Prevention Project
Plan and Time Line Form
Name & Address of School:
Collingswood Middle School
414 Collings Avenue
Collingswood, NJ 08108
Principal: Dr. John McMullin
Name of School Psychology Intern Leading the Initiative: Kelly Jones
Enrollment: 345
School Demographics:
Caucasian, Non-Hispanic: 248
Hispanic: 49
African American, Non-Hispanic: 38
Asian/Hawaiian/Pacific Islander: 9
American Indian/Alaska Native: 1
Two or more races: 0
Number of students eligible to participate in the Free Lunch Program: 56
Number of students eligible to participate in the Reduced-Price Lunch Program: 38
STEP ONE: MISSION
MISSION
Connect your work to your school’s mission.
In order for high quality teaching and learning to occur in the classroom, behaviors demonstrated
by students must be positive and respectful. In a middle school Multiple Disabilities classroom, it
is even more imperative that positive and respectful behavior is explicitly taught and practiced on
a regular basis in order to ensure that teaching and learning can occur. Therefore, this project
aims to teach critical social skills to eight students in a Multiple Disabilities classroom at
Collingswood Middle School and provide them with opportunities to practice these skills.
Your school or department’s mission statement is:
The mission of the Collingswood School District is “to provide the highest-quality education that
ensures success for every student through excellence in teaching and learning.”
STEP TWO: ELEMENT
ELEMENT
What critical data element are you trying to impact? Examples include: grades, test scores, attendance,
promotion rates, graduation rates, discipline referral data, attitudes, behaviors, etc.
Element(s): Behaviors (e.g., positive social skills)
Baseline(s): The comprehensive Skillstreaming Social Skills Inventory was filled out by
the teacher for each of the seven students in the classroom. This survey asks the teacher
to rate each student on a scale of 1-5 (1 being almost never, 5 being almost always) in
each of sixty critical social skills covered by the Skillsteaming program.
Goal(s): Increase students’ knowledge and ability to use positive social skills in the
classroom.
STEP THREE: ANALYZE
ANALYZE THE DATA ELEMENT
You can use percentages, averages, raw scores, quartiles, or standard scores. You can aggregate or
disaggregate the data to better understand which students are meeting success. You can disaggregate by
gender, race, ethnicity, socioeconomic status, etc.
Baseline Data Revealed:
The baseline data I collected revealed a range of ability levels for the students in this
class across the sixty skills assessed. I assessed the average ratings across students for
each skill to assist in prioritizing the specific social skills to target during lessons. In
addition to considering this quantitative data, I also spoke with the school social worker
who is the case manager for the students in this classroom and the special education
teacher who teaches the class. I believe it is important to consider both the quantitative
and qualitative information when determining areas on which to focus. If we focused
solely on the quantitative data from the surveys, we could potentially miss a topic that is
particularly pressing at a certain point in the year for the students in the class. Therefore,
communicating with the teacher and school social worker frequently throughout the year
is an invaluable source of information in addition to utilizing the survey data.
Below is the data for the skills the teacher assessed to be lowest for this class on
(averaged from the ratings for the eight students on each skill).
(1= almost never displays the skill,
2= seldom displays the skill,
3= sometimes displays the skill,
4= often displays the skill,
5= almost always displays the skill)
Using Self-Control – 1.75
Making a Complaint – 1.875
Ignoring Distractions – 1.875
Relaxing – 1.875
Expressing Your Feelings – 2.000
Responding to Teasing – 2.125
Problem Solving - 2.125
Dealing with Your Anger – 2.125
Accepting Consequences – 2.25
Dealing with an Accusation – 2.25
Accepting No – 2.25
Avoiding Trouble – 2.25
Dealing with Another’s Anger – 2.25
Staying out of Fights – 2.25
Listening – 3 (though teacher reported it is a critical concern in the classroom and I
observed this as well, I also believe good listening skills are a critical foundation for
many of the other areas in which their skills are not as well-developed)
I plan to target as many of these skills as possible either directly or indirectly throughout
the school year. However, I discovered early in the year that repetition is often critical to
the students remembering and being able to appropriately use the skills, so I may not be
able to address all of the issues this year. I will use teacher input in addition to this list to
plan the focus for each session.
STEP FOUR: STAKEHOLDERS
STAKEHOLDERS – UNITE TO DEVELOP STRATEGIES TO IMPACT THE
DATA ELEMENT
Describe what you and others will do to implement the project.
(Expected) Beginning Date: September 20, 2011
(Expected) Ending Date: May 22, 2012
School Psychologist Interns – Two school psychologist interns (Kelly Jones and Rebecca
DeLaurentis) will be responsible for planning and implementing lessons every other week in the
classroom, focusing on helping the students develop the knowledge and abilities necessary to use
positive social skills in the classroom, as well as in other environments.
Students – The students in this class are stakeholders because they will benefit from the
structured instruction and practice regarding social skills that are critical for success in school as
well as in other settings.
Teacher – The special education teacher in the MD class we are targeting is playing a role as
well. At the beginning of the school year, he filled out surveys regarding his students’ current
levels of knowledge and ability with a wide range of social skills. He will also be a consultant
throughout the project by sharing information and input with the school psychologist interns to
help them best tailor the program to the needs of the students. He is a stakeholder due to the fact
that he works with this group of students daily and will benefit from improved social skills being
demonstrated in the classroom, hopefully leading to less time spent off-task and disciplining
students.
