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National Effectiveness Study of First Step to Success

In partnership with its developers at the Oregon Research Institute, SRI is conducting a large-scale study of the effectiveness of First Step to Success with funding received in 2006 from the U.S. Department of Education’s National Center for Special Education Research in the Institute of Education Sciences. First Step to Success is an early intervention to help children who are at risk for developing or who demonstrate antisocial or aggressive behaviors get off to the best possible start in school. First Step to Success behavior coaches work with each participating student and his or her class peers, teacher, and parents for approximately 50 to 60 hours over a 3-month period. Major components of the program include classwide screening; CLASS, a classroom-based curriculum; and HomeBase, a module involving families in the intervention process.

The National Effectiveness Study of First Step to Success will involve up to 48 elementary schools in 5 diverse school districts across the country. Half of the schools in each district will be randomly assigned to implement the program, and the other half will be assigned to the “usual care condition” and offered the program at the completion of the study. This approach will allow a comparison between children who participate in First Step to Success and children who receive the usual services provided at their school. In each school, six first- through third-grade classrooms will be chosen to participate in the study. Two students in each First Step to Success classroom (one student in each of two consecutive years) and one student in each comparison classroom will participate, resulting in a total of 288 First Step to Success participants and 144 students in comparison classrooms.

This large-scale, randomized-control trial of First Step to Success will allow investigators to assess the effectiveness of the intervention with a diverse set of children under “natural implementation” conditions. Impacts on both behavior and academic achievement will be assessed at the conclusion of the intervention and 1 and 2 years later, allowing an evaluation of the long-term effects of First Step to Success.

(U.S. Department of Education, Institute of Education Sciences, National Center for Special Education Research, 2006-2011)

Key Staff

Principal Investigator: Mary Wagner

Project Co-Directors: W. Carl Sumi, Michelle Woodbridge

Staff: Malissa Balmediano, Frances Bergland, Peggy Giacalone, Harold Javitz, Glen Masuda, Ron Orpitelli, Diane Poole, Kristen Rouspil, Patrick Thornton