Overview
"R-CITY" refers to the Collaborative Intervention with Teachers and Youth to practice and apply the 4 "Rs" of equity literacy skills in the classroom - Recognizing, Responding, Restoring Relationships, and Resilience. R-CITY is a collaborative teacher- and youth-focused prevention intervention that offers equity literacy lessons to accompany the Second Step social and emotional learning (SEL) curriculum. The lessons are designed to build teachers' and students' "equity stamina" and promote SEL skills to create safe and positive learning environments for all.
The R-CITY Project uses a school-level randomized controlled trial (RCT) design to test the integration of the Second Step universal classroom-based evidence-based SEL program that Anne Arundel County Public Schools (AACPS) had been scaling up district wide with the R-CITY equity lessons. The purpose of the RCT is to determine the "value-added" of the SEL + Equity Condition, compared to the SEL curriculum alone (SEL Only) in AACPS elementary and middle schools. Students in both conditions get access the Second Step SEL content, there is no true control condition, but rather an active comparison condition.
Description
The study aims to test the R-CITY intervention in 30 elementary and middle schools in AACPS in Maryland. The investigator team plans to enroll the schools across 3 cohorts. The first cohort of schools included 8 elementary schools (2021-2022). Seven to 8 elementary and middle schools are in the process of being recruited for cohort 2 (2022-2023). The third and final cohort will be recruited in fall 2023.
Eligibility
Inclusion Criteria:
- General education teachers of core subjects (Mathematics, Science, Social Studies, English/Language Arts).