Marcia Stern, PsyD

“Competent Kids is the thread that ties the school together.”
–Elementary School Principal

What is Competent Kids, Caring Classrooms (CKCC)?

Competent Kids, Caring Classrooms is a school-wide, teacher-led intervention that fosters the social-emotional development and academic advancement of elementary school students. CKCC is user-friendly, developmentally-appropriate, and relevant to daily life in the classroom and beyond. CKCC is predicated on the understanding that, in order to succeed in school and in life, in addition to the traditional “three R’s” (Reading, ‘Riting, ‘Rithmetic), children need five more “R’s:”

• Respect of self and others
• Reflective abilities
• Regulation of the self
• Relationships with teachers, peers, and parents
• Responsibility-taking

CKCC builds the following academic and social skills:

• Paying attention
• Problem solving
• Taking personal responsibility
• Developing coping skills
• Regulating emotions
• Relating to others
• Building character
• Preventing bullying
• Resolving conflicts
• Appreciating uniqueness

• Grade-specific manuals for kindergarten through fifth grade including connections to curriculum and New York state standards
• Weekly, creative, multi-sensory lessons delivered by the classroom teacher
• School-wide, unifying social-emotional themes
• Puppets representing particular learning styles for the grades K-3
• Study skills and test-taking strategies for grades 4-5
• Common tools and language for the entire school community (administrators, teachers, auxiliary staff, parents, and students)
• A family-school component consisting of take-home activities, parent workshops, and family-school activities

• Provides schools with multi-faceted, ongoing professional development
• Offers on-site, frequent consultation services to hand-tailor the program
• Assists staff in setting up infrastructure for implementation and sustainability
• Develops a shared language within the entire school community
• Promotes a positive and encouraging learning environment
• Engages students with developmentally-appropriate and creative tools
• Facilitates generalization of skills throughout the school and across the day.

In controlled studies, research has shown:

• Students can be taught skills which enable them to take responsibility for their own learning. (e.g. Levine, M.D. (2002). A Mind at a time. NY: Simon & Schuster.)
• Students who take responsibility for their own learning are more likely to attend school and be motivated to achieve. (e.g. Bandura, A. (1997). Self-efficacy: The exercise of control. NY: W.H. Freeman.)
• Motivation and engagement insure school success. (e.g. DiPerna, J.C. (2002). Promoting academic enablers to improve student achievement: An introduction to the mini-series. School Psychology Review, 31 (3), 293-297.)
• Attendance improves significantly for students in social-emotional learning programs. (e.g. Zins, J. E., Weissberg, R. P., Wang, M. C., & Walberg. H. J. (Eds.) (2004). Building academic success on social and emotional learning: What does the research say? New York: Teachers College Press.)
• Problem–solving and coping skills contribute to school performance. (e.g. Elias, M.J., Clabby, J.F. (1992). Building Social Problem-Solving Skills: Guidelines from a School-Based Program). Michigan: Jossey-Bass.)

In controlled studies, research has shown:

• Social-emotional learning programs help to create a school culture of caring, kindness, and hope. (e.g. CASEL: Collaborative for Academic, Social and Emotional Learning (2003). www.casel.org.)
• Students are more engaged in learning when they feel connected to their teacher and their classroom environment. (e.g. Elias, M.J., Beier, JJ, & Gara, M.A. (1989). Children’s responses to interpersonal obstacles as a predictor of social competence. Journal of Youth and Adolescence, 18(5), 451-465.)
• Children do better in school when parents are actively involved in their education, and when home and school work together. (e.g. Christenson, S.L. & Sheridan, S.M. (2001). School and families: Creating essential connections for learning. New York: The Guilford Press.)

• A Competent Kids fair: each classroom creates a booth about what they have learned
• Competent Kids assembly programs: ‘Kindness Counts’, ‘No Shame, No Blame’, and ‘Multicultural Holidays’ with skits, poems, songs, and puppet shows
• Child-made posters and banners displayed throughout the school illustrating key CKCC concepts
• A ‘Family of the Week’ featuring photographs and stories about family members to celebrate uniqueness and diversity
• A school-wide Competent Kids newsletter, authored by children and distributed to the entire school community

To learn more about the NYU evaluated Competent Kids Caring Classrooms program, please contact:

Dr. Marcia Stern
212-879-4900, ext 313
mstern@ackerman.org