Evaluating Virtual Reality Enhancements of an Evidence-based Multi-tiered Aggression & Bullying Prevention Program

This study will evaluate a virtual reality enhanced version of an evidence-based aggression and bullying prevention program, PRAISE (PReventing Aggression in Schools Everyday) for 3rd-5th graders and their teachers. PRAISE was designed using community-based participatory research in schools situated in urban, under-resourced communities and includes school-wide professional development and teacher-led universal classroom programming. The purpose of this proposal is to conduct a cluster-randomized control trial to rigorously examine the impact of combining virtual reality at multiple tiers to enhance PRAISE (PRAISE-VR) as compared to PRAISE without virtual reality.  The proposed use of virtual reality is an extension of our previous work developing and testing the Bullying Classroom Check-Up with funding from NIJ and NICHD. Activities include recruiting 14 schools across four years and randomizing 3rd-5th grade classrooms within each school to receive PRAISE only (comparison) or PRAISE-VR, which integrates virtual reality as a (1) training and fidelity optimization tool for teachers to address their reported low levels of knowledge and efficacy to promote social-emotional skills in students and implementation challenges, and (2) a new Tier 2 intervention targeting high-risk aggressive youth with coach-guided practice of learned skills. Expected outcomes for students receiving PRAISE-VR as compared to PRAISE alone include reduced aggression and bullying and improved positive approaches for social information processing, academic engagement, empathy, positive bystander behavior, and teacher-student relationships, as well as increased efficacy for non-violence and decreased hostile attributions and proactive and reactive aggression for high-risk students. Expected outcomes for teachers in the PRAISE-VR condition include improved implementation efficacy and fidelity, efficacy to promote students' social-emotional skills, and teacher-student relationships. Broader outcomes of PRAISE-VR include decreased prevalence of school-level aggression, bullying, suspensions, and office referrals, as well as improved class climate and feelings of school safety. This project will serve under-resourced elementary schools in a large urban public school district. Intended beneficiaries are 3rd-5th grade students from predominantly minoritized backgrounds and their teachers, who will receive PRAISE or PRAISE-VR training, coaching, and programming to prevent and reduce aggression and bullying and improve school safety.