First Lady Laura Bush Visits Baltimore, Md., School where AIR is Conducting Program to Reduce Adolescent Violence
Baltimore, Maryland – First lady Laura Bush on Tuesday visited George Washington Elementary School, where the American Institutes for Research has been working with the City of Baltimore on a program aimed at reducing school failure, drug abuse, and aggressive and violent behavior among adolescents.
As part of the first lady’s visit, she met with Dr. Sheppard G. Kellam, the director of AIR’s Center for Integrating Education and Prevention Research in Schools and a nationally recognized expert on the prevention of school failure, drug abuse and aggressive and violent behavior among adolescents. Mrs. Bush has made dealing with adolescent violence one of her priorities as first lady.
Dr. Kellam, a Senior Research Fellow at AIR, has been conducting randomized field trials of a classroom behavior management technique administered by teachers that is known as the Good Behavior Game (GBG). The goal is to socialize children into the role of student and decrease aggressive, disruptive behavior in first- and second-grade classrooms.
Three generations of randomized field trials of the Good Behavior Game have been conducted by the AIR team in partnership with the Baltimore City Public School System.
“The results are profound,” the first lady told an audience assembled at the school. “This model is simple and inexpensive, and it can work in schools across the country.”
The third-generation study is being conducted in 24 classrooms in 12 Baltimore schools, including George Washington Elementary. It integrates the Good Behavior Game with curriculum and instruction, and with parent/classroom partnerships around homework and behavior. The results of the field trials indicate that school-based interventions that address all children (not only those at higher risk) can have short- and long-term benefits on aggressive, disruptive behavior and its developmental outcomes.
The mission of AIR’s Center for Integrating Education and Prevention Research in Schools is to bring together concepts, methods, and substantive findings from public health, prevention science and education research.
AIR, founded in 1946, is a recognized leader in the behavioral and social sciences. It is a non-partisan, not-for-profit organization engaged in domestic and international research, development, evaluation, analysis, product development, training and technical assistance and assessment.
Media wishing to interview Dr. Kellam may contact Larry McQuillan at (202) 403-5119, or Louise Kennelly (202) 403-5817.