Welcome
The Promising Practices Network (PPN) is dedicated to providing quality evidence-based information about what works to improve the lives of children, youth, and families.
The PPN site features summaries of programs and practices that are proven to improve outcomes for children. All of the information on the site has been screened for scientific rigor, relevance, and clarity.
Learn more about how we review the programs on this site and how to submit a program for consideration.
June 2009 What's New
Nurse Family Partnership Shows Sustained Improvement on Key Indicators of Maternal and Child Wellbeing
Nurse Family Partnership (NFP), a home visitation program which has already been listed as a "Proven" program on this site, provides evidence of effectiveness in a new study of participants nine years after the the children were born. The program summary has recently been updated with results from a follow-up study which found that women enrolled in NFP were significantly less likely to have given birth to low birth weight infants, had fewer subsequent births, and experienced longer relationships with their current partners. Their children were less likely to have suffered death by preventable causes, and had higher scores on achievement tests at 9 years of age.
Read PPN's updated Nurse Family Partnership program summary
Study Shows Reading Comprehension Curricula Have No Positive Impact on Disadvantaged Students
A new federal study conducted by Mathematica Policy Research, Inc. examined the effectivess of four reading comprehension programs and whether these programs help disadvantaged students improve their reading comprehension skills. In the report Effectiveness of Selected Supplemental Reading Comprehension Interventions: Impacts on a First Cohort of Fifth-Grade Students, findings reveal that these reading programs had no positive impact on student test scores. In some cases, the programs had a negative impact, particularly in the case of students who had the lowest initial reading comprehension scores and for those who attended high-poverty schools. Negative effects were also found for students with above-average initial reading fluency skills and for students taught by more experienced educators. Future studies should investigate the possibility that these curricula may be more effective after schools have had more experience using them, or that positive outcomes for students might develop over time.
Read the news release at the Mathematica website
Two New Reports Highlight Recent Trends in Gang Problems and Juvenile Crime
Two new reports from the U.S. Department of Justice and the Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention highlight recent trends in gang problems and juvenile arrest rates. In a fact sheet titled Highlights of the 2007 National Youth Gang Survey, findings suggest that gang problems have started to increase in recent years, after a former decline in youth gang activity seen from the mid-1990s to the early 2000s. One in five larger cities reported an increase in gang homicides in 2007 compared with 2006, and approximately two in five reported an increase in other violent offenses by gang members. Findings from the bulletin titled Juvenile Arrests 2007 suggested more positive trends in juvenile behavior, with the number of juvenile arrests overall declining by 2% and the number of juvenile arrests for violent crimes declining by 3% from 2006 to 2007. These positive findings are also reflected in the data for males and females, for white and minority youth, and for most offense categories as well.
Read the Fact Sheet on youth gangs and the Bulletin on juvenile arrests at U.S. Department of Justice website
PPN Newsletter
Read the PPN Newsletter for June 2009
The PPN email newsletter features regular content updates to the PPN website, such as new programs and research briefs that have been added.
Read the June newsletter | See previous newsletters
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Awards and Honors
The PPN website has been recognized with the following awards and honors:
Innovations in American Government Awards, Harvard University Kennedy School of Government (Award Finalist 2006)
Child & Family WebGuide, Tufts University
Children NOW Web Award
Adding Wisdom Award, Parent to Parent
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