This article reports results of a 4-year study that developed and initially evaluated a combined home and school intervention approach to preventing school antisocial behavior.
The First Step to Success program targets at-risk kindergartners who show early signs of an antisocial pattern of behavior (e.g., aggression, oppositional-defiant behavior, severe tantrums, and victimization of others). First Step to Success consists of three interconnected modules: (a) proactive, universal screening of all kindergartners; (b) school intervention involving the teacher, peers, and the target child; and (c) parent/caregiver training and involvement to support the child's school adjustment. The major goal of the program is to divert at-risk kindergartners from an antisocial path in their subsequent school careers. Two cohorts of at-risk kindergartners composed of 24 and 22 students, were identified and exposed to the First Step to Success program during the 1993–1994 and 1994–1995 school years. A randomized, experimental, wait-list control-group design was used to evaluate intervention effects. Cohort 1 and 2 subjects were followed up through grades 2 and 1, respectively, with differing teachers and peer groups. Results indicated a measurable intervention effect for both cohorts and persistence of gains into the primary grades. (publisher abstract modified)