ED’s OSHS Prevention News Digest Office of Safe and Healthy Students OCTOBER 20, 2011 VOLUME 6, NUMBER 48 | |
In This Issue 1. U.S. ED’s OSHS’ Safe and Supportive TA Center Announces a Webinar on Evaluating the Reliability of Surveys and Other Assessments, Tuesday, October 25, 2011, 4-5:30 p.m., EDT, and Wednesday, October 26, 2011, 11 a.m.-12:30 p.m., EDT 2. High School Graduates and Dropouts Focus of New NCES Report From U.S. ED’s IES 3. HHS’ CDC Reports Excessive Alcohol Consumption Cost the U.S. $224 Billion in 2006--Most of the Costs were due to Binge Drinking 4. USDA's Food and Nutrition Service (FNS) recently released Topic 2 of Free On-line Training--"How Procurement Works: Planning, Executing, and Administering a Competitive Procurement" 5. Department of Justice Awards $20 Million to Support Mentoring Children of Military Families 6. The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency Announces Release of Voluntary School Siting Guidelines to Help LEAs and Communities Select Environmentally Healthy and Safe Locations for Schools 7. Foundation Funding Opportunities -Robert Wood Johnson Foundation Community Health Leaders -National Football League Youth Football Fund and the Local Initiatives Support Corporation--NFL Youth Football Fund Grassroots Program 8. Teens Who Spend Any Time on Social Networking Sites in a Typical Day More Likely to Report Tobacco, Alcohol, or Marijuana Use The opinions expressed herein, by Summit organizers, or at the Summit may not reflect the views of the Office of Safe and Drug-Free Schools or the U.S. Department of Education. The information about the Summit and its call for papers is available from a variety of sources. The availability of information from a variety of sources does not constitute and should not be considered as an endorsement of those sources by the U.S. Department of Education. If you think ED’s OSHS PREVENTION NEWS DIGEST would be helpful to a friend or colleague, please send them to this website to: self enroll, change information, or unsubscribe. Contact Us: If you have any questions or suggestions, please contact me at [log in to unmask]. David Quinlan Editor | U.S. ED’s OSHS’ Safe and Supportive TA Center Announces a Webinar on Evaluating the Reliability of Surveys and Other Assessments, Tuesday, October 25, 2011, 4-5:30 p.m., EDT, and Wednesday, October 26, 2011, 11 a.m.-12:30 p.m., EDT The U.S. Department of Education’s Office of Safe and Healthy Students’ Safe and Supportive Schools (S3) Technical Assistance Center announces a webinar in its series of School Climate Survey Webinars. The title of this webinar is “Evaluating the Reliability of Surveys and Other Assessments” and will be provided on two dates: Tuesday, October 25, 2011, 4:00 pm − 5:30 pm EDT, and Wednesday, October 26, 2011, 11:00 am − 12:30 pm, EDT Please register for one of the sessions at http://safesupportiveschools.ed.gov/index.php?id=9&eid=1304. Those who successfully register will receive an e-mail confirmation. And information on how to connect to each Webinar will be sent to those who register shortly before the event. During this Webinar, Dr. Lorin Mueller, Principal Research Scientist at the American Institutes for Research, will focus on evaluating the reliability of surveys and other assessments. Specifically, he will address the following: -The purposes of conducting reliability analyses; -The three major facets of reliability; -Common methods for evaluating reliability for different data types; -Methods for evaluating reliability for non-continuous or mixed data; -Methods for handling unreliable responses; and -Methods for improving reliability. This Webinar is most appropriate for S3 grantees and district/school personnel who are responsible for or supervising the analysis of data from surveys, achievement databases, or evaluation data, or those who seek a better understanding of the information they see in technical reports. For more information, please email [log in to unmask]. High School Graduates and Dropouts Focus of New NCES Report From U.S. ED’s IES According to a new NCES report, approximately 3 million 16- through 24-year-olds were not enrolled in high school and had not earned a high school diploma or alternative credential as of October 2008. These dropouts represented 8 percent of the 38 million non institutionalized, civilian individuals in this age group living in the United States, according to Trends in High School Dropout and Completion Rates in the United States: 1972–2009. The report updates a series of NCES reports on high school dropout and completion rates that began in 1988. The report includes national and regional population estimates for the percentage of students who dropped out of high school between 2008 and 2009, the percentage of young people who were dropouts in 2009, and the percentage of young people who were not in high school and had some form of high school credential in 2009. Data are presented by a number of characteristics including race/ethnicity, sex, and age. Annual