In this project, researchers aimed to evaluate the efficacy of the Academic and Behavioral Competencies (ABC) model, a school-wide program designed to enhance students' social competencies and behavior. The ABC model included strategies such as school-wide discipline rules, social skills training, peer tutoring, peer mediation, and parent training, and include methods of working with children with impaired behavioral or social functioning (such as ADHD).
In the primary study, the researchers were conducting a randomized trial in a large urban school district serving students from high risk, impoverished neighborhoods. The study was to follow one group of students from grade 1 to grade 3 grade and a second group of students from the grade 3 to grade 5. With this design, the researchers hoped to understand the effects of the ABC program on students in the grade 3 after multiple years of intervention (the grade 1 to grade 3 cohort) as compared to 1 year of intervention (the grade 3 to grade 5 cohort). The researchers also proposed to examine teachers' classroom management strategies, the effects of the intervention on child psychopathology, and whether the intervention prevents the need for medication and other mental health services for children.
