Core Components

The Second Step Early Learning Programme is a universal classroom-based prevention programme for children ages 4-5 years across the full range of socio-economic levels that promotes the development of children’s social-emotional competence and self-regulation skills through direct instruction, activities, and games.  The programme is designed to be delivered in short bursts of 5-7 minutes daily by a certified lead teacher and assistant teachers meeting the required adult: child ratio as per local mandates.

There are four core components of this programme which are Weekly Themes, Brain Builders, Using Skills Every Day and Families. 

The Weekly Themes are required to be taught in order as the skills build upon one another, the five unit topics include (1) Skills for Learning (2) Empathy (3) Emotion Management (4) Friendship Skills & Problem Solving and, (5) Transitioning to Kindergarten.

The Brain Builders are active games that support the development of children’s executive function skills (attention, working memory, inhibitory control).  There are 12 Brain Builder games for teachers to use frequently throughout the day and repeatedly over time.  Each game has levels of difficulty so that the teacher can increase the challenge as children master the game. 

Second Step promotes using these skills every day and strongly recommends extending the skills outside the weekly theme activities to benefit the children and contribute to a positive classroom climate.

The programme has a home element for families which is strongly recommended.  This includes a parent letter and home link materials to increase children’s opportunities to learn, provide parents with knowledge of what their children are learning, and help parents to use the same social-emotional vocabulary at home as children are learning at school. 

An optional feature is the Curriculum Connect activities which provide suggestions for how to extend and integrate the social-emotional skills into the rest of the preschool curriculum (literacy, math, science etc.). The programme can also be bolstered by the Child Protection Unit which is an additional unit that uses and builds on the skills taught in the core programme to help protect children and promote resilience. The activities are developmentally appropriate for preschool aged children.

The Second Step Early Learning Programme is clearly operationalised and includes a well-structured, comprehensive practitioner manual and kit.  The kit comprises hands-on and online resources: hands-on resources include (1) weekly theme cards (2) teaching materials notebook (3) join-in and sing CD (4) classroom posters (5) puppets (boy and girl) (6) listening rules cards (7) feelings cards (8) take-home activities and family letters.  The online resources include (1) planning, teaching and assessment tools (2) staff-training toolkit and (3) streaming lesson media including photos and songs.  

Fidelity

In order to effectively replicate the programme, the Second Step Early Learning Programme requires all elements of the core programme to be implemented in the order prescribed. This is supported by (1) standardised materials including a practitioner’s manual and kit (2) standardised training (3) prescribed units including weekly session protocols and cards (4) evaluation using a range of standardised manualised and online tools including an Evaluation Guide and observation tools including checklists, observation forms and reflection logs for the Weekly Themes activities and (5) agency organisational supports including a Leadership guide and implementation survey.

Modifiable Components 

All core elements of the programme are strongly recommended for implementation, however the programme activities and skills can be flexibly integrated into the preschool day dependent upon the teacher’s schedule. In addition, the teacher can substitute picture books already in the classroom for the picture books suggested in the programme. 

This universal programme has been modified by educators in other countries to make it more culturally relevant. Typical modifications include making changes to the stories and scenarios that are included in the programme with the goal of making them relatable to the experiences that children have in their cultures.    

In addition, the programme has been used successfully with populations of children beyond that of typically developing four and five-year-olds:

• In multi-age classrooms in the US that have three and four-year-olds together.
• In US classrooms that include children with special needs.

The programme has also been used with special populations including children who have suffered abuse and used in conjunction with other services and programmes for children who have internalising or externalising behaviours and need additional support.  In addition, the programme has also been used in family childcare settings, where the adults who operates the childcare have been trained by a local agency and are not considered certified teachers.

The Early Learning curriculum has been translated to Spanish and has also been culturally adapted and translated for use in other countries including Brazil, Denmark and China.

Support for Organisation / Practice

The suite of Second Step programmes were developed by the Committee for Children based in Seattle, Washington. 

Implementation Support

Support is available via a Client Success and Support department and Education Partnership Managers (contactable via phone or email) to address issues with implementation, technology and provide access to online resources.  The Second Step website contains a broad range of information and resources on programme implementation for administrators including an Implementation Plan Template & Survey, Building a Support Network, Evaluation Guide, Implementation Roles Checklist, Monitoring Programme Implement Checklist and a Leadership Guide included in every kit.  Data management support is not available.

Licence Requirements

There is no licensing requirement to deliver the Second Step Early Learning Programme.  However, use of all Second Step materials is subject to the terms of the Second Step Kit License Agreement. 

Start-up Costs

Start-up costs include a one-time purchase of a programme kit at $459 per classroom.  Purchase of the kit provides lifetime access to all online implementation and training resources and includes email and phone support.

