SSDP INTERVENTIONS
The Seattle Social Development Program (SSDP) is a three-part intervention for teachers, students and parents in grades 1 to 6. It has been tested in elementary schools serving children from high crime urban areas. The intervention trains teachers in proactive classroom management, interactive teaching and cooperative learning. SSDP also offers training to parents in child behavior management, academic support, and skills to reduce risks for drug use. It provides training to children designed to affect interpersonal problem solving and refusal skills. These interventions are designed to reduce risks and increase protection at the individual, peer, family and school levels. The package of interventions is guided theoretically by the Social Development Model (Hawkins & Weis, 1985, Catalano & Hawkins, 1996).
What were the findings?
Since the program's inception in 1981, seven evaluation studies of the interventions have been conducted. They found direct effects of the intervention on childhood and adolescent problem behaviors, such as aggression, violence, drug use, delinquency, and school misbehavior in addition to risk and protective factors. An independent cost-benefit analysis estimated that projected reductions in violent crimes resulting from the Seattle Social Development Intervention would produce a positive $3,268 return per participant in reduced taxpayer costs and costs to crime victims.
Where can you get the intervention?
The SSDP intervention has been updated, and is now being implemented under the name "Raising Healthy Children" (RHC). The RHC intervention seeks to train teachers how to improve classroom and family environments, build child skills, and provide healthy norms. It is not an add-on to the teacher's (or parent's) work. It seeks to help them better do the work of teaching and parenting.
We are currently testing the implementation of our intervention in a community in
Pennsylvania
, please click here for more details.
To clarify, the intervention was originally called SSDP. A few years ago, the publishing company Chaning Bete sought to distribute the intervention, at that point they renamed it SOAR (Skills, Opportunities and Recognition), but they are no longer marketing it. Presently, SDRG is preparing the intervention for distribution, and we are calling the new version Raising Healthy Children. So, generally, in terms of the intervention: SSDP = SOAR = RHC.
You'll find each SSDP and SOAR on different model program websites, with varying degrees of correctness and completeness:
http://www.colorado.edu/cspv/blueprints/promisingprograms/BPP17.html
http://www.findyouthinfo.gov/ProgramDetails.aspx?pid=421
http://www.dsgonline.com/mpg2.5//TitleV_MPG_Table_Ind_Rec.asp?id=421
SSDP drew on the classroom management techniques developed and disseminated by Carol Cummings:
Cummings, Carol (1996) Managing to Teach, Edmonds, WA : Teaching-Incorporated.
