Funded by the Office of Safe and Drug-Free Schools (OSDFS), U.S. Department of Education, the National Training and Technical Assistance Center for Drug Prevention and School Safety Coordinator Program (formerly the Middle School Coordinators) has supported the implementation of school-based prevention by full-time coordinators in public schools across the country since 1999. During these 6 years, the coordinators gained a wealth of knowledge and experience in carrying out prevention in schools. Many implemented successful prevention programs with lasting changes in challenging schools. OSDFS supported their work by providing training and technical assistance based on the latest research in planning, implementing, and sustaining prevention in schools.
This five-day facilitated event will examine the research base for prevention programs, examine how to effectively implement evidence-based programs, and draw from examples of coordinators' success in using these principles to reduce drug abuse and violence in their schools. Coordinators can use this course to familiarize key school officials, such as superintendents and principals, as well as policy makers with what can be achieved when a dedicated staff member in schools attends to the daily work of preventing drug abuse and violence in schools.
By participating in this online event you will have the opportunity to do the following:
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Before beginning Day 1, please read this page to learn the answers to the following frequently asked questions about on-line learning:
Before beginning Day 1, please read this page to learn the answers to the following frequently asked questions about on-line learning:
Conducting training on-line has numerous benefits! On-line or distance learning allows professionals working in different locations within a district, throughout a state, or even across the country to come together around a topic of interest and form a community of practitioners.
Specifically, on-line learning offers these advantages:
School-Based Prevention Works: Educational Leaders for Effective Practice is a five-part workshop designed to be completed over five days. This workshop takes a tiered approach to learning, presenting multiple levels of information, actual examples of the application of this information, and extensive additional resources. It is divided into the following sections:
Day 1:The Importance of Prevention
This session looks at the importance of, and need for, implementing effective prevention programs in schools.
Day 2: The Role of a Prevention Coordinator: Research to Practice
This session provides information on criteria for selecting evidence-based programs and examples of schools that have successfully implemented these programs.
Day 3: What Works in Prevention: Research to Practice
This session reviews characteristics of effective prevention programs and provides further examples of schools that have successfully implemented evidence-based programs.
Day 4: Step-by-Step to Prevention: Research to Practice
This session walks participants through the steps that prevention coordinators took to devise and implement a prevention plan for schools and communities.
Day 5: Sustaining Effective Prevention Programs: Research to Practice
This session examines the key issues in sustaining prevention programs and provides resources for sustaining these programs, including free courses and funding possibilities.
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Discussion Area
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Week 1: We expect that it will take you approximately one hour per day to review materials, complete activities, and contribute to the event discussion. We ask that you visit the Discussion Area at least once each day to share your ideas and experiences, as well as to review and respond to the messages posted by your fellow participants and National Center staff. If possible, it is beneficial to visit the Discussion Area more than once each day; participants in previous on-line workshops have found that more frequent visits allowed them to better monitor and contribute to the on-line discussion.
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Week 2: During the second week of this event, we encourage you to continue your exploration of event materials as well as your on-line discussion with fellow event participants. National Center staff will periodically monitor your discussion during this week, and any critical questions left unanswered by your peers will be forwarded to gang experts at two points: on Tuesday and Thursday. You will receive a response to those questions as soon as National Center staff hear back from the experts.
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Click here to print today's materials in PDF format. |
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Proceed to Day 1: The Importance of a Prevention Coordinator in Schools . |
Schools that satisfy students' basic needs benefit from students' improved attitudes and behavior. In addition to helping their students learn and grow -- academically, socially, emotionally, and ethically -- these schools also help the students avoid problems ranging from emotional distress to drug use to violence. … The mission of our public schools historically has been -- and still needs to be -- to prepare students to be productive citizens, to cultivate moral character, and to promote an appreciation of the arts and culture. Emphasizing the importance of learning along with other qualities that are essential to our society, such as fairness, concern for others, and responsibility, helps promote a shared commitment to the school's goals, establishes common ground, and shapes the norms that govern daily interactions.
Learning First Alliance (2001). Every Child Learning: |
Students cannot learn if they are distracted by problems at home or at school. They cannot do well on standardized tests if they are consumed with fear of bullying by other students. They cannot achieve if they are experimenting with drugs and alcohol, or face violence and fear at home, or have mistakenly looked for a sense of belonging through anti-social groups like gangs. Most studies agree that school failure, represented by low grade point average, is one of the most consistent risk factors for, and a major predictor of, substance abuse. Research also indicates that academic success can reduce involvement in a variety of risky behaviors that compromise students' health (Dryfoos, 1990).
"Children who are hurting cannot learn effectively, and if they aren't getting the necessary attention, their presence in schools drains energy, focus, and potential from the learning environment," writes Maurice Elias and his colleagues in School Psychology Review. "Many schools already have mandates for violence prevention, bully prevention, drug prevention, character education, and the like … often it is assumed that evidence-based programs can be `plugged in' and then work effectively. How academic, social and emotional learning intervention programs fit in with one another and with the rest of the school day matters a great deal to learners. Creating this fit takes more time to work out than one might infer from written accounts and preventions."
Elias et. al., 2003 |
Addressing these risk factors is complex and, to do it effectively, requires a comprehensive, multifaceted, and integrated approach (Adelman, 1993, 1996a, 1996b; Catalano and Hawkins, 1995; Comer, 1997; Dryfoos, 1998; Greenwald et. al., 1996; Sailor and Skrtic, 1996; Schorr, 1997). Years of research have demonstrated the critical role that schools can play in promoting the healthy development and learning of young people. Comprehensive prevention programs that combine research-based strategies targeted to a common goal have been shown to be effective in preventing violence and substance abuse among young adolescents. Safe, Supportive, and Successful Schools identifies these four key elements of a comprehensive approach:
Click here for a brief overview of several studies of interventions that have successfully prevented problem behavior and/or improved academic performance |
Although research has shown that these practices are linked to school success, few schools use such multiple strategies or research findings as the basis for selecting programs because it is difficult to find comprehensive and reliable information. Schools appear to rely on well-marketed instructional programs that have not been evaluated or shown to work.
"Despite the availability of evidence-based programs, many schools still do not use them," according to Mark T. Greenberg and colleagues in American Psychologist. For example, a study conducted by Ennett et. al. surveyed educators from a national sample of public and private schools and found that only 14 percent used interactive teaching strategies and effective content in delivering substance use prevention programming (Prevention Science, 4, 1-14). |
Nan Tobler identified the following principles of effective substance abuse prevention through a synthesis of findings of multiple studies (Tobler, 1986; Tobler, 1998; Tobler, 1993; Tobler and Stratton, 1997):
In "Youth Violence: A Report of the Surgeon General," the authors described similar findings for violence prevention programs. They also point out that the manner in which a program is implemented can have an enormous impact on its effectiveness.
"Even the best programs are effective only when implemented with high quality and fidelity to the program's design," the authors write. "In other words, using an effective strategy is only part of what is required to achieve effective results (Youth Violence, 2001)." |
The existing research supports the premise that prevention programs that are implemented with fidelity and adhere to the above cited principles of effectiveness are effective means of preventing substance abuse and violence in schools.
". … Every school must make the creation of a safe and supportive learning community one of its highest priorities. Each component of this -- safe, supportive, learning, community -- is critical."
Learning First Alliance. 2001. Every Child Learning: |
Effective prevention programs go beyond simply focusing on interventions. Your plan must be comprehensive and impact all of the elements in a school community. According to Alison Adler, this means creating a single school culture. "A Single School Culture is not a program but a way of organizing and running a school. It begins with shared norms, beliefs, values, and goals and results in agreed upon processes and procedures that produce consistency in practice. A Single School Culture results in consistency of both adult and student practices related to behavior, academics, and climate" (Adler 2005). The implementation of this approach has been shown to be an effective school-based prevention strategy.
Another essential element of effective prevention programs is that they impact the degree to which students feel connected to their schools. The National Longitudinal Study of Health, a study of 90,000 middle and high school students, also found that students who feel "connected" to school -- as measured by the strength and quality of their relationships with teachers and other students -- are more likely to have improved attitudes toward school, learning, and teachers; heightened academic aspirations, motivations, and achievement; and more positive social attitudes, values and behavior. They are also less likely to use drugs, be violent, commit suicide, or exhibit other at-risk behaviors (Resnick et. al., 1997). Others have presented similar findings (Verdugo and Schneider, 1999; Gottfredson, 2001).
Research also shows that the students' sense of school as a community is related to a number of improved outcomes, including reduced drug use, victimization, and delinquency, increased positive interpersonal attitudes, enjoyment of school, school engagement, and academic motivation (Battistich and Horn, 1997; Solomon et. al., 2000). Other studies also find evidence of reduced violence and sexual activity (O'Donnell et. al., 1995), and improved school climate, reading and math achievement, and anger control(Cook et. al., 2000).
Other aspects of school life bear similar evidence of the impact of school connectedness. Students who participate in extracurricular activities have better attendance, lower dropout rates, lower rates of drug use, higher academic achievement, and higher aspirations than nonparticipants (Brown and Theobald, 1998; Camp, 1990; Jenkins, 1996).
Well-designed prevention programs based upon the principles of effectiveness have been shown to be successful. Some examples of effective prevention efforts are the Resolving Conflict Creatively Program, Reconnecting Youth and PATHE. The Resolving Conflict Creatively Program is a K-12 school program that cultivates the social, emotional, and ethical development of children through teaching conflict resolution and intercultural understanding. Key findings from the Atlanta pilot sites of this effort include the following:
Reconnecting Youth is a school-based peer group program that builds life skills among adolescents at high risk for behavioral problems in general and drug involvement specifically. Five months after the intervention, participants in the program showed a tendency to curb their progression of drug use. In addition, fewer drug control problems and consequences were recorded. Students enrolled in the program also showed increases in grade-point averages and self-esteem, and exhibited more positive, connected relationships with teachers, friends, and family (Eggert et. al., 1994; Eggert et.al., 1995).
PATHE is a school-based delinquency prevention program that combines an environmental change approach with a direct intervention for youth at risk. A study that compared PATHE students to a control group showed similar outcomes: a decrease in delinquency and drug use; a reduction in suspension rates, significant decreases in alienation for both middle and high school students; increased attachment to school resulting in higher attendance, grades, promotion rates, and graduation rates. The study also found improvements in staff morale, school safety, and teacher-administration cooperation (Gottfredson, 1984; Hahn et. al., 1994).
The school environment and individual academic performance affect a young person's inclination to engage in risky behaviors … [and] ultimately affect his or her health and well-being. Not only do schools provide students with the solid academic foundation needed to promote future well-being, but they also help equip students with the skills that enable them to make choices about healthy lifestyles throughout life, including avoiding substances and violence.
Learning First Alliance, p. 1 |
Schools can enhance their efforts to reduce or prevent substance abuse among young people by coordinating multiple, complementary strategies that "address change not only at the individual level but also at the school, peer, family, community, and larger society levels" (Learning First Alliance, p. 1). The Middle School Drug Prevention and School Safety Program, funded by Safe and Drug Free School, U.S. Department of Education, was designed to provide this kind of support to schools.
This event looks at the importance of, and need for, implementing effective prevention programs in schools, and some key lessons learned from the Middle School Drug Prevention and School Safety Program, funded by the federal government to coordinate prevention programs in our schools. Tomorrow, we will examine the role of the coordinator as an essential mechanism for supporting the coordination and implementation of effective prevention programs. We will look at how coordinators in a variety of schools and settings were able to secure sustainable improvement using research-based principles of prevention. In the days ahead, we will draw upon research on program effectiveness and intervention, while offering the tools you need to create a coordinator position or function in your school or district. We will provide you with research, lessons learned from six years of experience, links to on-line core training and courses, as well as examples from practitioners in the field.
Click here to print today's materials in PDF format (86K). |
Discussion Questions Please think about the questions below and share your responses, comments, and/or any questions about today's material in the Discussion Area.
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This completes today's work. Please visit the Discussion Area to share your responses to the discussion questions! |
Adler, Alison. (2005). Single School Culture -- Components and Strategies for Implementation. Keynote address to the 2005 Governor's Institute for Educators. Available: http://www.center-school.org/profdev/documents/adler-backhus.pdf
Benard, B. and Marshall, K. (2001). Meta-Analyses Provide Decade of Evidence: Effective School-Based Drug Prevention Programs. Resilience Research for Prevention Programs. Minneapolis, MN: National Resilience Resource Center, University of Minnesota and the Center for the Application of Prevention Technologies. Available: http://www.cce.umn.edu/pdfs/NRRC/capt_pdf/meta-analyses.pdf
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Surveillance Summaries. May 21, 2004. Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report. 53(SS-2).
Comeau, C. (July, 2005). Personal communication.
Cuervo, A. (January, 2005). Personal communication.
Delbert, E. (2005). "Violence Prevention: What Works and What Doesn't." Keynote address to the 2005 Partnerships for Success (PfS) Evidence-based Practices Symposium.
Elias M., Zins J.E., Graczyk P.A. and Weissberg, R.P. (2003) Implementation, Sustainability, And Scaling Up of Social-Emotional and Academic Innovations in Public Schools. School Psychology Review, 32 (3), 303-319.
