Guide to Effective Programs
for Children and Youth

MINNESOTA COMPETENCE ENHANCEMENT PROJECT (MCEP)

OVERVIEW

The Minnesota Competence Enhancement Project (MCEP) is a two-year school-based program which has been designed to target children with behavior problems. The program takes a three-pronged approach with curriculum and group training for children, parents, and teachers. An experimental evaluation in which school districts were randomly assigned to the program found that the program had no observable impacts on child behavior, compare with control cases that were offered multiple sessions on information and attention, directed at parents and teachers.

DESCRIPTION OF PROGRAM

Target population: Grade-school children with behavior problems

The MCEP program is developed for children in early to middle elementary school who have been identified by teachers and parents to be highly disruptive or who have behavioral problems. The program consists of a classroom curriculum and group sessions for children where they are taught social skills and problem-solving tactics; a parent component where parents receive didactic instruction in parenting skills and group discussions; and a teacher component where teachers are trained to deal with disruptive children through modifying behavior, problem-solving, conflict resolution, and self-monitoring.

EVALUATION(S) OF PROGRAM

Braswell, L., August, G. J., Bloomquist, M. L., Realmuto, G. M., Skare, S. S., & Crosby, R. D. (1997). School-based secondary prevention for children with disruptive behavior: Initial outcomes. Journal of Abnormal Child Psychology, 25(3), 197-208.

Evaluated population: 309 children in grades 1-4 drawn from 22 mostly middle-class suburban schools. Children in the study were mostly non-Hispanic white and less than 5% of the sample was African-American, Hispanic, or Asian.

Approach: Assignment was done by school district; schools were paired based on demographic characteristics and then randomly assigned to either the treatment group or a no-treatment control group. To be eligible for the study, children were first assessed by their teachers and then by their parents to determine their levels of disruptive behavior. Children with the highest levels of disruptive behavior were selected unless they had an IQ less than 80 or were in a program for developmental, emotional, or behavior disorders. Children assigned to the intervention condition attended 18 school sessions at their school in year one of the study and 10 sessions in the second year. At the sessions, children met in small groups with a psychologist for 45-60 minutes. Parents whose children had been assigned to the intervention condition attended 9 group sessions in the first year and 6 sessions in the second year. There were multiple options for parents who had missed a session to attend make-up sessions, but parent attendance was modest for both treatment and control cases. At these sessions, parents met with researchers for an hour where they heard a didactic presentation. The second hour of each session consisted of a group discussion led by graduate and undergraduate students. Teachers in school districts received a series of 1 two-hour and 5 forty-five minute training sessions which contained information about children with disruptive behavior and methods for effective teaching and monitoring. In the control condition, parents and teachers attended instructive sessions; but children received no intervention.

Results: Children were assessed at baseline, after their first year in the program, before the second year of the program, and after the second year of the program. At baseline, both groups were equal on almost all measures except Socio-Economic Status (SES) and the number of caregivers in the home. At the 3 follow-up periods, the program had no impact on teacher-rated internalizing and externalizing behavior, school problems, or adaptive skills. The program also had no impact on parent- and child- rated measures of child behavior, adjustment, or on a parent-rated measure of problem solving. The researchers conclude that the program had no observable impact on any outcomes measured throughout the study but suggest that this may be due to the limited services offered to the control group. Although control group members were not permitted to take part in the full intervention, they may have received benefits similar to those in the intervention group. Also, the researchers note that there was a general increase over time in child-rated behavior suggesting that disruptive children may be improving as they develop, thus masking treatment effects. Finally, parents were not required to attend training sessions and in year 2 of the study, up to half of parents did not attend treatment. Data from these families were included in the analyses even though they did not receive the full treatment.

Note: Analyses were designed to adjust for the effect of clustering within schools.

SOURCES FOR MORE INFORMATION

References

Program categorized in this guide according to the following:

Evaluated participant ages: grades 1-4 / Program age ranges in the Guide: middle childhood

Program components: parent or family component; school-based

Measured outcomes: education and cognitive development; social and emotional health and development; behavioral problems

Program information last updated 11/28/07