at

Viejo Elementary

What is Second Step?

Second Step is a set curriculum that supports the social/emotional
development of students and helps students develop the
knowledge and skills to:
•Cooperate with adults and meet school expectations
•Focus attention
•Remember directions
•Stay on task
•Handle emotional challenges
•Get along with teachers and other students

Promote social-
emotional
competence and
self-regulation

Who Teaches Second Step?

The school counselor, Mrs. Berber, teaches the

Second Step Lessons to all K-5 students. 

Mrs. Berber has been the school counselor at

Viejo Elementary School since 2014.

She received her Bachelor's Degree in Liberal

Arts and her Masters in School Counseling with
a California Pupil Personnel (PPS) Credential
from the University of La Verne. 

Mrs. Berber teaches over 102 Second Step

lessons to 474 students per academic school
year,

Kindergarten-Third Grade
Unit Topics Include:
Skills for Learning
Empathy
Emotion Management
Problem Solving 

Identifying Ways to Listen

90
80
70
60 Kindergarten students had a 56%
Percentage

50
increase in their ability to identify
40
successful ways to listen.
30
20
10
0
2016-2017
Pre-Test Post-Test

Calming Down Steps

100
90
80
70
Second grade students had a 100%
Percentage

60
50 increase in successfully identifying the
40 three calming down steps.
30
20
10
0
2016-2017
Pre-test Post-test

*These are some examples of perception data*

Fourth Grade-Fifth Grade

Unit Topics Include:
Empathy and Skills for Learning
Emotion Management
Problem Solving 

Identifying Ways to be Assertive

90
80
70
60 Fourth grade students had a 49.3%
Percentage

50
increase in successfully identifying
40
ways to be assertive.
30
20
10
0
2016-2017
Pre-test Post-test

*An example of perception data*

What are Some Long-Term Outcomes?

Office Discipline Referrals (ODRs)

150

100 Office discipline referrals have

decreased since Second Step was
50 implemented in the 2015-2016
0
school year.
2014-2015 2015-2016 2016-2017 2017-2018

# of ODRs

What do Teachers Think About Second Step?

"After participating in the Second Step lessons, my

students have shown greater empathy for others as
well as greater communication skills, that aid them
in conflict resolutions" 
-Ms. Gomez (First Grade Teacher)

"Second Step has helped our students resolve their

problems by using words and attaching their
emotions. The lessons reinforce skills to support
students' learning and well-being. It is a crucial
component of our daily lessons" 
-Ms. Vega (Second Grade Teacher)

"Students always look forward to the Second Step

lessons. The lessons are very helpful to all student.
There's notable improvement in our classroom
community after each lesson" 
-Mrs. Batista (Fourth Grade Teacher)

"Second Step lesson help students identify feelings

that they might have, address negative feelings and
cope with them in a more positive and cope with
them in a more positive way, think about it instead
of reacting fast, students really enjoy the lessons" 
-Mrs. Fernald (Fifth Grade Teacher)

What is Next?

Mrs. Berber is excited to announce that she will also be implementing the
bullying prevention unit from the Second Step curriculum in the 2018-
2019 school year!
"In learning to recognize bullying, students increase their awareness of
the problem, learn to identify when they or others are being bullied, and
increase their empathy for bullied students. Giving students a clear
message to report bullying sets a positive norm, lets student who might
bully know there will be consequences, and supports adults in their
efforts to reduce bullying. Lesson content on refusing bullying behavior
reinforces the message that bullying does not have to be tolerated and
encourages students to both report and use assertiveness skills to stand
up to bullying" ("Committee for Children", 2018).

This Second Step Profile was designed by California State

University, Long Beach Intern Jessica Sandoval