A prevention program for students with or at risk for ED: Moderating effects of variation in treatment and classroom structure

In a recent report, positive outcomes were described for use of a preventio n program serving students with behavioral and emotional disturbance and th ose at risk for emotional disturbance (ED) in urban elementary schools. Thi s primarily school-based prevention program consisted of social skills acti vities, peer tutoring, and individual and classwide behavior management com ponents. Improved behaviors and decreased aggression were noted for the exp erimental group in treatment for approximately I 1/2 school years, compared to a control-wait group. This report is a further analysis of the preventi on program investigation, including (a) findings from implementation across multiple school years with longitudinal student outcome data; (b) replicat ion effects for the prevention program for the second cohort; (c) effects o f variations in program implementation; specifically, strength of treatment and classroom structure; and (d) individual cases of treatment successes a nd failures. Results for two cohorts indicated that inappropriate behaviors decreased (i.e., aggression, out of seat negative verbal behaviors) and po sitive behaviors increased (academic engagement, behavioral compliance) und er conditions of strong implementation of program components and in the con text of high classroom structure. Individual case studies further confirmed that students exposed to more treatment in each year of the program and in classrooms with more structure had better outcomes. Implications of these findings supporting early, multiyear, high-quality prevention and the adver se effects of weak treatment efforts and low structure are discussed in the concert: of current practice and the need for additional research.