Ennett, S. T., Ringwalt, C. L., Thorne, J., Rohrbach, L. A., Vincus, A., Simons-Rudolph, A., & Jones, S. (2003). A comparison of current practice in school-based substance use prevention programs with metaanalysis findings. Prevention Science, 4, 1—14. Available: http://www.casel.org/downloads/AmericanPsychologist2003.pdf
Gottfredson & Gottfredson. (2002). Quality of School-Based Prevention Programs: Results from a National Survey. Journal of Research in Crime and Delinquency. 39: 3-35.
Greenberg, M.T., Weissberg, R.P., Utne O'Brien, M., Zinns, J.E, Fredericks, L., Resnick, H and Elias M. (June/July 2003) "Enhancing School-Based Prevention and Youth Development Through Coordinated Social, Emotional, and Academic Learning," American Psychologist. 58(6-7), 466-474.
Hoffman Clark & Associates, Final Evaluation Report: San Diego City Schools, Middle School Coordinator Program II, August 2004.
Ringwalt, et. al. (2002). The Prevalence of Effective Substance Use Prevention Curricula in U.S. Middle Schools. Prevention Science. 257-272.
Safe and Drug-Free Schools, U.S. Department of Education (2002). Leaving No Child Behind: Results-Based Strategies for Safe and Drug-Free Schools. Siliva, S. (July, 2005). Personal communication.
Silvia, E.S., and Thorne, J. (1997). School-based prevention programs: A longitudinal study in selected school districts. Executive Summary. Final Report. Washington, D.C.: U.S. Department of Education.
Smith, K (January, 2005). Personal communication.
Tobler, N. (1986). Meta-analysis of 143 adolescent drug prevention programs. Journal of Drug Issues 16, 537-567.
Tobler, N. (1998). Principles of effectiveness of school-based drug prevention programs:The rationale for effective peer programs. Peer Facilitator Quarterly, 15, 109-115.
Tobler, N. (1993). Updated meta-analysis of adolescent drug prevention programs. In C. Montoya, C. Ringwalt, B. Ryan, & R. Zimmerman (Eds), Evaluating School-Linked Prevention Strategies: Alcohol, Tobacco, and Other Drugs. San Diego, CA: UCSD Extension, University of California, 71-86.
Tobler, N. & H. Stratton (1997). Effectiveness of school-based drug prevention programs: A meta-analysis of the research. Journal of Primary Prevention 18 (1), 71-128.
U.S. Department of Education, National Center for Education Statistics. 2004. Crime and Safety in America's Public Schools: Selected Findings from the School Survey on Crime and Safety.
U.S. Dept. of Education, National Center for Education Statistics. Institute of Education Sciences. 2005. Indicators of School Crime and Safety: 2005. Available: http://nces.ed.gov/programs/crimeindicators/index.asp?ShowFileName=Exec_Summ.asp
U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. (2001). Youth Violence: A report of the Surgeon General. Rockville, MD: U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration. Available:http://www.surgeongeneral.gov/library/youthviolence
Weissberg, R. (January, 2005). Personal communication.
The following summaries report on a number of programs in use in public schools throughout the United States that have demonstrated success in preventing problem behavior and/or in improving academic performance.
Return to Day 1 |
"If education is going to be successful in terms of broadly educating kids, then every school or every district is going to have to have someone who acts as a prevention coordinator and pulls these pieces together. We've learned if nothing else, there are issues of academics, drugs, safety, citizenship, character, and violence prevention that schools confront. A prevention coordinator is the one who can bring all of these things together and learn how to support their effective implementation and building sustainability into school over time. This is because they think about the lengths of this work and without somebody like this, I think that it's not going to happen. That's been a valuable experiment for the government to take on. One of the lessons learned from this is that these people make an extraordinary difference in the lives of a lot of students and in the job satisfaction of teachers and professionals in the schools."
Roger Weissberg, president, Collaborative for Academic, |
A prevention program must be integrated within the fabric of the school -- with its particular characteristics, students and needs -- for it to be effective.
Fortunately, a model exists for schools to address these pressing issues of the need for effective, evidence-based prevention programs that are well implemented. At its core is a coordinator who is dedicated to the complex task of helping schools identify and employ effective solutions to the difficult problem of substance abuse and violence among youth. The results of six years of implementation of the Middle School Drug Prevention and School Safety Program, a federal program supported by the U.S. Department of Education's Office of Safe and Drug Free Schools, show that a school coordinator can significantly impact the degree to which prevention programs are effective. We will share many examples of the ways that these prevention coordinators have improved the lives of students, teachers, and staff in schools across the country.
Click here for an example of the steps one school coordinator used to develop an effective prevention plan |
" This initiative is an effective approach in part because of the demand on teachers, on administration, and on outside agencies," said Karen Smith, middle school coordinator at the Alief Independent School District in Texas. " They don't have the time and resources anymore to do this kind of advocacy work for students. And when you put a fulltime person like ourselves in these roles to research an effective program, bring together collaborative stakeholders, select a program to implement, do the inhouse training, and do the evaluation, then the kids are actually getting the prevention they may not get otherwise with the demands of standardized testing."
Personal Communication 2005 |
Our nation's schools should be a safe haven for teaching and learning and be free of crime and violence. Even though students are less likely to be victims of a violent crime at school than away from school (Indicators 1 and 2), any instance of crime or violence at school not only affects the individuals involved but also may disrupt the educational process and affect bystanders, the school itself, and the surrounding community.Indicators of School Crime and Safety: 2005 |
The federal government created the Coordinator Program to address violence and substance abuse issues in schools in a comprehensive and coordinated manner. While most of the nation's schools are safe places, some schools have serious crime and violence problems that compromise the learning environment and endanger children and teachers.
In 1999-2000, 71 percent of public elementary and secondary schools experienced at least one violent incident, according to the National Center for Education Statistics (Indicator 7: Indicators of School Crime and Safety: 2005). Serious violence is defined as rape, sexual battery other than rape, physical attacks or fights without a weapon, threats of physical attack with a weapon or robberies either with or without a weapon.) (A smaller percentage of schools experience the most serious form of violence. According to the National Center, 20 percent of public schools experienced at least one serious violent incident.)
Many schools without serious crime often experience other types of violence, such as bullying, and drug and alcohol use, that impede learning. In 1999-2000, schools were more likely to have a serious problem with student bullying than with any other discipline problem (29 percent), according to the National Center for Education Statistics. Student acts of disrespect for teachers and gang activities (19 percent each) were the second most serious problems for public schools.
Alcohol and drug use remain high among high school students. In 2003, three-fourths of students in grades 9 through 12 reported having at least one drink of alcohol, according to the Youth Risk Behavior Surveillance System in 2003. In addition, 40 percent of high school students had used marijuana one or more times during their lifetime. However, the onset of alcohol and other drug use behaviors occur before high school. In 2003, 28 percent of high school students reported that they first drank alcohol before age 13, according to the Youth Risk Behavior Surveillance System.
For decades schools have attempted to address these issues with limited success. A 1997 U.S. Department of Education sponsored study yielded some critical insights on what makes for effective prevention programming. The study, which took place between 1990 and 1995, investigated the effectiveness of school-based prevention programs. The longitudinal study examined 19 drug prevention programs undertaken by the U.S. Department of Education. The programs were funded by the Drug-Free Schools and Communities Act to expand and strengthen drug and alcohol abuse education and prevention programs in communities around the nation (the Act is now called the Safe and Drug-Free Schools and Communities Act of 1994).
Click here for detailed findings of the longitudinal study |
The 1997 U.S. Department of Education study found that the most common barrier to achieving full implementation of prevention programs was a lack of leadership by the individual assigned to coordinate the program, a situation frequently exacerbated by the coordinator having other responsibilities within the district.
As a result, program coordinators did not consistently follow through to monitor the activities being implemented in the schools. In addition, there was a lack of awareness by the program coordinators or other district administrators of the full spectrum of prevention strategies that might be employed and other district priorities interfered with prevention efforts. Another barrier to success cited was community members who did not believe there were drug problems among their youth.
Key Finding from the Study
In order to have maximum effect, the report found, coordinators should be employed full-time in drug prevention and school safety programming, be well trained, be familiar with prevention research and be careful in monitoring program implementation in the schools.
Silvia, E.S., and Thorne, J. (1997) |
"One of the aspects of program stability that appears to be key is the degree of availability of the prevention program coordinator for directing the [prevention] program," wrote Silvia and Thorne. "In the districts where prevention program coordinators were available full-time, the program was able to gather additional resources, solicit greater community involvement and afford more planning and coordinator. We also found that these districts offered more district-wide teacher training in drug prevention education. The majority of districts with full-time prevention program coordinators were among those with comprehensive prevention programs. By contrast, districts with prevention program coordinators who were available only one-quarter of their time or less for directing the program tended to have programs shaped more by availability of resources and other pragmatic reasons than by careful planning and assessment. The majority of these districts had minimal program implementation."
Silvia, E.S., and Thorne, J. (1997). School-based prevention programs: A longitudinal study in selected school districts |
Based on these findings, the U.S. Congress funded the Middle School Drug Prevention and School Safety Program in 1999. The purpose of the program was to recruit, hire, and train drug prevention and school safety program coordinators in middle schools that had significant drug, discipline, and violence problems. The federal grants funded 915 coordinators throughout the country.
The U.S. Congress reauthorized the program in 2002 as part of the No Child Left Behind legislation. Under the reauthorization, the program expanded to include individuals to serve as drug prevention and safety coordinators in elementary, middle, and high schools with significant drug and school safety problems. Approximately 150 coordinators were hired under this program. This demonstration project was designed to test and validate comprehensive prevention approaches that can be used by schools across the country.
These coordinators had no job responsibilities other than researching, implementing and evaluating prevention programs in their schools. They had the time to train teachers in new methods of classroom education and management. They had time to develop relationships with community agencies that could provide key resources to schools. They had time to evaluate the effectiveness of their programs and make any adjustments. The program was a demonstration project that was designed to test and validate comprehensive prevention approaches that can be used by schools across the country.
Click here for the history of the Safe and Drug-Free Schools Program |
Learnings from Middle School Coordinators "Isaac Litton Middle School is located in an urban area of Nashville, Tennessee. Approximately 58 percent of the students are black, 40 percent are white, and 2 percent are Hispanic/Latino. About 67 percent of the students qualify for free or reduced-price lunch. Students receive little parental and community support and present school staff with a multitude of issues. Our school was identified as in need of intervention of prevention services, based on our suspension rates and other data." "Following multiple discussions with our school principal, I mapped all of the agencies and organizations involved with our school to determine what they offered our students and where they were most successful. What I discovered was a lot of duplication. To address this issue, we formed the Related Services Team. The team, comprising our principal, service providers and myself, collectively decided that providers would focus their attention on issues identified by our needs assessment. Each agency took responsibility for a particular area/issue; this gave us the capacity to address all of our identified needs. Providers on the team support one another, and we monitor our progress monthly. As a result of our collective work, we were able to reduce out-of-school suspensions this year by more than 30 percent compared to last year. The formation of our Related Services Team has proven to be effective in our attempts to create a better learning community in our school." Raphael Crawford Source: Safe and Drug-Free Schools, U.S. Department of Education (2002). Leaving No Child Behind: Results-Based Strategies for Safe and Drug-Free Schools. |
In 1998, the Department of Education established a set of Principles of Effectiveness for all recipients of Safe and Drug-free Schools funds including the Middle School Coordinators. These Principles of Effectiveness call for grant recipients to:
All middle school and national coordinators were expected to follow those principles of effectiveness in developing, implementing and evaluating their programs.
The U.S. Department of Education awarded grants to Local Education Agencies with significant issues in drug use, drug prevention, and school safety to hire middle school and later, National Coordinators who would work in one to seven schools. They would help schools and communities start the process of implementing research-based prevention strategies.
The role of the coordinator was to:
As one middle school coordinator put it, "Some schools already have some specific ideas in mind and are ready to implement strategies, but maybe just need a catalyst to get things going. That's where you [the coordinator] come in."
"What's unique about this program is that often federal grants do not specify a job description [for key staff]," said Amalia Cuervo, program officer, Office of Safe and Drug-Free Schools, U.S. Department of Education. "… This grant, which was in excess of $120 million over the last five years, came with prescribed job description for the coordinators. In retrospect, that was really useful. It was very helpful to the districts to have the expectations so clearly laid out. The job description is based specifically on principles of effectiveness." |
Coordinators could not provide any direct services. Instead, they were to spearhead the development and implementation of a comprehensive prevention plan tailored to their schools' needs. The coordinators also had access to intensive technical assistance that was provided by the Department of Education, Office of Safe and Drug-Free Schools. That assistance included:
The training events were constantly updated and improved based on feedback from the coordinators. Shortly after the project began, experienced coordinators were asked to share their "lessons learned" with new coordinators. Through this process a cadre of prevention specialists who were truly experts in this field was developed.
Click here for example of training |
All of this training, including the 40-hour core training, is currently available at ww.k12coordinator.org for any school or district to use. This represents a rich resource of information on prevention programming that you may choose to access.
