Fast Track

Grades: K-8

Contact: John Coie
Duke University
First Union Plaza
220 W. Main St., Ste A200 Durham, NC 27705

Fast Track is a long-term program that targets chronic and severe conduct problems of children through interventions with the school, home, and individual students. The program contains both universal and selective levels of intervention. The universal intervention is a primary prevention strategy directed at all first- through fifth-grade children to strengthen the skills needed for successful adaptation to school and to prevent the emergence of school adjustment difficulties. The goal of the universal intervention is to reduce the disruptiveness of the classroom and improve its manageability by the teacher. These changes reduce the level of stimulation for inappropriate behavior on the part of the high risk children who receive the selective intervention. Classroom teachers are trained by Fast Track staff in the use of the Promoting Alternative Thinking Strategies (PATHS) curriculum.

The program was evaluated for over 900 high-risk youth from four different U.S. communities, who received the program during their first, second, and third grade years. Evaluators found that 11% fewer students in the program were diagnosed with an Individual Education Plan (students showing a need for special education attention), than students not participating in the program.

Center for the Study and Prevention of Violence, Promising Program, 1999