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Author: Tom

Straight Talk on Evidence Highlights the EAAA Sexual Assault Resistance Education Program

Straight Talk on Evidence seeks to highlight programs with highly-credible evidence of meaningful effects. They evaluated the research evaluating the EAAA program and concluded that the evidence of its effectiveness was highly credible.

Straight Talk on Evidence seeks to highlight programs with highly-credible evidence of meaningful effects. They evaluated the research evaluating the EAAA program and concluded that the evidence of its effectiveness was highly credible.

Read the full evidence report here.

Issue No. 4

Welcome to the Blueprints Bulletin, our quarterly newsletter!
We look forward to helping elevate evidence-based programs by sharing information about our programs and what we are doing at Blueprints. Enjoy!

A Letter From Our Director:
Why Maintain a Rigorous Standard of Evidence – Lessons Learned

While the term evidence-based is commonly used, the actual level of scientific evidence supporting a given program varies widely, often lacking any credible research standards.

Throughout the 20 years of the Blueprints project, the most important lesson that we have learned, and have strived to impart, is that the standards for recognizing an evidence-based program must be high in order to maintain the public’s confidence.

In the earliest years of the project, Blueprints identified a model program, Quantum Opportunities, based upon a multi-site evaluation. This evaluation examined outcomes in each of the national sites participating in the study, and the demonstration appeared successful.

Later, a large multi-site replication by the Department of Labor found only a few, largely inconsistent effects, and some of the primary behavioral outcomes were negative at one of the replicating sites. This program was subsequently removed from the Blueprints list.

Learn why replication is such a critical part of the evaluation process of potential Blueprints Programs.

Sincerely,

Sharon Mihalic
Director, Blueprints Initiative
Center for the Study and Prevention of Violence
Institute of Behavioral Science
University of Colorado Boulder
sharon.mihalic@colorado.edu

Featured Model Program
Positive Action
Blueprints Certified: June 2013
Ages Served: Kindergarten – 8th Grade
Program Outcome: Academic Performance, Alcohol, Anxiety, Bullying, Delinquency and Criminal Behavior, Depression, Emotional Regulation, Illicit Drug Use, Positive Social/Prosocial Behavior, Sexual Risk Behaviors, Tobacco, Truancy – School Attendance, Violence
Positive Action is a comprehensive, school-based program for kindergarten through 8th grade students, which promotes learning through enhancement of self-concept.

Learn more about Positive Action…

Featured Promising Program
Teaching Kids to Cope (TKC)
Blueprints Certified: September 2015
Ages Served: High School and Early Adulthood
Program Outcome: Depression
Teaching Kids to Cope (TKC) is a 10-session group intervention designed to reduce depression and stress by enhancing the coping skills among high school adolescents and young adults displaying depression symptoms.

Learn more about Teaching Kids to Cope…

Blueprints News & Resources
Relevant articles and helpful resources
Here are a few articles that feature some of our Blueprint’s Programs:

Mark Your Calendar!
Join us in Colorado next spring for our bi-annual conference. Speakers have been selected and it’s shaping up to be another great event.

Legislative Update
Stay Informed
Legislative support is key to the elevation of our programs. We would encourage you to keep an eye on these bills as they progress.

Copyright © 2017 Blueprints Programs, All rights reserved.

Our mailing address is:
University of Colorado Boulder | Institute of Behavioral Science | Center for the Study and Prevention of Violence
483 UCB, Boulder, CO 80309


 

New Report: What’s Standing in the Way of the Spread of Evidence-based Programs?

New Report: What’s Standing in the Way of the Spread of Evidence-based Programs?

The paper, by The Bridgespan Group, focuses on the role of purveyors, finding that while most purveyors are working hard to ensure effectiveness and fidelity of their programs, many are not focused on increasing the scale of the programs. This lack of proactive growth efforts appears to be a result of a lack of resources, mismatched expertise (e.g., researchers doing sales), and misaligned incentives that encourage developing programs with strong evidence of effectiveness, but not expanding them. The report offers recommendations for alleviating the situation to developers, purveyors, and funders of evidence-based programs.

Issue No. 3

A Letter From Our Director:
Major Reasons Programs Fail to Meet Blueprints Criteria

I’m often asked why a particular program did not meet Blueprints criteria. Most programs fail to receive Blueprints certification because their scientific evaluations have major limitations.

These limitations are such that apparently positive results could emerge not from participation in the program but from design problems in the evaluation. The most obvious problems are not having a control group (in which participants are compared to nonparticipants) or not assigning participants to the intervention and control groups randomly.

Keep reading to discover some of the most common methodological problems.

Sincerely,

Sharon Mihalic
Director, Blueprints Initiative
Center for the Study and Prevention of Violence
Institute of Behavioral Science
University of Colorado Boulder
sharon.mihalic@colorado.edu

Featured Model Program
Parent Management Training (PMT)
Blueprints Certified: September 2014
Ages Served: 4 – 12 years old
Program Outcome: Antisocial-Aggressive Behavior, Anxiety, Conduct Problems, Delinquency, Externalizing, Internalizing, Mental Health, Substance Use
Parent Management Training (PMT) is a group of theory-based training interventions aimed at reducing antisocial and behavior problems in children by providing parents with family management strategies and parenting skills.

Learn more about Parent Management Training…

Featured Promising Program
Promoting Health Among Teens!
Blueprints Certified: January 2017
Ages Served: Grade 6 and 7
Program Outcome: Sexual Risk Behavior
Blueprints recently certified Promoting Health Among Teens! (Comprehensive) and Promoting Health Among Teens! (Abstinence Only) programs as “Promising.” These two programs aim to intervene and prevent sexual involvement and risky sexual behaviors in adolescents through knowledge enhancement and skill building.

Learn more about Promoting Health Among Teens…

Blueprints News & Resources
Relevant articles and helpful resources
Here are a few articles that feature some of our Blueprint’s Model Programs:
Here are some helpful resources:

Mark Your Calendar!
Join us in Colorado next spring for our bi-annual conference. It’s shaping up to be another great event that you won’t want to miss.

Legislative Update
Stay Informed
Legislative support is key to the elevation of our programs. We would encourage you to keep an eye on these bills as they progress.

Copyright © 2017 Blueprints Programs, All rights reserved.

Our mailing address is:
University of Colorado Boulder | Institute of Behavioral Science | Center for the Study and Prevention of Violence
483 UCB, Boulder, CO 80309


 

Contact

Blueprints for Healthy Youth Development
University of Colorado Boulder
Institute of Behavioral Science
UCB 483, Boulder, CO 80309

Email: blueprints@colorado.edu

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Blueprints for Healthy Youth Development is
currently funded by Arnold Ventures (formerly the Laura and John Arnold Foundation) and historically has received funding from the Annie E. Casey Foundation and the Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention.