WWC review of this study

The Evaluation of the Enhanced Positive School Climate Model

Wendt, Staci; Cerna, Rebeca; Taylor, Darius; Hanson, Thomas (2020). Retrieved from: https://eric.ed.gov/?id=ED607411

  • Randomized Controlled Trial
     examining 
    5,581
     Students
    , grades
    4-5

Reviewed: December 2021

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

CORE Districts’ student survey - self efficacy items - 4th grade

Enhanced Positive School Climate Model vs. Business as usual

0 Days

Grade: 4;
2,586 students

3.64

3.52

No

--

CORE Districts’ student survey - self efficacy items - 5th grade

Enhanced Positive School Climate Model vs. Business as usual

0 Days

Grade: 5;
2,994 students

3.57

3.57

No

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

CORE Districts' student survey; five-item self-management scale

Enhanced Positive School Climate Model vs. Business as usual

0 Days

Grade: 4;
2,587 students

3.88

3.86

No

--

CORE Districts' student survey; five-item self-management scale

Enhanced Positive School Climate Model vs. Business as usual

0 Days

Grade: 5;
2,994 students

3.94

3.95

No

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

CORE Districts’ student survey - social awareness items

Enhanced Positive School Climate Model vs. Business as usual

0 Days

Grade: 4;
2,586 students

3.84

3.83

No

--

CORE Districts’ student survey - social awareness items

Enhanced Positive School Climate Model vs. Business as usual

0 Days

Grade: 5;
2,995 students

3.81

3.79

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.


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    California

Setting

The study took place in 35 elementary schools in Santa Ana Unified School District (SAUSD), a large, densely populated urban school district in Orange County, California.

Study sample

The authors did not report information on student-level gender, race/ethnicity, English language proficiency or free/reduced lunch status.

Intervention Group

The i3-funded intervention, the Enhanced Positive School Climate Model (Enhanced PSCM), builds on the implementation of Positive Behavioral Interventions and Supports (PBIS) and Restorative Practices (RP) in many schools within Santa Ana Unified School District (SAUSD). The Enhanced PSCM aims to improve school climate and student-adult relationships, create social-emotional learning programs, and provide students the needed structure to access challenging curriculum and expectations. The additional supports provided by School Climate Liaisons (SCLs) include coaching for staff, implementation support, and school climate enhancement activities. The evaluation aims to determine whether providing these extra supports improves the effectiveness of SAUSD’s existing PSCM. Specifically, the intervention aims to increase students’ social emotional skills (including self-management), reduce office discipline referrals and suspensions, increase student academic achievement, and increase parent awareness of PBIS and RP strategies.

Comparison Group

Schools in the comparison condition implemented a "business-as-usual" version of Positive Behavioral Intervention and Supports (PBIS) and Restorative Practice (RP) without the School Climate Liaisons (SCLs) provided to schools in the intervention condition.

Support for implementation

Teachers in the intervention condition were provided a series of trainings at the beginning of the grant. They also received annual refresher trainings, and district team members were trained in the Tiered Fidelity Inventory to measure the fidelity of PBIS. Further, the Program Specialist and SCLs participated in a coaching series.

 

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