
Problem behavior outcomes—Indeterminate effect found for the domain
Outcome
measure
Comparison Period Sample Intervention
mean
Comparison
mean
Significant? Improvement
    index
Evidence
tier

Bullying

IES Funded Studies (NCER) vs. Business as usual

0 Days

Full sample;
696 students

0.27

0.24

No

--

Hyperactive-inattentive

IES Funded Studies (NCER) vs. Business as usual

0 Days

Full sample;
696 students

0.66

0.69

No

--

Internalizing

IES Funded Studies (NCER) vs. Business as usual

0 Days

Full sample;
696 students

0.42

0.46

No

--

Externalizing

IES Funded Studies (NCER) vs. Business as usual

0 Days

Full sample;
696 students

0.42

0.47

No

--

Interference

IES Funded Studies (NCER) vs. Business as usual

0 Days

Full sample;
318 students

0.15

0.33

No

--
School engagement outcomes—Indeterminate effect found for the domain
Outcome
measure
Comparison Period Sample Intervention
mean
Comparison
mean
Significant? Improvement
    index
Evidence
tier

Academic Engagement

IES Funded Studies (NCER) vs. Business as usual

0 Days

Full sample;
696 students

4.08

3.91

No

--

Academic Motivation

IES Funded Studies (NCER) vs. Business as usual

0 Days

Full sample;
696 students

3.80

3.62

No

--

Engaged time

IES Funded Studies (NCER) vs. Business as usual

0 Days

Full sample;
318 students

79.63

79.61

No

--
Social-emotional competence outcomes—Indeterminate effect found for the domain
Outcome
measure
Comparison Period Sample Intervention
mean
Comparison
mean
Significant? Improvement
    index
Evidence
tier

Empathy

IES Funded Studies (NCER) vs. Business as usual

0 Days

Full sample;
696 students

2.56

2.38

No

--

Positive social

IES Funded Studies (NCER) vs. Business as usual

0 Days

Full sample;
318 students

0.41

0.28

No

--

Social Engagement

IES Funded Studies (NCER) vs. Business as usual

0 Days

Full sample;
696 students

2.53

2.41

No

--

Social Skills (composite)

IES Funded Studies (NCER) vs. Business as usual

0 Days

Full sample;
696 students

2.40

2.31

No

--

Communication

IES Funded Studies (NCER) vs. Business as usual

0 Days

Full sample;
696 students

2.55

2.46

No

--

Self-control

IES Funded Studies (NCER) vs. Business as usual

0 Days

Full sample;
696 students

2.30

2.21

No

--

Cooperation

IES Funded Studies (NCER) vs. Business as usual

0 Days

Full sample;
696 students

2.31

2.22

No

--

Assertion

IES Funded Studies (NCER) vs. Business as usual

0 Days

Full sample;
696 students

2.22

2.14

No

--

Responsibility

IES Funded Studies (NCER) vs. Business as usual

0 Days

Full sample;
696 students

2.41

2.33

No

--


Evidence Tier rating based solely on this study. This intervention may achieve a higher tier when combined with the full body of evidence.

Characteristics of study sample as reported by study author.


  • Female: 47%
    Male: 53%

  • Rural, Urban
  • Race
    Asian
    5%
    Black
    24%
    Pacific Islander
    0%
    White
    70%
  • Ethnicity
    Hispanic    
    9%
    Not Hispanic or Latino    
    91%

Setting

The study setting is six elementary schools in two school districts with 61 grade 1 classrooms in the mid-Atlantic region of the United States. Four of the elementary schools are located in an urban school district and two elementary schools are in a rural school district.

Study sample

Students in the analytic sample were, on average, 6.29 years old and in first grade. Male students comprised 53.3% of the sample, and 94.1% of students spoke English as a first language. Roughly three-fourths of students in the analytic sample were White (70.1%). African-American students made up approximately one-fourth of students (24%), and roughly 10% of the students were Hispanic (9.4%). Students receiving supplemental academic support comprised 27.7% of the sample, 6.2% of students received special education services and 1.9% were repeating grade 1. Most of the teachers participating in the intervention were White, female, and had been teachers for many years (average 22 years).

Intervention Group

The Social Skills Improvement System Classwide Intervention Program (SSIS-CIP) is a program designed to improve social-emotional development, behavioral and academic performance outcomes using instructional strategies in the classroom. The SSIS-CIP condition, as implemented in the study, includes 10 units with 3 lessons per unit. Of the 10 units, 5 cover cooperation skills, 2 cover self-control skills, and the remaining units cover assertion, responsibility, and empathy. The units include scripted lesson plans, video vignettes, and practice exercise booklets. Each of the 30 lessons were taught for between 20-25 minutes over a 12-week period. The instructional strategies used in the SSIS-CIP intervention condition were “describe, model, role-play, do, practice, monitor progress, and generalize.”

Comparison Group

The comparison condition was business-as-usual classroom instruction, with teachers continuing their typical teaching approaches as usual. None of the classrooms assigned to the comparison condition reported following structured curricula for teaching social skills; however, roughly 85% of the teachers assigned to the comparison condition reported having plans for encouraging positive classroom behaviors, which mainly involved using behavioral reinforcements or consequences in the classroom.

Support for implementation

The participating teachers in classrooms assigned to the SSIS-CIP intervention completed a 1-day workshop training on the SSIS-CIP program. To ensure fidelity of implementation, research staff observed about 20% of each teacher's lessons and rated them on their adherence to the program's components. They also checked in with teachers every other week to answer any questions or issues that arose during implementation. All teachers participating in the study received additional compensation for time spent completing outcome measure assessments.

 

Your export should download shortly as a zip archive.

This download will include data files for study and findings review data and a data dictionary.

Connect With the WWC

loading
back to top