An evaluation of Second Step: A Violence Prevention Curriculum with kindergarten students

The prevalence of aggression and antisocial behavior in children and concerns about youth violence has led to the development and implementation of a number of violence prevention programs in schools across the country. One program that has been widely used in schools throughout the United States is Second Step: A Violence Prevention Curriculum (Committee for Children, 1997). The purpose of this study was to evaluate the effectiveness of Second Step as a violence prevention curriculum in reducing kindergarten student's impulsive and aggressive behaviors and promoting their prosocial behavior. A quasi-experimental pre-test post-test control group design was employed for this study. A total of 56 kindergarten students participated in this study. The treatment group consisted of 38 kindergarten students who received the Second Step curriculum. The control group consisted of 18 students who did not receive the Second Step curriculum. A total of 25 students were female and 31 students were male.; Program outcomes were based on pre and post teacher ratings on the Social Skills Rating System (SSRS; Gresham & Elliot, 1990), the Aggression and Attention Problems subscales of the Child Behavior Checklist - Teacher Report Form (CBCL-TRF; 1991), and on the Teacher Behavior Rating Form, developed by this researcher (2003). An analysis of covariance was utilized to discern differences between the groups.; It was hypothesized that students participating in the Second Step program would show greater scores on prosocial behavior as measured by the Social Skills Rating System (SSRS; Gresham & Elliot, 1990) than students in the control school that did not participate in the program. This hypothesis was supported. It was also predicted that students participating in the Second Step program would show less aggressive behavior at the posttest than students in the control school as measured by the Problem Behavior scale from the Social Skills Rating System (SSRS; Gresham & Elliot, 1990) and by the Aggression Problems subscale from the Child Behavior Checklist - Teacher Report Form (CBCL-TRF; 1991). This hypothesis was supported. It was also predicted that students participating in the Second Step program would show less impulsivity than students in the control school as measured by the Problem Behaviors scale from the Social Skills Rating System (SSRS: Gresham & Elliot, 1990), and by the Attention Problems subscale from the Child Behavior Checklist - Teacher Report Form (CBCL-TRF; 1991). These predictions were partially supported in that significant treatment effects were found at the posttest on the Problem Behaviors scale only. However, significant treatment effects were not evidenced at the posttest according to the Attention Problems subscale. Lastly, it was hypothesized that students participating in the Second Step program would show greater scores on prosocial behavior than students in the control school as measured by the Teacher Behavior Rating Form (2003). This hypothesis was not supported. Overall findings of this study provide encouraging evidence for the general support and continued use and study of the Second Step program for kindergarten students in a primary school.