title: Effects of the Positive Action program on achievement and discipline: two matched-control comparisons.
abstract: This paper reports on the effectiveness of an integrated comprehensive school model for character development, problem behavior prevention, and academic achievement enhancement. The Positive Action program consists of a school curriculum, together with schoolwide climate, family, and community components. As evaluated here, the yearly K-6 curriculum consists of over 140 fifteen-to-twenty-minute lessons per year delivered in school classrooms on an almost daily basis. The program is based on theories of self-concept, learning, behavior, and school ecology. We use a matched control design and school-level achievement and disciplinary data to evaluate program effects on student performance and behavior in two separate school districts. The program improved achievement by 16% in one district and 52% in another, and reduced disciplinary referrals by 78% in one district and 85% in the other. We discuss implications of these replicated findings for the prevention of substance abuse and violence, the improvement of school performance, and the reform of American schools.
authors.affiliation: Health Research and Policy Centers, School of Public Health, University of Illinois at Chicago 60607, USA. bflay@uic.edu
authors.forename: B R
authors.initials: BR
authors.lastname: Flay
authors.forename: C G
authors.initials: CG
authors.lastname: Allred
authors.forename: N
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Ordway
mesh_terms: D016022:Case-Control Studies; D002648:Child; D003479:Curriculum; D004522:Educational Status; D006254:Hawaii / Q000453:epidemiology; D006801:Humans; D009505:Nevada / Q000453:epidemiology; D012574:Schools / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D012649:Self Concept; D012920:Social Behavior Disorders / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000517:prevention & control*; D013663:Teaching; D014754:Violence / Q000517:prevention & control*