data for these population estimates are provided for the 1972-2009 period. Information about the high school class of 2009 is also presented in the form of on-time graduation rates from public high schools. Other findings include: • The percentage of 16- through 24-year olds who were not enrolled in high school and who lacked a high school credential varied by race and ethnicity in 2009. The rate for Hispanics (17.6 percent) was the highest followed by the rate for Blacks (9.3 percent). Rates for Whites (5.2 percent) and Asian/Pacific Islanders (3.4 percent) were the lowest among racial/ethnic groups. • Considering 18- through 24-year-olds in the civilian non-institutionalized population who are no longer in high school, approximately 89.8 percent held some form of high school credential in October 2009. Credentials include regular diplomas and alternative credentials such as the General Education Development (GED) certificate. • Of first-time freshmen in public schools four years earlier, 75.5 percent had graduated with a regular diploma by the end of the 2008-09 school year. The lowest state-level rate was 56.3 percent and the highest was 90.7 percent. This compendium is a product of the National Center for Education Statistics at the Institute of Education Sciences, part of the U.S. Department of Education. To view the full report please visit http://nces.ed.gov/pubsearch/pubsinfo.asp?pubid=2012006 HHS’ CDC Reports Excessive Alcohol Consumption Cost the U.S. $224 Billion in 2006--Most of the Costs were due to Binge Drinking The cost of excessive alcohol consumption in the United States in 2006 reached $223.5 billion or about $1.90 per drink, according to a new study by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Excessive alcohol consumption is responsible for an average of 79,000 deaths and 2.3 million years of potential life lost in the United States each year. Excessive alcohol consumption was defined as binge drinking (4 or more drinks per occasion for a woman, and 5 or more drinks per occasion for a man); heavy drinking (more than 1 drink per day on average for a woman, and more than 2 drinks per day on average for a man); and any alcohol consumption by pregnant women or underage youth. Researchers found the costs largely resulted from losses in workplace productivity (72 percent of the total cost), health care expenses for problems caused by excessive drinking (11 percent of the total cost), law enforcement and other criminal justice expenses related to excessive alcohol consumption (9 percent of the total cost), and motor vehicle crash costs from impaired driving (6 percent of the total cost). The study did not consider a number of other costs such as those due to pain and suffering by the excessive drinker or others who were affected by the drinking, and thus may be an underestimate. Researchers estimated that excessive drinking cost $746 per person in the United States in 2006. “This research captures the reality that binge drinking means binge spending, not just for the person who drinks but for families, communities, and society,” said CDC Director Thomas R. Frieden, M.D., M.P.H. “There are substantial costs to all of us in health care, the workplace, and criminal justice systems. Responsible individual behavior combined with the effective policies can decrease unhealthy drinking, reduce health care and other costs, and increase productivity.” The researchers analyzed national data from multiple sources, including the Alcohol-Related Disease Impact Application, the National Epidemiologic Survey on Alcohol-Related Conditions, and the National Survey on Drug Use and Health, to estimate the costs resulting from excessive drinking in 2006, the most recent year for which data were generally available. A previous study by The Lewin Group, a private health care consulting firm in Falls Church, Va. experienced in the development of cost estimate studies, found that the cost of alcohol misuse in the United States was about $185 billion in 1998. “This landmark study highlights the enormous costs that excessive alcohol consumption inflicts on the individuals involved and on society in general,” said Pamela S. Hyde, administrator of the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration. “It also reinforces the importance of addressing behavioral health issues, including substance abuse, through our health care system.” Overall, researchers found that about $94.2 billion (42 percent) of the total economic costs of excessive alcohol consumption were borne by federal, state, and local governments while $92.9 billion (41.5 percent) was borne by excessive drinkers and their family members. Government agencies paid most of the health care expenses due to excessive alcohol use (61 percent), while drinkers and their families bore most of the cost of lost productivity (55 percent), primarily in the form of lower household income. “It is striking that over three-quarters of the cost of excessive alcohol consumption is due to binge drinking, which