School skills groups helped children get organised, but the gains faded within a year

The study

1. 01

   Who took part

   186 children in grades 3 to 5 (ages 8 to 12) in 22 schools in the northeast USA. Teachers picked them for problems with organising, time and planning, and about half were likely to have ADHD.

2. 02

   What they did

   In 12 schools, kids went to 16 small-group sessions of about 35 minutes, run by school staff. They learned to keep track of homework, keep their things in order, manage time and plan. They earned points and prizes for practice. Parents and teachers had two short talks on how to remind and praise them. Kids in the other schools kept their usual help and were offered the groups a year later.

3. 03

   What happened

   At 14 weeks and 5 months, parents and teachers rated children in the groups as much more organised than the others. After a year the difference was no longer clear, and report-card grades did not improve. The paper gives different numbers in different places, and school closures in COVID-19 cut the study short.

What the study found

1. HelpedTime management

   School groups on homework, time and plans, with points for practice, got kids more organised for months.

   • Action: Organise your materialstested
   • Action: Plan your weektested
   • Rule: Get a reward or payment for doing ittested
   • Rule: Get a remindertested
   • Rule: Practise with a groupused

   Randomised trial of 186 US school children in grades 3 to 5 · vs children who kept their usual school support · they rated themselves · ⚠ whole groups were assigned, not people; numbers unreliable

2. No differenceTime management

   A year later, kids from the school groups were not clearly more organised than the others.

   • Action: Organise your materialstested
   • Action: Plan your weektested
   • Rule: Get a reward or payment for doing ittested
   • Rule: Practise with a groupused

   Randomised trial of 186 US school children in grades 3 to 5 · vs children who kept their usual school support · they rated themselves · ⚠ whole groups were assigned, not people; numbers unreliable

3. No differenceGoals

   The school skills groups did not improve children's report-card grades compared with usual support.

   • Action: Organise your materialstested
   • Action: Plan your weektested
   • Rule: Practise with a groupused

   Randomised trial of 186 US school children in grades 3 to 5 · vs children who kept their usual school support · they rated themselves · ⚠ whole groups were assigned, not people; numbers unreliable

Source