It is well established that there are gaps between high- and low-risk schools in behavior and academic performance. Poorer students, or schools containing a majority of poor students, tend to perform less well on achievement tests than better off students/schools. On average, minority students, or schools with a majority of minority students, tend to exhibit more problem behavior and lower school performance than non-minority students/schools. Many other risk factors that predict poor behavior and performance, like inadequate parent attachment with their children or involvement with the children’s school, are related to poverty and minority status.

Positive Action (PA) has been shown to reduce risk factors, decrease problem behavior, and improve student achievement in general. More importantly from the perspective of “closing the gap,” PA has also been shown to decrease problem behavior and improve student achievement more in high-risk than low-risk schools. That is, Positive Action has its greatest effects in those schools and with those students who most need it.

For example, in Hawaii schools in the mid-90s, students in high-poverty schools without PA were only 1/5 th as likely to obtain passing SAT scores than students in low-poverty schools without PA (10% versus 49%). Alternatively, one can say that among schools without PA, low-poverty PA scored 390% better than high-poverty schools ([49-10]/10). In schools with PA, on the other hand, students in high-poverty schools scored almost twice as well as students in high-poverty schools without PA (19% versus 10%), while students in low-poverty schools with PA scored only 10% better than their compatriots in low-poverty schools without PA (54% versus 49%). Thus, the gap between high- and low-poverty schools was narrowed (indeed, was more than halved) from a 390% difference to a 180% difference ([54-19]/19). Click here to see a graph.

We have observed even more dramatic closing of the gap regarding problem behaviors. For example, in one Nevada school district in the late ‘90s, students in high-minority schools engaged in almost three times as many problem behaviors (felonies, misdemeanors, breaking rules) as students in low-minority schools (2.3 versus 0.9). In schools with PA, on the other hand, students in high-minority schools engaged in only an average of 0.8 problem behaviors, only twice as many as students in moderate-minority school (0.4). Thus, PA brought rates of problem behavior in high-minority schools down to a level near that of moderate-minority schools while decreasing an already low level of problem behavior in those schools still further. These results are displayed in the graph below.

(See more research graphs under the "Effects of PA on:" links to the right.)

Similarly, in one SE school district in the late ‘90s, students in high-mobility middle schools engaged in over twice as much violence as students in low-mobility schools (57 incidents per 100 students versus 26). However, in high-mobility schools with high proportions of PA graduates from elementary school, rates of violence were reduced to lower than even that of low-mobility schools with low proportions of PA graduates (14) while decreasing the already low level of violence in low-mobility schools still further (to 10). Note that, not only were incidents of violence much reduced in all schools with high proportions of PA graduates, but the gap between high- and low-mobility schools was also significantly smaller, with high-mobility middle schools experiencing only 1.4 times the rate of violence than low-mobility middle schools. Click here to see a graph.

Read on to learn about how Positive Action closes the gap with its comprehensive and systematic approach. For more graphs and statistics, browse the links to the right. For extended information on Title I and Special Education, click on the links in the right column.

Closing the achievement gap requires addressing all factors that influence achievement and behavior of students, including classroom learning, school climate, and the connection between home and school. Positive Action targets all of these factors with its comprehensive system for increasing positive behaviors and decreasing negative behaviors. It has been implemented in over 10,000 schools in the last 20 years and is proven to increase academic achievement, attendance, and positive behaviors while simultaneously decreasing violence, bullying, dropping out, truancy, obesity, discipline referrals, and drug, alcohol, and tobacco use. These multiple effects are achieved by instilling in all students the program’s philosophy that you feel good about yourself when you do positive actions, and there is always a positive way to do everything. All aspects of the program are based on this philosophy, so there is a coherency between the K-12 classroom curriculum, the school-wide climate program, the counselor’s program, the parent and family program, and the community program. Positive Action’s mission is to bring success and happiness to all individuals by teaching them the positive actions that will make them feel good about who they are and what they are doing. By giving this opportunity to all students, Positive Action provides equal access to achievement, regardless of the student’s background or current situation.

Most students thrive when challenged in an environment conducive to learning. However, many children never get this opportunity because of the quality of the schools they attend and the low expectations caused by stereotypes or apathy. Positive Action assumes that everyone is intrinsically motivated to feel good about themselves, and that they can be taught the physical, intellectual, social, and emotional positive actions to do so. Each of these domains is covered in the six focus units that unite the entire scope of the Positive Action program.

–Unit 1: Self-Concept: What It Is, How It’s Formed, and Why It’s Important (Philosophy and Circle)

–Unit 2: Physical and Intellectual Positive Actions

–Unit 3: Social/Emotional Positive Actions for Managing Yourself Responsibly

–Unit 4: Social/Emotional Positive Actions for Getting Along with Others—Treating Them the Way You Like to Be Treated (Social Skills & Character)

–Unit 5: Social/Emotional Positive Actions—Being Honest with Yourself and Others (Mental Health)

–Unit 6: Social/Emotional Positive Actions for Improving Yourself Continually (Setting Goals)

In the first unit, students learn about the Thoughts-Actions-Feelings Circle: that positive thoughts lead to positive actions, which lead to positive feelings about yourself, which then lead back to positive thoughts. This revolving process provides students with a microscope through which to view all of their actions. For example, for bullying, one can analyze what thought led to the bullying behavior, how that thought could have been changed to a positive one (This boy needs a friend), how the positive thought would have led to a positive action (I’ll be friendly), and how a positive feeling (I feel good about myself because I was friendly) would result. In turn, this positive feeling would lead to another positive thought and another positive action. Once students grasp the concepts of PA, they are able to generalize and utilize positive behaviors for any situation.

