Background: Childhood obesity among Hispanic children is a public health concern in the United States and Mexico. Although experiences from school-based intervention programs aimed at influencing obesity-related behaviors have been positive, the understanding of those framework elements that are associated with successful outcomes is limited. The…

Background: Children from disadvantaged backgrounds are more apt to experience lower availability of nutritious foods, lack opportunities to exercise, and lack access to recreational facilities, and thus, are more likely to be obese and at greater risk for developing chronic diseases. We review school health education programs' impact on physical…

Whole-school or whole-class programs designed to promote positive behavior can enhance the likelihood that effective teaching and learning occur for all students. This practice guide is intended to help elementary education educators, as well as school and district administrators and parents, implement and support effective prevention-focused…

Nearly all primate species are globally threatened. Conservation approaches need to focus on local people and users of resources from the habitats of the apes. Students worldwide should become aware of the context and relationships in school, and they should change their usage and behaviour as the ultimate goals. This study explored the…

The current review conducted a systematic assessment of culturally sensitive risk prevention programs for African American adolescents. Prevention programs meeting the inclusion and exclusion criteria were evaluated across several domains: (1) theoretical orientation and foundation; (2) methodological rigor; (3) level of cultural integration; (4)…

An ecological approach to bullying prevention is critical for the reduction of bullying and victimization. Any intervention implemented in a school to reduce bullying should include a variety of targets on all levels of the ecology and these interventions need to be sustainable by the school following introduction of the intervention. Schools are…

In this article, a process evaluation of a school-based, violence intervention program is presented. The program was modeled after bullying prevention programs described by Daniel Olweus (1993) whose components were implemented to achieve student safety goals. The process evaluation instrument used in this study was developed by a rural Midwestern…

While anecdotal reports have strongly supported restorative practices, there is a need to expand the evidence base through empirical studies of the efficacy of these interventions. This article highlights such emerging findings reported by Paul McCold of the Institute for Restorative Practices in collaboration with researchers from Temple…

Name-calling and bullying are pervasive in American schools. This project, No Name- Calling Week, is an annual week of educational activities aimed at ending name-calling of all kinds and providing schools with the tools and inspiration to launch an on-going dialogue about ways to eliminate bullying in their communities and ensure safe and…

Findings are presented of a four-year study on reaching rural disadvantaged youth through an informal education program called the Arkansas Special Youth Project. The information provides a framework for expanding 4-H. Specific methods and techniques used in working with the disadvantaged are outlined and evaluated in terms of the resultant…

Assessed the impact of school organizational characteristics on outcomes of a teacher health behavior change program. Organizational, dietary, and psychologic data from intervention and control schools indicated that teachers at intervention schools with high organizational climate, organizational health, and job satisfaction reported better…

This chapter of "The Best of the Best of ERIC," Volume 2, contains 17 summaries of documents and journal articles on alternative schools, all of which are indexed in either "Resources in Education" or "Current Index to Journals in Education." The materials included deal with various aspects of this topic, such as reasons for success or failure of…

This article describes the philosophy and methods used by the staff at the Granite Alternative School in changing student attitudes through behavior modification. The students involved all have a failure syndrome or low self-image, and are dropouts from traditional high schools. Among the techniques used are: (1) reinforcing good behavior (praise…

This report describes the methodology and initial results of an evaluation of the universal (school-wide) Positive Behavioral Intervention and Support (PBIS) initiative in Illinois, including (1) strategies for establishing research-based practices and data-based evaluation systems in implementation schools; (2) methodology and initial findings of…

This action research project evaluated the impact of an intervention for reducing the inappropriate student behavior of primary school students. Participating were kindergartners in a large metropolitan area in northern Illinois. Inappropriate behaviors, such as physical aggression and using inappropriate words for self-expression, were documented…