Nowhere is
the issue of scale more important that in the transfer of evidence-based
practices for social-emotional learning. There are two major issues that have
to be addressed for programs to be effectively brought to scale: fidelity and
affordability. By both measures, Ripple Effects is an exceptional value.
Fidelity
Loss
of quality through successive generations of transferred training is a fact
that has bedeviled implementation directors of every kind of program. It is a problem in math and science,
where mastery of a certain body of fixed knowledge is essential to effective
teaching. It is a much bigger
problem in prevention programming, where the knowledge base is not fixed, but
constantly expanding; where understanding of a multi-disciplinary theory and
evidence-based practice is beyond the level of expertise for which teachers
have been prepared; and where the difference between effective and ineffective
practice is not one of conceptual understanding, but of nuanced application of
best practices in affective and behavioral domains. Several excellent programs provide live instruction to
prepare teachers to address the non-academic factors in both teacher and student
success. However, the inability to
ensure post-first-generation, trainer quality, and even first generation
trainer quality beyond a scale of several hundred schools, has been a formerly
unsolvable problem. By fully containing the content expertise “in the box” the
full range of evidence-based, cognitive, behavioral, social and emotional
strategies are available to each generation of teachers and students, without
any loss of quality. Because of the data structure of the program, that content
base can be easily periodically updated, as science-based knowledge expands and
additional effective practices are identified.
Affordability
Even when high quality, live training, tutoring or counseling is available, the cost to make those resources accessible to every teacher and student who needs it, can be prohibitive. Evidence-based professional development programs can easily run more than $75,000 per school, per year, and require continued funding year after year to deal with teacher turnover. Online courses are subject specific, and can easily run $200 per teacher per course. Again this is a recurring cost that must be purchased anew for each group of teachers, every year. Similarly, the cost of providing individualized tutoring for behavioral support can be well beyond $50 per student, per hour. 45 hours of student instruction (the equivalent of the smaller of two Ripple Effects student programs) would run to $2250 per student. This contrasts with Ripple Effects much more affordable, maximum one-time cost of $450 per teacher for 45 hours of engaging multi-media, personalized training that covers 140 topics in three main areas (net costs averages $10 per teacher/hour, and $10,000 per large school for a site license for the student program, or as little as $10 per student. Even more importantly for stimulus funds, these are one time costs, that generate long term dividends.
(When Ripple Effects provides all the data reporting, as with at-home use as a Supplemental Education tutoring program, the combined total cost of training and reporting is still comparatively less than program described above, about $35 per delivered hour of training, including assessment of content mastery for each lesson, and full reporting of completion and dosage rates.)
Accessibility
The challenge of making existing intervention
services attractive and accessible to both teachers and students who are in
need of them is a thorny one.
While the
need for intervening services is great, some existing services are underused.
In some cases this is because of perceived stigma in accessing them. In others
it is because of cultural insensitivity or irrelevance. In still others it is
simply because the delivery format is boring. Because Ripple Effects programs
provide the capacity to address personal challenges in a private, non judging
context, the stigma issue goes away. Usage data from several research studies involving thousands of children
has shown that more than 95% of all students who have any exposure to the
program, voluntarily elect to expand their use to address areas of personal
concern. The issue of cultural irrelevance is addressed directly in subject
matter for both students and teachers. It is also addressed indirectly, through the use of widely inclusive
photos, illustrations, live talent in movie models, and peer narrators. The
issue of boredom is as important for teachers as it is for students. The combination of an engaging,
multi-sensory learning platform and a content base that included emotionally
charged material, makes this program inherently engaging, including for those
teachers and students who regularly fall asleep during lengthy didactic
instruction. Finally, districts
can elect for teacher training to be delivered on a portable flash drive, which
enables them easy, immediate access at home or at school, and does not depend
on an Internet connection.
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