Too Good for Violence

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Designated
SELect
Indicates that a program demonstrates evidence of effectiveness at improving student outcomes at the highest level, supports students’ social and emotional growth through all five competencies, and offers multi-year programming. For a full list of SELect student outcomes see SELect designation.
Program description

Too Good for Violence, offered by the Mendez Foundation, provides a lesson-based approach to SEL. It includes programming for grades K-8 and demonstrates evidence of effectiveness in grade 3. Translated materials for Too Good for Violence are available in Spanish.

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      • SEL lessons
      • Community partnerships
      • Activities and Resources for Home
    • Onsite in-person training
    • Virtual training
    • Offsite training
    • Train the trainer model
    • Administrator support
    • Coaching
    • Technical assistance
    • Professional Learning Communities (PLCs)
    • Online resource library
    • Self-report tools for monitoring implementation
    • Observational tools
    • Tools for measuring student success

Evidence of effectiveness

Results from a randomized control trial (RCT) published in 2005 supported the effectiveness of Too Good for Violence for elementary school students. This evaluation included 999 students in ten schools who were in grade 3 (White = 44%, Latinx = 36%, Black = 13%; students eligible for free or reduced price lunch = 54%) in an urban area in the Southeast. This evaluation found that students who participated in the program demonstrated increased prosocial behavior (teacher-reported) when compared to students in the comparison group (outcomes reported approximately seven weeks after baseline while controlling for outcome pretest). In addition, students who participated in the program also self-reported increased social and emotional competencies, and increased personal and social skills as reported by teachers. At follow-up (20 weeks after post-test, controlling for previous scores on outcome measures), students who participated in the program were more likely to have engaged in prosocial behavior (teacher-reported), more likely to have self-reported increased social and emotional competencies, and increased personal and social skills as reported by teachers.

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  • Evidence shown in grades
    3
    School characteristics
      • Urban
      • Southeast
    Student characteristics
    • Black / African American
    • Hispanic / Latinx
    • White
    • Low income
    Percentage Low Income
    • Percentage of students eligible for free or reduced price lunch: 54%
    Study design type
    • RCT
    Greater than 350 students included in study design type
    • Yes
    Multiple school districts included at study design type
    • Yes
    • Improved academic performance
    • Reduced emotional distress
    • Improved identity development and agency
    • Reduced problem behaviors
    • Improved school climate
    • Improved school connectedness
    • Improved social behaviors
    • Improved teaching practices
    • Improved other SEL skills and attitudes

How does Too Good for Violence support SEL implementation across multiple settings?

“TGFV promotes SEL in the classroom by fostering pro-social norms and building community through collaborative activities. Each lesson is accompanied by a “Home Workout” activity to introduce and reinforce lesson objectives at home with families. The curriculum also includes a letter to parents, inviting them to participate in their child's SEL journey. ”

Get info and pricing on the provider’s website

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References

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