Learnings from Middle School Coordinators "I have been able to start partnerships at my seven schools by attending their student assistance team meetings. This is where the names of students in trouble, either emotionally or academically, are discussed. On these teams are teachers, principals, counselors, etc. It has been very effective for me to be able to suggest different programs that are available within the community for that student and/or the students' parent to attend. I also help this committee identify what programs for student success they have within their own school. It has been an eye-opener for both school personnel and community leaders to learn just what is available for students from both arenas." Ruth Ann Wilson, Middle School Coordinator |
Researchers at the Research Triangle Institute (RTI) are conducting a five-year national evaluation of the role and impact of middle school coordinators on drug and violence prevention programs. The study has three main objectives. They are to:
Investigate the extent to which middle school coordinators improves prevention programming.
Document the process, extent and quality of implementation so it may be replicated in other districts.
Determine if improved programming also leads to improved program outcomes for youth drug use and school safety.
The evaluation consisted of three parts:
An implementation study that describes the overall implementation of the middle school coordinator program across all districts. Evaluators used an annual web-based survey of Middle School Coordinators and their supervisors.
A matched comparison study that assesses program outcomes over three years in districts with and without the Middle School Coordinator program. The sample included 30 randomly selected Middle School Coordinator districts from the 2000 group and 30 comparison districts. The evaluators collected data annually that included seventh grade student surveys on attitudes and behaviors related to substance abuse and school safety. They also conducted staff surveys and collected incidents of violence and disciplinary actions.
A case study that takes an in-depth look at 10 Middle School Coordinators sites to describe successful strategies and barriers to implementation. Evaluators conducted interviews and focus groups with coordinators, school staff, parents and community representatives.
The results of the evaluation have not been released; however, researcher Suyapa Silvia provided the following preliminary findings:
According to 59 percent of school staff surveyed, the middle school coordinators influenced prevention programs to change their curricula. Fifty-three percent of school staff said that the coordinators influenced them to change the priority given to prevention and 43 percent said that the coordinators increased the fidelity of curriculum delivery as a result of the training and support from the coordinators.
Silvia also carried out a case study of 10 middle school sites.
"Anecdotal data from the case studies indicate that there was a lot of enthusiasm from the principals for these coordinators," she said. "The principals saw a lot of improvement in the programs with respect to what was taught, how much was taught, how the teachers were educated, and how parents were involved. Administrators liked the fact that coordinators were, for the first time, bringing all the needs and information together, conducted assessments and tailored the programs to fit the school. Without a coordinator, they couldn't do it." |
Further evidence of the impact of the coordinators' work is the decision by principals and superintendents across the country to continue funding the positions once federal funding ended. In Anchorage, Alaska, Alief, Texas, Denver, Colo., Madison, Wisc. and Palm Beach County, Florida, among many other sites, coordinators have been hired by their school districts or continued their work with other grant funding obtained by the district. In Anchorage, Alaska two of the coordinators have been hired by the school district to work district wide. One will focus on bullying prevention and the other will work with helping non-English speaking parents, and their children, feel more connected to the schools. Superintendent Carol Comeau said it is vital for school districts to have a prevention coordinator
San Diego Study Finds Positive Change with Coordinators
A 2004 study by Hoffman Clark & Associates of the San Diego Schools Middle School Coordinator Program found that:
The authors stated, &Both the numbers and subjective data are evidence of positive change that has occurred at the sites where middle school programs were conducted.& This study has also provided evidence that the placement of a designated prevention counselor at high risk middle schools can impact suspensions and safety outcomes. Source: Hoffman Clark & Associates, Final Evaluation Report: San Diego City Schools, Middle School Coordinator Program II, August 2004. |
Based on the early results of the national evaluation of the Middle School Coordinator Program, these individuals have had a positive impact on drug and safety prevention programs in local school districts. This evidence is supported by the fact that a number of school districts have found the coordinators to be such a valuable resource that they have funded the positions with either their own funds or other grant support.
One of the critical functions the coordinators have provided is conducting a needs assessment to gather data to support the development of individualized prevention programs. In Day 3, we will look at the critical role a needs assessment plays in the successful development of a prevention plan and the characteristics of effective programs.
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Discussion Questions Please think about the questions below and share your responses, comments, and/or any questions about today's material in the discussion Area.
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Cheek, J. (July 2005). Personal communication.
DeVoe, J.F., Peter, K., Noonan, M., Snyder, T.D., and Baum, K. (2005). Indicators of School Crime and Safety: 2005 (NCES 2006–001/NCJ 210697). U.S. Departments of Education and Justice. Washington, DC: U.S. Government Printing Office. Available: http://nces.ed.gov/pubs2006/2006001.pdf
Greenberg, M.T., Weissberg, R.P., Utne, O'Brien, M, Zins, J.E., Fredericks, L., Resnick H., and Elias, M.J. (June/July 2003). Enhancing School-Based Prevention and Youth Development Through Coordinated Social, Emotional, and Academic Learning. American Psychologist, 58(6/7), 466-474.
Henry, S. (2000). What Is School Violence? An Integrated Definition. Annals of the American Academy of Political and Social Science, 567: 16-29.
Hill, P. (May 2005). Personal communication.
Osher, D. (January 2005). Personal communication.
Osher, D., Dwyer, K., and Jackson, J. (2004). Safe, Supportive and Successful Schools, Step by Step. Longmont, Colorado: Sopris West Educational Services.
Payne, A.A., Gottfredson, D.C., and Gottfredson, G.D. (2003). Schools as Communities: The Relationship Between Communal School Organization, Student Bonding, and School Disorder. Criminology, 41: 749-778.
Quinn, K. School-based Strategies for Meeting the Needs of Socially and Emotionally Challenged Children and Youth.
Safe and Sound: An Educational Leader's Guide to Evidence-Based Social and Emotional Learning Programs. (2003). Collaborative for Academic, Social, and Emotional Learning.
Siliva, S. (July, 2005). Personal communication.
Smith, K. (April 2005). Personal communication.
Wilson, Ruth Ann. (May 2005). Personal communication.
"Here are some effective strategies we have used to implement prevention programs at our middle school:
Source: Safe and Drug-Free Schools, U.S. Department of Education (2002). Leaving No Child Behind: Results-Based Strategies for Safe and Drug-Free Schools.
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A 1997 longitudinal study of 19 prevention programs undertaken by the U.S. Department of Education noted these key findings:
While all school districts conducted informal assessments of their programs periodically, fewer than half conducted and responded to the evidence of more formal evaluations in selecting or altering programs.
Source: Silvia, E.S., & Thorne, J. (1997). School-based prevention programs: A longitudinal study in selected school districts. Executive Summary. Final Report. Washington, DC: U.S. Department of Education.
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The Office of Safe and Drug-Free Schools (OSDFS) in the U.S. Department of Education is one of the most important incubators of effective school-based prevention and health promotion programming today. OSDFS has its roots in the Safe and Drug-Free Schools and Communities (SDFSC) program, first authorized by Congress in 1986 as a response to alarmingly high rates of alcohol and other drug use among children and youth. Previously, the Department had funded only technical assistance activities related to drug prevention, at a total of about $3 million annually.
Through the SDFSC program, the Department made grants totaling $200 million in fiscal year 1987, the first year of funding. The amount increased steadily, reaching $624 million in fiscal year 1992.
In 1994, the SDFSC program was reauthorized as part of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act (ESEA). The most significant change was the inclusion of violence prevention activities and a focus on school safety. As noted by OSDFS Associate Deputy Under Secretary William Modzeleski in testimony to Congress in 1999, "Since many of the issues related to drug and violence prevention are interrelated, the revised [program] was intended to have school districts develop integrated programs that addressed student `risk factors' that cut across alcohol and other drug use as well as violent behavior."
With expanded funding and grant-making came a growing emphasis on program accountability. Especially significant in setting program accountability standards was the publication in June 1998 of the program's "Principles of Effectiveness." These principles require grant recipients to use objective data to identify their needs, establish measurable goals for their programs, implement programs of demonstrated effectiveness, and assess their progress toward achieving their goals. Throughout, the emphasis is on high-quality programs and results.
Another step in the program's evolution occurred in September 2002 when the Department announced the formation of a successor to the OSDFSC. According to Secretary of Education Rod Paige, OSDFS was designed to bring together into a single unit programs that were previously scattered among several different offices. "Folding all programs that deal with safety, health, and citizenship into one office will enable us to better respond to the critical needs of schools in these areas and also help us to develop a broad-based, comprehensive strategy," Paige said.
The 2005 proposed federal budget includes $838.9 million for OSDFS programs. Of this, $440.9 million is slated for SDFSC State Grants to provide sustained support for drug and violence prevention programs in school districts and communities throughout the country. Among the many different programs administered directly by OSDFS, especially noteworthy in relation to social and emotional learning are the Safe Schools/Healthy Students Initiative, which OSDFS carries out in partnership with the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA) and the Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention (OJJDP); the Mentoring Program, which pairs at-risk youth with older mentors, a strategy that has been proven effective in many different settings; and the Character Education and Civic Education programs, which support activities to help students understand, care about, and act on core ethical and citizenship values.
The scope of all the OSDFS programs far exceeds the limitations of this article. For more details, go to http://www.ed.gov/about/offices/list/osdfs/programs.html.
Source: Collaborative for Academic, Social, and Emotional Learning. (June 2004) e-newsletter.
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The workshops start with a discussion of the schools' role in effective prevention: Schools should serve as the hub of community prevention activities for youth, rather than try to solve these problems on their own. To illustrate the concept of school-linked approaches, the trainers offer a collection of scenarios like this one:
"Most parents only think about prevention issues at the time of a crisis, but typically prevention coordinators are not working in crisis situations," said Yvette Lamb, former director of training for the National Training Center for coordinators. "The coordinators can raise awareness about prevention and help improve school and community connections. What better place for schools and communities to come together than on creating safe and drug-free schools?"
In helping the coordinators prepare for their job, the training manual lists three levels of change:
Changing Individual BehaviorSocial and thinking skills education for all students
Early identification, referral, and intervention for students and parents at risk
Safe and supervised alternative activities for students at risk
Classroom restructuring for more engaging and interactive education environments
School-community collaboration in program design and delivery
Clear school policies to deter substance use and violence that can be integrated into more general school reform efforts
Enforcement of school policies, with clear reward structure and unambiguous sanctions
Schoolwide communication campaigns to influence school norms about substance use and violence
Community policies to limit availability of alcohol, tobacco, other drugs, and weapons in the community
Enforcement of community policies to limit youth access to alcohol, tobacco, other drugs, and weapons
Community-wide communication campaigns to influence community norms about substance use and violence
Source: Bridging Schools and Communities: National Training Center for middle school drug prevention and school safety coordinators. (Fall 2001). Mosaic, Education Development Center, Newton, Mass. 3, (2).
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"Implementing a … prevention project is like taking a trip. You need to know where you are going, why you are going there, and the best route to take to reach your destination. A careful, thorough needs assessment is the road map for change and provides the basis for a strategic plan which addresses specific problems … in the community. The needs assessment process helps … determine the nature and extent of the … problem in a community and how the problem is perceived among diverse groups. Without a needs assessment, a strategic plan is really just a best guess. A strategic plan based on a comprehensive needs assessment can become a roadmap for change." NHTSA. (2001). Community How to Guide on Needs Assessment and Strategic Planning |
Every effective prevention program started with a needs assessment of the target school and local community. Needs assessments is an essential part of the planning process. A needs assessment is a way of taking a systematic look at the issues facing a school and community. Through this process, information can be gathered from many sources to identify the issues to be addressedand the resources that might be used to support the implenattion strategy. An assessment can include gathering existing data, such as school offenses and suspensions. It provides objective data to problems that people might sense but not have the evidence to support. The assessment also may reveal issues that team members had not been aware of. Assessments also often include surveys of students, faculty and school administrators as well as focus groups. Many times, coordinators meet with community officials who may have access to key data or have conducted their own needs assessments. Police departments will have data on youth offenses and agencies such as the YMCA or Boys and Girls Clubs may have conducted their own youth needs assessments that could be relevant for this work. The results of a needs assessment may reveal issues that team members have not been aware of.
A needs assessment:
Defines the nature and extent of substance abuse problems
Identifies populations and/or neighborhoods statistically associated with the problem
Identifies the underlying risk and protective factors of the identified population/ group/neighborhood
Leads to a plausible theory (or theories) of change that, matched to the appropriate program(s), should reduce or prevent substance abuse (SAMHSA, 2003, Pathways to Effective Programs and Positive Outcomes)
Why conduct a needs assessment? Click here to learn more about this critical first step |
David Osher, principal investigator of the National Coordinators Program says, "[Prevention planning] has to be data driven. It can't just be `here are good programs'. It's 'here are the needs'. People really do need to be able to go beyond opinion and they have to be able to look at numbers so they are choosing the right programs and strategies. And then they have to monitor what they're doing to know that they're both doing it correctly and having an impact." |
For more information on needs assessments see online courses "Using Existing Data in Your Needs Assessment" and "Identifying Prevention Priorities and Strategies for Success" |
In "What Works in Prevention," Maury Nation and colleagues reviewed reviews of prevention programs of four areas-substance abuse, risky sexual behavioral, school failure, and juvenile delinquency and violence). From their review, they identified principles related to program characteristics of effective prevention programs. Those characteristics are:
"Comprehensive. This means providing multiple interventions to address the target problem in multiple settings. For instance, Hawkins and Catalano argued that drug prevention programs should address risk and protective factors across domains or settings (e.g., community, family, school, peer group) that have primary influence on the participants.
