Recently we reported on early steps taken to test the acceptability, feasibility, and effectiveness of a peer-led parenting support intervention. While the results were promising, the study design was not particularly rigorous. Will a tougher test of the program produce more compelling results?
August 2012
29 August 2012
Getting providers to adopt single evidence-based programs can be hard enough. So what about the far tougher task of persuading government to implement a national evidence-based strategy? It can be done – and here, the developers of Austria’s national anti-bullying program tell how they did it.
28 August 2012
A precondition for effective prevention is a robust research base, but a review of the evidence on interventions to reduce self-harm among adolescents shows that there is still a lot to be done.
23 August 2012
Every September, thousands of fresh-faced new college students wave goodbye to their families, move away from home, start making new friends – and set out to discover how much they want to drink when Ma and Pa aren’t interfering. A combination of parent discussions and peer training can help with the transition, a recent study finds.
20 August 2012
There are no silver bullets for crime reduction. But massive changes do happen – as the drop in New York crime over two decades shows. So where does change come from? It’s the accumulation of “a thousand small sanities,” a court reform organization argues.
16 August 2012
“Booster interventions” are designed to maintain or enhance the impact of initial interventions. But can they boast a big enough effect to justify their use? New research on the SAFEChildren program offers some of the first reliable evidence.
14 August 2012
Sex education programs targeting teenage pregnancy and sexual health have struggled to find the secret to success. One curriculum, called Reducing the Risk, decreases sexual risk-taking among teens – but variations on the program show there’s more to learn.
10 August 2012
There is solid science behind randomized controlled trials, but they typically don’t tell us how the thing we are testing works. This “black box syndrome,” which most experiments suffer from, can be overcome partly by collecting the right data at the right time.
09 August 2012
Performance-related incentives have become a hot policy idea to improve teaching. But a Texas study of more than 17,000 students has found no impact on either student achievement or teacher practices. Should controversial teacher bonuses linked to student test scores be scrapped altogether?
06 August 2012
Children who are the oldest ones in their class do better on academic tests throughout elementary school, a Hungarian study finds. Which late starters benefit most, and why are they at an advantage?
