PA has recently been evaluated using a rigorous randomized matched-control experimental design in Hawai’i. For the study, schools sharing similar characteristics were paired with one another. One school from each pair was then randomly assigned to use PA. Those schools that were not selected to teach PA served as the control-group for the study. After three years, the obtained results clearly and consistently indicate that the PA program achieves positive academic and behavioral results!
For academics, after three years’ exposure to PA, students’ mean math scores on the Stanford Achievement Test (SAT) rose by 6 percentile points. Compared to only 2- and 3-point increases for the control-group and state reported averages for the same period. (Fig. 1)
Improvement in reading scores was even more pronounced, with PA students’ SAT reading scores rising by 6 percentiles points, while the control-group and state-reported average lagged behind with only 1- and 2-point increases for the same period. (Fig. 2)
For behavior, daily absences by PA students declined by 11%, while absences for the control-group remained flat. PA Schools also reported 88% fewer suspensions.
Teachers consistently rated PA students as less disruptive than the control students across a wide range of behaviors: destroying others’ property, getting into fights, bullying other kids and being disruptive in class. (Fig. 3)
Concerning substance use, students in PA schools were 30% less likely to have used tobacco, 35% less likely to have used alcohol, 78% less likely to have been drunk, and 100% less likely to have tried an illegal drug than students in control-group schools. Finally, PA schools also showed an 85% greater increase in parental involvement. (Fig. 4)
Simply put, PA is an easy-to-use, comprehensive approach to education that supports and engages everyone involved: administrators, school staff, teachers, students, parents, and the local community. For 25 years, PA has been consistently producing compelling results!
Families Improved
A recent study looked at 29 Utah families who were court-mandated to take part in the PA family program. Parent surveys administered before and after the 7-week program revealed immediate positive effects on three assessed factors:
family conflict was down by 9%,
family cohesion was up by 7%, and
parent/child bonding was up by 10%.
Data from 45 families who participated in subsequent programs replicated the results of the pilot trial. This is a family program that really works!
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