Using a randomized controlled trial, we investigated changes in both sexual harassment (SH) perpetration and victimization of 2104 middle school students in New York City who received divergent saturation and dosage levels of "Shifting Boundaries," an SH prevention program, which was represented by the length of the program. We assessed…

Little is known about the outcomes of in-school comprehensive sexuality education (CSE) programmes two or more years after programme completion, particularly in low-income countries. "Projet Jeune Leader," a youth-founded Malagasy organisation, conducted a retrospective, qualitative evaluation of a CSE programme in Madagascar. The…

As the transition point between middle school and high school, ninth grade can either set a student up for long-term success or diminish a student's likelihood of graduating high school altogether. Interventions that can help educators better meet the needs of students during this critical juncture represent powerful levers for driving school…

As the transition point between middle and high school, ninth grade can either set a student up for long-term success or diminish a student's likelihood of graduating high school altogether. The Ninth Grade Success Initiative is a dropout prevention program, piloted in five Washington State high schools in 2019-2020. We evaluated the effects on…

Anxiety disorders have been on the rise among adolescents over the past decade. The COVID-19 pandemic appears to have contributed to this increase, putting further pressure on often already overburdened health systems. Universal prevention programs may offer a potential solution, but few have been evaluated in the context of a pandemic. The…

As evidence-based interventions are scaled, fidelity of implementation, and thus effectiveness, often wanes. Validated fidelity measures can improve researchers' ability to attribute outcomes to the intervention and help practitioners feel more confident in implementing the intervention as intended. We aim to provide a model for the validation of…

It should be noted that about a year after this researcher began work on this dissertation, he became seriously ill, greatly interfering with his ability to function. In 2019 he was diagnosed with Idiopathic Pulmonary Fibrosis, a terminal lung disease. As his physical condition continued to worsen, work on the dissertation came to practically a…

Background: Evidence-based child sexual and physical abuse prevention programs delivered in schools are needed and require rigorous evaluation of program effects prior to widespread dissemination. The Play it Safe! program is a one-time session delivered by trained facilitators to teach students about recognizing, resisting, and reporting abuse.…

The purpose of this study was to apply two of Kirkpatrick's Four Levels of Training Evaluation to evaluate the implementation of PAX Good Behavior Game training in a challenged Ohio middle school. The study explored teacher "reactions" to and perceived "learning" from the training as it relates to the middle school's goals, and…

Students at risk of suicide can be identified effectively through school-based prevention programs such as Signs of Suicide (SOS), which incorporate both psychoeducation and screening components. Prior research has focused on high school students; however, there is limited research in middle schools, and even less is known of school staff's…

This applied action research with program evaluation aimed to determine if teacher-led professional development and empowerment initiatives such as the Teacher Leader Collaborative (TLC) contributed to a group of teachers' efficacy and professional growth to reduce teacher turnover of English Language Arts (ELA) teachers at Bernard Williams Middle…

The purpose of this program evaluation was to evaluate the impact of CORE District's Breakthrough Success Community (BTSC) Program at an urban Title I high school located in Southern California. BTSC aims to improve the ninth-grade experience through a focus on five key change drivers and the implementation of improvement science. Through teacher…

LifeSkills Training is the only program to prevent substance use disorder among adolescents that has evidence of effects on substance use outcomes from multiple randomized controlled trials. Evaluations have shown that the version for middle school students reduces their use of substances in high school, but these studies were conducted in the…

We evaluated the effectiveness of Boston vs. Bullies, a short-term, free, bullying prevention program that uses celebrity athletes to present content. Fifth-grade students in 10 schools were randomized to either complete the Boston vs. Bullies intervention (n = 388), or to a wait-list control group (n = 266). Pre- and post-surveys assessed…

The purpose of this study was to evaluate Achievement Mentoring, a school-based mentoring program designed to enhance high school student retention and achievement once identified as being at-risk for dropping out before graduation. We present findings from an individual-level randomized controlled trial that included 393 10th and 11th-grade…