Varied Teaching Methods. Students need some type of active, skills-based component in preventive interventions. Effective prevention programs involve interactive instruction and provide hands-on experiences that increase the participants' skills. The National Institute on Drug Abuse concluded that programs that prevent alcohol and drug use help participants develop resistance skills, including the ability to be assertive and effectively communicate around issues related to drug use.
Sufficient Dosage. Participants need to be exposed to enough of the intervention for it to have an effect. Aspects of dosage include the session length, number of sessions, spacing of sessions, and the duration of the total program. In addition to initial exposure to the intervention, effective interventions generally include some type of follow-up or booster sessions to support durability of impact.
Theory Driven. This principle refers to the need for scientific justification of a preventive intervention. Although this principle may seem basic, an examination of actual prevention programs used in many communities and schools indicates that it is sometimes overlooked. Two types of theories that play a role in prevention programming are etiological theories and intervention theories. Etiological theories focus on the causes (e.g., risk or protective factors and processes) of the targeted problem. Intervention theories are focused on the best methods for changing these etiological risks.
Positive Relationships. Providing opportunities for children to develop strong, positive relationships was consistently associated with positive outcomes. Reviews of substance abuse prevention emphasized the necessity to have strong connections between children and significant others (including peers, teachers, community members) as a way of preventing drug use. The reviews support the idea that it is critical for children to have a strong relationship with at least one adult."
The authors also identified principles related to matching the program with a target population. Those principles were:
"Appropriately Timed. Interventions should be time to occur in a child's life when they will have maximal impact. Unfortunately, many programs tend to be implemented when children are already exhibiting the unwanted behavior or when the programs are developmentally less relevant to the participants. Early intervention allows programs to have a chance to affect the developmental trajectory of the problem behavior. This suggests that the elementary school to middle school transition may be an importance window for intervention.
Socioculturally Relevant. The relevance of prevention programs to the participants appears to be a primary concern in producing positive outcomes. Culturally tailoring prevention programs goes beyond surface structure language translation to deep structure modifications sensitive to cultural factors that influence development and receptiveness to the intervention."
Finally, the authors identified principles related to implementation and evaluation of prevention programs. Those principles were:
"Outcome Evaluation. The evaluation of prevention programs is necessary to determine program effectiveness. Otherwise, practitioners may assume that a program is effective on the basis of anecdotal or case study evidence. As evaluation has become more common, the results indicate that many programs that are anecdotally believed to be successful may actually not be effective.
Well-Trained Staff. A high-quality, research based program can produce disappointing results in dissemination field trials if the program providers are poorly selected, trained, or supervised. The implementation of prevention programs is enhanced when the staff members are sensitive, are competent, and have received sufficient training, support, and supervision."
Following are two case studies which illustrate how school coordinators used these principles when they chose and implemented prevention programs in their schools.
"This program has made the school safer. Kids feel better about coming to school. If they have an issue it's going to be dealt with. Everyone is talking the same language. They know what bullying is. They know it's unacceptable. Kids want to come to this school and teachers want to work here and that wasn't always the case." Lisa Pisciotta, K-12 National Coordinator,
Denver Public Schools
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When coordinator Lisa Pisciotta conducted a needs assessment at Kunsmiller Middle School in Denver, she learned that students, teachers and parents were most concerned with school safety and substance abuse. Fights were common and almost half of the students said that their peers picked on others because they were different.
"People want to feel good about the schools they are working in," Pisciotta said. "Without gaining information about the population it's difficult to say that we need bullying prevention or we need drug and alcohol prevention. But if we have data that says that 50 percent of the kids are being bullied that helps move faculty and administrators along." |
The school administration decided to implement programs that were both evidence-based and shown to be effective with the Latino population. They chose the Olweus Bullying Prevention Program, which attempts to restructure the existing school environment to reduce opportunities and rewards for bullying. The efforts are directed toward improving peer relations and making the school a safe and positive place for students to learn and develop. School staff is largely responsible for introducing and implementing the program.
Pisciotta coordinated the development of an Olweus Bullying Prevention committee that consisted of the principal, assistant principal, student advisors, nurse, social worker, psychologist, counselor, teachers and herself.
Click here for more information on the Olweus Bullying Prevention program. |
Committee participants at Kunsmiller Middle School held a kick-off for students to discuss issues related to bullying and to informing them that a new program was being implemented at their school. All students signed a pledge during the kick-off agreeing to not bully their fellow students. The students' pledge was laminated and placed in the main entrance of the school. Kunsmiller also had a kick-off for parents and members of the community. At this meeting administration discussed bullying and informed parents that they were beginning the Olweus Bullying Prevention program to counteract bullying issues at the school. In addition, school rules against bulling were posted throughout the entire building. All Health teachers began implementing the program by utilizing discussion, video and role playing in their classroom. Also, all teachers began conducting individual interventions with bullies and victims. In addition, the administration secured the school's "hotspots" with increased supervision. Those areas include the locker rooms, hallways, stairways, and the adjacent park. The Bullying Prevention committee also met once a month to discuss specific reports of students who were found to bully and those who were victimized. Plans and strategies were generated to support both groups of students.
The survey results showed that after one year of implementing the program, bullying had decreased significantly. The survey results showed a seven percent decrease in verbal bullying, an 8 percent decrease in physical bullying and an 11 percent decrease in relational bullying from 2002-2003 to 2003-2004.
Following the needs assessment, Pisciotta and her colleagues also decided to implement the Life Skills Training program to support substance abuse prevention. The program focuses on preventing tobacco, alcohol and drug abuse among adolescents. It addresses a range of risk and protective factors by teaching young people general personal social skills in combination with drug resistance skills and education. Every student participates in the program through their physical education class. The 2003-2004 pre- and post-survey showed a significant increase in overall knowledge, drug-related knowledge, and life skills knowledge. There was also a significant decrease in pro-drinking and pro-marijuana attitudes.
Click here for more information on the Life Skills Training program |
In addition to the universal interventions, Pisciotta oversaw interventions directed at specific groups who may be a higher risk for problems with violence and substance abuse. The school implemented the Aggression Replacement Training (A.R.T.) in the Special Education and Alternate classrooms. The program focuses on skill building, anger-control training and training in moral reasoning. The program also works with parents and family members in a parent empowerment component. Key findings from the A.R.T. program showed that teachers in the Special Education classroom went from mainstreaming none of their students to having every student mainstreamed into at least one regular classroom. Similar results took place in the Alternative classroom.
Click here for more information on ART |
With another grant, Pisciotta brought in a full time substance abuse counselor, to work with students who were caught in school with drugs or alcohol. Another program, the Kunsmiller Middle School Mentoring Program works with ECCOS (Ethnic Counseling Community Outreach Services) Family Center, which is a non-profit organization operating throughout Metro Denver. Volunteers from ECCOS work as mentors for the students who need some extra support.
Click here for more information on the ECCOS program. |
Pisciotta, who had previously worked at a mental health agency, said that it took a while for teachers and administrators to understand her role. She also had to step back from her inclination to do everything and let teachers and staff take on key responsibilities. It was critical that they do so because her job was only funded for three years. She sent an assistant principal to training on the bullying program and found funding to support him and others to take on extra duties. With the training and support, he will be prepared to oversee the program, she said.
As a result of the prevention work, Kunsmiller was recognized with a visit by the then Attorney General Ken Salazar (now a U.S. Senator) to speak to the students and spotlight the success of implementing the Olweus Bulling Prevention Program. Pisciotta said that the success of that and other programs has helped her receive additional grants including a $300,000 three-year grant from the Colorado Trust. The school has also received a $100,000 grant from Catholic Charities to partner with it in running an after school program. Before the coordinators program, the school did not have these grants or the recognition for its prevention efforts, Pisciotta said.
"As we get grants and become known throughout the state, people are coming to us and knocking on the door saying that they'd like to partner with us," Pisciotta said. |
Through the grants, Pisciotta is sustaining much of the work begun under the coordinators initiative. She also spearheaded a successful effort to have the bullying program, Life Skills and other prevention program include in the school improvement plan. The school board voted to approve their inclusion in the plan. In addition, she has cultivated champions of this work among school administrators and teachers. All of those efforts make it likely that the work will continue.
Lessons learned: Empower others to take ownership of programs so they will continue without the coordinator. |
In Tahlequah, Oklahoma, a simple box might have saved many lives. Fred Poteete, the former middle school coordinator there, learned through his needs assessment that bullying was a major problem in the school there. As part of the anti-bullying work, he installed a drop box for students to report anything that felt unsafe to them anonymously. While some of the reports were false, 90 percent checked out, he said. Poteete or his colleagues checked the box several times a day. One day, four students left notes saying that a new student was planning to bring a weapon to school. With that information, school officials went to the student who expressed relief that they had found out before he could have done anything dangerous, Poteete said.
Poteete also worked with teachers to design a referral form for them to fill out when they see bullying. Before, the teachers never had such a clear and simple way to report bullying. By asking for teachers' input into the design of the form, Poteete won their support.
Students also filled out aerial maps of the school campus that showed "hot spots" where they felt unsafe. They also used the maps to report where tobacco and drug use took place. The results were eye-opening. For example, a student said that in a special education classroom, a student was hitting another behind a cabinet while the teacher stood outside the door. When she learned about this she changed her position and the bullying stopped. Students even added locations not on the maps, such as buses and the athletic building where bullying was taking place. Administrators learned that in the athletic building while the coaches were in their offices talking, seventh grade boys were getting harassed as they got dressed by eighth grade boys. The survey also yielded other useful information, such as where students were getting cigarettes and smokeless tobacco.
Poteete and his colleague also implemented a formal anti-bullying program. They started with one and then moved on to Aggressors, Victims and Bystanders, which they felt had more of a track record and was more empathy based, which the junior high needed.
"On my first day of a school a girl dropped her books and nobody stopped to help her," Poteete said. "Everybody just walked around her. Then about a year later [after the bullying program had been implemented] a kid dropped her tray and other kids stopped and helped her pick things up. That never would have happened earlier." |
Poteete and other coordinators emphasize that any prevention program must meet the particular needs of a school. For his school, an empathy-based training was critical because that was lacking among the students. Another school that tackles bullying may need a different emphasis. Schools in the same district might have different needs or be at different stages of readiness to take on prevention programming. Coordinators working in multiple schools need to keep that in mind.
Poteete has been educator for 27 years in Tahlequah, working as a teacher, assistant principal and coach. Lately, he has been filling in as a bus driver to relieve a shortage in the community. He knows the community well, which has helped him in his job. Tahlequah is the western capital of Cherokee Nation and two-thirds of the students are Native American. Most of the rest of the students are white.
The comprehensive anti-bullying program led to a drop in incidents of bullying and an increase in reporting in bullying. It was so successful that the Tahlequah school board passed a measure mandating bullying program in all of its schools. The work also drew the attention of State Senator Herb Rozell who once taught in Tahlequah public schools. He co-authored the School Bullying Prevention Act. Passed in 2002, the law requires all Okalahoma school districts to come up with policies and programs to prevent harassment, intimidation and violence.
To combat drug use, Poteete also implemented the drug prevention programs Project Alert and Life Skills training to combat drug use.
Click here for more information on Project Alert. |
Several coordinators are continuing to do this work in other school positions. One is funded through a drug free communities grant. Others have been absorbed by the school in other positions, such as student advocate.
Lessons learned: Find out where kids spend time outside of school and work with those adults to continue prevention messages, such as anti-bullying. |
At the heart of the coordinator program is the reliance on prevention programs that have been validated by research. Coordinators were required to use prevention programs that were on the U.S. Department of Education's list of exemplary or promising programs. All had been shown to be effective in research studies.
Among the key prevention strategies that have been favorably evaluated are:
For more information on needs assessments see online courses Selecting Research-Based Prevention Programs for Your School |
How do you know which strategies and programs are right for your community? You have to do a feasibility study that considers more than just the cost of implementing the program. Your study should look at outcomes, costs, adaptability, and technical assistance available.
Outcomes -- Will it work with your students and staff? Which risk factors are targeted? Is there evidence that this program has worked in communities similar to yours?
Costs -- What are the actual costs involved in implementing this program? Factor in the cost of materials, consultants, additional staff, and staff time. Check with other coordinators to find out what the real bottom line is.
Adaptability -- Can this program be modified to better fit your program's needs without rendering the program ineffective? Key program components should not be modified.
External Support -- How readily can you get support from program developers, technical assistance centers, state department staff, and others who have been trained to implement the program? (Osher et. al., p. 122)
In 1998, a panel of experts comprised of nationally recognized researchers, practitioners, and technical assistance providers, identified these six criteria for selecting programs:
Finally, Nation et. Al. identified well-trained staff as key to the successful implementation, adaptation, and fidelity of evidence-based prevention programs:
"It's very important for future prevention efforts in schools to learn from the wealth of experience that these coordinators have lived and have experienced. As the program has evolved we've gotten higher and higher quality professionals who have taken the job of coordinators. And they are so convinced that after doing the job that without them in their schools there would be a higher incidence of drugs, a higher incidence of fights and more discipline referrals." Amalia Cuervo, U.S. Department of Education |
Tomorrow we'll look at professional development from both sides -- what coordinators needed to learn and what they needed to share with their prevention teams -- and how that impacted their program implementation.
