Promising Programs
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Primary Mental Health Project
Primary Mental Health Project is recommended as a Promising Safe, Disciplined, and Drug-Free Schools program.
Program Description. Primary Mental Health Project (PMHP) is a school-based early intervention program for young children who show evidence of early school adjustment difficulties. As an indicated prevention program, it targets children deemed "at risk" and not those with already crystallized serious dysfunction. Through therapeutic interventions in a one-to-one setting, the program aims to address risk and protective factors of children in preschool through Grade 3. The program endeavors to detect, reduce, and/or prevent social, emotional, and school adjustment difficulties, and seeks to enhance learning and adjustment skills and other school-related competencies. It accomplishes these goals through five structural components: focus on young children (preschool through third grade children are the primary recipients of services); early and systemic screening and selection; use of paraprofessionals for direct services; role change of school-based mental health professionals; and ongoing program evaluation.
It is well known that patterns of school failure often begin in the first three years of school. A growing body of research strongly suggests the critical importance of providing early fortifying school experiences at an early age. A rigorous screening procedure is first implemented to determine those children who would most benefit from PMHP services. Once children have been identified, the classroom teacher, in collaboration with parents and school counselors, complete an adjustment profile for each child. This profile is used to establish intervention goals before the children begin one-on-one counseling. Counseling sessions occur for 30 to 40 minutes each week and are centered around child-initiated expressive play activities that lead to the attainment of each child's individual needs and goals.
Program materials include a variety of informational booklets and manuals such as: School Based Prevention for Children at Risk; The Primary Mental Health Project: Program Development Manual; The Primer: A Handbook for Establishing a PMHP Program; Behind These Young Faces: The Primary Mental Health Project; Screening and Evaluation Measures and Forms: Guidelines; and Supervision of Paraprofessionals: Guidelines for Mental Health Professionals.
Professional Development Resources and Program Costs. Support to districts and sites interested in implementing PMHP is available through multiple venues: consultation, training, program materials, and internship opportunities. On-site consultation and support is available through program consultants. Training videos are available on-loan from the developer. Developers estimate that program costs annually per child can be less than $250/year and that the cost of a single contact session with a child can be less than $10. (Current costs need to be verified with the program.)
Program Quality. Reviewers found goals of the program clearly defined and carefully measured on both a short-term and a long-term basis. They also noted a consistency between the rationale, the goals, and the way each aspect of the program is measured. Students receive the level of intervention appropriate to their risk factors, according to reviewers. The five structural components of the program drive the program to enhance learning and adjustment skills in a clear and organized way. Reviewers noted that the program materials are well-developed and well-utilized by the program.
Evidence of Efficacy. The Primary Mental Health Project presented evidence of improved school adjustment and a decrease in problem behaviors for treatment children based on a number of control group, comparison group, and long-term follow-up evaluation studies. Reviewers found that the program was well-researched and addressed risk and protective factors for young children who are identified with school adjustment difficulties. Reviewers agreed that the outcome measures showed positive short- and long-term outcomes. They noted that the evaluation instruments were reliable and valid and that the data analyses were appropriate.
One control group study, with 600 children from 18 school sites randomly assigned into immediate intervention and delayed treatment groups, showed statistically significant decreases in adjustment problems for children receiving program services as compared to children awaiting services. Another wait-control group design, which employed a three-month follow-up measure, demonstrated a decline in teacher ratings of learning problems and shy-anxious behaviors, and an increase in task orientation and peer social skills in favor of the treatment group. One of the matched comparison group evaluations showed a decrease in adjustment problems and an increase in adaptive competencies after one school year in favor of the treatment group. Long-term effects were found in a follow-up study of fourth through sixth graders two to five years after the intervention. Post-only results showed treatment children to be statistically significantly better adjusted than a demographically comparable, teacher-identified group of current problem children based on teacher ratings.
For Further Information Contact:
Deborah B. Johnson, Children's Institute
274 N. Goodman, Suite D103, Rochester, NY 14607
Telephone: (877) 888-7647 (toll free) or (716) 295-1000 Fax: (716) 295-1090
E-mail: djohnson@childrensinstitute.net
Web site: http://www.childrensinstitute.net
Project STAR
Project STAR is recommended as a Promising Safe, Disciplined, and Drug-Free Schools program.
Program Description. Project STAR, also called the Midwestern Prevention Project, is a comprehensive, community-based program for adolescent drug abuse prevention. The overall goal of the program is to prevent or reduce gateway substance use. The following program components are introduced in sequence to communities: school, parent, community organization, and health policy, with utilization of the mass media to publicize positive efforts for drug prevention.
The program has a social influences theory base. Early, middle, and late adolescence each have distinct developmental tasks and needs. According to Erikson (1963), the major developmental task of adolescence is identity formation. Project STAR is geared primarily toward the early adolescent period (ages 10 to 12) when youth are more likely to emulate older peers and initiate attempts at parental autonomy.
The project integrates demand and supply reduction strategies by combining prevention programming (aimed at teaching youth drug resistance skills) with local school and community policy change (aimed at institutionalizing prevention programming and limiting youth access to drugs). The program also teaches perceived norms for use and social support for nonuse.
Each of the five program components contains either activity guidelines or actual program materials. The school curriculum consists of 10 to 13 classroom sessions and five homework activities. Sessions are taught twice a week and each session lasts less than 50 minutes. A teacher's manual is available. The school program focuses on increasing skills to resist and counteract pressures to use drugs and to change the social climate of the school to accept a drug-free norm. Methods of delivery include modeling, role playing, and peer-led discussions. The other four components integrate with the school component to collectively promote drug-use resistance in the wider community.
