THE CHILDREN'S HOSPITAL OF PHILADELPHIA

Award purpose

THIS STUDY WILL EVALUATE A VIRTUAL REALITY ENHANCED VERSION OF AN EVIDENCE-BASED AGGRESSION AND BULLYING PREVENTION PROGRAM, PRAISE (PREVENTING AGGRESSION IN SCHOOLS EVERYDAY) FOR 3RD-5TH GRADERS AND THEIR TEACHERS. PRAISE WAS DESIGNED USING COMMUNITY-BASED PARTICIPATORY RESEARCH IN SCHOOLS SITUATED IN URBAN, UNDER-RESOURCED COMMUNITIES AND INCLUDES SCHOOL-WIDE PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT AND TEACHER-LED UNIVERSAL CLASSROOM PROGRAMMING. THE PURPOSE OF THIS PROPOSAL IS TO CONDUCT A CLUSTER-RANDOMIZED CONTROL TRIAL TO RIGOROUSLY EXAMINE THE IMPACT OF COMBINING VIRTUAL REALITY AT MULTIPLE TIERS TO ENHANCE PRAISE (PRAISE-VR) AS COMPARED TO PRAISE WITHOUT VIRTUAL REALITY. THE PROPOSED USE OF VIRTUAL REALITY IS AN EXTENSION OF OUR PREVIOUS WORK DEVELOPING AND TESTING THE BULLYING CLASSROOM CHECK-UP WITH FUNDING FROM NIJ AND NICHD. ACTIVITIES INCLUDE RECRUITING 14 SCHOOLS ACROSS FOUR YEARS AND RANDOMIZING 3RD-5TH GRADE CLASSROOMS WITHIN EACH SCHOOL TO RECEIVE PRAISE ONLY (COMPARISON) OR PRAISE-VR, WHICH INTEGRATES VIRTUAL REALITY AS A (1) TRAINING AND FIDELITY OPTIMIZATION TOOL FOR TEACHERS TO ADDRESS THEIR REPORTED LOW LEVELS OF KNOWLEDGE AND EFFICACY TO PROMOTE SOCIAL-EMOTIONAL SKILLS IN STUDENTS AND IMPLEMENTATION CHALLENGES, AND (2) A NEW TIER 2 INTERVENTION TARGETING HIGH-RISK AGGRESSIVE YOUTH WITH COACH-GUIDED PRACTICE OF LEARNED SKILLS. EXPECTED OUTCOMES FOR STUDENTS RECEIVING PRAISE-VR AS COMPARED TO PRAISE ALONE INCLUDE REDUCED AGGRESSION AND BULLYING AND IMPROVED POSITIVE APPROACHES FOR SOCIAL INFORMATION PROCESSING, ACADEMIC ENGAGEMENT, EMPATHY, POSITIVE BYSTANDER BEHAVIOR, AND TEACHER-STUDENT RELATIONSHIPS, AS WELL AS INCREASED EFFICACY FOR NON-VIOLENCE AND DECREASED HOSTILE ATTRIBUTIONS AND PROACTIVE AND REACTIVE AGGRESSION FOR HIGH-RISK STUDENTS. EXPECTED OUTCOMES FOR TEACHERS IN THE PRAISE-VR CONDITION INCLUDE IMPROVED IMPLEMENTATION EFFICACY AND FIDELITY, EFFICACY TO PROMOTE STUDENTS' SOCIAL-EMOTIONAL SKILLS, AND TEACHER-STUDENT RELATIONSHIPS. BROADER OUTCOMES OF PRAISE-VR INCLUDE DECREASED PREVALENCE OF SCHOOL-LEVEL AGGRESSION, BULLYING, SUSPENSIONS, AND OFFICE REFERRALS, AS WELL AS IMPROVED CLASS CLIMATE AND FEELINGS OF SCHOOL SAFETY. THIS PROJECT WILL SERVE UNDER-RESOURCED ELEMENTARY SCHOOLS IN A LARGE URBAN PUBLIC SCHOOL DISTRICT. INTENDED BENEFICIARIES ARE 3RD-5TH GRADE STUDENTS FROM PREDOMINANTLY MINORITIZED BACKGROUNDS AND THEIR TEACHERS, WHO WILL RECEIVE PRAISE OR PRAISE-VR TRAINING, COACHING, AND PROGRAMMING TO PREVENT AND REDUCE AGGRESSION AND BULLYING AND IMPROVE SCHOOL SAFETY.