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CREST | Research
IES awards College researchers $4.8 million/5 years to create a new doctoral training program for educational scientists
CIRGE | Research
CIRGE has been busy: its 5-Years Out study drew wide attention and it has hosted three int'l workshops on PhD education...
Research
Projects
Project Title: Parents And Youth in School (PAYS)
COE Investigator: James J. Mazza
Collaborating Investigator: Brooke Randell and Jerry Herting
Funding Source: National Institute of Mental Health
Start/End Dates: 6/2001 - 5/2005
Parents and Youth in School (PAYS) is a prevention program for vulnerable high school students. PAYS consists of three separate program conditions, Parents as partners (PAP), Reconnecting Youth (RY), and the combination of the two. For purposes of this description, focus will be on the Reconnecting Youth components and results with the RY curriculum. Reconnecting Youth is a program that works with a small group of adolescents who have been randomly selected from those identified as being at-risk for school dropout. The program has been implemented in the Seattle Metropolitan area for the past 15 years and has received national recognition for helping to reduce adolescent depression and suicidal behavior.
The Reconnecting Youth curriculum focuses on four central themes: self-esteem building, decision-making, personal control, and interpersonal communication. Ongoing evaluations (daily and weekly) for academic performance and attendance, drug use, mood management, and supporting RY classmates are built into the lesson plans. In addition, because potential drop-out students are also at-risk for other behaviors and mental health issues, the RY program repeatedly assesses depression severity, suicidal behavior, anxiety, anger control, and other problem areas. Results have shown that students who attend and complete the RY program have significantly better academic performance and attendance, show lower levels of depression and suicidal behavior, and are less involved in hard drugs compared to control peers who did not participate in the RY program. The success of this program has led to school districts around the country implementing RY as a prevention program for at-risk adolescents.
Projects
