Implementing Evidence-Based Prevention Practices in Schools

The Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration, Center for Mental Health Services is accepting applications for fiscal year (FY) 2010 for the Implementing Evidence- Based Prevention Practices in Schools grant program. The purpose of this program is to prevent aggressive and disruptive behavior among young children in the short term and prevent antisocial behavior and the use of illicit drugs in the longer term. Grantees will implement an evidence-based practice in schools, specifically the Good Behavior Game, which is a behavioral classroom management strategy that involves helping children learn how to work together. The approach of this practice facilitates a positive learning environment and has been shown to decrease disruptive behavior in the classroom. SAMHSA is committed to the implementation of evidence-based practices in order to promote positive behavioral health and academic success. A strong evidence base demonstrates that students who participate in high quality social learning contexts show decreased disruptive behaviors and increased achievement scores. A 2009 Institute of Medicine Report, Preventing Mental, Emotional, and Behavioral Disorders Among Young People: Progress and Possibilities, noted that the Good Behavioral Game classroom intervention demonstrates strong evidence for long term effects on aggression along with mental health and substance abuse related outcomes, particularly among boys. The Good Behavior Game integrates the findings of prevention science and education research and helps teachers manage their classrooms effectively as it balances discipline and academic instruction. The long-term benefits of using this evidence-based practice among children at high risk are significant: Eighty-six percent of Good Behavior Game participants attained a high school diploma, compared with a rate of 19 percent among similar students who did not participate in the program. Ninety-nine percent of non-participants went on to use illicit drugs, compared with 66 percent of participants. Eighty percent of non-participants demonstrated antisocial behavior in later years, compared with 43 percent of participants. Through coordinated services, Good Behavior Game grants will work in funded communities to: Decrease teacher reports of aggressive behaviors in the classroom (short-term) Decrease the percentage of students involved in aggressive behavior (long-term) Increase the number of people trained in behavioral health-related practices/activities Increase the number of children exposed to behavioral health awareness messages Increase the number of classrooms per school implementing the Good Behavior Game Increase the number of teachers who successfully implemented the Good Behavior Game each year Mental, emotional and behavioral health problems are common in children and adolescents. Twenty percent (16 million) of the 80 million children and adolescents in the U.S. have emotional disturbance or mental illness with at least mild functional impairment (DHHS, 1999). Approximately 5.5 million youth between the ages of 12 and 17 received treatment or counseling for emotional or behavioral problems (SAMHSA, 2006), and every community and many families in the United States are impacted by mental illness. Implementation of evidence-based behavioral health promotion practices to deter problem behaviors can occur in a variety of settings including schools. School-aged children and youth have huge unmet behavioral health needs. Studies have estimated this need to be between twenty and thirty eight percent (Committee on School Health, 2004; Paternite, 2005) The Good Behavior Game promotes each child's positive behavior by rewarding student teams for complying with criteria set for appropriate behavior, such as working quietly, following directions, or being polite to each other. The team-based approach uses peer encouragement to help children follow rules and learn how to be good students. At the same time, it enables teachers to build strong academic skills and positive behaviors. More than two decades of randomized field trials in Baltimore, MD show that using the Good Behavior Game in the first and second grades produces important outcomes in the short-, medium-, and long-term for students with high levels of aggression in the first grade. The short-term gains include reducing classroom aggression while developing more on-task behavior. By middle school, those who played the Good Behavior Game in the first 2 years of elementary school were less likely to be delinquent and in need of behavioral health services than those not playing the game. At ages 19-21, those who played the game were far more likely to have attained a high school diploma and far less likely to have needed special educational services, to have been diagnosed with antisocial behavior, or to have used illicit drugs, compared to those who did not play the game in the early elementary years. During the Good Behavior Game, a teacher divides the class into heterogeneous teams of four to seven students. The teacher then posts rules that explain what is considered improper student behavior, such as verbal disruption or leaving one's seat without permission. A team receives a checkmark whenever a member of the team displays inappropriate behavior. Teams win when the number of checkmarks does not exceed four by the end of the game. Initially, rewards for winning include receiving stickers for good behavior. As time progresses, winning teams receive extra privileges like a longer recess. The length of a game initially lasts 10 minutes and gradually increases until it spans an entire school day. More... See full description at http://samhsa.gov/Grants/2010/SM-10-017.aspx