Celene Domitrovich – Research Grants & Projects

Links of Interest

PATHS
CASEL

Early Childhood Innovation Network

Funding Source: Marriott Foundation
Project Description: Dr. Domitrovich is the Research Director for the Early Childhood Innovation Network, a collaborative effort between Georgetown University Department of Psychiatry and Children’s National Health System. The mission of ECIN is to ensure that all children in Washington, DC are able to thrive and reach their fullest potential by taking a science-based and cross-sector approach to strengthening families and the systems which support them, and decreasing the impact of trauma and toxic stress on the children of our community. The four core strategies of education, action, research, and advocacy will anchor the ECIN’s efforts across the city.

Enhancing Outcomes of an Evidence-Based Social-Emotional Program with a School Support Model

Funding Source:Department of Education, Investing in Innovation Fund
Grant Number:U411C130091

Project Description: Non-cognitive skills promote engagement in learning, relationships with teachers and peers, and long-term academic success. Nurturing these skills in students is a pathway to higher academic achievement, especially for low-performing schools. Evidence-based social-emotional learning (SEL) programs such as PATHS® promote these skills in students but are often implemented poorly and without planning or integration with other school activities. The CASEL SchoolKit is a school-wide support intervention that includes multiple strategies to build capacity and support for SEL programs such as PATHS® and to integrate and coordinate them into all aspects of the school’s functioning.

Summary of Project Objectives and Expected Outcomes
This project seeks to improve student SEL skills, engagement, and academic performance by combining PATHS® and the CASEL Schoolkit. A randomized clinical trial will test the effectiveness of the combination of the SchoolKit against PATHS® implemented under standard conditions. In combining SchoolKit with PATHS®, we expect high-quality PATHS® implementation, more positive classroom and school climates, and improvements in student SEL and achievement. The project will be conducted in Chicago, one of the lowest-performing districts in the nation. All 28 participating schools will implement the PATHS® curriculum for two years; fourteen schools will be randomized to receive the standard PATHS training and support model while 14 will be randomized to receive a combination of PATHS® and the SchoolKit intervention. Students in grades K–3 will participate in the project but outcomes will be assessed for students in grades 1 & 2 after each year of PATHS exposure and at one-year follow-up.

Presentations & Publications

  • Domitrovich, C. E. (June, 2016). Enhancing Outcomes of a School Support Model to promote social and Emotional Learning. An organized/chaired symposium at the Society for Prevention Research. San Francisco, CA.
  • Meyers, D. C., Domitrovich, C. E., & Greenberg, M. T. (June, 2016). Integrating an Evidence-Based Program throughout a School Community using the CASEL Guide to Social and Emotional Learning. Paper presentation at the Society for Prevention Research. San Francisco, CA.

Creating a Monitoring System for School Districts to Promote Academic, Social, and Emotional Learning: A Researcher-Practitioner Partnership

Funding Source: Department of Education, Institute for Educational Sciences
Grant Number: R305H130012-14

Project Description: Washoe County School District (WCSD), a leader in educational data systems, and the Collaborative for Academic, Social, and Emotional Learning (CASEL), the leading non-profit research organization devoted to the field of social and emotional learning (SEL) are working collaboratively to conduct rigorous research that enables the district to make empirically-driven decisions about student academic needs. The focus of the proposed partnership is on the social and emotional skills, dispositions, and behaviors (referred to as SEL) that support academic achievement in students. WCSD wants to incorporate SEL indicators into its risk-focused student monitoring system so that it is more balanced, reflecting students’ strengths as well as vulnerabilities. Such a monitoring system could be used to develop preventive interventions that target the development of student academic and non-academic skills implemented at the individual, classroom, and school level. A robust and balanced monitoring system is relevant to districts nationwide.

Presentations & Publications

  • Domitrovich, C. E. (March, 2016). Innovations in Measures for Improving School Data Systems and Promoting Adolescent Achievement. An organized/chaired symposium at the Society for Research on Adolescence. Baltimore, MD.
  • Gordon, R., Crowder*, M., Brown*, R., Davidson, L., Domitrovich, C. E., Weissberg, R., Hayes, B., & Schaffer, T. (March, 2016). Student self-reported social and emotional learning: An iterative, Rasch-based approach to understanding social and emotional development.