GREAT Results

• DOI: http://doi.org/10.1111/1745-9133.12051
• Published date: 01 August 2013
• Date: 01 August 2013

POLICY ESSAY

EVALUATION OF THE G.R.E.A.T.

PROGRAM

GREAT Results

Implications for PBIS in Schools

JamesC.Howell

National Gang Center

Esbensen, Osgood, Peterson,Taylor,and Carson (2013, this issue) report four impor-

tant outcomes from a multisite (seven cities) 4-year follow-up on the effects of the

school-based Gang Resistance Education and Training (G.R.E.A.T.)curriculum:

1. Reduced odds of gang joining

2. A positive impact on youth-police relations

3. More negative views of gangs

4. Improvements in several risk factors for delinquency involvement and gang joining

Our comments focus on the policy and program implications of these findings for school

systems. Important considerations include the following. Foremost, school administrators

should consider the program efficacy of the G.R.E.A.T. curriculum. Is it worth school

classroom time? Does the program consistently reach its outcome goals? How does the

school benefit from it at the student level and schoolwide? The main aim in this article is to

assist school officials in finding answers to these vitally important questions for evidence-

based programming.

School administrators are concerned with providing safe learning environments and

creating a positive school climate. To help realize these goals, school systems across the

United States are implementing the federal Office of Special Education Program’s Positive

Behavioral Interventions and Supports (PBIS) framework (pbis.org). A three-tiered model

for instruction and intervention, PBIS is based on the principle that academic and behavioral

supports must be provided at a school-wide level to address the needs of all students in a

school effectively (referred to as Tier 1; core, universal instruction, and supports). Because

Direct correspondence to James C. Howell, National Gang Center, P.O. Box 12729, Tallahassee, FL 32317

(e-mail: bhowell@iir.com).

DOI:10.1111/1745-9133.12051 C2013 American Society of Criminology 413

Criminology & Public Policy rVolume 12 rIssue 3