PATHS® (Promoting Alternative THinking Strategies)
Program Facts | Program FAQs | Training
Program Facts
Summary:
The PATHS® program is grounded in the science of children's brain development, which has determined that children experience and react to strong emotions before developing the cognitive abilities to verbalize them. The PATHS program's practical, effective strategies teach children how to label their feelings and apply self-control strategies, leading to significant improvements in coping skills, classroom behavior, and verbal fluency.
Goals:
The PATHS program is designed to help elementary-age children:
- increase self-control
- choose effective conflict-resolution strategies
- reject aggressive responses to frustrating situations
- improve problem-solving skills.
Organizations that use the PATHS program find:
- reduced misbehavior
- a healthier learning environment
- improvements in test scores.
Target Audience:
Children in grades K-6 (Complete program)
Turtle Unit is for kindergartners
Basic Kit is for first- to sixth-graders
Program Length:
The PATHS program can be easily integrated into existing learning environments. Timing and frequency of sessions can be adapted to suit individual classroom needs.
Materials:
Complete program: Instructor's Manual, 6 Curriculum Manuals, "Feelings" Supplements, Posters, Turtle Puppet, Turtle Stamp and Pad
Providers:
Classroom teachers, other educators, and youth leaders who work with elementary-age children
Effectiveness:
In rigorous clinical studies, the PATHS program has been shown to:
- reduce teachers' reports of students exhibiting aggressive behavior by 32%
- increase teachers' reports of students exhibiting self-control by 36%
- increase students' vocabulary for emotions by 68%
- increase students' scores on cognitive skills tests by 20%
- significantly improve students' ability to tolerate frustration plus their ability -- and willingness -- to use effective conflict-resolution strategies
- reduce behavior problems, such as aggression at school (for both regular and special-needs students)
- significantly decrease conduct problems and the percentage of aggressive/violent solutions to social problems
- reduce depression and sadness among special-needs students.
Duration of effects:
Results demonstrated at one- or two-year follow-up, compared to matched-comparison children
Recognition:
NATIONALLY RECOGNIZED:
- Model Program
highest possible rating
Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA)
The PATHS program is one of only 12 SAMHSA Model Programs that have documented Academic Achievement outcomes -- and is one of only two programs designed for children ages 5-12.
- Perfect score -- program materials
SAMHSA's National Registry of Evidence-based Programs and Practices (NREPP)
The PATHS program has once again been recognized by SAMHSA using its rigorous new NREPP evaluation process.
- Near perfect score -- dissemination
3.6 points out of 4 in SAMHSA's National Registry of Evidence-based Programs and Practices (NREPP)
- Model Program
highest possible rating
Blueprints Project of the Center for the Study and Prevention of Violence, University of Colorado
The PATHS program is the only violence-prevention curriculum for elementary-age children to achieve this rating.
- Select Program
highest possible rating
Collaborative for Academic, Social, and Emotional Learning (CASEL)
- Best Practices Program
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC)
- Promising Program
U.S. Dept. of Education, Safe and Drug-Free Schools Program's Expert Panel
- Promising Program
U.S. Surgeon General's Report on Youth Violence
- Best Practice
Center for the Application of Substance Abuse Technologies (CASAT)
- Model Program
National Dropout Prevention Center/Network
highest possible rating
PATHS is listed as showing strong evidence of effectiveness.
The PATHS program has also been recognized for its effectiveness by the National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA) and the Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention (OJJDP).
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Program FAQs
What is the PATHS program?
The PATHS (Promoting Alternative THinking Strategies) program is a research-based violence prevention program that gives children in grades K-6 the skills they need to find positive, nonviolent solutions to social problems. The PATHS curriculum, which leads to improved academic success, focuses on teaching children how to express emotions, control their emotions as appropriate, develop effective conflict-resolution strategies, and increase social competency.
Who developed the PATHS program?
Carol A. Kusché, Ph.D., is a psychoanalyst and clinical psychologist in private practice in Seattle, where she is also a clinical associate professor at the University of Washington Department of Psychology, and a faculty member at the Seattle Psychoanalytic Society and the Northwest Center for Psychoanalysis.
Mark T. Greenberg, Ph.D., the author of more than 100 articles and chapters on child development and understanding aggression, violence, and externalizing disorders, is the director of the Prevention Research Center for the Promotion of Human Development at Pennsylvania State University. He holds the Bennett Endowed Chair in Prevention Research at Penn State's College of Health and Human Services, and is a co-recipient of the Distinguished Contributions to Public Policy for Children Award from the Society for Research in Child Development.
How do we know the PATHS program works?
"Four clinical trials [of the PATHS program] over the past 15 years have demonstrated improvements in social and emotional competencies and reductions in aggression and other risk factors... across a wide range of elementary school children." (Source: Best Practices of Youth Violence Prevention, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention)
"After reviewing over 400 violence prevention programs, we have identified PATHS as one of ten programs that meet the highest scientific standards for demonstrating that they can successfully prevent or reduce levels of violence, crime, or drug use."
-- Delbert Elliott, Ph.D.
Blueprints Project for the Center for the Study and Prevention of Violence
University of Colorado
How is the PATHS program structured?
Flexible and easy to use, the PATHS program is designed to be integrated as appropriate into the classroom curriculum. Six curriculum manuals, containing over 100 interactive lessons, move children along a continuum of emotional competency. The PATHS curriculum is available in two units: the PATHS Turtle Unit gives kindergartners a head start on emotional literacy, while the PATHS Basic Kit (grades 1-6) ensures continual learning and development throughout the elementary years.
How much does the PATHS program cost?
| Complete PATHS Program (Basic Kit and Turtle Unit) |
$799 |
| PATHS Basic Kit (Grades 1-6) |
$699 |
| PATHS Turtle Unit (Kindergarten) |
$209 |
Prices effective January 1, 2009, subject to change without notice.
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Training
Training workshops are led by certified, experienced trainers who help participants gain in-depth knowledge of the program's contents and intended goals. The training contact for PATHS is:
Dr. Carol A. Kusché
Co-Director, PATHS Training LLC
Telephone: (206) 323-6688
E-mail: ckusche@comcast.net
Or
Dorothy Morelli
PATHS Training LLC
Telephone: (615) 364-6606
E-mail: dorothygm@hotmail.com
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