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Child Development Project

An Effective Practice

Description

The Child Development Project (CDP) is a comprehensive, elementary school-based intervention program. CDP incorporates class meetings, learning activities for partners and small groups, and open-ended discussions on literature to enhance students' social, ethical, and intellectual development. CDP is based on the belief that prevention efforts are most likely to be effective when they occur early in a child's development, before antisocial behavioral patterns have a chance to become firmly established. CDP emphasizes the promotion of positive development rather than the prevention of disorder.

Goal / Mission

The central goal of CDP is to help schools become "caring communities of learners" by offering an environment of caring, supportive, and collaborative relationships to build students' sense of community in school and to promote school bonding.

Results / Accomplishments

The evaluations of the CDP indicate that in some cases treatment group students have experienced significant improvements in reading, math, science, and social studies skills when compared with control group students. In addition, study results indicate that the CDP may contribute to a short-term decrease in the use of alcohol and marijuana.

About this Promising Practice

Organization(s)
Developmental Studies Center
Primary Contact
Eric Schaps
Developmental Studies Center
2000 Embarcadero, Suite 305
Oakland, CA 94606-5300
(510) 533-0213
Eric_Schaps@devstu.org
http://www.devstu.org
Topics
Education / Childcare & Early Childhood Education
Education / School Environment
Education / Student Performance K-12
Organization(s)
Developmental Studies Center
Source
Promising Practices Network
Date of publication
Nov 2004
Location
San Francisco
For more details
Target Audience
Children
Impact DuPage