Benefits to Classroom Social Climates Following Two Years of SEL Program Implementation: A Second Step ® Evaluation

Universal social-emotional learning (SEL) programs purport to benefit the most students by changing classroom social climates, but only a handful of programs have evidenced classroom-level effects through rigorous evaluation. The current study sought to address this gap by testing the effects of Second Step® on pre- to post-test change in teacher-reported positive and negative classroom social climates using a two-year longitudinal cluster randomized trial in 61 schools (n = 31 treatment) in the United States. The role of teachers’ proactive classroom management skills and of dosage (i.e., number of lessons taught) were also examined both years. Teachers were predominantly non-Hispanic white females (Year 1: N = 313, 85.3% white, 94.3% female; Year 2: N = 447, 89.0% white, 81.4% female) with 15 (SD = 9.9) years of teaching experience. Results indicated that classroom social climates benefited within the first year associated with higher Second Step® dosage (increased positive climate) and higher teacher proactive classroom management (reduced negative climate). In Year 2, teachers in Second Step® classrooms reported greater improvements to student friction and competitiveness regardless of dosage and classroom management. These findings have implications for the more even distribution of benefits from universal SEL programs in schools.Impact StatementIn Second Step® schools, classroom social climates improved within the first year when teachers demonstrated stronger proactive classroom management skills or delivered more Second Step® lessons (i.e., higher dosage). By the end of the second year of school-wide implementation, program effects were no longer dependent on these factors, with teachers reporting greater reductions in negative classroom social climates. In reducing the time and energy teachers spend managing and improving classroom social climates, universal social-emotional learning programs like Second Step® can benefit all students (not just those with deficits) and their teachers through program-driven changes at the classroom level.