The week's discussion began with a review of factors that contribute to the success of prevention programming. Many of you agreed that in order to be effective, prevention programs and curricula must be embedded in a school-wide culture or climate that supports nonviolence and respect.

• To create such a climate, several of you suggested widening the prevention lens to focus attention on the attitudes and behaviors of school staff and administrators.

• Others talked about asset development as an effective way to promote school-wide change.

• Several of you mentioned that "helping staff become better prepared to teach a multicultural population" is a large part of prevention.

• Many of you also discussed the importance of cultivating strong student-faculty connections as the basis of both prevention and academic success.

You went on to offer a variety of strategies for "selling" the relationship between academics and prevention, such as the following:

• Talk the language of the school. According to one MSC, "If you speak any other language than academics, discipline, or conduct referrals, you are likely to lose much of your audience."

• See where your existing prevention programs plug into your school's learning standards, then make these connections explicit.

• Develop "infused" curricula that incorporate prevention messages and allow teachers to "connect with students on multiple levels and begin working together as a team."

• Focus on the "how" rather than the "what." Suggest that many existing programs or/or curricula could be improved by adding new teaching techniques and possible new instructors.

• Start small. As one second year MSC wrote, "Be ready for baby steps and setbacks."

On Day 2, you reviewed data from Central City, commenting that the survey was useful because it was short, to the point, and adaptable. You also suggested these additional types of data you would like to collect:

• Individual school data

• Economic data

• Information about personal, family, and community influences that affect students' decisions

• Local police information on juvenile arrest, crimes, and gang activity

• District and school report cards on discipline referrals

• Report cards and standardized test results

• Information about areas of the school which students consider to be "hot spots" for substance use and violence, as well as areas that they consider "safe."

• Information about other prevention initiatives currently in place.

In response to a question about the relationship between causation and correlation, evaluator Scott Formica offered this response:

"Social scientists tend to talk about correlation instead of causality because there are so many different influences acting upon people (e.g., friends, family, social networks, education, ethnicity, etc.) that can affect their behaviors . . . [Because of this], we can't say that low grades CAUSE violence or substance abuse or that violence or substance abuse CAUSE low grades because there are a cadre of factors that can influence both situations. The best we can do is say that the two are related [correlated] in unknown ways, and if we improve one the other tends to show improvement."

On Day 3, discussion turned to strategies for making effective presentations. Many of you found the PowerPoint presentation we provided helpful-to be used either as a starting point, or to enhance, your own presentations. You also volunteered these suggestions for developing your own presentation:

• Keep it short, simple, and concrete.

• Highlight both strengths and areas of growth.

• Provide an opportunity for audience members to "raise issues" up front.

• Tailor your presentations to your audience. Provide some piece of information that they can personally relate to.

• Try to schedule meetings around your audience's availability (as much as possible)

Many of you agreed that getting people to admit there is a problem-even in the face of data-can be difficult. These are some of your suggestions for reducing school and community denial:

"We use an asset development model. It shifts the conversation from 'what's wrong' to 'what's right' . . . I still highlight the at-risk behaviors, but only when referring to how building assets can improve academic achievement while reducing "at-risk" behaviors . . . [As a result,] people are much less defensive."

"Howard Adelman of UCLA talks about prevention as removing barriers to learning. Since changing to that vocabulary, I am amazed at the response."

"I try to avoid 'finger-pointing.' My first goal is to just get [staff, faculty, and administrators] to look at the data and feel like it's safe to do so. We are getting to the point where they are comfortable exploring solutions.

"I'm waiting for the results of a YRBS survey that was recently completed for grades 6-8. I plan to announce a community meeting on the findings with an advertisement in the newspaper that reads, "Do You Want to Hear What Your Kids Have to Say about Drugs?"

"[Timing is key.] I had an attendance issue at one of my schools that was possibly related to school climate and staff behaviors. I was encouraged to address the issue, but taking it head on would have precipitated defensiveness. By waiting, I was able to use some other developments (e.g., [recently collected] dropout and climate data] to address the issue. This allowed me to talk more generally about dropout factors, of which school climate was only one. This took the sting out of the climate issue and made the audience more receptive."

Finally, many of you offered positive comments about the event, describing the data and sample presentations as particularly helpful.

Thanks so much for your positive feedback and for your willingness to share both your successes and challenges with others.