Professional Development Resources and Program Costs. Training is provided for each component, including a two-day teacher training for Part 1 of the school curriculum. A one-day teacher training for Part 2 of the school curriculum, training of a parent committee, training of community leaders, and training of the local media are all available. Examples of each of the five components are presented in a video. (Current costs need to be verified with the program.)
Program Quality. According to reviewers, the goals of this program are clear and attainable and should result in a change in the entire community, not just a school. Additionally, reviewers noted that the focus on systemic issues is a positive attribute of this program. Discussing supply and demand issues was found by reviewers to be an innovative approach that is supported by research. Reviewers noted that this program attends to policy-level change at the school and community level which was found to be a long-term benefit of the program.
Evidence of Efficacy. Reviewers found that Project STAR's replication and distal outcomes made a strong case for the efficacy of the program. The program presented evidence from large-scale, longitudinal studies using both quasi-experimental and fully randomized designs. Although high attrition rates were a concern, some of the studies addressed this concern by making maximal conservative adjustments and controlling for internal validity. Reviewers reported that issues of program replication and potential underreporting on self-report measures were adequately addressed, also. Reviewers found that the program reported relevant evidence of efficacy based on a methodologically sound evaluation, despite selection criteria, reliability, and validity concerns. Reviewers noted that the program appeared most effective at reducing adolescent smoking.
Project STAR used two evaluation designs. One design was a partially randomized study in one city followed three years later by a fully randomized replication in another city. Both studies used pre-post test measurement in the first year, with a post-test measurement administered each year thereafter. From sixth/seventh grade to the end of high school, 10,000 students were followed. Beyond high school, a smaller sample of about 2200 was selected for continued follow-up. Standardized student and parent surveys and an expired air CO measure were used to validate student responses. Statistically significant effects were found in favor of the treatment students, including net reductions in drug use ranging from 10% to 80% depending on the specific drug and the year of measurement. Results also demonstrated, to a statistically significant degree, delays in onset and decreased prevalence on gateway (e.g., cigarettes, alcohol, and marijuana) and illicit drug use, decreased parent alcohol and marijuana use, and increased positive parent-child communications about drug use prevention for the treatment group as compared to the control group. The program also reported statistically significant outcomes related to the development of community prevention programs, health policy change, and long-term impact such as job retention.
For Further Information Contact:
Karen Bernstein, University of Southern California, Norris Comprehensive Cancer Center
1441 Eastlake Avenue, Room 3415, Los Angeles, CA 90089-9175
Telephone: (323) 865-0325 Fax: (323) 865-0134
E-mail: karenber@usc.edu
Promoting Alternative Thinking Strategies (PATHS)
Promoting Alternative Thinking Strategies is recommended as a Promising Safe, Disciplined, and Drug-Free Schools program.
Program Description. The Promoting Alternative Thinking Strategies (PATHS) curriculum is a comprehensive program that promotes the development of social and emotional competencies in children during the elementary school age years in order to achieve its goal of reduced aggression and behavior problems in these children. A second broad program goal is to enhance the classroom atmosphere to facilitate learning and the internalization of pro-social values. PATHS was developed for use in a classroom setting for all children just entering school through Grade 5. The curriculum is designed for use by educators and counselors in a multi-year, universal prevention model.
PATHS is based on five conceptual models: (1) the ABCD (Affective-Behavioral-Cognitive-Dynamic) Model of Development, which focuses on the promotion of optimal developmental growth for each individual; (2) the Eco-Behavioral Systems Model, which emphasizes the manner in which teachers use the curriculum model and generalizes the skills to build a healthy classroom atmosphere; (3) Neurobiology and Brain Structuralization organization Model, which focuses on the developmental process of brain organization; (4) psycho-dynamic education, which is designed to enhance developmental growth and mental health and prevent emotional distress; and (5) psychological issues related to the role of emotional awareness.
PATHS is divided into three major units: Readiness and Self-Control (12 lessons), Feelings and Relationships (56 lessons), and Interpersonal Cognitive Problem-solving (33 lessons). A 30-lesson supplementary unit is also part of the curriculum. PATHS lessons include instruction in identifying and labeling feelings, expressing and managing feelings, controlling impulses, reducing stress, interpreting social cues, understanding the perspectives of others, problem-solving and decision-making, and nonverbal and verbal communication skills. The 131 lessons are designed for delivery three times per week, every year over a five-year period.
The PATHS Curriculum Kit contains the six volumes of lessons, an instructional manual for teachers that addresses process and parent involvement issues, pictures, photographs, posters, Feelings Faces, and additional materials.
Professional Development Resources and Program Costs. Initial training of teachers, support personnel, and administrative staff requires a two to three day workshop. At the beginning of the second year of implementation, a half-day or one-day booster session is provided. Additionally, on-going consultation/supervision once per week is highly recommended in the first year. In the second year, consultation/supervision bi-weekly is sufficient. Consultation/supervision is provided by a full or part-time curriculum consultant, depending on the number of PATHS classrooms. If a counselor acts as the curriculum consultant (at least a .5 FTE), curriculum and training costs for the first year of operation for an elementary school would average approximately $12,000. Costs are higher if an additional staff person is hired to provide teacher consultation. Costs in later years would be substantially reduced if there is low to moderate staff turnover. (Current costs need to be verified with the program.)
Program Quality. Reviewers found the goals of the program clearly stated, supported by research, and followed by measurable, achievable objectives. The rationale, including the sequence of the material's delivery, was highly rated by reviewers for its well-researched foundations and its alignment with goals and expected outcomes. The activities were also found to elicit interaction and to be free of bias and gender inequality. According to reviewers, the materials appeared to be age appropriate and of particular interest to the needs of the youth addressed.
