Why Second Step® Programs Are an Essential Use of Title I Funds

Each year, school districts across the country use Title I funding to support disadvantaged or struggling students and to close academic achievement gaps—with varying degrees of success. The student challenges Title I programs seek to address are complex and deeply rooted. And now more than ever, districts must ensure they’re making the most of these critical Title I resources.

How can districts use Title I resources more effectively? Invest in human skills curriculum

Evidence-based human skills programs are connected to improvements in several key areas, including academic motivation, prosocial behavior, self-management, attendance, school climate, and more, making them an essential use of Title I funds. Human skills programs—like the Second Step® family of programs—should be considered a frontline strategy for alleviating achievement gaps and supporting struggling or disadvantaged students.

A closer look at the evidence

After extensive independent studies confirming far-reaching positive impacts, Second Step® Elementary and Second Step® Middle School digital programs are now considered evidence-based—validating them as a highly effective use of Title I resources. The 2025 WestEd studies compared elementary and middle schools that utilized Second Step K–8 digital programs with fidelity (60–80% lesson completion rates or higher) to those that did not. Here’s what they found.

In California elementary schools:

• Academic motivation up 6 percentile points
• Prosocial behaviors up 5 percentile points
• Parent Involvement up 4 percentile points

In North Carolina elementary schools:

• Self-management up 5 percentile points
• Out-of-school suspensions down 14 percentile points

In California middle schools:

• Caring relationships up 13 percentile points
• Overall school environment up 11 percentile points

In South Carolina middle schools:

• Teacher-student relationships up 16 percentile points
• School belonging up 14 percentile points
• Overall school climate up 11 percentile points

What does this evidence say about the efficacy of Second Step® programs for Title I initiatives?

Here’s how a few of these outcomes connect to closing achievement gaps.

Academic motivation moves the achievement needle

Academic achievement is about more than just content mastery—it’s the result of sustained academic motivation. A six percentile point increase in academic motivation in California schools using Second Step Elementary shows how the digital program helps students build the composite skills—like goal-setting, growth mindset, resilience, and self-efficacy—that drive them to become more engaged and motivated learners.

Better relationships, better results

Great educators know that learning begins with good relationships. In South Carolina, schools consistently using Second Step Middle School showed improvements in student-teacher relationships by an impressive 16 percentile points. In districts using Title I funding to close achievement gaps, this statistic would mark a huge step in the right direction. With better relationships with their teachers, students are more trusting, receptive, and engaged in their learning—and vice versa.

To drive academic performance and close achievement gaps with Title I resources, districts should invest in relationships. Evidence-based and research-backed human skills programs are now a proven way to foster better student-teacher relationships in school communities.

To close gaps, students need to be in school

Out-of-school suspensions are a challenge to any district, but they’re especially challenging in Title I districts, where students may be at greater risk for exclusionary discipline. In North Carolina, suspensions were down 14 percentile points in schools using the Second Step Elementary digital program with fidelity.

Human skills instruction isn’t just supplemental—it’s essential

The results of these studies are only the most recent evidence of the far-reaching benefits of comprehensive human skills instruction. Clearly, they show that human skills programs—which prioritize helping students proactively build skills like emotion management, growth mindset, executive functioning, resiliency, and more—can make a real difference in districtwide efforts to drive positive change in the lives of their students.

To learn more about how Second Step programs can support your district’s Title I initiatives, request a free consultation today.