Federal Activities Addressing Violence in Schools
Evaluation Research
A Case Study in Fidelity: Implementing an Evidence-based Program
Through its various initiatives, the Center for Mental Health Services (CMHS) has encouraged programs to use evidence-based interventions to prevent school violence and promote the development of healthy behaviors, competence and resilience among children and youth. However, when such interventions have been adopted it has been difficult to determine whether agencies are implementing them as the program developer originally intended. To elicit such critical information, the Oregon Research Institute has been contracted to conduct a case study based on the Webster-Stratton Parent Training Program (PTP). The case study will compare a group of practitioners trained in a research setting to a group of individuals trained in a community setting as both deliver the PTP.
Lead/Funder: Center for Mental Health Services (CMHS)
(301) 443-1752
Gritchie@samhsa.gov
Denise Middlebrook
(301) 443-4199
Dmiddle@samhsa.gov
http://mentalhealth.samhsa.gov/cmhs/
Effectiveness of Comprehensive Interventions on Young Children's Learning and Development
This study will be used to determine if community based, intensive, comprehensive mental health interventions with children from birth through 7 years of age improve the children's overall readiness for school. The children in this study have parents with histories of chronic substance abuse and/or mental health disorders.
Lead/Funder: Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA)
Collaborators: National Institute on Early Childhood Development
and Education (NIECDE)
Contact:
Evaluation of Specific Youth Violence Intervention Projects Targeting Early Childhood and Parents
Four projects are funded to evaluate specific early interventions that target young children in an effort to affect attitudes and behavior that could lead to aggression and violence. The projects focus on staff training in child care centers, with support for at-risk families; family interventions for children just entering school; and parent training for incarcerated parents of young children.
Lead/Funder: National Center for Injury Prevention and Control (NCIPC)
Contact:
Evaluation of the Gang Resistance Education and Training Program (G.R.E.A.T.)
In collaboration with the University of Nebraska at Omaha, NIJ and ATF are evaluating the Gang Resistance Education and Training (G.R.E.A.T.) Program. G.R.E.A.T. is a school-based gang prevention curriculum taught by law enforcement officers. This evaluation will assess the instruction of G.R.E.A.T. officers and the effectiveness of G.R.E.A.T. in terms of attitudinal and behavioral consequences (cross sectional and prospective longitudinal panel design) on students. The longitudinal portion of the evaluation is ongoing in six sites. This project is also supporting a research-based review of the G.R.E.A.T. Program. The University of Nebraska has assembled a team of practitioners and researchers to review existing literature on school-based prevention programs and to determine what changes or modifications should be made to the current G.R.E.A.T. program. This workgroup will convene and produce a document that will propose recommendations for improving the G.R.E.A.T. program to the G.R.E.A.T. National Policy Board and National Training Committee.
Lead/Funder: National Institute of Justice (NIJ)
Collaborators: Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, and Firearms (ATF)
Experiential Examination of the Effectiveness of a Social Competence Curriculum with Toddler Age Children Who Have Disabilities
The University of Connecticut is conducting this project examining the effectiveness of a social competence curriculum for toddlers who have disabilities. The purpose is to determine if a social skills curriculum can teach young children the social skills needed to succeed in education programs for children without disabilities. The study involves toddlers with disabilities who attend child-care centers or other toddler programs side-by-side with children who show no signs of developmental delays.
Lead/Funder: National Institute on Early Childhood Development and Education (NIECDE)
Contact:Identification and Analysis of Etiological & Childhood Factors That Predict Adolescent Violent Behavior
Longitudinal studies can reveal the etiology of youth violent behavior by examining the impact of various interacting risk factors across developmental stages, from infancy to adolescence. The Center for Mental Health Services (CMHS) has access to two valuable data sets that provide information on the role and interactions of risk factors for violent behavior, from birth through early adulthood, and on the role of risk factors among delinquent youth in response to interventions. Both data sets are based on extensive longitudinal studies in which data were collected from low income, inner city families and court adjudicated male adolescents. The sets include data on participant families and examine multipi identified risk factors. The intent of this project is to identify childhood and adolescent factors (e.g., neurological, family, environmental, psychopathology) that determine to what degree these factors predict violent behavior. The project will also determine some of the interrelationships among various etiological factors within the two data sets and examine the relationships between violence and other problem behaviors. The information will be used in planning preventive and treatment services for young people at high risk for violent behavior.