Building Staff Competency

Qualifications Required

The Committee for Children recommend that Group Leaders are certified early childhood or preschool teachers.  However, adults running family-owned childcare centres have been successfully trained to deliver the programme.

Training Requirements

All staff training resources are available online and lifetime access is included with the purchase of a kit. Staff training includes the following (1) An initial kick-off meeting, duration three hours, that is supported by a Power Point presentation with a fully scripted facilitation guide. There is also a version of the kick-off meeting that can be done individually online. This training introduces the whole programme, and then specifically focuses on the Brain Builder games and the first unit of weekly themes (Skills for Learning). Practice of programme components is included (2) Three check-in meetings, timed for teachers to reflect on the successes and challenges of the unit they have just completed and to prepare them to implement the next unit (3) One wrap-up meeting, timed for teachers to reflect on their implementation of the whole programme and plan how to build on their successes and learn from their challenges for the following year.  Training costs are included in the purchase of the kit. 

It is also recommended that all adults working with children in the classroom attend the training including assistant teachers.

Supervision Requirements

There are no supervision or coaching requirements for this programme.

Theory of Change 

The Second Step Early Learning Programme goals are to improve children’s social-emotional competence and self-regulation. This is achieved via four intervention components with direct instruction and generalisation of specific social-emotional skills.  The skills include executive function (skills for learning), empathy, emotion management, problem-solving and friendship skills. The long-term outcomes are increased school-readiness, social and academic success.

Values

This programme exemplifies the Committee for Children’s values which focus on promoting children’s safety and well-being through social and emotional development; creating research-based curricula that are supported by evidence;  creating programmes that are easy to use for teachers and engaging for children; engaging parents in understanding the programme’s content and reinforcing it at home.

• Does promoting children’s safety and well-being through social and emotional development for teachers, parents and children align with the key values of your service/organisation?

Priorities

The Second Step Early Learning Programme’s priorities are to increase children’s social and emotional skills and to increase their kindergarten (first year of elementary school in the US) readiness; decrease the achievement gap that is already in place when children enter Kindergarten; emphasising executive function skills which support the development of children’s social and academic (literacy, maths) skills.

Working with teachers of young children aged 4-5 years in a prevention approach to help to increase children’s social and emotional skills and to increase their school readiness:

• Is this a current priority for your organisation?
• Is helping teachers and parents understand children’s behaviour a priority for your organisation?

Existing Initiatives 

• Does your service already provide prevention programmes aiming to improve child development and mental health outcomes?
• Does your area have practitioners trained in delivering the Second Step Early Learning Programme?
• Do you have links with CAMHS, Adult Mental Health Services and Child Protection Services to refer onto if required?

Workforce

To deliver the Second Step Early Learning Programme requires a certified lead teacher, and assistant teachers to meet the required adult: child ratio as per local mandates. 

• Do you have enough qualified practitioners available to commit to undertake training?
• Do you have enough qualified practitioners available to commit to delivering the full extent of this programme?

Technology Support

To access all the online components of the Second Step Early Learning Programme (staff training, implementation / teaching resources, and family materials) requires a device with internet access. The child-facing curriculum is a print product and requires no technology.

• Do you have access to adequate technology to support practitioners to effectively deliver the technological components of the programme?

Administrative Support

A programme director or administrator and/or training facilitator are required to present the training, to facilitate the check-in and wrap-up meetings that are part of the on-going training, to monitor fidelity of implementation, and provide general support such as purchasing appropriate picture books to use with the programme.

• Do you have enough administrative capacity and systems to meet these administrative needs?

Financial Support

To deliver the Second Step Early Learning Programme requires a one-time purchase of a kit which includes training at $459 per classroom.  

• Do you have the finances to purchase the programme kit(s) which includes the training?

Comparable Population 

The Second Step Early Learning Programme is designed as a universal programme for all pre-school children aged 4-5 years across the full range of socio-economic levels. 

Evidence of its effectiveness includes children aged 4-5 years from low-income and at-risk families. 

• Is this comparable to the population you serve?
• Does your organisation have existing contacts with this population?
• Are you likely to receive enough referrals/demand for eligible children to populate a recurring programme of Second Step Early Learning?

Desired Outcome

The Second Step Early Learning Programme is a classroom based preventative programme designed to increase preschool children’s social and emotional skills especially executive function and decrease gaps in school readiness and increased social and academic success.

Research has identified that the Second Step Early Learning Programme improved children’s social-emotional competence, including executive function and self-regulation.

• Do you have other existing initiatives that would be supportive of addressing this need and achieving these outcomes?