1. Prevention Education @ DPS Philosophy Research-Based, Valid Programs Fidelity of Implementation Focus on Protection Building Resilient Youth Denver Public Schools Prevention & Intervention Initiatives Bob Anderson Back to Switchboard

2. NextPrevious Resiliency The Ultimate Educational Goal “Resiliency is the experience of encountering life’s adversities and challenges, being disrupted, but then not only recovering from the adversity, but surfacing from the experience with strength, confidence, happiness, self-esteem, and skills” Glenn Richardson Title Slide

3. NextPrevious Prevention Philosophical Tenets Adolescence is a developmental stage fraught with risk, risk-taking, and challenge, as well as promise. Risk-taking is a normative developmental process. Prevention, therefore, involves channeling normative developmental behavior & processes in ways least likely to result in long-term, negative consequences. In recent years, research interest has focused on isolating, identifying, and controlling factors that assist in this process. Title Slide

4. NextPrevious Prevention Philosophical Tenets II Collectively known as ‘Protective Factors’, these entities reduce the severity of risk, the consequences of risk behavior, or reduce the likelihood of risk behavior. Focusing on Protective Factors allows us to focus on the positive, growth-oriented potential present in youth. The following framework of Proposed Protective Factors is taken from the recent report of the Surgeon General on Youth Violence. Title Slide

5. NextPrevious School Violence Proposed Protective Factors*: Individual Intolerance of deviance High IQ Being Female Positive Social Orientation Perceived Sanctions for Transgressions (i.e. those engaging in bullying suffer publicized negative consequences.) Taken from Youth Violence: A Report of the Surgeon General (2001, p. 58) Title Slide

6. NextPrevious School Violence Proposed Protective Factors*: Family Warm, supportive relationships with parents or other adults Parents’ positive evaluation of peers Parental monitoring Taken from Youth Violence: A Report of the Surgeon General (2001, p. 58)

7. NextPrevious School Violence Proposed Protective Factors*: School Commitment to school Recognition for involvement in conventional activities Taken from Youth Violence: A Report of the Surgeon General (2001, p. 58)

8. NextPrevious School Violence Proposed Protective Factors*: Peer Group Friends who engage in conventional behavior Taken from Youth Violence: A Report of the Surgeon General (2001, p. 58) Title Slide

9. NextPrevious Research-Based, Valid Programs The Life Skills Training and Olweus Bullying Prevention programs are CSPV* Blueprint programs. The Second Step violence prevention curriculum was the only violence prevention program to receive the US Dept. of Education’s Exemplary rating for prevention programs Title Slide * Center for the Study & Prevention of Violence, CU Boulder

10. NextPrevious Fidelity of Implementation Life Skills Training evaluation studies show a 25% reduction in use when implemented with poor fidelity, while use decreased by 50% when implemented with high fidelity. DPS Schools implementing Second Step on a school-wide basis, for multiple years report the fewest suspensions for fighting. Title Slide