Evaluation of Skills for Secondary School Success (4S)

SRI Education evaluation experts partnered with John’s Hopkins University’s Center for the Social Organization of Schools (JHU CSOS) to measure the impact of its Skills for Secondary School Success (4S) course module on eighth grade students’ socioemotional competence, attendance, behavior, and course performance. SRI Education conducted an independent evaluation of the impact, implementation, and cost of 4S.

The Skills for Secondary School Success course module provide 40 days of instructional materials that can be flexibly integrated into a middle school elective or other course. Skills for Secondary School Success are expected to result in improved student socioemotional (SEL) behaviors, including overall socioemotional competence, self-management, and social awareness, as well as improved student SEL intrapersonal competencies, including growth mindset, self-efficacy, sense of school belonging, calmness under pressure (i.e., reductions in perceived stress), goal orientation, and purpose.The overarching goal of the Skills for Secondary School Success course is to ensure that historically underserved youth have greater opportunities to graduate from high school college-and-career-ready.

Researchers at SRI conducted a multisite randomized control trial (RCT) with 8th graders to assess the module’s impact on student outcomes. The Skills for Secondary School Success course module was offered as an alternative to business-as-usual instruction in an elective or other noncore course, with treatment students assigned to the Skills for Secondary Success course and control students assigned to a traditional course offered by their schools.

Through the evaluation, SRI and Johns Hopkins University contributed to an emerging body of knowledge about how to effectively support the development of self-management skills in school. SRI measured key outcomes of 4S among 8th graders, including social-emotional skills, grades, attendance, and behavior. SRI also documented overall program implementation and conducted a cost analysis of the program.

This work was supported via funds from a mid-phase Education Innovation and Research (EIR) grant from the U.S. Department of Education.

Project Directors: CJ Park, Krystal Thomas