Study: 86121

Department-funded evaluation

Review Details

Reviewed: December 2019

At least one finding shows promising evidence of effectiveness

At least one statistically significant positive finding

Meets WWC standards without reservations

For:

Department-funded evaluation (findings for Collaborative Life Skills (CLS))

Using:

Rating:

Meets WWC standards without reservations because it is a randomized controlled trial with low attrition.

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

Other academic performance outcomes—Indeterminate effect found for the domain
Outcome measure	Comparison	Period	Sample	Intervention mean	Comparison mean	Significant?	Improvement index
SSIS—Academic Competence (Teacher reported)	Collaborative Life Skills (CLS) vs. Business as usual	0 Days	Full sample; 133 students	89.30	88.40	No	--
Show Supplemental Findings
SSIS—Academic Competence (at or above average, %)	Collaborative Life Skills (CLS) vs. Business as usual	0 Days	Full sample; 133 students	0.70	0.60	No	--

Problem behavior outcomes—Statistically significant positive effect found for the domain
Outcome measure	Comparison	Sample	Intervention mean	Comparison mean	Significant?	Improvement index
Child Symptom Inventory 4: ADHD symptom severity (Parent reported)	Collaborative Life Skills (CLS) vs. Business as usual	Full sample; 131 students	17.70	27.80	Yes	36
Child Symptom Inventory 4: ADHD symptom severity (Teacher reported)	Collaborative Life Skills (CLS) vs. Business as usual	Full sample; 134 students	20.04	26.90	Yes	26
Child Symptom Inventory 4: ODD symptom severity (Parent reported)	Collaborative Life Skills (CLS) vs. Business as usual	Full sample; 131 students	6.20	9.30	Yes	25
Child Symptom Inventory 4: ODD symptom severity (Teacher reported)	Collaborative Life Skills (CLS) vs. Business as usual	Full sample; 134 students	4.70	5.70	No	--

Self-determination outcomes—Statistically significant positive effect found for the domain
Outcome measure	Comparison	Period	Sample	Intervention mean	Comparison mean	Significant?	Improvement index	Evidence tier
Children’s Organizational Skills Scale, Materials Management - Parent Assessment (COSS, Materials Management - Parent)	Collaborative Life Skills (CLS) vs. Business as usual	0 Days	Full sample; 131 students	135.90	149.50	Yes	24
Children’s Organizational Skills Scale, Materials Management - Teacher Assessment (COSS, Materials Management - Teacher)	Collaborative Life Skills (CLS) vs. Business as usual	0 Days	Full sample; 134 students	86.90	94.40	Yes	19

Social-emotional competence outcomes—Indeterminate effect found for the domain
Outcome measure	Comparison	Period	Sample	Intervention mean	Comparison mean	Significant?	Improvement index	Evidence tier
Social Skills Improvement System (SSIS) Social Skills scale	Collaborative Life Skills (CLS) vs. Business as usual	0 Days	Full sample; 131 students	92.80	87.90	No	--
SSIS - Social Skills scale (Teacher reported)	Collaborative Life Skills (CLS) vs. Business as usual	0 Days	Full sample; 134 students	84.60	84.50	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.

Female: 29%
Male: 71%
Urban
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California

Race
Asian		21%
Black		9%
Other or unknown		44%
White		27%

Ethnicity
Hispanic		24%
Not Hispanic or Latino		76%

Study Details

Setting

The study was conducted in 23 schools in one urban school district in northern California. 19 of the schools offered kindergarten through 5th grade, and the remaining four offered kindergarten through 8th grade (p. 763).

Study sample

Among the randomized sample, most students (76 percent) were non-Hispanic. Of these, 35 percent were white, 27 percent were Asian, 26 percent were multi-racial, and 12 percent were black. This study, like most, treats Hispanic as a race, so the race of these students is not observed. 71 percent of the sample were boys. Approximately 30 percent of the sample lived in single-parent homes. and 60 percent had parents who graduated from college (p. 763)

Intervention Group

Collaborative Life Skills [CLS] is a 12-week school–home intervention for students with ADHD symptoms. The program consists of school, parent, and student intervention components delivered by school-based mental health providers (SMHP). The classroom component included two group meetings between SMHP staff and classroom teachers and two to three meetings with each student and their parents and teachers. The classroom intervention included daily report cards, which assessed the student on two to three target behaviors and a points system which provided rewards for meeting targeted behaviors goals. The parent component included ten one-hour group sessions facilitated by the SMHP. The child skills component included nine 40-minute child group sessions focusing on social skills and independence and two celebratory parties with parents, teachers, and students. SMHPs covered 94% of parent session elements and 97% of child session elements. Children in the intervention condition also received medications, other educational interventions, school counseling, and/or psychotherapy in the community, as usual (pp. 762, 764-765).

Comparison Group

Comparison students received school and community services as usual. They were offered the CLS program after final assessments (which may have included assessments beyond what was explored in the study) of their teachers and parents. Students in the comparison condition also received medications and other educational interventions, including special education services and/or tutoring, as usual. The comparison students received significantly more school counseling and/or psychotherapy in the community than intervention students. (pp. 765, 767)

Support for implementation

Masters-level mental health professionals implemented the study intervention as part of their work responsibilities. They attended a one-day training that focused primarily on implementing program curriculum with fidelity, role-play interactions, and problem troubleshooting. They also received weekly supervision from a doctoral-level clinician-trainer. (pp. 764-765)

A Randomized Controlled Trial of a School-Implemented School-Home Intervention for ADHD Symptoms and Impairment