Social & Character Development

Research Program

In 2001, students were victims of some 2 million crimes while at school (NCES, 2003). Although support services, intervention curricula, and discipline management strategies are commonly used in schools to promote social and character development and prevent problem behavior, evidence of the effectiveness of these strategies is limited. Thus, educators facing choices about adopting these programs have little scientifically sound information on which to base their decisions. The Social and Character Development (SACD) Research Program was created in response to the need for systematic evaluations of promising current school-based programs and to provide rigorous evidence of their efficacy.

Through the SACD Research Program, the U.S. Department of Education’s Institute of Education Sciences (IES), the Centers for Disease Control Prevention’s National Center for Injury Prevention and Control (NCIPC), Mathematica Policy Research, Inc. (MPR), and seven research institutions funded by Institute grants, are collaborating in a multi-site evaluation of the efficacy of seven school-based programs. At each site, 10 to 18 schools have been randomized to either implement a school-wide program utilizing character education, violence prevention, social-emotional learning, and/or behavior management strategies, or continue with standard educational practice.

As each of the grant sites implement school-based programs and carry out complementary studies focused on answering program-specific research questions, the national evaluation team, including MPR and its subcontractors (Decision Information Resources, Inc., University of Missouri-St. Louis, and Friday Systems Services, Inc.) engage in consistent data collection across sites. A core set of common outcome measures is utilized to assess students' social and emotional competence, positive behavior, problem behavior, and academic achievement; school climate; and instructional practices implemented in intervention and control-group schools. Children are assessed longitudinally over three years with baseline child, parent, and teacher surveys conducted at the beginning of the 3^rd grade. Impacts (intervention-control differences) will be analyzed at the end of 3^rd grade, the end of 4^th grade, and at the conclusion of the children's 5^th grade experience. Analyses will also focus on fidelity to the program models, program exposure, and economic costs of program implementation.

 Project Organization                          Research Questions