Evidence of Efficacy. Reviewers found that the evaluation used an excellent research design, random sampling, and reliable and valid measures, although attrition issues were not addressed. They determined that the research studies presented by PATHS provided evidence that the program is effective in improving protective factors (e.g., social and emotional competency) and reducing risk factors (e.g., early and persistent antisocial and aggressive behavior). However, they found the evidence of actual changes in behavior among students in regular classrooms insufficient. Research was conducted in regular and special education classrooms.
The program presented four clinical trials, with two studies involving special needs students and two studies involving regular education studies. One study included 200 regular education students in Grades 2 and 3 from four schools with random assignment by school; and a second study involved 108 special needs children in Grades 1-3 randomly assigned by classrooms to the intervention or control group. Measures for both studies included affective and social problem solving interviews, a teacher-rated child behavior checklist, child reports of conduct problems administered at the post-test and one- and two-year follow-ups. A third study involved 5,000 first graders in 48 schools in four sites with random assignment by school. Measures included peer socio-metric ratings of aggression and disruptive-hyperactive classroom behavior and blind observations of the quality of the classroom atmosphere. The fourth study involved 57 deaf children in Grades 1-6, with random assignment by school to the intervention or wait-list control group. Measures included a teacher-rated health resources inventory, emotion inventory, social problem solving interview, and teacher and parent ratings of social competence.
For Further Information about the Program, Training, and Technical Assistance Contact:
Carol A. Kusche Ph.D., PATHS Training, LLC
927 10th Avenue East, Seattle, WA 98102
Phone: (206) 323-6688, Fax: (206) 323-6688
E-mail: ckusche@attglobal.net
Web site: http://www.prevention.psu.edu/PATHS/
For Further Information about Program Research and Technical Assistance Contact:
Mark T. Greenberg, Ph.D., Prevention Research Center, Henderson Building South
Pennsylvania State University, University Park, PA 16802
Phone: 814-863-0112, Fax: 814-865-2530
E-mail: mxg47@psu.edu
Web site: http://www.prevention.psu.edu/PATHS
For Materials Contact:
Channing Bete Company
One Community Place, South Deerfield, MA 01373-0200
Phone: 877-896-8532, Fax: 800-499-6464
E-mail: PrevSci@channing-bete.com
Web site: http://www.preventionscience.com
Responding in Peaceful and Positive Ways (RIPP)
Responding in Peaceful and Positive Ways is recommended as a Promising Safe, Disciplined, and Drug-Free Schools program.
Program Description. Responding in Peaceful and Positive Ways (RIPP) is a primary prevention program grounded in social cognitive theory and designed for implementation in middle and junior high schools. The goal of the program is to implement strategies that reduce problem behaviors by addressing specific risk factors and increasing protective factors. RIPP achieves its goal by creating opportunities in the school environment and by creating changes in attitudes inside individuals.
The model for this program is grounded in social cognitive learning theory, which states that both the individual and his or her environment are involved in and responsible for the occurrence of an aggressive act.
The curriculum is taught to sixth or seventh grade students in 25 weekly classes, with each class lasting 50 minutes. A combination of three basic strategies is used throughout the curriculum: behavioral repetition and mental rehearsal of a social-cognitive, problem-solving model; experiential learning techniques; and guided discussion. Students perform role plays, resolve conflicts, and observe positive social norms. They also learn a seven-step problem-solving model called SCIDDLE (stop, calm down, identify the problem and your feelings, decide among your options, do it, look back, and evaluate). Students also learn and practice violence prevention skills involving four pro-social options: resolve, avoid, ignore, and diffuse. The program contains a strong peer mediation component. Peer mediators are trained to provide mediation services to the entire school. Peer mediators complete 16 hours of training. A curriculum manual provides the material and information to implement the program.
Professional Development Resources and Program Costs. The major requirements for implementing this program are the hiring and training of a full-time violence prevention facilitator for each school. The prevention facilitator is responsible for teaching RIPP and supervising and coordinating the peer mediation. A four-day intensive training program is available at a cost of $600.00 per participant and includes the program manual. (Current costs need to be verified with the program.)
Program Quality. The program goals and timeframe for accomplishing the goals were found by reviewers to be appropriate and well thought-out. Reviewers stated that prevention efforts clearly support the goals of the program and help the goals to be achieved. The program was also cited for its excellent research base and its continual updates to stay current with research.
Evidence of Efficacy. Reviewers agreed that RIPP presented a well-designed randomized clinical trial using reliable and valid measures. Although attrition was a problem, especially at the one-year follow-up, the evaluation tried to minimize the impact by analyzing pre, post, and follow-up data separately. Reviewers found that the study showed positive outcomes at post-test and follow-up, although the majority of the measures did not produce statistically significant effects and some of the effects present at post-test did not remain statistically significant at follow-up. A key positive outcome that remained statistically significant at follow-up was a face-valid measure of in-school suspensions based on administrative data.
The evaluation used a pre-post clinical trial with random assignment of students to intervention and control groups at three urban middle schools. The intervention group consisted of 305 sixth graders, and the control group consisted of 321 sixth graders at the same schools. Data were collected from school disciplinary code violation records, a violent behavior scale, attitude and belief scales, and other self-report measures. Statistically significant positive program effects favoring the intervention group for weapons possession, suspensions and fight-related injuries were maintained at post-test; and statistically significant positive effects favoring the intervention group on in-school suspensions and threats to teachers were maintained at the one-year follow-up. Statistically significant positive results also were observed for the intervention group on measures of knowledge and use of peer mediation.