School Social Worker – A school social worker is serving as the supervisor for the two school
psychologist interns who are implementing this group. She will periodically observe the lessons
in the classroom and will also be available for consultation as needed. She is a stakeholder
because she serves as the case manager for all of the students in the class, meaning that she is
responsible for assisting them and their families with any issues or concerns that may arise.
TIME LINE:
Develop a time line that shows dates by which each component of your project will be
completed.
September 20, 2011 – Session 1: Introductory session with class
September 22, 2011 – Provide teacher with surveys regarding social skills of each student
in the class
October 3, 2011 – Collect completed surveys from teacher in order to analyze strengths
and weaknesses of class
Classes will occur every other week throughout the school year. Topics will be
determined based on surveys completed by teacher as well as input from teacher and
school social worker (who acts as case manager for the students in this class and sees
them when needed for individual counseling).
October 4, 2011 – Session 2: Listening (implemented using Skillstreaming format)
October 18, 2011 – No session this week due to professional development workshop
November 1, 2011 – Session 3: Asking for Help (implemented using Skillstreaming
format)
November 15, 2011 – Session 4: Tattling vs. Reporting
November 29, 2011 – Session 5: When to Report?
December 13, 2011 – Session 6: Respectful Listening
January 10, 2012 – Session 7: Active Listening
January 31, 2012 – Session 8: Effective Communication Skills
February 14, 2012 – Session 9: Self-Control
March 6, 2012 – Session 10: Using Self-Control to Not Lie or Brag (Adapted from a
Second Step lesson)
April 3, 2012 – Session 11: Taking Responsibility for Your Actions (Adapted from a
Second Step lesson)
April 17, 2012 – Session 12: Ignoring Distractions (Adapted from a Second Step lesson)
April 17, 2012 – Provide teacher with Skillstreaming surveys to fill out regarding each
student to compare with baseline data (surveys were provided on this date in order to
comply with William and Mary’s internship timeline – If possible, I would have waited to
have the teacher complete the surveys again until after we concluded our final session)
April 24 – Collect Skillstreaming surveys from teacher
May 1, 2012 – Session 13: Making a Complaint (Adapted from a Second Step lesson)
May 22, 2012 – Session 14 (final session): Relaxing
STEP FIVE: RESULTS
Results
Restate your baseline data.
State where your data are now. Did you meet your goal?
Restate baseline data:
Below is the data for the skills the teacher assessed to be lowest for this class on
(averaged from the ratings for the seven students on each skill).
(1= almost never displays the skill, 2= seldom displays the skill, 3= sometimes displays
the skill, 4= often displays the skill, 5= almost always displays the skill)
Using Self-Control – 1.75
Making a Complaint – 1.875
Ignoring Distractions – 1.875
Relaxing – 1.875
Expressing Your Feelings – 2.000
Responding to Teasing – 2.125
Problem Solving - 2.125
Dealing with Your Anger – 2.125
Accepting Consequences – 2.25
Dealing with an Accusation – 2.25
Accepting No – 2.25
Avoiding Trouble – 2.25
Dealing with Another’s Anger – 2.25
Staying out of Fights – 2.25
Listening – 3 (though teacher reported it is a critical concern in the classroom and I
observed this as well, I also believe good listening skills are a critical foundation for
many of the other areas in which their skills are not as well-developed)
Results (data now):
Bolded skills saw an increase from the average October ratings to the average April ratings
Using Self-Control – 2.000
Making a Complaint – 2.000
Ignoring Distractions – 1.667
Relaxing – 1.500
Expressing Your Feelings – 2.167
Responding to Teasing – 2.000
Problem Solving - 2.333
Dealing with Your Anger – 1.833
Accepting Consequences – 2.000
Dealing with an Accusation – 2.167
Accepting No – 2.000
Avoiding Trouble – 2.500
Dealing with Another’s Anger – 1.833
Staying out of Fights – 2.33
Listening – 2.833
We met the goal of improving the students’ skills within some of the areas addressed, though the changes
seen in both the positive and negative directions across all categories were minimal. Over the course of a
school year, teachers become better acquainted with the skill level of the students in their classes. Both
social and academic demands placed on students increase throughout the school year as well. Even though
the average level of social skills as rated by the teacher in this class remained relatively consistent from the
October ratings to the April ratings, the students appeared to respond to the lessons and benefit from the
practice and feedback provided. Foundational skills in these areas have been laid and it is hoped that the
students will be able to build on these skills and continue to develop them further as they progress through
middle school and high school.
If I conduct a similar group in the future, I would select a more targeted set of skills to address and plan to
spend more sessions on each skill covered. This group of students benefits greatly from repetition and
repeated practice with concepts and skills. Therefore, I think the group could have been even more
effective if we had determined a more targeted focus prior to beginning lessons.
STEP SIX: EDUCATE
Educate others about your efforts to move data and impact change. Develop a 1- to 2-page report card that
shows how the work of the school psychologist(s) is connected to the mission of the school(s) and to student
success. Publish your report card on the School Psychologist “Toobox” Wiki. Use graphs, tables, quotes
and/or pictures to make your report card attention-getting!