Open AccessAt what cost? Examining the cost effectiveness of a universal social–emotional learning program.
Author(s) -
Leah J. Hunter,
James C. DiPerna,
Susan Crandall Hart,
D. Max Crowley
Publication year - 2018
Publication title -
school psychology quarterly
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
eISSN - 1939-1560
pISSN - 1045-3830
DOI - 10.1037/spq0000232
Subject(s) - psycinfo , cost effectiveness , psychology , social emotional learning , intervention (counseling) , program evaluation , applied psychology , computer science , medical education , medline , developmental psychology , risk analysis (engineering) , medicine , public administration , psychiatry , political science , law
Although implementation of universal social-emotional learning programs is becoming more common in schools, few studies have examined the cost-effectiveness of such programs. As such, the purpose of this article is two fold. First, we provide an overview of cost-effectiveness methods for school-based programs, and second, we share results of a cost-effectiveness analysis (CEA) of a universal social-emotional learning (SEL) program, the Social Skills Improvement System-Classwide Intervention Program (SSIS-CIP; Elliott & Gresham, 2007). Specifically, we compared the cost-effectiveness of SSIS-CIP implementation across first- and second-grade classrooms, and results indicated that second grade is the more cost-effective option for implementing the SSIS-CIP. Several considerations are discussed regarding cost-effectiveness analysis of universal SEL programs as well as the importance of using CEA results to inform programming decisions. (PsycINFO Database Record