Lead/Funder: Center for Mental Health Services (CMHS)
Identifying and Analyzing Factors That Influence Consensus in Community Collaborations: The Development of a "White Paper" on the Methodology of Evaluating Community Collaborations
The Center for Mental Health Services (CMHS) supports several programs that target the prevention of youth violence and other youth problem behaviors or the promotion of positive youth development through community or statewide collaborations or partnerships. Such community prevention programs require evaluation of the process and outcome of developing community collaboration, as well as achieving consensus on prevention goals and activities. CMHS has contracted to evaluate the progress in developing community collaborations at the School and Community Action grant sites and solicit and edit selected papers on the methodology of evaluating community collaboration authored by leading evaluation authorities. The edited papers will be used for developing the final version of a "White Paper" on evaluating communitywide violence prevention collaborations.
Lead/Funder: Center for Mental Health Services (CMHS)
Contact:Improving Educational Readiness through Theory-Based Interventions Focused on Enhancing Resilience for Our Youngest At-Risk Children
Utah State University designed a home visiting model that focuses on building resilience in children and families who are disadvantaged and considered "at high risk" by social service agencies. The University will test the effectiveness of this resilience model in four existing home visiting programs in Utah.
Lead/Funder: National Institute on Early Childhood Development and Education (NIECDE)
Contact:Longitudinal Evaluation of Youth Violence Intervention Projects
Four projects are funded to evaluate specific interventions to reduce injuries and deaths related to interpersonal violence among adolescents and young adults. These interventions are based on sound theory with the potential to produce measurable behavioral or health improvements. The projects target children from kindergarten age through middle school.
Lead/Funder: National Center for Injury Prevention and Control (NCIPC)
Contact:Multisite Violence Prevention Evaluation Study
The purpose of this cooperative agreement prevention study is to determine the effectiveness of a middle school-based, social cognitive intervention to reduce violence and to determine the impact of including a community-based intervention that complements the school-based activities. Social cognitive programs and some types of community-based programs (e.g., caregiver training) that emphasize social and emotional competence, prosocial problem-solving, and family functioning are among the most promising early interventions to reduce aggression and violence. Given the multi-factorial nature of violence and because violence often extends beyond the boundaries of the school setting, it is important for schools to identify appropriate community resources and build partnerships with those whose programs complement school-based violence prevention activities and education.
Four separate geographic locations will participate in this collaborative effort, using a common protocol and measurement instruments.
Lead/Funder: National Center for Injury Prevention and Control (NCIPC)
Contact:National Assessment of School Resource Officer Programs
The NIJ in collaboration with COPS has sent out a solicitation for proposals for a national assessment of School Resource Officer (SRO) programs. The COPS office has provided funds to NIJ to support one national evaluation. This solicitation closed on February 14, 2000. The evaluation is designed to assess the impact of SRO programs on selected indicators of school safety in order to identify effective practices for SRO programs.
Lead/Funder: National Institute of Justice (NIJ)
Collaborators: Office of Community Oriented Policing Services (COPS)
(202) 616-7373
Nuamahk@ojp.usdoj.gov
Nicholas Lewin
(202) 633-1493
Nicholas.Lewin@usdoj.gov
www.ojp.usdoj.gov/nij/
National Evaluation of the Middle School Drug Prevention and School Safety Coordinators Initiative
The National Evaluation of the Middle School Drug Prevention and School Safety Coordinators Initiative will include a process and outcome evaluation of the Middle School Coordinators Initiative. The evaluation will seek to describe the conditions under which the middle school coordinators operated and the outcomes that were achieved.
Lead/Funder: Department of Education (ED)
Contact:National Evaluation of the Safe Schools/Healthy Students Initiative
The overall SS/HS National Evaluation Project will carefully document both the process and the outcome of the initiative. It will encompass the formation of the community collaboratives, the impact of these collaborations on school safety and health, student development, economic analyses, surveillance of core indicators, and intensive outcome analyses. It will describe the activities conducted in the 77 sites. The evaluation will also explore each of the six individual components of the collaboration: school safety, alcohol and other drug and violence prevention and intervention programs, school and community mental health preventive and treatment services, early childhood psychosocial and emotional development programs, education reform, and safe school policies.
