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Read the latest news and announcements and see how Positive Action has been involved in multiple settings.
A randomized controlled trial of Positive Action in Chicago, Ill., has extended evidence of the program's effectiveness in preventing violence to students attending low-income, mostly minority, urban schools and to students in middle-school grades.
A new assessment of student-reported disaffection with learning and grades, and of teacher ratings of their ability and motivation, has found that Positive Action significantly improves growth in academic motivation and mitigates disaffection with learning for students living in low-income, urban communities. Furthermore, in the schools using Positive Action, absenteeism was reduced and standardized test performance in math and reading improved for many students.
The Institute of Education’s grant for research on social and character development will provide $1.42 million to evaluate the effectiveness of interventions (the Positive Action program) designed to promote positive social and character development, increase positive behaviors, and reduce antisocial behaviors among elementary school children.
Alternative Education Program - COSA-NCADD presents Positive Action in alternative schools instituted by the local school systems to serve students who are academically at risk due to disruptive behavior. The agency melds this comprehensive program with the structural nature of the school and the critical needs of these students who are extremely at risk. Topics include conflict resolution, stress and anger control, peer pressure, as well as alcohol, tobacco and other drugs.
A study by Oregon State University researchers found that Positive Action, a program that teaches social and emotional skills and character development to elementary school children, can improve academic test scores as much as 10 percent on national standardized math and reading tests.
How do you change a cycle of angry thoughts, self-destructive behavior, and negativism that effect some area youth and adults? In Uintah and Duchesne counties, and on the Uintah and Ouray Reservation, individuals affiliated with the Positive Action Program are working to answer that question.
The U.S. Department of Education has approved the Positive Action program as a Whole-School Reform Model Provider for School Improvement Grants. Whole-School Reform is a new model available for School Improvement Grants from the Department of Education. It is an initiative to improve school performance by implementing evidence-based models that are designed to affect the entire school ecosystem.
Launched in 2007, NREPP is a publicly searchable database with up-to-date, reliable information on the scientific basis and practicality of a range of mental health and substance use interventions. Some 57,000 visitors a month search the website to make informed decisions about the more than 320 interventions listed there.
The National Registry of Evidence-based Programs and Practices (NREPP) has reviewed the research literature from the Chicago and Hawaii efficacy studies of Positive Action and has updated its intervention summary.
Can money buy happiness? British researchers think not, but they may have found the real key: in childhood.
Positive Action is pleased to announce the publication of two independent cost-benefit analyses. The analyses were produced by separate research entities at Columbia University and the state of Washington. Both groups found that implementing the Positive Action program creates economic benefits that far outweigh the program’s costs. The analyses indicate that not only does implementing Positive Action create economic value, there’s a substantial potential for reducing health care costs through improved lifestyles.
Dr. Carol Allred and Dr. Brian Flay were invited to present papers at the 'Can Virtue Be Measured?' Conference organized by the The Jubilee Center for Character & Values at the University of Birmingham. The Conference was held at Oriel College, Oxford from January 9-11th 2014.
Program Reduces Problem Behaviors in Chicago Fifth-Graders, Study Shows
Positive Action, Inc. is pleased to announce a new partnership with Boys & Girls Clubs of America. With support from the Department of Justice – Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention, the two organizations are working together to provide effective mentoring opportunities for our nation’s youth. Beginning in January 2016, Boys & Girls Clubs around the country will use Positive Action materials in their afterschool programs.
BELPRE-Washington County students are learning how to make the right decisions, and becoming teachers themselves in the process.