For Further Information Contact:
Melanie McCarthy, Youth Violence Prevention Project, Virginia Commonwealth University
808 W. Franklin St., Box 2018, Richmond VA 23284-2018
Telephone: (804) 828-8793 Fax: (804) 827-1511
E-mail: mkmccart@saturn.vcu.edu
Web site: http://www.wkap.nl/book.htm/0-306-46386-5
Say It Straight Training
Say It Straight Training is recommended as a Promising Safe, Disciplined, and Drug-Free Schools program.
Program Description. Say It Straight (SIS) Training promotes wellness, self-awareness, personal and social responsibility, good communication skills, positive self-esteem, and positive relationships while attempting to prevent risky or destructive behaviors, such as alcohol, tobacco, and other drug use; violence; teen pregnancy; and behavior leading to HIV/AIDS. SIS is action oriented and utilizes visual, auditory, and kinesthetic modalities to involve people with different learning styles. The learning is cognitive, affective, and psychomotor and creates opportunities for people to discover their internal resources; connect to their deepest wishes for pro-social behavior; and develop the skills to express and implement these wishes in appropriate ways, even in difficult situations. The training is co-created by the participants and gives them ownership and responsibility for their training.
SIS couples the communication work of Satir with interventions based on action-oriented skills practice, modeling theory, promotion of pro-health behaviors, development of empathy, and inoculation theory.
SIS has been implemented in schools and in other community settings. It has been used with youth on probation, in detention, and in chemical dependency treatment, and with chemically dependent mothers in residential treatment and their children. Within schools it is conducted in five to ten regular sessions of approximately 50 minutes each. Participants co-create their individual training through activities such as body-sculpting and guided visualizations; role playing difficult interpersonal situations; and participating in and learning how to do group feedback sessions. Training can be done on consecutive days or at least twice a week to accommodate school needs. Program materials include a trainer's manual; workbooks for younger and older students and adults; questionnaires used in the training; and three optional videotapes. A shortened trainer's manual, workbooks for student and adults, and a student questionnaire are available in Spanish.
Professional Development Resources and Program Costs. Training occurs through a train-the-trainer model. Trainers receive a manual that contains a step-by-step description of the training with students, parents, and other community members. Onsite support is available in some areas and trainers can also receive support via email. Cost estimate for the first year for a school of 1,000 students is $2,600, including training and support. The cost of workbooks for students or adults can be minimized by obtaining rights to copy workbooks for 15 to 30 cents per workbook, depending on the workbook. The cost in the second year of the program only includes the price of workbooks for incoming students. (Current costs need to be verified with the program.)
Program Quality. Reviewers found that the program clearly outlines its goals and objectives and correlates them with the activities of the participants. Extensive documentation of the program's theoretical base, which was found to soundly support the goals of the program, was noted by reviewers. The program clearly demonstrates its relevance to the intended population, and its implementation methods were highly rated by reviewers for involving youth in the program content and delivery.
Evidence of Efficacy. Say it Straight has been evaluated through four studies. Research results are available for fifth through twelfth graders, parents, and other adults. Three studies used pre-post, quasi-experimental designs and one study used a pre-post, randomized design. Reviewers concluded that the program's replication of behavioral outcomes using quasi-experimental studies and objective measures, e.g., suspensions and police records, helped to overcome problems resulting from the lack of a true experimental design controlling for differences between treatment and control groups in all of the four studies. Reviewers reported that the program also showed positive outcomes for assertiveness/attitudinal skills, and that the attitudinal measure had good internal consistency and seemed valuable as a measure related to a risk factor. They agreed that program outcomes were consistently positive, although the best studies using the best outcome measures were short-lived.
In the experimental study, one out of three schools was randomly selected to receive the program. The experimental school had 799 students in Grades 6-8, and the control schools had 1,539 students in Grades 6-8. Results showed statistically significant behavioral and attitudinal outcomes in favor of the experimental group in terms of: a) reductions in the number of students who incurred alcohol and other drug related school suspensions or referrals, and b) increases in willingness to implement constructive decisions in difficult situations and to feel more at ease doing so.
For Further Information Contact:
Paula Englander-Golden, University of North Texas Department of Rehabilitation
Social Work and Addictions, Institute for Studies in Addictions
P. O. Box 310919, Denton, TX 76203-0919
Telephone: (940) 565-3290 Fax: (940) 565-3960
E-mail: golden@scs.cmm.unt.edu or golden@unt.edu
SCARE Program
The SCARE Program is recommended as a Promising Safe, Disciplined, and Drug-Free Schools program.
Program Description. The SCARE Program is an anger and aggression management program for children and adolescents. The primary goals of the program are to teach young people about emotions, including anger and aggression, and to help young people recognize alternatives to violent behavior and aggressive responses. It also aims to encourage young people to make good decisions in response to provocative situations.
This program was developed to focus exclusively on violence and aggression beginning in early adolescence because a growing body of evidence has consistently indicated that early adolescence can be a critical developmental period for young people. The SCARE Program adopts the perspective that the reattribution of perceived offenses and the control and management of resulting anger are of prime importance in preventing violent and aggressive acts from occurring. Literature has indicated that anger can be effectively reduced through therapeutic intervention. The SCARE program was constructed as a meta-theoretical treatment package focusing on anger management and coping skills for children and adolescents.
The program involves a total of 15 different sessions clustered into three distinct yet related sections: (1) recognizing anger and violence in the community, (2) managing and reducing self-expressions of anger, and (3) defusing anger and violence in others. The program is delivered weekly, twice a week, or daily in 45 to 50 minute sessions. The curriculum was designed for broad scale implementation by teachers, counselors, law enforcement officers, graduate or undergraduate students, or adult volunteers.
