The R-CITY Project: A Collaborative Intervention With Teachers and Youth

Not Applicable

Recruiting

• Conditions: Violence
• Interventions: Behavioral: SEL Only; Behavioral: SEL + Equity

• Registration Number: NCT05585918
• Lead Sponsor: University of Virginia

Brief Summary

"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.

Detailed 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.

Study Timeline

• Study Start: 2021-09-15
• Study First Submitted: 2022-10-07
• Study First Submitted QC: 2022-10-14
• Study First Posted: 2022-10-19
• Status Verified: 2023-12
• Last Update Submitted: 2023-12-14
• Last Update Posted: 2023-12-18
• Primary Completion: 2025-07
• Study Completion: 2025-07

Recruitment & Eligibility

• Status: RECRUITING
• Sex: All
• Target Recruitment: 320

Inclusion Criteria

• General education teachers of core subjects (Mathematics, Science, Social Studies, English/Language Arts).

Exclusion Criteria

Not provided

Study & Design

• Study Type: INTERVENTIONAL
• Study Design: PARALLEL

Arm && Interventions

Group	Intervention	Description
SEL Only	SEL Only	SEL Only Condition supports include: * School wide support for implementation of Second Step curriculum (e.g., technical assistance professional development, facilitated professional learning communities) * Support to Positive Behavioral Intervention and Supports (PBIS) and Multi Tiered System of Supports (MTSS) and equity teams with alignment of initiatives * Individualized technical assistance with Second Step SEL implementation
SEL + Equity	SEL + Equity	SEL + Equity (Second Step + Equity) supports include supports from the SEL Only condition plus: * Training and implementation support for teachers to deliver 6 equity literacy lessons tailored to each grade level (4th and 5th for elementary schools; 6th - 8th for middle schools) and aligned with Second Step core content * Five 45-minute school-wide equity focused Professional Development (PD) sessions to complement AACPS Equity PD * Individualized teacher coaching to support implementing equity practices and equity-focused classroom lessons

Primary Outcome Measures

Name	Time	Method
ASSIST Classroom Observations	Post-intervention, within one month following the completion of the intervention.	The ASSIST is a direct observational measure that assesses the classroom interactions between students and teachers. Observation cycles are 15 minutes and scales include tallied counts of teacher and student behaviors, as well as global ratings of interactions based on a Likert-style scale.

Secondary Outcome Measures

Name	Time	Method
Suspensions	Post-intervention, within one month following the completion of the intervention.	School-level student suspensions (publicly reported and accessible).
R-CITY Teacher Self-Report Survey	Post-intervention, within one month following the completion of the intervention.	This survey assesses teachers' cultural competence and self-efficacy. Each item on this scale was scored on a 6-point Likert-type scale where 1 is strongly disagree and 6 is strongly agree.

Trial Locations

Locations (1)

Shepard Pratt Health System; 🇺🇸 Towson, Maryland, United States