GREAT Schools and Families Project – Evaluation Research Study in Area of Aggression/Interpersonal Youth

Project Description

The GREAT Schools and Families Project – completed in 2007 – was a multi-site program to develop and evaluate violence prevention programs for middle school students. Researchers from Virginia Commonwealth University, the University of Illinois-Chicago, and the University of Georgia-Athens collaborated on this project. The project was funded by the National Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and was the largest violence-prevention study ever funded by the CDC.

Project Goals

Work completed on this project by the Center included:

  • Securing funding to provide intervention services to students, teachers, and families in Durham middle schools
  • Developing innovative interventions to prevent school and family violence
  • Training staff to implement school and family interventions
  • Rigorous evaluation of program impact
  • Preparing manuscripts for publication and presenting findings at national scientific meetings

Project Findings

Community-Based multiple family groups to prevent and reduce violent and aggressive behavior

Choosing to be violence free in middle school: The student component of the GREAT Schools and Families Universal Programs