Click here to print today's materials in PDF format. |
Discussion Questions Please think about the questions below and share your responses, comments, and/or any questions about today's material in the Discussion Area.
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This completes today's work. Please visit the Discussion Area to share your responses to the discussion questions! |
Nation, M., Crusto, C., Wandersman, A., Kumpfer, K. Seybolt, D., Morrissey-Kane E., and Davino, K. (June/July 2003) What Works in Prevention: Principles of Effective Prevention Programs, American Psychologist. 58(6/7): 425-432.
National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA). (2001). Community how to guide needs assessment and strategic planning. Available: http://www.nhtsa.dot.gov/people/injury/alcohol/Community%20Guides%20HTML/ Book2_NeedsAssess.html#app1
Osher, David, Dwyer, Kevin, & Jackson, Stephanie. (2004). Safe, Supportive, and Successful Schools Step by Step. Colorado: Sopris West.
Pisciotta, L. (April, 2005). Personal communication.
Poteete, F. (April, 2005). Personal communication.
To document evidence of need. Let's say that parents in your community are very concerned about the use of psychedelics, cocaine, or heroin, but your needs assessment shows that more young people are using tobacco, alcohol, and marijuana. Your argument for selecting a prevention program that addresses smoking will be much more compelling if you can back it up with data.
To highlight key issues that are particular problems in your community or district, and target prevention efforts to those at risk. You may find out that underage drinking rates are higher in your community than in similar locales or in the state as a whole, or that more students in your community than in other locales begin using alcohol in the sixth grade.
To identify potential barriers to implementing research-based programs. You may discover, for example, that your superintendent is committed to continued implementation of a particular prevention program that is not based on research, but which has been part of the school system's curriculum for many years.
To determine if your community is ready to address a given problem. For example, you may learn that parents in the community are unwilling to acknowledge that substance abuse or violence is a problem among their children. If this is the case, you will need to spend time educating parents, as well as their children, if your program is to succeed.
To promote community buy-in to your prevention initiative. The school and community members you meet and connect with throughout the assessment process are your future partners in prevention. Engaging people in the process of collecting information about your community's needs will motivate and better prepare them to make decisions about which prevention strategies or programs should be selected to meet those needs.
As a baseline for evaluation. Assessment data lets you track behavior change over time and monitor the impact of your prevention efforts.
To mobilize the community. Carefully presented assessment data can be used to heighten awareness among community members of the extent and types of drug- and violence-related problems facing local youth. Local data, in particular, can be a powerful tool for mobilizing your community to address problems (perhaps even more effective than similar data about state or national populations.) Community members with a clear understanding of your findings are more likely to actively support and participate in prevention activities.
Source: Middle School Coordinator’s online course,"Using Existing Data in Your Needs Assessment." http://www.k12coordinator.org/
onlinece/onlineevents/assessment/id81.htm
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In 1983, after three adolescent boys in northern Norway committed suicide, most likely as a consequence of severe bulling by peers, the country's Ministry of Education commissioned Professor Dan Olweus to conduct a large-scale research project on bully/victim problems. His work led to the creation of the Olweus Bullying Prevention Program. The program has been implemented and evaluated at a number of sites in the U.S.
The program, which can be used in elementary, middle or high schools, attempts to restructure the existing school environment to reduce opportunities and rewards for bullying. All students participate in most aspects of the program, while students identified as bullying others or as targets of bullying receive additional individual interventions. Core components of the program are implemented at the school, classroom, and individual levels.
School-level components include-Formation of a Bullying Prevention Coordinating Committee
Distribution of an anonymous student questionnaire assessing the nature and prevalence of bullying
Training for committee members and staff
Development of a coordinated system of supervision
Adoption of school-wide rules against bullying
Development of appropriate positive and negative consequences for students' behavior
Holding staff discussion groups related to the program
Involvement of parents
Reinforcement of school-wide rules against bullying
Holding regular classroom meetings with students to increase knowledge and empathy
Informational meetings with parents
Interventions with children who bully
Interventions with children who are bullied
Discussions with parents of involved students
A number of sites also are implementing community-level components, such as: convening meetings with community members, incorporating anti-bullying messages and strategies in youth-related activities in the community (including recreational activities, scouting, and after-school programs).Results of the program include:
A 30 to 70 percent reduction in students reports of being bullied and bullying others.
Significant reductions in student reports of general antisocial behavior (e.g., vandalism, fighting, theft, and truancy).
More positive attitude toward school work and school.
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The LifeSkills Training program consists of three major components that cover the critical domains found to promote drug use. Research has shown that students who develop skills in these three domains are far less likely to engage in a wide range of high-risk behaviors. The three components include:
Drug Resistance Skills enable young people to recognize and challenge common misconceptions about tobacco, alcohol and other drug use. Through coaching and practice, they learn information and practical ATOD (Alcohol, Tobacco, and Other Drug use) resistance skills for dealing with peers and media pressure to engage in ATOD use.
Personal Self-Management Skills teach students how to examine their self-image and its effects on behavior; set goals and keep track of personal progress; identify everyday decisions and how they may be influenced by others; analyze problem situations, and consider the consequences of each alternative solution before making decisions; reduce stress and anxiety, and look at personal challenges in a positive light.
General Social Skills teach students the necessary skills to overcome shyness, communicate effectively and avoid misunderstandings, initiate and carry out conversations, handle social requests, utilize both verbal and nonverbal assertiveness skills to make or refuse requests, and recognize that they have choices other than aggression or passivity when faced with tough situations.
Source: www.lifeskillstraining.com
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Aggression Replacement Training is a program for aggressive adolescents and young children that is administered by teachers or school counselors. The program seeks to enhance interpersonal skills, self-mediated ability to control anger and a youth's concern for rights and needs of others.
The goal of the program is to improve psychological skill competence, anger control and moral reasoning and social problem -solving skills. The intervention consists of skill streaming, anger-control training, and training in moral reasoning. Skill streaming utilizes modeling, role-playing, performance feedback and generalization training to teach the curriculum of pro-social skills. The rationale behind the program is to arm students with whatever is needed to behave in constructive , non aggressive and still-satisfying ways in school, at home and in the community. Many youths are skilled in fighting, bullying and intimidating , harassing, and manipulating others. However they frequently have inadequate skills in more socially desirable behaviors such as negotiating differences, dealing appropriately with accusations, and responding effectively to failure, teasing, rejection or anger. The curriculum has been offered in a variety of lengths and each session include skill streaming,anger-control training and training in moral reasoning. The program has been implemented in schools and delinquency and mental health settings. Evaluation demonstrated decreasing anger levels in response to minor anger-provoking situations and increasing pro-social skills and social skills knowledge.
Source: Virginia Best Practices in School-Based Violence Prevention.
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Realizing that the majority of Kunsmiller students are Latino, it was agreed that the program should support a student's cultural identity. The ECCOS Family Center/Kunsmiller Mentor Program is culturally based and seeks to connect youth with mentors of similar ethnic and cultural background, thus promoting cultural identity, self-awareness, and positive self-esteem of each student participating in the program. The mentor program realizes that the importance of positive self-esteem is crucial to the student's academic success.
Beginning in February, 2005, ECCOS is offering support groups for eighth graders at Kunsmiller Middle School. The support groups will assist students to develop skills in the following areas:
Character development
Self-esteem
Relationship building
Anger management
Students build these skills in order to aid in their transition to high school. Students are screened before entering the program, and mental health referrals are made if necessary.
Students attending Kunsmiller will stay in school and proceed to high school. This vision will be realized by supporting the healthy development of youth, which includes cultural identity, positive peer groups, strong family support, as well as educational goals.
Mentors are adults, who have had more experience in life, and can support and guide students to make healthy, appropriate decisions in life. Additionally, mentors can also offer friendship and guidance. Mentors participate in recreational activities with the student, assist them in setting goals for the future, and encourage students to graduate from high school, while promoting the importance of their cultural identity.
Explore educational and career options
Attend cultural events, such as plays, concerts
Attend extra curricular school events
Colleges visits and fairs
Attend community functions
Length of mentorship should be at least one year
At least two personal contacts a month & weekly contact by phone
Complete CBI and background check
Attend mentor training
The Colorado Department of Education/Denver Public Schools, DPS/Safe & Drug Free Schools & Communities.
ECCOS Family Center and Kunsmiller Middle School came together to develop a mentoring program to help students achieve their academic potential. ECCOS Family Center is a nonprofit agency founded in response to the social and educational needs of youth and families in the Latino Community. Source: www.eccosfamilycenter.org
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Project ALERT is a two-year, 14-lesson program that focuses on the substances that adolescents are most likely to use: alcohol, tobacco, marijuana and inhalants. The project is aimed at middle school adolescents.
Project ALERT uses participatory activities and videos to help:
Guided classroom discussions and small group activities stimulate peer interaction and challenge student beliefs and perceptions, while intensive role-playing activities help students learn and master resistance skills. Parent-involved homework assignments extend the learning process.
According to its web site, the project has been effective with adolescents from a variety of backgrounds, including urban, rural and suburban committees as well as Caucasian, African-American, Hispanic, Asian-American and Native American youth from a variety of socioeconomic backgrounds.
According to a study by RAND, students that received Project ALERT:
Source: www.projectalert.com
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| Key Prevention Strategies | |
Source: Middle School Coordinator’s online course, Selecting Research-Based Prevention Programs
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"Good training is critical to good implementation. Many successful programs have used a social learning training strategy, emphasized opportunities for peer collaboration and problem-solving, and provided ongoing consultation, supervision, and additional training if needed."
Durlak, J. (1998). Why Program Implementation is Important
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Coordinators needed to take a systematic approach to their work incorporating proven strategies and a thoughtful plan. Through their core training and follow-up online courses, coordinators learned a step-by-step way to devise and implement a prevention plan for their schools and communities. Dr. Durlak has identified professional development as one of the steps to ensure effective implementation in schools. There are several others we will look at throughout this day.
In "Safe, Supportive and Successful Schools: Step by Step" David Osher, Kevin Dwyer, and Stephanie Jackson state that research and practice suggest that sustainable school improvement requires at least 14 ingredients. We will take a closer look at each of these components:
Form a school-based team.All the schools with prevention coordinators had significant problems in the areas of drugs, alcohol, or violence. Those were the starting points. But coordinators had to gather evidence and go through a step-by-step process in deciding which initiatives to undertake. As part of that process, you will need to select evidence-based programs and practices that fit your school. Be an intelligent consumer. Make sure the programs and practices have produced results under conditions that suggest that they will work in your own school and community (Osher et. al., pp. 5-6). Here's a link to some of the excellent resources available to you online to help you select the right interventions for your community.
"Significant school improvement cannot be started by one person, nor does such change begin out of the blue," write David Osher and colleagues in Safe, Supportive and Successful Schools. "A core group of leaders usually begins the change, which is designed to address or expand on the existing school system mission or vision statement." |
It is a good idea for schools to employ two teams: the school wide team that addresses overall performance and the student support team that addresses individual student problems, according to Safeguarding Our Children: An Action Guide. At least three people -- the principal, a teacher and mental health specialist -- should serve on both teams, according to the Action Guide.
Practitioners suggest first looking to work with an existing school wide team that addresses academic performance and family involvement. Team members should understand the school community. Some should have expertise in areas such as school safety, student support, mental health and school reform. The members should also represent a variety of perspectives.
The coordinator is responsible for leading the team and making sure it stays on track. Alison Adler, who oversaw the work of several coordinators in Palm Beach County, Florida, offered this advice for team leaders.
"Set expectations and high expectations at that but have them known as targets," Adler said. "Have them believe that they have deliverables. It's not about just talking. It's about doing the work. It's about building a groundswell of support for the work so that at whatever time either the job is sustained but more importantly the initiative is sustained." |
Lisa Pisciotta, a middle school coordinator in Denver, said that it is also critical to encourage team members to take ownership of programs or prevention efforts. That will make them more invested in the programs and the programs can live on even if the coordinator position ends.
Day 3 has already discussed the importance of needs assessments. A good assessment is the key to developing your prevention program. The needs assessment is a way to take a systematic look at the issues facing a school and community. An assessment can include gathering existing data, such as school offenses and suspensions. It provides objective data to problems that people might sense but not have the evidence to back up. An assessment also may reveal issues that team members had not been aware of. Assessments also often include surveys of students, faculty and school administrators as well as focus groups. Many times, coordinators meet with community officials who may have access to key data or have conducted their own needs assessments. Police departments will have data on youth offenses and agencies such as the YMCA or Boys and Girls Clubs may have conducted their own youth needs assessments that could be relevant for this work.
"If you come in and bring programs without knowing what the true issues are that is setting up problems that are hard to overcome," Pisciotta said. "With that needs assessment you can go back to the school and administration and say this is what's happening in our community." |
Added Adler, "Look at what the school has already done and what the community has already decided on the needs for that school and try and mold a plan that works for both groups."
It is not enough to simply gather data, however, she said.
