Ripple Effects software to positively change behavior

1. Ripple Effects software to positively change behavior Using behavior training software to harness individual student strengths 2008 Community Day Schools Conference Presented by Sarah Berg Ripple Effects

2. Youth voices “In books and projects you learn about what other people are trying to tell you. In this you learn about who you are.” 7th grader, San Mateo, CA “It totally showed me how to find myself; I thought I was different and no one else would go through things, only me. Now, I know I’m not different. Many people go through these things.” 6th grader, Oakland, CA “It really showed me another person inside of me that I don’t use much. Respectful.” 6th grader, Oakland, CA

3. What we’ll cover • What this technology can do for learning process • What this technology can do for learning subject matter • Individualizing and building strengths • Evidence of effectiveness • Q & A

4. Learning process • Enables differentiated instruction – can be all or partially learner directed and individualized • short, bite sized learning moments, a modular, non-linear structure, and tools for controlling pace, navigation, and repetition, enable learner to set pace, return to or repeat material, and choose path through the material • responsive to range of learning styles, so students can approach it in the way they learn best • Accommodates learning differences • multi-sensory, so students can see, hear, read, and do • private and nonjudgmental, so that learners have a safe way to explore sensitive material = Taken together, these elements comprise the “Whole Spectrum Learning System”

5. Whole Spectrum Learning System

6. Animation describing the system

7. Subject matter: social-emotional experience • Comprehensive (390 unique topics), so their issues are there • Interconnected via the links, so they are pulled deeper into relevant skill training • Just in time, so that it’s there when they need it, at teachable moments: a gang shooting, a pet dying, a parent arrested, a fight with a friend • Positive, too: so that they can deepen their understanding of themselves, and find out and develop their strengths. Helps shift identity as failure. • Communicated via diverse peers with a range of life experiences, ethnic backgrounds, in photos, illustrations, true stories, and voices, so youth can see and hear themselves in the program.

8. Privacy and level of disclosure • Can be all private, all shared, and anywhere in between • Password protected and encrypted to assure privacy • Journal entries encrypted so no one can get to them • Profile results not saved, but can be printed • Doesn’t track use, only completion of assessments/brain journal • = safe, nonjudgmental way to explore difficult topics

9. How to individualize-process, content, disclosure

10. Where to individualize

11. Always give students some choice • Trust in the wisdom of young people to know what they need and let them find it in the program, using buttons that work for them, and let them choose how much to share (100% student driven content + process + disclosure) • Require interactive parts (Got its, journal, profiles), invite them to use other buttons • Even when teachers assign topics, create opportunity for self directed exploration

12. Provide individualized guidance • Assign topics based on behaviors, external events • Use support guides to assign treatment plans and skill building curricula • Use Profiles to determine needs • Can individualize even in a group setting (some topics required, some self-selected)

13. Sample treatment plan

14. Build strengths • Spine of program are 7 core social-emotional abilities or strengths, broken down into 125 learnable elements • Start and end with a strength, for any intervention • Do topics in the “understand yourself” section • User interactive profiles to deepen self understanding

15. Sample SEL scope & sequence

16. Sample resilience curriculum

17. What the Profilers can and can’t do • Increase self-understanding - important for adolescents • Science-based, first pass screening • Not scientifically validated for precise diagnosis or assessment

18. ❑ alcohol ❑ assertiveness ❑ attention deficit disorder ❑ belonging ❑ control ❑ controlling impulses ❑ creativity ❑ decisions ❑ democracy-doing ❑ diversity-gender ❑ drugs ❑ emotional style ❑ empathy ❑ future ❑ humor ❑ internet-courtesy ❑ internet-expressing yourself ❑ internet-harassment ❑ internet-reading people ❑ learning disability ❑ learning style ❑ love ❑ luck ❑ managing feelings ❑ marijuana ❑ meth ❑ norms ❑ racial conflict ❑ resilience ❑ risk and protection ❑ showing care ❑ sports & exercise type ❑ strengths ❑ substance abuse ❑ teacher conflict ❑ trauma ❑ values Profile Topics

19. Sample Profile–teacher conflict Students rank six sets of four statements.

20. Sample Profile results–teacher conflict Students get their results with a graphic and written profile

21. Sample profile printout Students can print their results, and save them as PDFs.

22. Individualizing, using technology, pose new challenges for educators • Adult is guide on side, not sage on stage (trust that their relationship with you doesn’t depend on your being the source of every answer) • Don’t hover or over-direct, give students privacy, trust that they will come to you for help • To change behavior, discussion not effective, so traditional signs of classroom engagement (participating in discussions, for instance), not a measure of success here • You have less control

23. Results of evaluation studies so far • 8 quantitative studies provide evidence of effectiveness of Ripple Effects programs for primary, secondary and tertiary prevention. • The studies were conducted across a range of urban, suburban and rural settings, among diverse groups of students, with the bulk of the research weighted toward students with multiple risk factors – those at the outside margins in health, education, and justice settings. • five “gold standard design” randomized control trials, and three “silver” quasi-experimental studies.

24. Some results • 4 NIH-funded RCTs in alternative middle schools in Oakland: statistically significant increases in grades, attendance, behavior (as measured by discipline referrals) compared to control groups • NYC RCT, 77% more prosocial behaviors, 32% fewer aggressive/anti-social behaviors, compared to control group • Quasi-experimental study at LAUSD high school, joint LAPD/LAUSD program: – 74% reduction in suspensions for disruptive/defiant behavior, vs.. prior period – 25 - 30% increases in reading & math scores from pre-to-post – 127% increase in students feeling “normal” from pre-to-post, per the Beck Depression Inventory

25. WestEd study in San Mateo, CA - Design • Randomized, controlled trial (154 students) • Multiple measures • Student pre/post and follow-up resiliency survey (based on California Healthy Kids Survey – RYDM (Resiliency and Youth Development Module) • Archival pre/post and follow-up student data (GPA, absences, tardies, discipline referrals) • Student/Teacher interviews, post only

26. WestEd Study – Intervention/Dosage • 11 contact hours, over 10 consecutive weeks, during technology or social skills classes • Students exposed to and assessed on 44 Ripple Effects for Teens tutorials, 42 pre-determined, 2 self-selected • Control - no exposure to Ripple Effects for Teens program

27. WestEd Study – Key Results • The treatment group showed significantly higher mean scores than the control group from pre- to post-test on empathy – a resiliency asset • The treatment group showed significantly higher mean scores than the control group from pre- to post-test on problem-solving – a resiliency asset • The control group had significantly higher mean scores than the treatment group on connectedness – a resiliency asset • Students who used the program showed higher (but not statistically significant) gains than control students in self-management, self-efficacy, sense of purpose - aspects of autonomy