With funds from the National Institutes of Mental Health and Drug Abuse, the Johns Hopkins Center for Prevention and Early Intervention (CPEI) is collaborating with the Baltimore City Public School System to integrate two programs the Good Behavior Game (GBG) and Promoting Alternative Thinking Strategies (PATHS) in order to create a comprehensive universal prevention strategy aimed at reducing student behavior problems and drug use, and enhancing academic competence. The integration of these two interventions is named PATHS to PAX.  Whereas the GBG uses a small group contingency management strategy to improve classroom behavior management, PATHS provides a comprehensive curriculum to improve children’s social emotional skills. The program is consistent with the requirements of No Child Left Behind and aligns with the school district’s educational standards.  The combined model is expected to be more powerful. Its feasibility and acceptability is being evaluated and a large scale effectiveness trial will be conducted in the future.

CPEI is also integrating PATHS to PAX with other promising interventions aimed at students who do not respond to universal programs and need more intensive services.  These selected interventions, Coping Power (Grades 4-5) and The Incredible Years (Grades Pre-K to 3), target children who have begun to show more serious problems with aggressive/ disruptive behavior.  Both programs feature small group parent and child components. 

The Center is also testing a web-based assessment system developed by Penn State University called INSPIRE. INSPIRE is a web-based tool that is designed to help schools with the process of administering, evaluating and sustaining evidenced-based interventions and practices at a high level of quality. It provides a system for school districts to apply a public health approach to the provision of student support services by improving the real-time use of information collected in schools, research centers, and other entities. The INSPIRE system is designed to support the early identification and monitoring of students potentially requiring more targeted interventions. It also allows for the monitoring implementation of interventions such as PATHS to PAX. 

Penn State Prevention Center Collaborators

Celene Domitrovich Assistant Director, Prevention Research Center cxd130@psu.edu	Mark Greenberg Director Edna Peterson Bennett Chair & Professor of Human Development and Family Studies mxg47@psu.edu