"When you see data that's suspicious you should ask a lot of questions," Adler said. "You should dig down a little bit. You should use a variety of sources of data. School data is not always as accurate as we like depending on who enters it. If a school said that they had 1,500 assaults that could be a coding error. It's really important to know your data especially if you're a coordinator going into a school. The last thing you want to say to a school, oh I see you have a high number of this or that without having done your homework." |
For more information on needs assessments see online courses "Using Existing Data in Your Needs Assessment" and "Identifying Prevention Priorities and Strategies for Success." |
Relationship building is one of the most critical jobs of a prevention coordinator. Teachers need to know that the coordinators are there to make their lives easier, not to add work. Principals must support the coordinators for them to be effective. Community members, such as police chiefs, school board members, city council members and heads of nonprofits can become crucial allies in the work of a coordinator. Much of this relationship building involves being a steady, available presence and offering to help rather than asking for something -- at least in the beginning.
These relationships are not only good for the coordinator but good for the school as well.
Trisha Garwood, school coordinator at Portage High School in Portage, Wisc., had her office located right next to the copy room, where teachers came by every day. She stationed herself outside the room each day and talked to the teachers. She also administered a mini-survey to learn more about their needs and concerns. It quickly became clear that teachers felt that incoming junior high students needed some help in adjusting to high school life. They were often disoriented and unprepared to start school. In her first year, the incoming freshmen class was particularly seen as troublesome. With the needs of the teachers in hand, Garwood and school staff put together a plan for a freshman orientation. Under the plan the first day of school was solely for freshmen. They met with teachers, got their schedules, found their way around school, and signed up for extracurricular activities. They also learned how to do seemingly simple things that had caused other freshmen problems in the past. For example, everyone in high school had lockers with padlocks-a change from junior high. Trying to open those padlocks quickly in between classes was often difficult for new freshmen, who would get taunted by their upperclassmen. On the freshmen day, they got a chance to practice opening their locks.
"We did an assessment after the first freshmen day," Garwood said. "The staff had outstanding reviews. They saw a lot more confidence in the freshmen as they walked down the halls. They were more grounded. They had a sense of respect for the building and a sense of belonging. It was really their school." |
Administrative and Teacher Support Key in Prevention Programs "Every successful program depends on strong administrative support," according to the Blue Prints for Violence Prevention Initiative, which identifies effective violence prevention and drug prevention programs that have been evaluated in rigorous, controlled trials. "Even after a program is adopted, administrators can make or break a program depending on their abilities to lead and motivate other people and to articulate the vision of the program…When implementing staff feel fully supported, they will be more likely to follow through with a program and to make it a success." Source: Mihalic S, Irwin, K, Fagan, A, Ballard, D. and Elliott, D. (July 2004) "Successful Program Implementation: Lessons from Blueprints." Juvenile Justice Bulletin. Office of Justice Programs, Washington, D.C" |
Trisha Garwood also quickly learned that it was critical to reach out to her community. The high school building was relatively new and had been funded by a referendum. School administrators knew that later on, they might need to ask the community for more funding. So they did not always want to be seen as having their hand out. The area has a high elderly population who could make or break any future referendums. Garwood took a team of administrators to meet with seniors at a local residential facility. When asked for their ideas, they said that they wanted to spend time with kids in a positive way rather than just seeing them as hoodlums hanging out on the streets.
Garwood began organizing a regular euchre night that was attended by more than 100 people-half seniors and half seventh and eighth graders. The game nights have been such a success that the seniors have become some of the students'-and the schools-biggest advocates, Garwood said. Recently they supported the construction of a skateboard park that the students wanted.
Click here to read more about the value of school-community partnerships |
For more information on developing relationships see online courses "Promoting Prevention Through School-Community Partnerships" and "Linking Violence and Substance Abuse Prevention to Academic Success." |
An action plan is a blueprint for the work of the coordinator. It is based on the needs assessment and identifies the key priority areas for improvement. The plan will include goals with measurable objectives.
" Detailed planning is essential; vague or tentative plans never eventuate in success," writes Maurice Elias in School Psychology Review. " But detailed plans are almost never implemented as envisioned; rather they are temporary, flexible and represent guideposts. Consequently, plans must delineate processes for dialogue, project management, setting benchmarks for program, gathering and communication feedback, and making decisions about significant changes." |
Coordinators and team members should build on and strengthen existing resources. While action plans are an important basis for work, they will doubtless change as coordinators get to know their schools better. Karen Smith, who worked in several schools in Alief, Texas, found that she had to modify her action plan to fit the needs of each school. Even though the demographics were similar across schools the needs were different. If the school was low performing on standardized tests, principals might be reluctant to introduce any prevention curriculum. Instead, Smith and her colleagues helped teachers find ways to connect with their students and manage their classrooms, which in turn could help them better teach material for the standardized tests. In another school with higher test scores, Smith might concentrate on building the strengths of the students to continue to do well. There might be more student led activities as well.
Click here for Action Plan Matrix |
At the heart of the coordinator program is the reliance on prevention programs that have been validated by research. Coordinators were required to use prevention programs that were on the U.S. Department of Education's list of exemplary or promising programs. All had been shown to be effective in research studies.
Among the key prevention strategies that have been favorably evaluated are:
For more information on needs assessments see online courses Selecting Research-Based Prevention Programs for Your School |
Choosing a research-based prevention program is only the first step. The next step is to implement that program within the specific problems and population of a school and community.
Quality implementation refers to the degree to which an intervention is delivered as it was intended to be delivered. However, many researchers in the field assert that successful implementation actually depends on some degree of adaptation. Programs must be adapted to accommodate complex and often idiosyncratic school settings as well as to meet the needs of a variety of audiences. One group of researchers have proposed that program modification is acceptable as long as the program's active or core elements are delivered as planned.
Many coordinators began implementing their programs on a small scale. They would start in one classroom or one grade level.
"It is nice to think big but in reality, small wins and baby steps provide the essential foundation on which later, larger, and enduring successes can rest," writes Maurice Elias. "The smaller steps must be studied in detail and the learnings of these studies widely shared and built upon." |
And not every intervention should continue after a pilot run.
"We've had good luck in a few initiatives that had results that showed that these interventions worked and the schools made long-standing commitments to them," Adler said. "But if we find some that aren't making the grade, they're not showing enough improvement or they're difficult to implement, no matter how evidence based or research based our schools aren't going to really accept them."
For more information see online course "Implementing Research-Based Prevention Programs for Your School". |
Choosing a research-based prevention program is only the first step. The next step is to implement that program within the specific problems and population of a school and community.
One of the most important jobs of a prevention coordinator is to conduct on-going professional development. In fact, teacher training is a critical component of a prevention plan. Teachers will be the main school staff implementing these programs, which often require an interactive, active-learning style that they may not be trained in. Because these programs are comprehensive and seek to involve the whole school, coordinators need to involve and train custodians, cafeteria staff, secretaries and paraprofessionals as well. Many schools have high turnover so new staff need to be trained in prevention.
"We would come to a school for a whole day and have teachers rotate through on their off periods," said Karen Smith, coordinator at Alief Independent School District in Texas. "We focused on prevention strategies for all teachers-not just the ones in health, or advisory periods or social studies. We helped them with classroom management and helping them to recognize that just an ounce of prevention in the way they structure their routines and class, just the way met their students at the door, the way they made eye contact with them and how they heard them helped them to be effective in whatever curriculum or instructions they had. And then reinforcing the program with the teachers who were actually using the prevention program. So all teachers felt like they had a piece of the prevention even though the other teachers were teaching the program." |
Community members are equally important partners in prevention programs. They can bring needed resources and expertise to schools. What's more, students are a product of their community as well as their family. Prevention coordinators need to have their finger on the pulse of the community and know what the key players are doing around prevention issues.
Fred Poteete, a middle school coordinator in Tahlequah, Oklahoma, needed the help of the community in combating a serious bullying problem. Many families attended church, which were a key part of the community. Poteete invited youth pastors from the area to school and presented a bible study curriculum about bullying. Poteete gave them the curriculum along with some ideas about how they could address bullying in their youth groups. He explained that bullying not only means hitting or calling someone names but excluding people from groups, which can happen as easily in church groups as in other groups.
Poteete also pointed out to the youth pastors that many youth groups are small, which increases the chance the someone in the group will be bullied.
"That's because if you're a little bit different there is less chance of someone being able to identify with you in a small group as there is in a large group [where it is more likely that there is someone like you]," Poteete said. "And they took that back to their faith communities because they felt that it was important that what the students were hearing at school about bullying they heard at church too." |
"I noticed that coordinators that were really savvy and successful know how to use the data that they collect in their initial needs assessment in year one and sell the program based on hard core data," Cuervo said. "And then they continue to inform the schools as they gathered more data about their impact. So that there were knowledgeable consumers, the district and the parents and the community were involved and knowledgeable about what was being done in their schools and with their students. The most effective coordinators were able to make the link between what they were doing and the impact of their efforts on school achievement in areas such as decreased disciplinary referrals and higher achievement scores in science and math and reading." |
Marie Rogers, a middle school coordinator in Nassau County, Florida, made it a point to consistently communicate the results of her work to two main constituencies: school boards and the teachers implementing the prevention programs. For school boards, she did a power point presentation. For busy teachers she created a one-page information sheet with key findings. She put the one-pager in all the teachers' mail boxes to make sure they got them.
Click here for example of an information sheet. |
"I'd show them comparison data." Rogers said. "They could see they were doing something. If you ask somebody to do something and never tell them what they accomplished, why should they keep doing it?" |
See online course What Now? Communicating Effectively About Prevention Data |
It is critical that coordinators undertake a systematic evaluation of the prevention programs that they have implemented. Evaluations are crucial in learning more about the results of a program and how to improve it. It is important for coordinators and their school team to agree on the outcomes they want to measures at the beginning so they can or an outside evaluator can collect the appropriate data and information.
"We developed a data collection system that allows us to look at our interventions," Adler said. "It allows us to look at which students we sent to which intervention and if that intervention worked for that student. It is critical to get a baseline of data that you can agree on with your school. If you're in an individual school or a group of schools, talk it over with the principal and say this is what I see, what do you see? What would you like to see changed? And have some agreement on that. If it's going to be a survey, school districts have a very difficult time with the thousands of surveys that every organization would like to have given to students. You have to get in line so to speak to get approved. It's very important if you know ahead of time that you're going to be doing a survey that you get that done." |
For more information see online course Are You Making Progress? Increasing Accountability Through Evaluation |
All of this work is described in more depth in the coordinators manual and in online courses that is available for districts to use in training their own prevention specialists at http://www.k12coordinator.org
Click here to print today's materials in PDF format. |
Discussion Questions Please think about the questions below and share your responses, comments, and/or any questions about today's material in the Discussion Area.
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This completes today's work. Please visit the Discussion Area to share your responses to the discussion questions! |
Cuervo, A. (January, 2005). Personal communication.
Durlak, J. (1998). "Why implementation is important," Journal of Prevention & Intervention in the Community. Vol. 17, No. 2, pp. 5-18.
Elias, M., Zins, J.E., Graczyk, P.A. and Weissberg, R.P. (2003). Implementation, Sustainability, And Scaling Up of Social-Emotional and Academic Innovations in Public Schools. School Psychology Review, 32 (3), 303-319.
Garwood, T. (April, 2005). Personal communication.
Gottfredson, G. D., Gottfredson, D. C., Czeh, E. R., Cantor, D., Crosse, S. B., & Hantman, I. (2000). National study of delinquency prevention in schools: Summary. Ellicott City, MD: Gottfredson Associates. Available: http://www.gottfredson.com/national.htm
Mihalic S, Irwin, K, Fagan, A, Ballard, D. and Elliott, D. (July 2004 "Successful Program Implementation: Lessons from Blueprints." Juvenile Justice Bulletin. Office of Justice Programs, Washington, D.C.
Osher, D. (January, 2005). Personal communication.
Osher, D., Dwyer, K, and Jackson, J. (2004). Safe, Supportive and Successful Schools, Step by Step. Longmont, Colorado: Sopris West Educational Services.
Pisciotta, L. (January, 2005). Personal communication.
Rogers, M. (August, 2005). Personal communication.
Smith, K. (January, 2005). Personal communication.
Wilson, R. (January, 2005). Personal communication.
In "Safe, Supportive and Successful Schools: Step by Step" David Osher, Kevin Dwyer and Stephanie Jackson that states that research and practice suggest that sustainable school improvement requires at least 14 ingredients:
Source: Osher, D, Dwyer, K. Jackson, S. (2004). "Safe, Supportive and Successful Schools Step by Step." Sopris West Educational Services.
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Once your planning team has completed the needs assessment and decided on the focus for the prevention plan, you need to identify interventions and programs that will successfully impact your plan. These interventions have to be a 'good fit between the interventions and your school or community' (Safe, Supportive, and Successful Schools, pp. 121-122).
These online resources will give you a wealth of information.