Lead/Funder: Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention
(OJJDP)
Collaborators: Safe and Drug-Free Schools Program (SDFS), Center for Mental Health Services (CMHS)
(202) 514-4817
dresslek@ojp.usdoj.gov
Eve Moscicki
(301) 443-3775
em15y@nih.gov
Joanne Wiggins
(202) 401-2266
Joanne_Wiggins@ed.gov
ojjdp.ncjrs.org
National Study of Delinquency Prevention in Schools
This study is being implemented by Gottfredson Associates, Inc. The objectives are to conduct a national assessment of school-based delinquency prevention efforts that will (1) classify and describe existing programs and practices including information on the range of practices, programs and arrangements; differences by location and population served; and relation to safety levels of violence and disorder; (2) test factors related to successful implementation; (3) develop program assessment tools; (4) validate student reports of program exposure; and (5) develop tools for evaluation of implementation and effects.
Lead/Funder: National Institute of Justice (NIJ)
Collaborators: Bureau of Justice Assistance (BJA), Office of
Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention (OJJDP), Department of Education
(ED) Planning and Evaluation Service
National Study on School Violence and Violence Prevention
This study, being conducted by Westat, is examining the incidence of violence and disorder in schools nationally and the effectiveness of approaches to preventing violence in schools, including approaches funded by the Safe and Drug-Free Schools program. The Department of Education is working with NIJ to coordinate this study with the National Study of Delinquency Prevention in Schools, conducted by Gottfredson Associates under an NIJ grant.
Lead/Funder: Department of Education (ED)
Collaborators: National Institute of Justice (NIJ)
Preventing Problem Behavior Among Middle School Students: The Going Places Program
The purpose of this study is to test the efficacy of an intervention designed to reduce early adolescent problem behaviors, including aggressive and violent behavior, school misconduct, and delinquency. The Going Places 6th through 8th grade curriculum is designed to improve students' ability to problem solve, communicate, and resolve conflict and to shape social norms and attitudes about the acceptability of antisocial behavior. Parents receive the "Attentive Parenting" video and booklet and participate in selected homework activities. Teachers receive training in classroom management and participate in an incentive program designed to "catch students being good." A social marketing program includes schoolwide media and activities.
Lead/Funder: National Institute of Child Health and Human Development (NICHD)
Contact:(301) 496-1126
bm79k@nih.gov
Denise Haynie
(301) 435-6934
haynied@exchange.nih.gov
http://www.nichd.nih.gov/about/org/despr/
Reach for Health Study of Adolescent Suicidal Behaviors
This study is part of the ongoing community-based Reach for Health project that surveys economically disadvantaged minority youth and provides school-based prevention interventions. In partnership with the New York City Schools and the Columbia University School of Public Health, this study will examine a mental health/suicidal behavior model in order to investigate the emergent health risk of suicide in a relatively understudied population. Suicide risk will be studied in the context of other potentially related health behaviors, including violence and weapon-carrying.
Lead/Funder: National Center for Injury Prevention and Control (NCIPC)
Collaborators: National Institute of Child Health and Human Development (NICHD)
Suicide Intervention Evaluations
These programs are being conducted to help identify effective suicidal behavior prevention activities. One of the projects targets high school students in New York. The intervention will be presented as a supplement to an existing in-school mandatory health curriculum and is designed to enhance awareness, use, and efficacy of telephone crisis intervention services for adolescents.
Lead/Funder: National Center for Injury Prevention and Control (NCIPC)
Contact:Truancy Reduction Demonstration Program and National Evaluation
OJJDP will oversee the National Evaluation of the Truancy Reduction Demonstration Program, a joint effort of OJJDP, the U.S. Department of Education and the Executive Office for Weed and Seed. The evaluation will assess the effect of a variety of truancy reduction projects in the country, determine how community collaboration can impact truancy and lead to systemic reform, and assist OJJDP to develop a truancy reduction program model for community use.
Lead/Funder: Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention
(OJJDP)
Collaborators: Department of Education (ED), Executive Office
for Weed and Seed
(202) 353-9258
chiancoj@ojp.usdoj.gov
http://www.ojjdp.ncjrs.gov/Programs/ProgSummary.asp?pi=36
Violence Prevention Programs for High-Risk Youth
These programs aim to target young people at high-risk of perpetrating or becoming a victim of violence. Two of the three projects include a school component. One will test a 13-week curriculum in alternative high schools in Northern California; the intervention's goal is to enhance the ability of young people to resolve interpersonal conflict and develop communications skills. The project will compare outcomes related to violent behavior among young people at intervention and comparison schools.
Lead/Funder: National Center for Injury Prevention and Control (NCIPC)
Contact: