Promising Practices
The Promising Practices database informs professionals and community members about documented approaches to improving community health and quality of life.
The ultimate goal is to support the systematic adoption, implementation, and evaluation of successful programs, practices, and policy changes. The database provides carefully reviewed, documented, and ranked practices that range from good ideas to evidence-based practices.
Learn more about the ranking methodology.
Filed under Evidence-Based Practice, Health / Children's Health, Children, Teens
Goal: The goals of this program are to establish a single application for school-based youth prevention programs; provide a common language and approach for parent, community, and student health programs; and reinforce prevention messages from a variety of sources.
Impact: Students who received the Michigan Model curriculum had significantly better health outcomes in several areas: social and emotional health, interpersonal skills, aggressive behavior, safety attitudes and skills, physical activity skills, nutrition behavior, drug refusal skills, recent alcohol and tobacco use, and intentions to use alcohol and smoke cigarettes.
Filed under Evidence-Based Practice, Education / Student Performance K-12, Children, Teens, Families
Goal: The Raising Healthy Children program is a social development approach to positive youth development.
Filed under Evidence-Based Practice, Community / Social Environment, Children, Families, Urban
Goal: The goal of the program is to help families gain or increase parenting and family management skills that would facilitate successful child academic and social adjustment and, therefore, to promote social and academic competence and to lower risk for later antisocial behavior. In addition, the intervention concentrates on promoting initial academic success.
Impact: Children who received the intervention improved in overall reading ability at a more rapid rate than those who did not receive the intervention. In addition, SAFEChildren participants showed an improvement in concentration.
Filed under Evidence-Based Practice, Education / Student Performance K-12, Children
Goal: The goal of this program is to help all students achieve academic success at the highest levels.
Impact: Results suggest that students in the Success for All schools were achieving at significantly higher levels on three of the four reading outcomes as measured by the Woodcock Reading Mastery Test Revised (WRMT-R).
Filed under Evidence-Based Practice, Health / Adolescent Health, Teens
Goal: The program aims to develop healthy behaviors, life skills, and a sense of purpose in order to prevent problem behaviors.
Impact: Studies have shown that adolescents in the Teen Outreach Program are at 52% lower risk of school suspension, 60% lower risk of course failure, and 53% lower risk of teenage pregnancy.
Filed under Effective Practice, Education / Literacy, Children, Teens, Urban
Goal: The mission of 826 National is to help children ages 6-18 develop their writing skills, and to help teachers get their students excited about writing. The mission is based on the understanding that great leaps in learning can happen with one-on-one attention, and that strong writing skills are fundamental to future success.
Filed under Effective Practice, Education / Student Performance K-12, Children
Goal: The goal of this program is to encourage social and academic development among grade school children who are socially rejected and have serious academic problems in reading or mathematics.
Filed under Effective Practice, Education / Student Performance K-12, Teens
Goal: The goal of this program is to improve academic performance, reduce substance abuse, and reduce school failure among middle and high school students.
Filed under Good Idea, Education / Student Performance K-12, Children
Goal: The goal of this program is to promote positive youth development and to help youth gain valuable work experience.
Filed under Effective Practice, Education / Student Performance K-12, Children, Families, Urban
Goal: The goal of Achievers for Life is to work with 6th grade students and their families in order to prevent students from dropping out of high school.