For many high-performing students, this concept simply reinforces basic principles and values they have learned at home. It brings those motivations to a conscious level, helping them to understand their thoughts, actions, and feelings. However, many other students, often low-performers, have never been exposed to these concepts. The Thoughts-Actions-Feelings Circle gives them a reason for the ways they think, act, and feel. It can give meaning to the way they operate, change their thinking process, and help them understand their feelings by examining the thoughts and actions that led to those feelings. This analysis gives them the power to change the way they feel, because they realize that they can change the way they act. This is an intuitive process, and by making all students aware of it and continually reinforcing it, Positive Action gives all students the tools for achievement, success, and happiness. The concept is universal; it levels the playing field and brings all students up together as they begin to access the concepts and methods more and more frequently, applying them to all areas of their lives.

This overarching concept quickly reforms schools and classrooms, allowing more time for teaching and reaching academic standards. Positive Action improves the behavior and motivation of students, so teachers can apply more of their knowledge and skills to their teaching. State standards are also embedded in Positive Action lessons, providing further reinforcement for academic content.

The Climate Kit provides a safe environment for all students to practice the positive actions for achievement, success, and happiness. Unsafe schools ruled by fear and disruption are not conducive to learning, high performance, or impressive academic achievement. Disrespect for teachers and peers, absenteeism, alcohol and drug use, and violence are symptoms of schools with climates that discourage learning. When children are afraid to go to school or certain areas of the school for fear of being attacked, the desire to learn is pushed away. The Positive Action Climate Kit reforms the atmosphere of schools, making them safe places where both students and teachers practice positive behaviors such as respect, kindness, and fairness. In this environment, all students are granted access to the education at their fingertips, and Positive Action also provides them with the motivation to desire that education. It teaches them to believe in their potential, to set goals, and to continually strive to achieve those goals. Positive Action teaches that while students may not be able to control some of the situations they find themselves in, they can always control their reaction to that situation. This is an empowering thought, one that puts the responsibility for their lives in their own hands, and they understand that an education is essential to achieving their goals, whatever those may be.

The Counselor’s Kit can be used to target problem behaviors within the school or for a specific student, and is another contributor to a positive and safe school-wide climate. By teaching specific positive actions that will lead to success and happiness and providing a safe place to practice those positive actions, Positive Action equalizes the opportunity for achievement for all students.

Connecting Home and School

Students’ home environments affect their learning and achievement abilities along with the school climate. In fact, these two factors overlap. To improve the school climate but ignore the home environment would fall one step short of making the changes necessary to improve achievement. Positive Action involves parents in the education of their children in many ways. The classroom lessons often ask students take their activities home and share them with their parents, or to ask their families questions that will facilitate meaningful discussions. With the Climate Kit, parents are asked to be involved in school-wide programs by volunteering for assemblies, Positive Action days, and community activities. In this way parents can see first hand the improvements occurring in their children’s school. Indeed, the way parents feel about their children’s school has a significant impact on their level of involvement. As the graph to the right indicates, implementing Positive Action increases parents’ confidence that their children are attending a school in which their involvement will make a difference.

Lastly, Positive Action provides schools with a Parent’s Manual and encourages all families to purchase a Family Kit. Each Family Kit has enough materials for six individuals and follows the same six units that children are learning in school. This provides not only reinforcement for the children, but also an essential education to some parents that may have never learned the concepts or some of the academic content embedded in the lessons. Families are able to learn about and practice positive actions together.

For younger children and future students, experiencing the Family Kit in the home at a young age will give them an early advantage. The education of children starts long before their first day of kindergarten. From infancy, their cognitive abilities are developing and the behaviors of their parents have much to do with the level of that development. The Family Kit will improve conditions of home learning for many families who would otherwise not spend time reading and learning together. Positive Action equips people of all ages with the physical, intellectual, social, and emotional positive actions that create a happy and successful life.

Close the Gap Faster with Positive Action!

Positive Action closes the gap faster by addressing separately and together the factors that affect student achievement: classrooms, school climates, and families and homes.

Achievement gaps create a great inequality in the education system. Positive Action serves as an equalizer across all fields. Implement the program in your school today and watch as its comprehensive approach reforms your school into a place where everyone has an equal opportunity for success and the achievement scores of all students increase together.

For graphs and statistics that show how Positive Action works to close achievement gaps, browse the links to the right. For extended information on Title I and Special Education, click on the links in the right column.

Improves Test Scores
12 to 75% on standardized
achievement scores.

Reduces Discipline Referrals
23 to 90% fewer disciplinary actions.

Title I Booklet PDF download
Special Ed. Facts PDF download
Close the Gap PDF download

Effects of PA on:
Problem Behavior
Middle School Violence
High School Drug Use
Standardized Achievement Scores
Multi-Group Analysis

Read the Channing Bete Company™ Communities That Care® Prevention Strategies Guide review and summary of Positive Action®