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Middle Schools in Los Angeles Aim for Success
More than 141,000 Los Angeles area middle school students will soon be introduced to Committee for Children's new program, SECOND STEP: Student Success Through Prevention. Los Angeles Unified School District (LAUSD) has adopted the program for use throughout its 160 middle schools.
"We will be integrating the new SECOND STEP curriculum into our Positive Behavioral Intervention and Support Program, which addresses prevention, attendance, wellness, safe and healthy schools, and positive behavior," states Lori Vollandt Ed.D., coordinator of health education programs for the district. "We know that a safe and healthy school environment contributes to improvement in learning, parent participation and communication, and a reduction of discipline incidents."
LAUSD has been using the original SECOND STEP curriculum for several years. "'SECOND STEP' helps students learn and practice such vital social skills as empathy, emotion management, problem solving, and cooperation—skills our students need—and is an integral part of our program, which looks at the whole child," Dr. Vollandt said.
"We have found that 'SECOND STEP' helps teachers spend less time on classroom management and more time on instruction. Our district committed to the new middle school version of this program because this version also addresses substance abuse, bullying, and academic achievement, all of which are essential for our students."
The new program is the result of collaboration between several nationally known experts, who helped identify critical issues middle school students face today and ensure that the new curriculum addresses the most up-to-date content in areas such as substance abuse, brain research, and cyber bullying.
Middle school educators' feedback also helped Committee for Children strengthen the program's teaching strategies, multimodal approach, strong family involvement elements, and pacing. Focus groups and pilot tests were conducted during the two-and-a-half-year development process.
Dr. Vollandt continued, "The program takes into consideration the biological changes, cognitive changes, environmental changes, and social changes early adolescents are going through. We know, through research, that early adolescents can benefit from prevention programs such as the SECOND STEP program."
Stay tuned for updates on LAUSD's implementation of SECOND STEP: Student Success Through Prevention. In the meantime, learn more about the link between social and emotional learning and academic success.