Professional Development Resources and Program Costs. The SCARE program is presented in an easy to follow step-by-step format that assumes the leader has no formal training in teaching or counseling. Although not required, practice training by group leaders may result in greater treatment gains. Program materials include a Leader's Guide Manual and a reproducible student workbook. Everything necessary to conduct the program is contained in the Leader's Guide Manual. The current cost of the SCARE Program is $49.99. It is available through Kendall Hunt Publishing, 1-800-542-6657, ext. 3087. (Current costs need to be verified with the program.)
Program Quality. This program received high marks for its focus and clear goals. According to reviewers, the program's activities consistently reinforce the application of acquired knowledge and contribute to the likelihood of attaining the stated goals. Additionally, the program materials were found to contain all the necessary information to achieve those goals. Reviewers noted that the body of literature cited sustains the program's theoretical foundation.
Evidence of Efficacy. Reviewers found the SCARE Program study design and data analysis to be adequate, despite attrition issues, the absence of behavioral measures, and the lack of distal measurement of outcomes beyond the eight-week post-test. They noted that the study's statistically significant outcome related to anger, and that the causal link between anger and substance use, violence, and conduct program behaviors was not addressed in the study.
Participants in the SCARE Program demonstrated statistically significant decreases in state anger and trait anger and increases in anger control when compared to the control group on a self-report measure. The evaluation used a pre-post experimental design with random assignment of individual students to the treatment group. The study involved a multi-ethnic sample of male and female middle school adolescents in Grades 6-8, and program effects were measured through the use of the self-report State-Trait Anger Expression Inventory (STAXI) assessing the experience and expression of anger.
For Further Information Contact:
D. Scott Herrmann Tripler Army Medical Center/Child Psychology Services
1 Jarrett White Road, TAMC, HI 96859-5000
Telephone: (808) 433-2738 Fax: (808) 433-1801
E-mail: don.herrmann@haw.tamc.amedd.army.mil
or
J. Jeffries McWhirter Arizona State University
P.O. Box 870611, Tempe, AZ 85287-0611
Telephone: (480) 965-4876 Fax: (480) 965-0300
E-mail: mcwhirter@asu.edu
To Order the Program Contact:
Alan Vincent Kendall/Hunt Publishing Company
4050 Westmark Drive, P.O Box 1840, Dubuque, IA 52004-1840
Telephone: (800) 542-6657, ext. 3087
Seattle Social Development Project
Seattle Social Development Project is recommended as a Promising Safe, Disciplined, and Drug-Free Schools program.
Project Description. The Seattle Social Development Project (SSDP) is a three-part intervention for teachers, parents, and students in Grades 1-6. It is a universal prevention project with interventions designed to reduce specific, empirically identified risk factors and to increase protective factors at the individual, peer, family, and school levels. The three major components to the intervention, each with its own age appropriate skill set, are Teacher Training in Classroom Instruction and Management; Child Social and Emotional Skill Development; and Parent Training.
The package of interventions is guided theoretically by the social development model. Research has shown that teachers can improve children's attitudes towards school, behavior at school, and academic achievement through the use of effective methods of instruction and management. This project provides a way to organize risk and protective factors into causal pathways. It hypothesizes that children learn patterns of behavior, whether pro-social or antisocial, through a process that involves four constructs: perceived opportunities for involvement with others; the degree of involvement; the skills to participate in these involvements; and the rewards and costs they perceive from their performance in involvements.
In the teacher-training component of the project, teachers receive five days of in-service training to learn proactive classroom management skills, interactive teaching strategies, and cooperative learning techniques. In the child skill development component, students receive four hours of training in problem-solving, conflict resolution, and communication skills, in addition to skills in recognizing and resisting social influences to engage in problem behaviors. The parent training component teaches parents behavior management skills, academic support skills, and skills to reduce risks for drug use.
Professional Development Resources and Project Costs. Professional development and training to implement this project are composed of several parts: (1) a curriculum in cognitive and social skill training; (2) teacher training in classroom management and interactive teaching strategies; and (3) parent training through a seven-session Catch 'em Being Good workshop, a five-session Preparing for the Drug Free Years workshop, and a five-session How to Help Your Child Succeed in School workshop. The estimated cost of the combined SSDP intervention for six years is $2,991 per student. (Current costs need to be verified with the project.)
Project Quality. Reviewers found that the project clearly outlines the goals to teach pro-social skills to students through the implementation of a multiple component intervention. The goals also were found to be strongly correlated to the research about promoting a child's attachment to school and family. Reviewers stated that the research and theoretical foundation of the project provides particularly strong support for improving children's behavior at school. Skills for both the teachers and parents were found to be appropriate for the varying age groups of youth addressed in this project.
Evidence of Efficacy. Reviewers found that the project presented well-designed multiple evaluation studies using random assignment of subjects and controls as well as quasi-experimental designs. Reviewers summarized that the evaluation was excellent in terms of strong design, reliable and valid measures, appropriate data analysis, and statistically significant outcomes. The project has conducted evaluations since the mid-1980s, and interventions have focused on different age groups for different lengths of time. All of the interventions have been carefully evaluated. Reviewers found evidence of statistically significant effects in favor of the experimental group, as well as some mixed results.
Evaluation studies included an experimental pre-post control group design with 285 first and second grade students from seven schools in the experimental group and 173 first and second grade students from six of the same seven schools in the control group. After two years of intervention, experimental group males were rated less aggressive and externalizing-antisocial and females were rated less self-destructive, to a statistically significant degree. A longitudinal comparison group study with 199 fifth grade experimental students and 709 fifth grade control students showed that the intervention group students reported statistically significant less initiation of alcohol use and delinquency as compared to the control students. Additional longitudinal comparison group studies following students who received full intervention at Grades 1-6 up to the age of 18 demonstrated statistically significant outcomes in favor of experimental students on measures of childhood and adolescent problem behaviors such as aggression, violence, alcohol and drug use, delinquency, and school misbehavior.
