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 Effective Practice, Education / Student Performance K-12, Children, Teens, Families, Racial/Ethnic Minorities, Urban
Goal: The mission of Aim High is to inspire a life-long love of learning and instill a sense of community, opportunity, and respect so that students are prepared for success in school and life.
Filed under Effective Practice, Education / Student Performance K-12, Children
Goal: The goal of Aiming High is to increase the percentage of English learners scoring at or above proficient on California Standardized tests in language arts and math by three percentage points annually.
Filed under Effective Practice, Community / Crime & Crime Prevention, Teens
Goal: The mission of this program is to provide services that allow both victims and offenders to participate in a process where both parties have a sense of restored wholeness in their lives and in their communities. This wholeness is manifested when parties are feeling a sense of safety and trust in their communities and in their relationships with self and others. It is the goal of this organization to provide a sense of justice that repairs the damage done and restores relationships, both personal and communal, to their original state to the extent possible.
Filed under Effective Practice, Education / Student Performance K-12, Children
Goal: The goal of this program is to prevent delinquency, substance abuse, and school dropout in high risk children.
Filed under Good Idea, Health / Alcohol & Drug Use, Teens
Goal: The goal of All Stars programs is to prevent alcohol, tobacco and drug use, postpone sexual activity, and reduce fighting and bullying among adolescents.
Impact: When teachers implemented the program, there were significant reductions in the use of alcohol, cigarettes, smokeless tobacco, and inhalants. The program also had a significant effect in changing normative beliefs, lifestyle incongruence, commitment to school, impulsive decision-making, and sensation-seeking behavior.
Filed under Good Idea, Health / Cancer
Goal: The American Brain Tumor Association exists to eliminate brain tumors through research and to meet the needs of brain tumor patients and their families.
Filed under Effective Practice, Health / Mental Health & Mental Disorders, Teens, Rural
Goal: This program aims to drastically reduce suicidal thinking and behavior.
Filed under Effective Practice, Community / Crime & Crime Prevention, Children, Urban
Goal: Anchorage Youth Court gives youth offenders personal accountability; youth attorneys good training and the opportunity to make a significant difference in others' lives; and the public an effective and comprehensive public safety system.
Filed under Evidence-Based Practice, Health / Adolescent Health, Teens
Goal: To reduce the number of older adolescents who progress to established smoking.
Impact: The television component of the Massachusetts antismoking media campaign may have reduced the rate of progression to established smoking among young adolescents.
Filed under Effective Practice, Community / Domestic Violence & Abuse, Rural
Goal: The goal of the Appalachian Violence Outreach Network is to identify and provide services to women living in rural, underserved areas that have experienced interpersonal violence.