Center for the Application of
Prevention Technologies (CAPT):
Database of Effective Prevention Programs
http://www.northeastcapt.org/science/pod/search.asp
Center for Effective Collaboration and Practice
http://www.air.org/ceep
Center for Substance Abuse Prevention:
Prevention Works!
http://casat.unr.edu/bestpractices/
Center for the Study and Prevention of
Violence's Blueprints
http://www.colorado.edu/cspv/blueprints/
Center for Mental Health in Schools
http://smhp.psych/ucla/edu/
Center for Substance Abuse Prevention
http://www.samhsa.gov/centers/csap/csap.html
Centers for Disease Control National
Youth Violence Prevention Resource Center
http://www.safeyouth.org/home.htm
Centers for Disease Control and
Prevention,
National Center for Injury Prevention and Control
http://www.cdc.gov/ncipc/dvp/bestpractices.htm
The Collaborative for Academic, Social,
and Emotional Learning's (CASEL) Safe and Sound:
An Educational Leaders Guide to Evidence-Based
Social and Emotional Learning Programs
http://www.casel.org/progrevfr.htm
Hamilton Fish National Institute on School
and Community Violence
http://www.hamfish.org/
Positive Youth Development in the United States:
Research Findings on Evaluations of Positive Youth Development Programs
http://aspe.hhs.gov/hsp/positiveyouthdev99/
Prevention Research Center for the
Promotion of Human Development
http://www.surgeongeneral.gov/library/
youthviolence/report.html
U.S. Department of Education's Safe and
Drug-Free Schools Program's Model Programs
http://www.ed.gov/offices/OESE/SDFS/programs.html
Source: Osher, D., Dwyer, K, and Jackson, J. (2004). Safe, Supportive and Successful Schools, Step by Step. Longmont, Colorado: Sopris West Educational Services.
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School and community members provide varied perspectives on community problems and populations at risk. They can play key roles in helping you conceptualize your needs assessment, they can provide a context for understanding the information you collect, and they may be able to direct you toward other assessment efforts that have already been undertaken in your community. In addition, partners can help you determine whether your community is ready to address a given problem or likely to support a particular type of program.
Participation in a successful, multifaceted group often produces increased involvement and commitment. People who are engaged in a collaborative process will feel a greater sense of "ownership" of the prevention plan and will be more invested in obtaining positive outcomes. They will also be motivated and better prepared to make decisions about which prevention strategies or programs should be selected to meet identified needs.
Partners bring a variety of complementary skills to support prevention efforts. A well-selected group of partners can provide you with access to many systems and resources that can help you get things done. For example, elected officials can host town meetings that allow you to share assessment findings; local artisans can help you design a newsletter; school committee members have the "know how" to influence policy change; area businesses can donate goods and services not allowable under your grant; and local graduate students can help you develop your evaluation plan. Ultimately, the more involvement school and community members have in the design and implementation of your prevention plan, the greater the likelihood that the research-based strategies you and your team select will be effective.
Activities that are initiated and maintained through a deliberate planning effort are of higher quality than programs that are simply "installed" in the organization. Well-planned activities tend to possess many of the characteristics associated with higher-quality programming. These include a high level of local staff participation, more and better training, greater standardization, and a higher degree of supervision. They are also more likely to be research-based.
Source: Middle School Coordinator's online course, "Promoting Prevention Through School-Community Partnerships."
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Trained teachers are more likely to implement, and to implement more of the curriculum than untrained teachers, according to the Blueprints for Violence Prevention Initiative, which identifies effective violence prevention and drug prevention programs that have been evaluated in rigorous, controlled trials. In addition, fully trained teachers complete a greater percentage of the program with greater fidelity, They also are more effective and have more favorable student outcomes than untrained teachers. Teachers without follow and support over time often fail to fully implement or continue use of a program.
Source: Mihalic S, Irwin, K, Fagan, A, Ballard, D. and Elliott, D. (July 2004 "Successful Program Implementation: Lessons from Blueprints." Juvenile Justice Bulletin. Office of Justice Programs, Washington, D.C.
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To: Project Alert and Second Step Teachers
From: L. Marie Rogers, Middle School Coordinator Drug & Violence Prevention
You are making a difference! The following should encourage and direct us to place Project Alert and Second Step as an integral part of your curriculum planning.
The spring 2004 NEFEC Survey results are available. Nassau County is showing the following results for the gateway drugs emphasized in Project Alert:
The 2002 survey was used as the baseline data. As of October 2004, the following comparison for past 30-day use indicates we are making a difference:
Past 30-day Use | 2002 | 2004 |
Alcohol | 9.4% | 8.8% |
Wine coolers & flavored alcohol drinks | 10.4% | 7.2% |
Cigarettes, or cigars | 7.6% | 6.9% |
Smokeless tobacco | 2.4% | 4.3% |
Marijuana | 5.6% | 6.0% |
Inhalants | 5.2% | 1.9% |
Three indicators of violence in the survey show an improvement from the baseline data.
Students who answered "Never True" | 2002 | 2004 |
If another student hits me, I usually hit him/her back. | 12.0% | 15.3% |
It is ok to hit someone who hits you first. | 19.4% | 25.7% |
It’s fun to pick on or make fun of someone who smaller or weaker than I am. | 59.5% | 74.1% |
If I were going to fight, I would want to use a knife or gun. | 80.0% | 89.1% |
If someone teases or makes fun of me, I can’t get him/her to stop unless I hit him/her. | 37.9% | 40.3% |
When students in 2002 were asked "what has helped you to not use alcohol, tobacco, other drugs or engage in violence", 55.9% answered that education about the harmful effects of drugs and violence has helped "A Lot". By 2004, that number had increased to 63.2% of the students. These indicators show that education and awareness are helping to make a difference in Nassau County. The 2004 Florida Youth Substance Abuse Survey results are not available at this time. It is hoped that those results will reflect the positive outcomes that support our prevention efforts as well
Please share this information with your students in class. Call if I can assist you or your students.
Source: Marie Rogers, Middle School Coordinator for Drug and Violence Prevention, Nassau County, Florida.
"A professional with a new kind of preparation will be needed to foster implementation and scaling up of sustainable innovations to promote academic and social-emotional learning. This person would have expertise coordinating programs relating to prevention, health, social competence program, and character and integrating these areas with the academic mission of schools."
Maurice Elias in School Psychology Review |
Coordinators bring an expertise and depth that is critical for schools and districts. By assigning the right person the responsibility of overseeing prevention work, districts can be assured that they are getting well-tested programs that are right for their particular schools. They are giving students, teachers, other staff, parents and others the tools to not only be successful academically but to be successful in life.
School districts have many options in adding a dedicated prevention coordinator. They can re-assign someone who is already working as a counselor, school psychologist, social worker or teacher. That person would need to have the right combination of skills and personality for the job. Suyapa Silvia, the evaluator for the Middle School Coordinator program, pointed out findings from a 10-site case study she conducted.
"We heard from the administrators that what was key in the places that were perceived as successful were the coordinators themselves," she said. "What they brought, their enthusiasm, their skills, their leadership. They communicated better and more often [than the less successful coordinators], they anticipated the need for information and provided it in a way that was helpful. They gained the trust of the administrators and they were very good at connecting with community resources. They brought more community resources to the schools and more funding."
In the case study, all of the coordinators had at least a bachelor's degree and 60 percent had a master's degree, according to Silvia.
Key Ingredients of Successful and Sustaining Implementation
Maurice Elias and his colleagues note several factors associated with enduring implementation of evidence-based prevention/social-emotional learning programs in School Psychology Review. Those factors are:
Source: Elias, M, Zins, J.E., Gracyzk, P.A. and Weissberg, R.P. (2003). Implementation, Sustainability and Scaling Up of Social-Emotional and Academic Innovations in Public Schools. School Psychology Review, 32 (3), 303-319. |
The Spring 2005 issue of The Challenge newsletter, which is a publication of the U.S. Department of Education's Office of Safe and Drug-Free Schools, contains an article in which Eric Schaps, president of Developmental Studies Center, describes key factors that make a difference in effective implementation and sustainability. He is the developer of the Child Development Project, a school improvement initiative that builds students' reading comprehension skills and fosters caring connections between students, teachers, and parents. The project has been recognized as a model program by the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration and as a promising program by the U.S. Department of Education's Expert Panel on Safe, Disciplined and Drug-Free Schools. Schaps has had more than 20 years of experience in implementing prevention programs in schools across the country.
In the article, Schaps and his colleagues identified several factors that can mean the difference between successful and unsuccessful implementation and sustainability.
Principal leadership and support. "You simply must have the support of the principal," Schaps said. "Teachers need ample professional development time and you need access to money, space and equipment. The principal is the one to make those things happen. The principal also needs to actively participate in all staff development sessions. That sends a clear signal that the program is important and that school culture change is a priority."
District office leadership and support. School districts are increasingly determining priorities for their schools and deciding how staff development time and school budgets are to be used. Therefore, it is important that key district decision-makers find ways to support the adoption and institutionalization of any serious program. This includes district leaders signaling the importance of the program by allocating resources they control to it, and protecting the school from competing demands for change so that the principal and staff can properly attend to implementation issues.
Whole faculty involvement. Change requires not only the investment of classroom teachers but also the involvement of lunchroom staff, playground aides, bus drivers, janitorial staff, and school secretaries. In order to build a cohesive school culture, all of the individuals who relate to students and families need to operate in synch.
Professional development that "walks the walk." "Teachers need a complete understanding of every aspect of the program," Schaps explained. "Therefore, when you are training teachers, you need to provide opportunities for them to experience the exact same elements of the program that their students will."
Clear program implementation materials. Schools require how-to manuals that clearly describe each program element and offer easy-to-follow activities.
Click here for more information about why some social and emotional learning programs succeed and others fail. |
Another important part of prevention work is securing funding to begin or continue the work after grant funding ends. While the National Coordinator funding ended in 2005, there are other options for funding for these positions. There are three main sources of grants for school-and community-based prevention work:
Examples of funding possibilities are:
Title 1 of the No Child Left Behind Act of 2001 is the largest federally funded educational program. This program, authorized by Congress, provides supplemental funds to school districts to assist schools with the highest student concentrations of poverty to meet school educational goals.
Individuals with Disabilities Education Act is a federal program which provides funds to states and local education agencies (school districts) to support education for children with disabilities age 3 to 21.
U.S. Department of Justice, Juvenile Justice funding at the state level.
The federal Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration.
Amalia Cuervo, program officer for the National Coordinator program at the U.S. Department of Education, also urged schools to collaborate with other agencies in seeking funding. Among the possibilities for collaboration are:
Aligning and coordinating the use of categorical funds to enhance their efficiency.
Pooling funds across agencies or programs to create a less restrictive source of funding for local programs.
Braiding funds so that each agency can track and retain its identity and requirements for its funding while the monies from different agencies are "braided" together to fund one Integrated Service Plan.
Capturing and reinvesting funds save through programs that appropriately reduce costs (e.g., when fewer referrals for costly services are made.)
For more information see on-line course Sustaining Your Prevention Initiative. |
Research has shown that people who work in prevention need intensive and on-going training. This training is available free of charge through several federal agencies. National Coordinators web site has its entire core training available as well as 15 on-line courses that provide additional training on planning and implementing programs as well as on specific topics such as crisis response, bullying, truancy, and gangs (www.k12coordinator.org).
The federal Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA) is launching a substantial on-line training available for prevention programs (www.samhsa.org). Called the Prevention Platform, the training will have tools and resources for:
SAMHSA also has a National Registry of Effective Programs and Practices (www.modelprograms.samhsa.gov). The Registry is a system for identifying and promoting interventions that are:
The ultimate goal for these coordinator positions are to enshrine or their work into the school district. Districts have a variety of options to ensure that this work continues. Among the options are:
Illinois Leads the Way in Enshrining Prevention Efforts One way for school districts to take action to enshrine prevention work is when it is a state requirement. In 2003, the state of Illinois took a major step forward in meeting the social and emotional needs of children when the Children's Mental Health Act became law. This legislation is intended to ensure that schools take concrete steps to address their students' social and emotional development. Key provisions of the act relating to SEL are:
For schools that are already concerned about the social and emotional development of their students, standards provide the flexibility to include social and emotional learning in their school improvement plans. It will also enable them to take time to teach skills necessary for success not just in school but in life. Not only do these standards establish the need for schools in Illinois to actively implement social emotional learning, but they are also a model for other states to follow in developing policy, standards, guidelines, and practices. Source: Collaborative for Academic, Social and Emotional Learning, casel.org. |
"The biggest thing we've tried to do with the coordinators in our district is to make them essential partners in the school," said Alison Adler, chief of safety and learning environment in the School District of Palm Beach County. "And we've done that in a variety of ways. One is we have school based teams or student assistance teams. We believe that is the conduit to prevention and intervention efforts in our schools. Our principals and our school community expect that we will serve students' social, emotional needs. The more that our coordinators set up that infrastructure, the more it's fully developed and operational, the more likely they are to become key members of the school and the community." |
Discussion Questions Please think about the questions below and share your responses, comments, and/or any questions about today's material in the Discussion Area.
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Adler, A. (January, 2005). Personal communication.
Elias M., Zins J.E., Graczyk P.A. and Weissberg, R.P. (2003) Implementation, Sustainability, And Scaling Up of Social-Emotional and Academic Innovations in Public Schools. School Psychology Review, 32 (3), 303-319.
Prevention Programs with Staying Power: What Makes Good Prevention Programs Take Hold and Last? (Spring 2005) The Challenge (newsletter of the U.S. Department of Education Office of Safe and Drug-Free Schools.
