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Abstract: 

This study evaluated the Promoting Healthy Development through Effective Practices (PHDEP) program, a modified and combined version of The Incredible Years Classroom Dinosaur Curriculum (Classroom Dina) and Small Group Dinosaur Program Curriculum. Both of these social-emotional learning (SEL) curricula promote the development of self-regulation skills, improved school behavior, and enhanced social competence in early school-age children. The integrated program was delivered as a universal early intervention program to students in kindergarten, first-, and second-grade classrooms. Psychology graduate students who were trained as PHDEP facilitators collaborated with teachers from the respective classrooms to implement the curriculum. The program aimed to provide children with direct instruction and practice in key social, emotional, and behavioral competencies and self-regulation skills. This study sought to determine whether the PHDEP program had an impact on child behaviors and children’s level of social competence by comparing pre- and post-intervention results for standardized measures of child behavior and social skills. Participants included 151 students (57% male, 43% female) from two public elementary schools in a large urban city in the Northeast. Results indicate that students’ social competence and classroom behaviors significantly improved over time. Teachers strongly agreed that the intervention was effective and feasible for classroom-wide use. Implications for further practice, policy, and evaluation are discussed.

Keywords: Social-emotional learning, healthy development, PHDEP, Classroom Dina, university-school partnerships

Affiliations:  1: Drexel University; 2: Drexel University; 3: Temple University; 4: Northern Children’s Services; 5: Drexel University.