News Stories
New Middle School Program Addresses Today's Needs
Middle school educators have been successfully using the SECOND STEP program for more than 20 years to help students learn and acquire the skills of empathy, impulse control, anger management, and problem solving.
But the issues middle schoolers face have changed over the years, and a new version of the popular program will address those changes—and more. The new program, SECOND STEP: STUDENT SUCCESS THROUGH PREVENTION, is being introduced this month for June shipment.
Multiple Needs, One Integrated Program
"Educators are concerned with the growing prevalence of aggression and bullying in the middle school level. There is also a clear need to address substance abuse at this age," said Bridgid Normand, who led the team that developed SECOND STEP: STUDENT SUCCESS THROUGH PREVENTION.
"At the same time, schools are being judged on the basis of student test results. The bad news has been that in today's school climate, it is hard for schools to find the time to address these problem behaviors when they are so focused on academic achievement. The good news is that research shows that schools don't need to choose between preventing problem behaviors and promoting school success," she added.
Normand explained that over recent decades, researchers have successfully identified factors in multiple areas of children's lives that either increase the risk of problems or support healthy development. Researchers at the University of Washington have organized these factors into what is referred to as the "risk and protective factors framework or paradigm."
The research found that many of the protective factors that help prevent problematic behaviors also apply to promoting school success.
By teaching core social and emotional skills, the new middle school version of the SECOND STEP curriculum addresses, in one integrated program, a student's ability to succeed in the classroom and to avoid substance abuse, violence, and bullying.
Educators Helped Develop Program
The new SECOND STEP program was developed with the input of nationally known research consultants and middle school educators.
The experts worked closely with Committee for Children to 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.
Educators helped Committee for Children strengthen the program's teaching strategies, multi-modal approach, strong family involvement elements, and the tempo in which subject matter is presented. Focus groups and pilot tests were conducted during the two-and-a-half-year development process.
"The students really responded favorably to the new program," said one of the pilot program teachers, Monica Stein, a seventh-grade teacher at St. Francis of Assisi School in Burien, WA. "They looked forward to it. Like, 'Oh, good. Are we gonna do SECOND STEP today?'...I never had trouble keeping class order during the lessons."
Zoe Pilgrim, an eighth-grade special education teacher at Seattle's Eckstein Middle School, who also piloted the program, concurs: "My students' behavior and their interactions with each other just became more positive as the year went on. And they were made aware of bullying…I heard students standing up for certain students in the hall."
Interactive Strategies Reflect "Best Practices"
SECOND STEP: STUDENT SUCCESS THROUGH PREVENTION is presented in 50-minute lessons. Each lesson can be taught in two 25-minute segments. Interactive teaching strategies reflect best practices for the middle grades and include individual, group, and class activities. A multimedia DVD accompanies each grade level, and colorful posters illustrate core skills. As with other Committee for Children programs, families are encouraged to become involved in the program through teacher communication, an overview DVD, and homework assignments.
"I wish that it was an actual required course," teacher Pilgrim said. "I feel it would really benefit everyone, especially before they go on to high school."
Find out more about this new program.
Dorothy Dubia
Communications Consultant
Committee for Children