At times child associates arrange with teachers for specific classroom observation times. Screening teams review school administrative records and, where appropriate, prior years screening information. This scale is completed for each child by the primary grade teacher. For children in second grade and above, the self-report Child Rating Scale can also be used to measure internalizing, externalizing and social behaviors as well as interest in school. The groups were similar on demographic, socioeconomic and PMHP variables.
Groups appear to have been non-randomly assigned.
Terminators were significantly less maladjusted than Non-terminators or Controls on all seven measure. On a second measure, the TRF, teachers rated children on 37 behaviorally oriented items relating to maladaptation. Significant intervention effects were found on two teacher-rated measures in comparisons to a matched retrospective control group. The subjects included seven consecutive annual cohorts ranging in size from 206 to 464 that were assessed pretest and post-test without a comparison group. The program uses a cadre of paraprofessional support staff coordinated by a school-based mental health professional in order to maximize the number of students who receive support.