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. 2010 Jan;3(1):26-55.
doi: 10.1080/19345740903353436.

Impact of a social-emotional and character development program on school-level indicators of academic achievement, absenteeism, and disciplinary outcomes: A matched-pair, cluster randomized, controlled trial

Frank Snyder  1 , Brian Flay  1 , Samuel Vuchinich  2 , Alan Acock  2 , Isaac Washburn  2 , Michael Beets  3 , Kin-Kit Li  4
Affiliations

Impact of a social-emotional and character development program on school-level indicators of academic achievement, absenteeism, and disciplinary outcomes: A matched-pair, cluster randomized, controlled trial

Frank Snyder et al. J Res Educ Eff. 2010 Jan.

Abstract

This paper reports the effects of a comprehensive elementary school-based social-emotional and character education program on school-level achievement, absenteeism, and disciplinary outcomes utilizing a matched-pair, cluster randomized, controlled design. The Positive Action Hawai'i trial included 20 racially/ethnically diverse schools (mean enrollment = 544) and was conducted from the 2002-03 through the 2005-06 academic years. Using school-level archival data, analyses comparing change from baseline (2002) to one-year post trial (2007) revealed that intervention schools scored 9.8% better on the TerraNova (2nd ed.) test for reading and 8.8% on math; 20.7% better in Hawai'i Content and Performance Standards scores for reading and 51.4% better in math; and that intervention schools reported 15.2% lower absenteeism and fewer suspensions (72.6%) and retentions (72.7%). Overall, effect sizes were moderate to large (range 0.5-1.1) for all of the examined outcomes. Sensitivity analyses using permutation models and random-intercept growth curve models substantiated results. The results provide evidence that a comprehensive school-based program, specifically developed to target student behavior and character, can positively influence school-level achievement, attendance, and disciplinary outcomes concurrently.

Keywords: Randomized experiment; academic; achievement; discipline; matched-pair; social and character development.

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Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
School-level means for math and reading achievement.*
Figure 2
Figure 2
School-level means for absenteeism, suspensions, and retention.*
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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