Promising Practices
The Promising Practices database informs professionals and community members about documented approaches to improving community health and quality of life.
The ultimate goal is to support the systematic adoption, implementation, and evaluation of successful programs, practices, and policy changes. The database provides carefully reviewed, documented, and ranked practices that range from good ideas to evidence-based practices.
Learn more about the ranking methodology.
Filed under Effective Practice, Community / Crime & Crime Prevention, Children, Teens
Goal: The goal of this program is to address the needs of juvenile offenders with emotional and behavioral disorders and their families.
Filed under Evidence-Based Practice, Education / School Environment, Children, Teens, Urban
Goal: The goal of this program is to improve classroom management in order to provide a better learning environment that fosters academic success.
Filed under Good Idea, Health / Physical Activity, Children, Teens
Goal: The goal of Cook Like a Chef is to teach children aged 11-13 about healthy cooking and eating habits.
Filed under Effective Practice, Health / Physical Activity, Children, Teens, Adults, Families
Goal: The goal of Cooking Matters is to empower families by providing them with the skills, knowledge, and confidence to prepare healthy and affordable meals.
Filed under Good Idea, Health / Physical Activity, Adults, Families
Goal: Cooking Matters seeks to teach families to stretch their food budgets so their children are fed healthy and nutritious meals at home.
Impact: Graduates of Cooking Matters at the Store learn how to compare food labels, read ingredients lists, and identify healthy food choices that fit their budget.
Filed under Good Idea, Health / Physical Activity, Children, Families
Goal: Cook for Kids aims to improve nutrition at school, home, and restaurants by showcasing innovative school nutrition programs, healthful foods, and cooking techniques.
Filed under Effective Practice, Health / Children's Health, Children, Teens
Goal: The goal of cooperative learning is to establish positive interdependence among students. When positive interdependence is established in group learning situations, the quality of peer interaction improves. Instead of competing with or ignoring one another, students are more likely to promote the success of one another through mutual assistance, emotional support, and the sharing of ideas or resources. These positive social interactions, in turn, encourage greater social acceptance and the development of positive relationships among students and, in educational contexts, promote greater academic motivation and achievement (Johnson & Johnson, 1989, 2005). In fact, research on social interaction suggests that gains in social skills alone are insufficient to reduce social problems among students and encourage more positive peer relations. Only positive interdependence, and the subsequent positive social interactions that arise from it, can motivate youth to re-evaluate previous conclusions regarding the social desirability of others (Bierman, 2004).
Impact: Cooperative learning can have positive effects on adolescent bullying, alcohol use, and tobacco use.
Filed under Effective Practice, Health / Mental Health & Mental Disorders, Children, Teens
Goal: The goal of this program is to prevent depression and other mood disorders in adolescents.
Filed under Effective Practice, Education / Student Performance K-12, Children
Goal: Core Knowledge is based on the idea that for the sake of academic excellence, greater fairness, and higher literacy, elementary and middle schools need a solid, specific, shared core curriculum in order to help children establish strong foundations of knowledge, grade by grade.
Filed under Effective Practice, Health / Prevention & Safety, Adults, Racial/Ethnic Minorities
Goal: The goal of the CDP was to improve health care access for incarcerated individuals and at-risk minority populations disproportionately affected by HIV/AIDS.