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Lesson One is dedicated to teaching young
children, pre-kindergarten through grade five, the necessary skills to
succeed in life. Their aim is to help all children thrive in today’s
difficult society and meet the challenges of tomorrow. In winter/spring
2001, Goodman Research Group, Inc. (GRG) provided consultation to Lesson
One as they designed and carried out a study of their program, an elementary
school curriculum and training program. The goal of the program is to
prevent violence and risk-taking behaviors by teaching children life skills
(e.g., such as self-control, respect and resiliency) and crucial refusal
skills. Lesson One provides on-site hands-on training to teachers and
students on how to incorporate life skills learning into their classrooms
and school culture. The skills are introduced to and reinforced
for the teachers and children through activities, literature, stories,
workbooks, and discussions. In the 25 years it has been in existence,
Lesson One has introduced their program to approximately 250 schools around
the country.
Previous research on Lesson One includes a 1992 study by Robert T. Brennan,
Ed.D.* and two 1997 studies, one by Goodman Research Group, Inc.** and
another by the Harvard School of Public Health.*** In his pre and post
study, Brennan found that students’ attitudes changed to be more
in line with Lesson One’s goals after receiving the program. In addition,
teachers reported an improvement in the children’s behavior after
program participation. Teachers also reported that they learned new behaviors
from their Lesson One training and implemented the techniques in their
classrooms.
GRG’s pre and post study examined change in one school and found
that teachers gave students higher ratings on the skills the program aims
to teach after they had completed the training. The teachers also reported
that the Lesson One concepts and vocabulary became part of the school’s
culture and were being used in the children’s homes. The Harvard
study also found that Lesson One had a positive impact on students’
self-assessments and on teacher assessments of student behavior and school
climate. All three studies had constraints (e.g., small sample, single
setting, lack of a comparison group) that limit the extent to which their
results can be generalized.
[GRG’s most recent evaluation] describes the research methods and
results of [a] 2001 study. This study had stronger sampling features and
was conducted using a national sample rather than Massachusetts schools
alone. The major finding of this study was that, overall, the students
who were exposed to the Lesson One program received significantly higher
life skills ratings from their teachers after the program than did students
in the comparison group. This finding supports Lesson One’s
claim that it successfully teaches students life skills.
—Goodman Research Group, The Lesson One Program, Results
of a Controlled Pre and Post Study, February 2002
* “The present evaluation of the program demonstrates that it makes
significant improvements both in areas of student attitudes and behaviors
and in teacher behavior. Children at all grade levels from pre-kindergarten
through the third grade demonstrated quite substantial gains in the areas
of self-esteem/self-concept, tolerance of attitude toward diversity, attitude
toward learning, getting along with others/conflict resolution, self-control/responsibility,
and learning skills/problem solving.”
—Robert T. Brennan, Ed.D, Harvard Graduate School
of Education
** “In conclusion, the results of the evaluation indicate that the
program developed by the Lesson One Foundation was successful in meeting
its goals. The results suggest that students made progress over the school
year in internalizing the basic skills advocated by the program and that
the teachers adopted and continued to use the program as a foundation
for positive classroom climate.”
—Goodman Research Group
*** “The evaluation... concludes that the program had a positive
impact on the self-assessment by students and overall teacher impressions
of students and school climate.”
—Deborah Prothrow-Stith, MD, Harvard School of Public
Health
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