Grades: 7-9
Contact: Brenna Bry
Graduate School of Applied and Professional Psychology
Rutgers University
152 Frelinghuysen Road
Piscataway, NJ 08854-8085
Phone: 732/445-2189
Fax: 732/445-4888
The program targets adolescents who demonstrate characteristics that have been associated with delinquency and substance abuse, including: low motivation for school, disregard for rules, and feelings of alienation from their parents. Risk factors include academic failure, early behavior problems, alienation from family, and low level of commitment to school. The intervention involves four components: weekly report cards, discussion of report cards, parental contact, and booster sessions in later years. Program staff compile a weekly report card on the basis of teacher interviews regarding behavior in the classroom (i.e., bringing materials to class, tardiness, and completion of work.) Students meet with program staff in small group sessions to discuss the report cards. Positive reports elicit praise and approval from staff, while negative reports elicit discussions of how the student can improve their behavior. Parents are kept informed of their children's progress through phone calls, letters, and home visits. After two years of the intervention, students attend booster sessions given every two weeks that follow the same format.
The intervention begins when students are in the seventh grade and lasts for three years, including booster sessions. Evaluations show a 35% reduction in arrests (having a county court file) and a 40% reduction in drug use for students who participated in the program compared with students who did not participate.
Center for the Study and Prevention of Violence, Promising Program, 1999