Second Step A Violence Prevention Program

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Second StepA Violence Prevention Program

• Scheri DuBon
• LAUSD Local District 8 Health Education
  Programs/Title IV Advisor
• [phone]
• Scheri.dubon_at_lausd.net

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Second Step Training Goals

• To help staff understand what it means to use a
  social skills approach to youth violence
  prevention.
• To prepare staff to use Second Step curriculum
  with students.

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Why did LAUSD choose Second Step?

• Meets Federal and State Mandates
• Only violence prevention curriculum rated as
  exemplary by the United States Department of
  Education
• Most widely used.
• Universal curriculum

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In addition to being Teacher Friendly

• Safety and Learning Correlation
• Closing the Achievement Gap
• District Goals
• Developmental Assets
• Brain Research

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Safety and Learning

• Correlation between level of perceived safety and
  API scores
• Teaches students how to mediate their emotions so
  they can calm down and get back to learning

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Closing the Achievement Gap

• Ensure that disagreements are handled with
  discussion and with respect for alternative
  positions
• promote respect for the uniqueness of each
  person as well as for the ways we are similar
• AEMP/Closing the Achievement Gap Branch, 2004

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District Goals

• Improved student achievement in English Language
  Arts
• Improved student achievement in Math
• Successful and timely re-designation of EL
  students
• Improved attendance rates
• Improved graduation rates
• Focused and coherent professional development

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Developmental Assets

• See Handouts
• Based on success not failure
• Not a curriculum
• Second Step promotes 31 of the 40 Assets

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Brain Research

• Students must feel physically safe and
  emotionally secure before they can focus on the
  curriculum.
• David A. Sousa
• How The Brain Learns, 2001
• What the Bleep Do We Know!?

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Safety in our Schools

• Trying to create a safe school climate without
  teaching students social-emotional skills is like
  trying to educate our students without teaching
  them to read.
• Kevin Dwyer
• School Psychologist
• National Expert on School Safety

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Reasons Children Fail to Act Pro-socially

• Lack of modeling
• Lack of practice
• Desired behavior inhibited by emotional responses
• Inappropriate beliefs about aggression

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Skill Based Program PreK-8

• Based on research showing that people who engage
  in child abuse, domestic violence, and other
  kinds of criminal behavior lack the following
  skills
• Empathy
• Impulse Control
• Problem Solving
• Anger Management

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Empathy

• Students are taught to
• Understand the feelings of others
• Understand points of view that are different from
  theirs
• Respect all people regardless of differences
• Treat others with kindness

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Impulse Control

• Students are taught to mediate their emotions by
• Learning to identify their feelings
• Learning how to interrupt their automatic
  reactions through calming down techniques
• Practice these skills in a variety of challenging
  social-emotional situations

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Problem-Solving

• Students are taught to solve problems in ways
  that are
• Safe
• Fair
• Take into account everyones feelings
• Will work

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Anger-Management

• Students are taught to
• Identify where in their bodies they feel angry
• Interrupt the anger cycle through calming down
  methods
• Use positive problem-solving methods
• Assess how well they handled their anger

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Implementation

• See Handouts
• Scope and Sequence
• Lesson Teaching Time Guidelines
• Lesson Section Breakdown

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Social Skills Teaching Strategies

• See handout
• Modeling
• Coaching and Cueing
• Storytelling
• Group Discussion
• Role-Play Facilitation
• Transfer of Learning

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Resources

• Committee for Children www.cfchildren.org
• Developmental Assets
• www.search-institute.org

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Unit Review Activity

• Unit Card
• What is the goal of your unit?
• What key elements are taught in your unit?
• What language concepts are taught in your unit?
• What Transfer of Learning ideas or Extension
  Activities Ideas would you use?