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Guide
to Effective Programs
for Children and Youth |
Schools Without Failure (SWF)
OVERVIEW
The Schools Without Failure (SWF) program was developed to create a supportive and positive school environment through which students will be able to succeed academically. The program attempts to create a classroom environment where students take responsibility for their own education. Ten schools were paired and randomly assigned to a treatment or control group. Teachers initially led classroom meetings where students discussed questions related to their own lives. Then, a second type of classroom meeting called an “educational-diagnostic meeting” allowed students to discuss academic topics that the class had been studying. Social-problem solving meetings were phased in to allow students to discuss specific classroom problems and potential solutions to those problems. Meetings were held at least 3 times per week for an academic school year. The study below found that the Schools Without Failure program changed teacher behaviors, reduced teacher referrals to the principal, did not affect achievement over the course of the study, but increased student perception of the importance of school and the value of education in their lives for students in grades 4-6 but not those in grades 1-3.
The Schools Without Failure program uses a classroom meeting/discussion format several times per week to allow students to have some control over their classroom environment. The program seeks to increase student responsibility, communication with teachers and peers, student perceptions of education’s value, and positive classroom behaviors.
Masters, J. R. & Laverty, G. E. (1977). The relationship between changes in attitude and changes in behavior in the schools without failure program. Journal of Research and Development in Education, 10, 36-49.
Approach: 10 schools were paired based on size, socioeconomic status, and achievement scores. Next, one school from each pair was randomly assigned to either a control or SWF treatment condition. Control condition schools continued on a regular curriculum pattern and received no other treatment programs for one year, when these schools implemented SWF. Treatment school teachers were trained in the program and were required to hold classroom meetings at least 3 times a week according to the SWF program guidelines. Teachers were assessed on a variety of measures to capture their ratings of classroom behavior, effectiveness of the program, and attitudes towards education. Students were assessed on measures of attitudes towards school, self concept, and academic achievement. Outcomes for the treatment group after two years are compared with scores for the control group after one year of delay and just before the control group schools began implementing the treatment.
Results: Assessment at a 2 year follow-up found that there were no impacts of the program found in grades 1-3, but a significant impact of SWF was found in grades 4-6. Students in grades 4-6 in the SWF group believed more strongly in the importance of school and learning when compared to students in the control group. Impacts were also found for teacher behaviors and referrals to the principal but not teacher attitudes. Likewise, student achievement was not affected by assignment to the SWF program.
Glasser, W. Schools without failure. New York: Random House, 1969.
Jensen, K. Schools without failure in Madison, Wisconsin: A case study. Paper presented at the American Educational Research Association Annual Meeting, March 1, 1973.
Keepes, B., Engle, P., & Thorne, L. A school without failure. Research Bulletin 123. Palo Alto, California: Palo Alto Unified School District, 1971.
Masters, J. R. & Laverty, G. E. (1977). The relationship between changes in attitude and changes in behavior in the schools without failure program. Journal of Research and Development in Education, 10, 36-49.
Program categorized in this guide according to the following:
Evaluated participant ages: grades 1-6 / Program age ranges in the Guide: mid-childhood, adolescence
Program components: school-based
Measured outcomes: education and cognitive development; social and emotional health and development
Program information last updated 10/23/06
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© Child Trends 2003 |