Positive Action's Positive Results

Positive Action's Positive Results
Positive Action (PA) is a program that uses intellectual, physical, and emotional development strategies to prevent substance abuse and dangerous behaviors by students in K-12. It addresses improving school climate, teacher classroom management, and children's thoughts and feelings. Students learn self-control, goal-setting, problem-solving, persistence, and other skills through structured discussions and activities, games, and role plays. 
 
Kin-Kit Li and colleagues evaluated the program in an older study. Subjects were 510 students in 14 Chicago schools randomly assigned to receive the PA program (n = 7) or to a control group (n = 7) from the 2004-05 school year when the students were in third grade, through the end of fifth grade in 2006-07. Surveys assessed students' substance use and engagement in violent activities. Bullying and disruptive behavior were measured using the Aggression Scale and the Frequency of Delinquency Scale. Students were assessed at baseline, end of year 1 (end of 3rd grade), beginning of year 2, end of year 2 (end of 4th grade), and end of year 3 (5th grade).
 
Teachers in the PA group received detailed manuals and materials, with four hours of training in year 1, and two hours each year thereafter. Key personnel attended multiple workshops and received coaching for the length of the study. Children received 140 15-minute lessons, delivered four times a week. At the end of year 3, the study's conclusion, students in the PA group reported a 31% reduction in substance use, 37% reduction in serious violence, and 41% reduction in bullying behaviors when compared with the control group. 

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