Compass Program (PC)
Problems addressed
Externalizing behaviors/problems
Effectiveness

Mixed Evidence

.

.

.

.

.

Mixed Evidence

Want to know more about this classification? Check out our methodological manual.

Life periods served
Children (4 to 13 years)
Where the program was applied
Education establishment
Country of application
Brazil
Description

This is a social and emotional learning program applied in public elementary schools and kindergartens. The objective is to contribute to the integral development of students and the building of essential skills, such as empathy, emotion management, and problem-solving in a safe and responsible manner.
The fundamental bases of the program include:
1) Mental exercises for the development of executive functions (memory, attention, and inhibitory control);
2) Daily activities and the continuous use of the skills;
3) Classroom management and teaching strategies;
4) Academic integration;
5) Activities with families in the students’ notebooks.
Classes are taught in the classroom by teachers and take place once a week for 50 minutes for the primary level and every day for 10 minutes for kindergarten.

Impact evaluations

An impact evaluation showed no effect on executive function, emotion awareness, and behavioral problems after one school year [1].
However, there is evidence of positive effects on children’s ability to express emotions and inhibitory control in communities with low homicide rates (d = 0.15 SD), as well as no effect on these same outcomes in areas of high violence [1].
The study had an experimental design with a total sample of 3,018 children from 1st to 5th grade from 90 elementary schools in Rio de Janeiro [1].

Bibliographic reference

[1] McCoy, D. C., Hanno, E. C., Ponczek, V., Pinto, C., Fonseca, G., Marchi, N. (2021). Um Compasso Para Aprender: A Randomized Trial of a Social‐Emotional Learning Program in Homicide‐Affected Communities in Brazil. Child Development, 92(5), 1951-1968. https://doi.org/10.1111/cdev.13579

Information source