Project

Raising Healthy Children (RHC)

Project Description

Approximately 1,000 students, their parents, and their teachers in Edmonds School District #15 are participating in the Raising Healthy Children (RHC) project, funded by the National Institute on Drug Abuse. Children in seventh and eighth grade, originally from 10 Edmonds District elementary schools, are taking part in the project which is being carried out by the Social Development Research Group.

The research group has found that certain factors in young children’s lives increase their risk for health and behavior problems in adolescence, including drug abuse and dropping out of school. Certain other factors seem to protect children against these problems. School success is one of the “protective factors” the researchers have identified, and one theme of Raising Healthy Children is that each student, given the right opportunity, can and will succeed in school.

The project combines parenting workshops and staff development for teachers. Parents will have the opportunity to attend workshops such as “Raising Healthy Children,” “How to Help Your Child Succeed in School, “Preparing for the Drug Free Years,” and “Moving Into Middle School.” They learn how to encourage positive behavior and family bonding as well as academic success. The parenting workshops draw on research which has revealed that early childhood experiences in the family can enhance children’s success in school and reduce their risk for later problems. The project also offers home-based services to a limited number of families with special needs who find it impossible to take advantage of the classes. During the high school years, parents and teens receive individual home visits that act as booster sessions to earlier parenting sessions. The individual visits are offered as students are moving into high school, as they approach driving age, and as they prepare to leave high school.

Elementary and middle school teachers receive training in how to keep children interested in learning. Using “interactive teaching,” they provide students with opportunities for involvement, actively monitor each child’s understanding of the material, and recognize mastery of incremental learning steps. “Proactive classroom management” enables teachers to create an atmosphere of learning that avoids notice of problem behavior and praises students who try to comply, at the same time minimizing the effect of minor disturbances. Students work in small teams, helping each other master the curriculum content. Active involvement in learning has been shown to enhance student achievement, concern for classmates, and commitment to school. The result of these teaching methods is a classroom where children feel good about themselves and their ability to learn.

Strategies employed in Raising Healthy Children have been shown by earlier SDRG research to reduce children’s risk for later health and behavior problems. The researchers will carefully evaluate the RHC project to see whether the techniques are successful in a new setting, furthering our understanding of how to promote children’s growth into healthy members of the community.

NIDA awarded additional funding for Dr. Rebecca Cortes to investigate the relationship between parent and child depression and changes in symptoms across time. Analyses also examine potential mediating effects of social-emotional competence on depressed mood symptoms among children in the study.