The Seattle Social Development Project is currently being converted into a comprehensive school reform program entitled SOAR (Skills, Opportunities, and Recognition).
For Further Information Contact:
Channing Bete Company
One Community Place, South Deerfield, MA 01373-0200
Phone: 877-896-8532, Fax: 800-499-6464
E-mail: PrevSci@channing-bete.com
Web site: http://www.preventionscience.com
Students Managing Anger and Resolution Together (SMART) Team
Students Managing Anger and Resolution Together Team is recommended as a Promising Safe, Disciplined, and Drug-Free Schools program.
Program Description. Students Managing Anger and Resolution Together (SMART) Team is a multimedia program for students in Grades 5-9. It is a universal prevention program designed for use in schools by students using the software independently, either alone or in pairs. The program's goals are to increase students' repertoire of nonviolent conflict resolution strategies and anger management strategies; to decrease the incidents of violent behavior; and to increase acts of pro-social behavior.
The rationale for the program is based on the skill acquisition model of Dreyfus and Dreyfus. Skills taught in the program increase in difficulty level from novice to expert. Bandura's Social Learning Theory also underpins the program. The authors consulted with a panel of ten teenage advisors throughout the development of the program. Their input was consolidated into the composite four characters that appear throughout the modules as advisors.
SMART Team's computer instruction program uses the four teenage characters to give advice and feedback to students as they interact with scenarios and questions. Interactive interviews, cartoons, game shows, and animation are strategies through which lessons are taught about anger management, dispute resolution, and perspective taking. The modules can be used in sequence or independently, because key concepts are reinforced throughout each module of the program. The software accommodates students' learning needs at various stages of mastery. The content of SMART Team is aligned with commonly used conflict mediation curriculum and can be integrated with other violence prevention strategies a school may implement.
Professional Development Resources and Program Costs. Training needs are minimal. Students receive an initial introduction to the software and are capable of using the system independently. The major cost incurred for this program is the computer hardware necessary to run the program, but many schools already have compatible systems in place. A single-user site license, permitting the installation of the program on one stand-alone computer, is available for $195. A multi-user license, permitting installation on any number of stand-alone systems, costs $395. A network license is also available for $595. The special-edition SMART/Cool CD, incorporating three short videos from American Guidance Service, is available in sets of three CDs for $300 or 10 CDs for $595. (Current costs need to be verified with the submitter.)
Program Quality. This program was found to have clearly stated goals and a well-founded rationale. The computer format was considered by reviewers to be an appropriate format for delivery to the specified age group. The format of the modules, allowing individual or paired use, was also identified by reviewers as a positive attribute of the program. Additionally, reviewers noted that the characters in the materials positively represent many diverse types of people.
Evidence of Efficacy. SMART Team presented evidence of efficacy from two evaluation studies. The first study was an intervention-only pilot test with 81 seventh graders using a four-week pre-post test design and the Teen Conflict Survey instrument. The results were replicated in a second evaluation study using a 13-week pre-post test, matched intervention and control group design with 321 sixth, seventh, and eighth graders who had access to the SMART Team software and a control group of 195 students in the same school who did not have access. This evaluation used a survey, with scale reliability, assessing student self-reports of use of aggressive and violence-related behaviors. Evidence from the matched control group study showed that the program diminished sixth, seventh, and eighth grade students' beliefs supportive of violence and increased their self-awareness of how to handle anger situations to a statistically significant degree for the intervention group. Results of both the matched control group study and the intervention-only pilot test showed that the program increased middle school students' intentions to use non-violent strategies to a statistically significant degree for the intervention group. The intervention-only pilot test also yielded statistically significant evidence of decreased student self-reports of incidents of getting into trouble; and increased student declarative knowledge about conflict management terms and principles, self-reports of altruistic behavior, and self-knowledge of how certain behaviors could contribute to the escalation of a conflict situation.
Reviewers found that SMART Team presented an excellent evaluation, specifically in reference to overall design, outcome measures, and data analysis procedures. Reviewers concluded there were overall statistically significant effects in the long-term control group study on targeted risk and protective factors, but not on violence; although there was evidence of short-term reduction in getting into trouble in the intervention-only pilot test.
For Further Information Contact:
Kris Bosworth, The University of Arizona, Department of Educational
Leadership Smith Prevention Initiatives, College of Education
P. O. Box 210069, Tucson, AZ 85721-0069
Telephone: (520) 626-4964 or (520) 626-4350 Fax: (520) 626-6005
E-mail: boswortk@u.arizona.edu
Web site: http://www.drugstats.org
Social Decision Making and Problem Solving
Social Decision Making and Problem Solving is recommended as a Promising Safe, Disciplined, and Drug-Free Schools program.
Program Description. Social Decision Making and Problem Solving (SDM/PS) aims to establish a multi-year program of classroom-based training in social and emotional skills as part of an established elementary school curriculum. The primary goal of this program is to prevent unhealthy life decisions by providing elementary school students with foundational skills necessary to think clearly under stress and in emotional and socially complex situations. The program targets four competency areas: 1) skills linked with self-control; 2) behaviors linked with peer acceptance and the ability to work cooperatively in groups; 3) problem-solving and decision-making skills; and 4) the ability to apply social and emotional abilities in response to changing social situations and demands.
The curriculum is based on empirical evidence predictive of a wide range of later life outcomes and is used as a vehicle for integrating social and emotional learning into formalized and regulated school operations.
Social Decision Making and Problem Solving instruction is organized into three domains: readiness skills for decision making, instruction in social decision-making and social problem-solving skills, and application of social decision-making skills. The Curriculum Guide has operationalized a set of skills linked empirically with social competence and peer acceptance, and systematic skill-building procedures are used to teach course objectives. The curriculum contains a set of coordinated, sequenced, and scripted lesson materials and follow-through activities for elementary grades. Materials include a set of procedures for staff development activities, ongoing program monitoring, feedback gathering, parent and whole school involvement, and methods for evaluating effectiveness.
