Prevention training of paraprofessionals in the schools: an examination of relevancy and effectiveness.
Prevention training programs for paraprofessional school personnel are examined in this article. Prevention training for the reduction of student alcohol and other drug use, incorporating a student well-being model, is described and evaluated. The prevention training, entitled "Enhancing Student Well-Being," took place in two urban school districts with over 200 paraprofessional school personnel participating. The training was evaluated using measures of knowledge gained, self-efficacy, and participant satisfaction. Pre- and post-training differences showed consistent gains in participant efficacy expectations but less consistent gains in outcome expectations and knowledge. Participant satisfaction and self-reports of knowledge enhanced and skill improvement were uniformly high across all training programs. Implications for inservice prevention training of paraprofessionals are discussed.
Romano
J L
JL
Department of Educational Psychology, University of Minnesota, Minneapolis 55455, USA.
D000437:Alcoholism / Q000517:prevention & control*; D003150:Community Health Workers / Q000193:education*; D006801:Humans; D007318:Inservice Training / Q000379:methods* / Q000592:standards; D015397:Program Evaluation; D012574:Schools; D019966:Substance-Related Disorders / Q000517:prevention & control*; D000078329:Workforce