Too Good for Violence (TGFV)

 

OVERVIEW

Too Good for Violence (TGFV) is an interactive classroom intervention program for grades K-12 that employs cooperative learning, role playing, and skill building to reduce violent, anti-social behavior and increase social competency and healthy development.  Results of a random assignment evaluation among third-graders reported more positive perceptions of their emotional competency and social and resistance skills along with more effective communication skills for TGFV participants than those in a control group.  Positive impacts were sustained at a 20-week follow-up.  A statistically significant difference was not found between treatment and control groups for teacher reports of inappropriate behaviors following the study. A second evaluation found positive impacts on emotional competency skills, social and conflict resolution skills, communication skills, and prosocial behaviors of participants in the TGFV program. The program was not found to reduce antisocial behavior or increase positive perceptions of their interactions with others.

 

DESCRIPTION OF PROGRAM

 

Target population: K-12 students

 

TGFV is a school-based program for K-12 students designed to decrease violent and anti-social/aggressive behavior while increasing social and emotional competence.  To accomplish this, the TGFV curricula focus on developing (a) conflict resolution skills, (b) anger management skills, (c) respect for self and others, and (d) effective communication skills.

 

TGFV consists of seven 30- to 60-minute lessons per grade for k-5, nine 30- to 45-minute lessons for grades 6 to 8, and fourteen 60-minute lessons for grades 9 to 12.  Lessons focused on information sharing and skill development.  Students are taught the negative consequences of violence and norms of violence among youth.  They also develop pro-social, communication, conflict resolution, social and conflict resolution skills through role-playing and observation. 

 

Implementation costs range from $1,000 to $5,000 depending on training needs and the size of school district or school.

 

 

EVALUATION(S) OF PROGRAM

 

Hall, B.W., & Bacon, T.P. (3005). Building a foundation against violence: Impact of a school-based prevention program on elementary students. Journal of School Violence, 4, 63-83.

 

Evaluated population: From a large school district in Florida, 999 third grade students and 46 teachers participated in the study.  Students were 44% white, 12.5% African American, 36% Hispanic, 5% multiracial, 2% Asian, and 0.5% American Indian.  Seventeen percent were rated as having limited English proficiency, and 54% of the students received free or reduced lunches.

 

Approach:  Schools were stratified according to school location (urban, suburban, rural) and school ratings, which was based on academic performance, learning environment, and student characteristics.  Within each of the five strata identified, schools were matched and then randomly assigned to the program or control condition.  Student outcomes were measured using the Teacher Checklist of Students Behavior, which solicited information about students’ social adaptability from teachers for each of their students.  The Student Protective Factor Survey Questionnaire was administered to students to determine the child’s resiliency to social challenges.  These measures were completed as a pretest, post-test, and 20-week follow-up.  

 

Results: Compared with those in the control group, students who participated in the TGFV intervention reported significantly more positive perceptions of their emotional competency skills and more social skills and more frequent engagement in prosocial behaviors at the post-test and at a 20-week follow-up.  These results were confirmed by teacher reports. 

 

 

Bacon, T. (2003). Technical report: The effects of the Too Good for Violence prevention program on student behavior and protective factors. Tampa, FL: C.E. Mendez Foundation, Inc.

 

Evaluated population: Nine hundred and ninety-nine third grade students from ten randomly selected elementary schools in a large Florida school district served as the sample. The sample was 48 percent female, 44 percent white, 12.5 percent African American, 36 percent Hispanic, 5 percent multiracial, 2 percent Asian, and 0.5 percent American Indian. Fifty-four percent of the students received free or reduced price lunch, 20 percent received exceptional education services, and 17 percent had limited English language proficiency.

 

Approach: Schools were matched according to location (urban, suburban, rural), academic performance, learning environment, and student characteristics. Within each pair, one school was randomly assigned to the treatment condition and the other to the control condition. Data were collected at pre-test, post-test, and 20-week follow-up in the form of teacher checklists on students’ social skills, prosocial behaviors, and inappropriate social behaviors and student surveys on emotional competency skills, social and conflict resolution skills, communication skills, and perceptions of interactions with others. The attrition rate for teacher checklists was 9 percent.

 

Results: Student surveys demonstrated that students in the schools that were assigned to the treatment condition had significantly higher emotional competency skills, social and conflict resolution skills, and communication skills compared with students at the control schools at post-test and follow-up. However, there were no differences in interactions with others. Teacher checklists confirmed that students at the treatment schools had significantly higher social skills, and also found that they engaged in more prosocial behaviors at post-test and follow-up compared with students at the control schools. However, there was no difference between treatment and control students in inappropriate social behaviors.

 

SOURCES FOR MORE INFORMATION

 

Website: http://www.mendezfoundation.org/too-good/Too-Good-for-Violence-K-8.php

 

References

 

Bacon, T. (2003). Technical report: The effects of the Too Good for Violence prevention program on student behavior and protective factors. Tampa, FL: C.E. Mendez Foundation, Inc.

 

Hall, B.W., & Bacon, T.P. (3005). Building a foundation against violence: Impact of a school-based prevention program on elementary students. Journal of School Violence, 4, 63-83.

 

 

KEYWORDS: Middle Childhood (6-11), Adolescence (12-17), School-based, Children (3-11), Adolescents (12-17), Tobacco Use, Conflict Resolution Skills, Self Esteem, Aggression/Bullying, Manual

 

Program information last updated 11/9/2010.

 

 

 

 

		© Child Trends 2004