The 83 skill-building interventions that used manuals and dedicated lesson plans showed greater reductions in participants’ externalizing behavior than those that were not manualized.

Interventions with lesson plans or manuals organize content in a logical format and sequence. For example, many of the skillbuilding interventions supporting this recommendation used lesson plans to first teach the concept of a skill, then provide opportunities to practice the skill through role playing, and, finally, to apply the skill in a “real life” setting. Many interventions with lesson plans include specific, additional mechanisms to further engage participants in program content, including videos, worksheets, and homework. These additions may reinforce the program’s key skills.

Lesson plans should include the number and frequency of lessons, the content that should be delivered during each session, and the pedagogy (the way the content is taught) they should employ. Documenting clear expectations for program delivery better ensures that participants experience the same content regardless of where or when it is delivered or which facilitator provides it. Some manualized interventions also recommend ways facilitators can adapt or vary the content to be responsive to participants without jeopardizing the program’s underlying logic. Many of the manualized interventions contributing evidence to this recommendation either: 1) provided pedagogical supports for program delivery, such as videos, skill cards, or scripted role plays; and/or 2) offered supports for extending learning outside of the formal program, such as homework or journals to document real-life instances of conflict and how they were resolved.

Assess Feasibility

Delivery model.
Determine whether, or to what extent, your program draws on a manualized or lesson- plan based service delivery model. Is typical delivery close enough to the manual to say you are providing “that” program?
Program content.
Identify all program content and pedagogy that you do not have documented in writing. To what extent could you standardize program delivery?
Understanding of the program.
Review your staff training materials and process. Do all staff members understand your program’s motivation? Its objectives and the key steps needed to achieve them? The key content and areas where adaptation is allowed?
Organizational context.
Assess the level of support in your organization and among key partners for standardizing service delivery. Do administrators and program directors understand why it is important, and are willing to support the effort? Are frontline staff receptive, or is additional work needed to gain buy-in? Do the partners that you rely on for service delivery understand their role in ensuring consistency?

Take Action

Consider the following courses of action depending on the results of your feasibility assessment:

Document the key activities, content, and learning objectives for your program. Consider how you think the content should be taught and how it is actually delivered by staff.
Compare the actual delivery of your program with what it is trying to achieve and how it proposes to get there. Revise service delivery strategies as as needed to ensure you are following the philosophy and assumptions about how your program is expected to reduce externalizing behaviors.
Determine what adaptations staff can make without affecting the underlying assumptions about why the program should successfully reduce externalizing behaviors. For example, you may determine that role playing is integral to your program, but that facilitators can vary the specific examples based on participants.
Ensure delivery staff understand the rationale for standardizing service delivery, and provide support for them as they strive to deliver the program with fidelity. For example, schedule peer support sessions and refresher training sessions.
Emphasize the importance of consistently using standardized lesson plans across your organization, agency, or school, and reinforce its importance over time to guard against staff turnover.

Breadcrumb

Teach From Dedicated Lesson Plans

Outcome

Externalizing Behavior

Intervention Family

Skill-Building Interventions