Professional Development Resources and Program Costs. The extent of training ranges from program "awareness" to multi-day sessions and ongoing multi-year program and school-based consultation. Fees vary between $750 and $1,550 per day, depending on time, number of trainers needed, and the specifics of the school's training needs. When travel to the adoption site is required for the trainer(s), expenses for transportation, meals and lodging for the trainer(s) must also be added to training costs. Teachers participating in the in-service training are assessed a $47 materials fee, which includes a teacher's guide, training packet, and set of classroom posters for a standard Introductory level training. Other costs of the program include release time for teachers participating in the training; and the master curriculum, which includes all reference and background information, evaluation materials, and master reproducible worksheets (only one copy needed per building). (Current costs need to be verified with the program.)
Program Quality. Reviewers found goals of the program compelling and appropriate to the population. The repetition of skills reinforces the lessons. A wide variety of real life and academic applications are made to promote internalization of skills and the transfer and generalization of skills to situations linked with the prevention of substance abuse, violence, teenage pregnancy, tobacco use, and more. Reviewers found the developmental stages of students effectively addressed, especially in the videotape materials.
Evidence of Efficacy. Reviewers found that the program evaluation showed positive changes in teachers' use of questioning to facilitate problem-solving thinking; children improved their social decision making skills; and, upon follow-up, program students reported lower use of alcohol and a decrease in several areas of conduct problem behavior. The evaluation was a quasi-experimental design study, using non-exposed students as a comparison group. Reviewers agreed that the design and data analysis were appropriate and that the measures were reliable and valid for testing this program, despite attrition-related validity issues.
SDM/PS presented several evaluation studies demonstrating evidence of efficacy, including a pre-post, control group design, that was replicated across three different districts with consistent results. The within-district control group study included 101 experimental and 99 control fourth grade students. The comparison-district group included 224 experimental and 120 comparison fourth grade students. Students who received the intervention showed increases in their ability to give competent, pro-social solutions to problem situations, ability to name characteristics of friendships, ability to know when they are upset and how to approach someone else who is upset, and statistically significant increases in the problem-solving abilities of interpersonal sensitivity, problem analysis, and planning, as measured by the Group Social Problem Solving Assessment.
A delayed control design, using the Survey of Middle School Stressors, compared no-, partial-, and full-implementation groups one year after intervention in the fifth grade. Students in the full-implementation group showed statistically significant improvement based on frequency and problem intensity measures over those in the partial- or no-implementation groups. A control group design using the National Youth Survey, Youth Self-Report, and Perceived Competence Scale for Children, followed-up at Grades 9-11 on students who had received the treatment in Grades 4 and 5. Results demonstrated statistically significant improvements, as compared to no-treatment controls, in a variety of behavioral domains, including reduction in antisocial behavior (e.g., substance use, vandalism, interpersonal violence, and self-destructive behavior), improved peer relations, and higher levels of self-efficacy.
For Further Information Contact:
Linda Bruene Butler, The University of Medicine and Dentistry
University Behavioral Health Care Institute for Quality Research and Training
335 George Street, New Brunswick, NJ 08901
Telephone: (800) 642-7762 or 732-235-9280 Fax: (732) 235-9277
E-mail: SPSWEB@UMDNJ.EDU
Web site: http://www2.umdnj.edu/spsweb/news.htm
or
Maurice Elias, The Department of Psychology, Rutgers University
53 Avenue E, Livingston Campus, Piscataway, NJ 08854-8046
E-mail: melias@rci-rutgers.edu
Web site: http://www.EQParenting.com
Teenage Health Teaching Modules (THTM)
Teenage Health Teaching Modules is recommended as a Promising Safe, Disciplined, and Drug-Free Schools program.
Program Description. Teenage Health Teaching Modules (THTM) is a comprehensive health curriculum for Grades 6-12. Students learn and practice seven essential skills for adopting and maintaining healthy behaviors: communication, decision making, goal setting, risk assessment, self-assessment, health advocacy, and healthy self-management.
The overall goal of THTM is to provide adolescents with the knowledge, attitudes, and practices necessary to improve and/or maintain their health and well-being. The hallmark of THTM is its student-centered, interactive approach to health instruction. The program also attends to students' previous knowledge and beliefs about health. THTM helps students to uncover, examine, and evaluate their own misconceptions and beliefs, and to reconcile them with accurate information, healthy behaviors, and their goals for the future. Unlike single topic health curricula, THTM provides a consistent framework for all critical adolescent health issues, including alcohol, tobacco, and other drug use, and violence prevention.
THTM was created in response to the pressing need for a comprehensive approach to secondary school health education. Single-topic health curricula tend to require several weeks or a full semester to implement, resulting in the neglect of other critical health content areas.
The THTM curriculum is a series of 23 modules grouped at three grade levels: 6 to 8, 9 to 10, and 11 to 12. Each module consists of a teacher's guide with detailed instructions for conducting classroom activities. While modules are designed to complement and reinforce one another, they can stand alone, and may be used individually.
Professional Development Resources and Program Costs. The program strongly recommends that teachers receive THTM training, which is available through certified trainers. Approximately 50 certified trainers are currently located throughout the country. Training costs for teachers range from free to $150 per teacher per workshop. Technical assistance for THTM users is available through the developer's toll-free telephone line.
A complete copy of THTM for Grades 6-12 costs $999.95, but packages can also be purchased separately for Grades 6-8 ($409.95), Grades 9-10 ($359.95), and Grades 11-12 ($284.95). Individual modules are available for $25 to $80. Photocopying of student handouts is $7.20 per student per year. (Current costs need to be verified with the program.)
