This paper presents a new integrated model for documentation and evaluation tested in 2021 on Back Into the Wild project, an Adventure Education project by Equilibero Association (Padova-Treviso, Italy). The project proposes educational walks to groups of at-risk adolescents to promote their psychophysical and relational well-being. Due to the…

Chronic diseases with behavioral risk factors are now the leading causes of death in the United States. A national Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System (BRFSS) monitors those risk factors; however, there is a need for national and state evaluations of chronic disease surveillance systems. The Department of Health and Human Services/Centers…

In humanitarian settings, mental health and psychosocial support services (MHPSS) are often delivered in group-based formats. Group interventions enable providers to reach more individuals when resources and technical expertise are limited. Group-based programs also foster social support, empathy, and collective problem-solving among the…

Researcher--community partnerships are a necessary but not sufficient facet of effective research and evaluation with community-based projects and in clinical settings. This article describes two approaches that we have integrated into a multiyear, multiphase research and evaluation initiative supporting the health and well-being of vulnerable…

The Division for Early Childhood (DEC) lists 11 recommended practices for assessment, including "Practitioners report assessment results so they are understandable and useful to families" (DEC, 2014, p. 8). This article examines high-impact practices designed to make meaningful and understandable assessment reports to facilitate…

Sex education in middle and high school health classes is critically important because it frequently comprises the primary mechanism for conveying information about sexual health to adolescents. Deliver evidence-based information on HIV and pregnancy prevention practices and they will be less likely to engage in risky sexual behaviors, the theory…

A three-stage paradigm for telephonically assessing suicidal risk and triaging suicidal callers as practiced in an Employee Assistance Program Call Center was investigated. The first hypothesis was that the use of the procedure would increase the probability that callers would accept the clinician's recommendations, evidenced by fewer police…

Risk assessment can be an effective pedagogical strategy for sexuality education. Objectives: After learning about the modes of transmission and prevention strategies of sexually transmitted infections (STIs), students engaged in this teaching technique will define sexual intercourse and sexual activity, assess the level of STI risk associated…

With its roots in clinical and educational psychology, school psychology is an ever-changing field that encompasses a diversity of topics. "The Oxford Handbook of School Psychology" synthesizes the most vital and relevant literature in all of these areas, producing a state-of-the-art, authoritative resource for practitioners,…

In attempting to use a realistic evaluation approach to explore the role of Community Parents in early parenting programs in Toronto, a novel technique was developed to analyze the links between contexts (C), mechanisms (M) and outcomes (O) directly from experienced practitioner interviews. Rather than coding the interviews into themes in terms of…

Youth at risk for school failure need community and school supports to reduce the likelihood of developing delinquent behavior. This article provides an overview of community and school approaches aimed at intervening on the school-to-prison pipeline. Community and school efforts are emerging that take into account empirical evidence demonstrating…

School shootings have generated great public concern and fostered a widespread impression that schools are unsafe for many students; this article counters those misapprehensions by examining empirical evidence of school and community violence trends and reviewing evidence on best practices for preventing school shootings. Many of the school safety…

Threats of violence are not uncommon to counselors, faculty, or teachers. Each must be taken seriously, quickly analyzed, and safety procedures implemented. Yet, there exists a paucity of brief, face-to-face, assessments designed to aid threat assessment. To address this paucity, the author created The DANGERTOME Personal Risk Threat Assessment…

There is a need for more effective assessment and primary prevention programs aimed at accurately measuring and reducing alcohol consumption among women before conception in underserved, high-risk populations. Health Information Technology (HIT) may serve this purpose; however, the effectiveness of such tools is not known. We conducted a…

At the beginning of 2008, a number of the world's major economies began to experience the effects of the biggest economic financial crisis in history. By the end of that year, the financial crisis was a global recession, and governments responded with changes to a suite of social and economic policies. Two broad stages of government response are…