"Dr. Maurice Elias and his colleagues at CASEL conducted a study of why some schools succeed or fail to "scale up" or expand and sustain their SEL efforts. Based on both their own project experience and reviews of literature, the CASEL team found several challenges that often prevent programs that are successful at one place from taking hold at another. These include:
Structural features in school settings. Problems such as high staff turnover can affect whether a prevention effort succeeds. Unless a school has good systems for collecting and sharing information, staff turnover can impair the ability to transfer knowledge about how a program operates.
A narrow "programs and packages" perspective. In a complex school environment, there can be many programs going on at a school at the same time and interacting with each other in unknown ways. If schools take a narrow "programs and packages" approach (i.e. "this prevention package can be opened up from the box and plunked down here with success") without understanding how different programs fit together with one another and with the rest of the school day, they might actually be unwittingly working against themselves. Schools need to do more than choose an effective prevention program; they need to link effective programs to an overall prevention strategy.
Poor management of time and other resources. Not every site is ready for change just because a starting date is reached. Detailed planning is essential, and program organizers must be prepared to deal with inevitable changes or delays. Programs often fail if implementers have not engaged in adequate planning, or do not have the flexibility to take another path if necessary.
Characteristics of adults who carry out the programs. School-based programs depend on human operators whose levels of commitment may vary, or do not always feel supported or motivated to go through the difficult process of implementing change."
Source: Prevention Programs with Staying Power: What Makes Good Prevention Programs Take Hold and Last? (Spring 2005) The Challenge (newsletter of the U.S. Department of Education Office of Safe and Drug-Free Schools.
This section provides a comprehensive list of the materials and resources presented in this event. Session Resources include the main text for each day of this event, as well as supplementary materials. General Resources include materials designed to facilitate your participation in this on-line training.
Adler, Alison. (2005). Single School Culture -- Components and Strategies for Implementation. Keynote address to the 2005 Governor's Institute for Educators. Available: http://www.center-school.org/profdev/documents/adler-backhus.pdf
Benard, B. and Marshall, K. (2001). Meta-Analyses Provide Decade of Evidence: Effective School-Based Drug Prevention Programs. Resilience Research for Prevention Programs. Minneapolis, MN: National Resilience Resource Center, University of Minnesota and the Center for the Application of Prevention Technologies. Available: http://www.cce.umn.edu/pdfs/NRRC/capt_pdf/meta-analyses.pdf
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Surveillance Summaries. May 21, 2004. Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report. 53(SS-2).
Comeau, C. (July, 2005). Personal communication.
Cuervo, A. (January, 2005). Personal communication.
Delbert, E. (2005). "Violence Prevention: What Works and What Doesn't." Keynote address to the 2005 Partnerships for Success (PfS) Evidence-based Practices Symposium.
Elias M., Zins J.E., Graczyk P.A. and Weissberg, R.P. (2003) Implementation, Sustainability, And Scaling Up of Social-Emotional and Academic Innovations in Public Schools. School Psychology Review, 32 (3), 303-319.
Ennett, S. T., Ringwalt, C. L., Thorne, J., Rohrbach, L. A., Vincus, A., Simons-Rudolph, A., & Jones, S. (2003). A comparison of current practice in school-based substance use prevention programs with metaanalysis findings. Prevention Science, 4, 1–14. Available: http://www.casel.org/downloads/AmericanPsychologist2003.pdf
Gottfredson & Gottfredson. (2002). Quality of School-Based Prevention Programs: Results from a National Survey. Journal of Research in Crime and Delinquency. 39: 3-35.
Greenberg, M.T., Weissberg, R.P., Utne O'Brien, M., Zinns, J.E, Fredericks, L., Resnick, H and Elias M. (June/July 2003) "Enhancing School-Based Prevention and Youth Development Through Coordinated Social, Emotional, and Academic Learning," American Psychologist. 58(6-7), 466-474.
Hoffman Clark & Associates, Final Evaluation Report: San Diego City Schools, Middle School Coordinator Program II, August 2004.
Ringwalt, et. al. (2002). The Prevalence of Effective Substance Use Prevention Curricula in U.S. Middle Schools. Prevention Science. : 257-272.
Safe and Drug-Free Schools, U.S. Department of Education (2002). Leaving No Child Behind: Results-Based Strategies for Safe and Drug-Free Schools. Siliva, S. (July, 2005). Personal communication.
Silvia, E.S., and Thorne, J. (1997). School-based prevention programs: A longitudinal study in selected school districts. Executive Summary. Final Report. Washington, D.C.: U.S. Department of Education.
Smith, K (January, 2005). Personal communication.
Tobler, N. (1986). Meta-analysis of 143 adolescent drug prevention programs. Journal of Drug Issues 16, 537-567.
Tobler, N. (1998). Principles of effectiveness of school-based drug prevention programs:The rationale for effective peer programs. Peer Facilitator Quarterly, 15, 109-115.
Tobler, N. (1993). Updated meta-analysis of adolescent drug prevention programs. In C. Montoya, C. Ringwalt, B. Ryan, & R. Zimmerman (Eds), Evaluating School-Linked Prevention Strategies: Alcohol, Tobacco, and Other Drugs. San Diego, CA: UCSD Extension, University of California, 71-86.
Tobler, N. & H. Stratton (1997). Effectiveness of school-based drug prevention programs: A meta-analysis of the research. Journal of Primary Prevention 18 (1), 71-128.
U.S. Department of Education, National Center for Education Statistics. 2004. Crime and Safety in America's Public Schools: Selected Findings from the School Survey on Crime and Safety.
U.S. Dept. of Education, National Center for Education Statistics. Institute of Education Sciences. 2005. Indicators of School Crime and Safety: 2005. Available: http://nces.ed.gov/programs/crimeindicators/index.asp?ShowFileName=Exec_Summ.asp
U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. (2001). Youth Violence: A report of the Surgeon General. Rockville, MD: U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration. Available:http://www.surgeongeneral.gov/library/youthviolence
Weissberg, R. (January, 2005). Personal communication.
Day 2 - The Role of the Prevention Coordinator: Research to Practice
Cheek, J. (July 2005). Personal communication.
DeVoe, J.F., Peter, K., Noonan, M., Snyder, T.D., and Baum, K. (2005). Indicators of School Crime and Safety: 2005 (NCES 2006001/NCJ 210697). U.S. Departments of Education and Justice. Washington, DC: U.S. Government Printing Office. Available: http://nces.ed.gov/pubs2006/2006001.pdf
Greenberg, M.T., Weissberg, R.P., Utne, O'Brien, M, Zins, J.E., Fredericks, L., Resnick H., and Elias, M.J. (June/July 2003). Enhancing School-Based Prevention and Youth Development Through Coordinated Social, Emotional, and Academic Learning. American Psychologist, 58(6/7), 466-474.
Henry, S. (2000). What Is School Violence? An Integrated Definition. Annals of the American Academy of Political and Social Science, 567: 16-29.
Hill, P. (May 2005). Personal communication.
Osher, D. (January 2005). Personal communication.
Osher, D., Dwyer, K., and Jackson, J. (2004). Safe, Supportive and Successful Schools, Step by Step. Longmont, Colorado: Sopris West Educational Services.
Payne, A.A., Gottfredson, D.C., and Gottfredson, G.D. (2003). Schools as Communities: The Relationship Between Communal School Organization, Student Bonding, and School Disorder. Criminology, 41: 749-778.
Quinn, K. School-based Strategies for Meeting the Needs of Socially and Emotionally Challenged Children and Youth.
Safe and Sound: An Educational Leader's Guide to Evidence-Based Social and Emotional Learning Programs. (2003). Collaborative for Academic, Social, and Emotional Learning.
Smith, K. (April 2005). Personal communication.
Wilson, Ruth Ann. (May 2005). Personal communication.
Day 3 - What Works in Prevention: Research to Practice
Nation, M., Crusto, C., Wandersman, A., Kumpfer, K. Seybolt, D., Morrissey-Kane E., and Davino, K. (June/July 2003) What Works in Prevention: Principles of Effective Prevention Programs, American Psychologist. 58(6/7): 425-432.
Pisciotta, L. (April, 2005). Personal communication.
Poteete, F. (April, 2005). Personal communication.
Day 4 - Step-by-Step to Prevention: Research to Practice
Cuervo, A. (January, 2005). Personal communication.
Durlak, J. (1998). "Why implementation is important, " Journal of Prevention & Intervention in the Community. Vol. 17, No. 2, pp. 5-18.
Elias, M., Zins, J.E., Graczyk, P.A. and Weissberg, R.P. (2003). Implementation, Sustainability, And Scaling Up of Social-Emotional and Academic Innovations in Public Schools. School Psychology Review, 32 (3), 303-319.
Garwood, T. (April, 2005). Personal communication.
Gottfredson, G. D., Gottfredson, D. C., Czeh, E. R., Cantor, D., Crosse, S. B., & Hantman, I. (2000). National study of delinquency prevention in schools: Summary. Ellicott City, MD: Gottfredson Associates. Available: http://www.gottfredson.com/national.htm
Mihalic S, Irwin, K, Fagan, A, Ballard, D. and Elliott, D. (July 2004 "Successful Program Implementation: Lessons from Blueprints." Juvenile Justice Bulletin. Office of Justice Programs, Washington, D.C.
Osher, D. (January, 2005). Personal communication.
Osher, D., Dwyer, K, and Jackson, J. (2004). Safe, Supportive and Successful Schools, Step by Step. Longmont, Colorado: Sopris West Educational Services.
Pisciotta, L. (January, 2005). Personal communication.
Rogers, M. (August, 2005). Personal communication.
Smith, K. (January, 2005). Personal communication.
Wilson, R. (January, 2005). Personal communication.
Day 5 - Sustaining Effective Prevention Practices: Research to Practice
There are a number of resources that you can use in learning about how to establish a research-based prevention program in your school or district. The following resources may be particularly helpful:
Research on Effective, Evidence-Based Prevention
The following agencies, initiatives, and foundations often provide funding for prevention activities:
Navigating This Site
Participating in On-Line Events
Using the Discussion Area
Event Support
The June/July 2003 special issue of the American Psychologist contains articles on key research findings and common principles for effective programming. Among those articles are:
School-Based Prevention: Promoting Positive Social Development through Social and Emotional Learning The article makes a case for school-based prevention, summarizes findings of key studies of comprehensive SEL-based prevention programming, and discusses the role of prevention programs in the context of other school-wide and district-wide practices and policies. Prevention That Works for Children and Youth Introductory overview article to the special issue of the American Psychologist on "Prevention that Works" summarizing prevention approaches and identifying key points and themes related to effective school-based prevention programming.
Youth Violence: A Report of the Surgeon General This report -- the first Surgeon General's report on youth violence -- is a product of extensive collaboration. It reviews a large body of research on where, when, and how much youth violence occurs, what causes it, and which of today's many preventive strategies are genuinely effective. Like other reports from the Surgeon General, this report reviews existing knowledge to provide scientifically derived bases for action at all levels of society.
Blueprints for Violence Prevention This Bulletin describes the demanding criteria established by the Center for the Study and Prevention of Violence to designate model Blueprints programs and the activities of the 11 programs out of the more than 500 that have been reviewed to date and found to meet those rigorous standards. Contact information is provided for each program, and replication and funding resources are discussed.
Preventing Drug Use Among Children and Adolescents: A Research Based Guide for Parents, Educators, and Community Leaders This second edition of the "Red Book" includes updated principles, new questions, new program information, and expanded references and resources based on the latest findings from NIDA-funded prevention research. The 16 fundamental prevention principles, derived from research on effective prevention programs, are outlined. Discussions include key factors that place youth at risk for drug abuse, guidance for planning drug abuse prevention programs in the community, applying the prevention principles to programs, and describing the core elements of effective prevention programs.
Implementation, Sustainability, and Scaling Up of Social-Emotional and Academic Innovations in Public Schools Based on experiences of the Collaborative for Academic, Social, and Emotional Learning and reviews of literature, the reasons why some schools fail to expand and sustain their social and emotional learning efforts are discussed, along with steps schools can take to help avoid these common pitfalls.
The Center for Mental Health in Schools at the University of California and Los Angeles provides information on sustainability of programs.
Safe and Sound: An Educational Leader's Guide to Evidence-Based Social and Emotional Learning Programs Based on a three-year study funded by the Institute of Education Sciences and the Office of Safe and Drug-Free Schools in the U.S. Department of Education, Safe and Sound is a comprehensive and inclusive guide to social and emotional learning programming.
Search-institute.org Search Institute is an independent nonprofit organization whose mission is to provide leadership, knowledge, and resources to promote healthy children, youth, and communities. To accomplish this mission, the institute generates and communicates new knowledge, and brings together community, state, and national leaders. At the heart of the institute's work is the framework of 40 Developmental Assets, which are positive experiences and personal qualities that young people need to grow up healthy, caring, and responsible.
The following agencies, initiatives, and foundations often provide funding for prevention activities:
Federal AgenciesSafe and Drug-Free Schools Program (SDFS), U.S. Department of Education
Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration
The Annie E. Casey Foundation
The Pew Charitable Trusts
The W.K. Kellogg Foundation
The Foundation Center
Regional Associations of Grantmakers
Last Modified: 12/12/2007
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