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The Promising Practices Network (PPN) is dedicated to providing quality evidence-based information about what works to improve the lives of children, youth, and families.
The PPN site features summaries of programs and practices that are proven to improve outcomes for children. All of the information on the site has been screened for scientific rigor, relevance, and clarity.
Learn more about how we screen the programs on this site.
August 2008 What's New
Federal Report Shows Improvements in Reading and Math Scores for Some U.S. Students; Numbers of Teen Births and Low Birth Weight Babies Have Increased
The federal government recently released its annual statistical report on the well-being of American children, America's Children in Brief: Key National Indicators of Well-Being, 2008. The report identified several positive trends, including increases in reading and math scores for both fourth and eighth graders since their last assessments. Other positive trends included a decline in the number of childhood deaths from injuries and a decrease in the percentage of eighth graders who smoke daily. However, not all of the report's findings were positive, and increases were found in the adolescent birth rate and in the proportion of infants born low birthweight. Among adolescent girls aged 15 to 17, the birth rate increased from 21 to 22 live births for every 1,000 girls between 2005 and 2006 — the first increase in the past 15 years. The proportion of infants born low birthweight increased from 8.2 percent in 2005 to 8.3 percent in 2006, a trend observed to be increasing for the last two decades.
Read the news release at childstats.gov
Colocating Health Services: A Way to Improve Coordination of Children's Health Care?
Pediatric practices must often address a wide range of issues related to the health of their patients, including chronic medical conditions, substance abuse, and the developmental and behavioral needs of children. Additionally, pediatricians are often in the position of helping families navigate a complicated and fragmented health care system. In order to meet these complex needs, one option that health care experts have proposed is "colocation" of pediatric primary care and other service providers in the same physical setting to aid in coordinating the variety of medical care and community services needed by patients and their families. This issue brief from The Commonwealth Fund examines what is currently known about the use of colocation. The brief suggests that colocation of services is not a single strategy of having all services share a physical space but rather involves a variety of approaches that can differ in the way the services are integrated and the organization is restructured. Benefits of colocation as well as implementation barriers are discussed.
Read the issue brief at commonwealthfund.org
What would you do with $25 million to prevent child abuse?
We asked six professionals knowledgeable about preventing child abuse and neglect to answer the following question: If you had $5 million to spend each year for the next five years to prevent child abuse and neglect in the United States, how would you spend it? We invite you to read their answers, submit comments, and offer your own ideas of how you would spend $5 million a year for five years to prevent child abuse and neglect. These papers are part of a project that PPN is conducting for the Doris Duke Charitable Foundation.
Read the papers and submit your comments and ideas
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