Program Quality. Reviewers found the holistic nature of the program to be an asset in achieving its clearly outlined goals. This comprehensive program was also highly rated by reviewers for its rationale and its ability to integrate diversity issues into the curriculum, a real plus for overall effectiveness. The program's emphasis on the association among cognition, affect, and behavior were found to be particularly relevant to both violence prevention and substance use prevention.
Evidence of Efficacy. The evaluation study of the THTM program used a quasi-experimental, pre-post, randomized control group design, with 1,291 students in the THTM treatment group and 1,132 students in the control group. Reviewers agreed that the THTM study represented a massive evaluation of the program that used a methodologically sound design and appropriate data analysis techniques, including use of the National Adolescent Student Health Survey and multiple data analytic strategies to strengthen the study's findings.
Reviewers found sufficient evidence to conclude that the THTM program has the potential for long-term effectiveness. Positive results were observed at treatment plus four months, which was approximately one year post-baseline. Statistically significant results were demonstrated for high school students. THTM students demonstrated statistically significant increases in the percentage of seniors not smoking cigarettes and not using smokeless tobacco over a period of 30 days, and a statistically significant reduction in the mean number of cigarettes smoked and incidents of illegal drug use over a period of 30 days. Despite some concern about the attrition rate, reviewers noted that the overall numbers of participants in the study lent credence to the positive findings.
Contact Information: Erica Macheca, Center for School Health Programs, Education Development Center, Inc.
55 Chapel Street, Newton, MA 02458
Telephone: (617) 969-7100 Fax: (617) 244-3436
E-mail: EMacheca@edc.org
Web site: http://www.edc.org/thtm
The Think Time Strategy
The Think Time Strategy is recommended as a Promising Safe, Disciplined, and Drug-Free Schools program.
Program Description. The Think Time Strategy addresses disruptive behaviors in a manner that alleviates many of the problems associated with traditional classroom management approaches used in elementary school classrooms. Although Think Time Strategy was designed as a universal prevention intervention for Kindergarten to Grade 9 populations, adequate evidence of efficacy was presented only for seriously emotionally disturbed (SED) populations. The Think Time Strategy requires that two or more teachers work together and helps teachers catch disruptive behavior early. Teachers send disruptive students to a Think Time classroom where a different teacher directs the student to a Think Time desk located in an area free from distractions. That teacher initiates a debriefing process after the student has had "thinking time." The process includes a number of steps that include having the student fill out a form, having the teacher check the form, and returning the student to the original classroom.
The Think Time Strategy has five inter-related goals: to enable teachers and students to cut off a negative social exchange or power struggle over disruptive behaviors; to eliminate coercive interaction patterns between teachers and students; to initiate a positive social exchange between teachers and students; to include students in the process of addressing his or her disruptive behavior; and to decrease the variability in teachers' responses to disruptive behavior.
This strategy was developed due to concern that many of the classroom management systems or strategies used by teachers to deal with students exhibiting disruptive behaviors do not work well. Research has shown that often attempts to stop disruptive behavior not only makes things worse, but plays a key role in establishing ongoing coercive family interactions.
Professional Development Resources and Program Costs. The Think Time Strategy offers a thirty-five minute, video-based training program in order to ensure a high degree of fidelity to the program. The cost is $49.00 from Sopris/West. They can be contacted at http://www.sopriswest.com or (800) 547-6747. (Current costs need to be verified with the program.)
Program Quality. The reviewers rated this program highly for its goals, which were identified as explicit, appropriate for the intended population, and supported by research. The skills taught were found by reviewers to be congruent with the protective factors indicated by the program. According the reviewers, the program's rationale was both clearly stated and substantially documented in research and literature.
Evidence of Efficacy. Reviewers found that the evaluation used a methodologically sound research design, established the reliability and validity of the measures, used statistical analysis when possible, and tried to control for many variables in the test design, such as gender and attrition. Reviewers commented primarily on one of the three studies provided by the program. They noted that the study of severe disruptive behaviors of children with severe emotional or behavioral disorders is not applicable to all student populations, but only to the seriously emotionally disturbed (SED) population. They agreed that the evaluation results demonstrated positive effects for the SED population.
The program's three research studies used several evaluation designs including pre-post quasi-experimental, continuous intervention time series, and multiple baseline-across classrooms. Reviewers determined that convincing evidence of efficacy was evident only in the multiple baseline study. The multiple baseline study was conducted across three fully self-contained special education classrooms serving 25 students classified as seriously emotionally disturbed. The sample comprised three female and 22 male students ranging in academic grade levels from first to sixth grades. Results showed that the average number of critical events (e.g., verbal and physical aggression) decreased by 77% weekly across all three classrooms and that two of the three classrooms continued to show decreases in the number of critical events during follow-up. In addition, the average duration of estimated on-task time spent by the students increased by 34% weekly across all three classrooms and that all three classrooms continued to demonstrate increases in on-task performance during follow-up.
The pre-post comparison study conducted in elementary schools serving large numbers of students at risk for school failure showed statistically significant increases in the behavioral adjustment, school survival skills, and academic performance of the experimental students. However, reviewers determined that it was difficult to attribute these effects to the Think Time Strategy, which was one of four main components in the study, when just the implementation of a school wide effort regardless of strategy may have accounted for the effects.
For Further Information Contact:
J. Ron Nelson, University of Nebraska
Lincoln Center for At Risk Student Services
Barkley Center Lincoln, NE 68583-0738
Telephone: (402) 472-0283 Fax: (402) 472-7697
Email: rnelson8@unl.edu
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