is reported by about 15 percent of U.S. adults,” said Robert Brewer, M.D., M.P.H., Alcohol Program Leader at CDC and one of the authors of the report. “Fortunately, there are a number of effective public health strategies that communities can use to reduce binge drinking and related harms, such as increasing the price of alcohol and reducing alcohol outlet density”. The study, “Economic Costs of Excessive Alcohol Consumption in the U.S., 2006," is published online at http://www.ajpmonline.org/, and in the November 2011 issue of the American Journal of Preventive Medicine. The study is developed in collaboration with the CDC and the Lewin Group. The study was funded by a grant from the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation to the CDC Foundation. For more information about the prevention of excessive alcohol use, visit the Alcohol and Public Health web site at http://www.cdc.gov/alcohol/index.htm USDA's Food and Nutrition Service (FNS) recently released Topic 2 of Free On-line Training--"How Procurement Works: Planning, Executing, and Administering a Competitive Procurement" This training from USDA’s FNS is free and open to the public. Topic 2--"How Procurement Works: Planning, Executing, and Administering a Competitive Procurement" provides detailed information about each stage of the procurement process for the Child Nutrition Programs. For more information, including registration, visit the USDA Farm to School Team's policy webpage at http://www.fns.usda.gov/cnd/F2S/f2spolicy.htm. Click on "USDA Online Procurement Training." In addition, on October 6, 2011, FNS recently published a memorandum encouraging school food service facilities, Head Start centers, pre-schools, adult day care centers, child day care centers, and food preparation centers to consider the USDA’s Rural Development Community Facilities Program grants and loans as a funding option to upgrade their community’s child nutrition facilities and purchase equipment that could improve access to healthy, locally, or regionally grown products. For a copy of this memorandum (SP01_CACFP01_SFSP01-2012, Rural Development’s Community Facilities Program) please visit http://www.fns.usda.gov/cnd/governance/Policy-Memos/2012/SP01_CACFP01_SFSP01-2012_os.pdf. If you have any questions, please contact the Team at [log in to unmask]. Department of Justice Awards $20 Million to Support Mentoring Children of Military Families The Department of Justice's Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention (OJJDP) recently awarded a total of $20 million to nine organizations to support mentoring programs and services for youth with a parent in the military. The Department of Defense provided this funding to OJJDP as part of a joint effort to support military families. "Children in military families experience unique challenges that other children may never face, such as dealing with their deployed parents' extended absence and anxiety over their safe return," said Jeff Slowikowski, OJJDP Acting Administrator. "These nine programs will provide children of military families a listening ear and caring support during a difficult time in their lives." To view the nine organizations who have been awarded these funds, please visit: http://www.ojp.usdoj.gov/newsroom/pressreleases/2011/JJ_PR-101111.htm The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency Announces Release of Voluntary School Siting Guidelines to Help LEAs and Communities Select Environmentally Healthy and Safe Locations for Schools EPA announces the release of voluntary school siting guidelines to help school districts and communities select environmentally healthy and safe locations for schools. The guidelines were mandated by the Energy Independence and Security Act of 2007 and were developed in consultation with other federal agencies, states, school districts, community organizations, health care professionals, and teachers, as well as environmental justice leaders and children’s health and environmental groups. The guidelines provide recommendations on steps to evaluate potential environmental challenges and benefits at candidate sites. By following the recommendations in the guidelines, local education agencies, tribes and states can help provide a safe and healthy environment for children, teachers and staff. To learn more about the guidelines, please visit the EPA web site at www.epa.gov/schools. Foundation Funding Opportunities Robert Wood Johnson Foundation Community Health Leaders The 2012 Robert Wood Johnson Foundation Community Health Leaders awards program will recognize individuals in the United States working to solve the health challenges that confront their own communities. Nominees may be someone doing exceptional work to improve health or access to healthcare in his or her community, or someone who has solved a daunting community health problem. Ten awards of $125,000 will be given to selected applicants. Eligible applicants must be permanent residents of the U.S. and be affiliated with a public or non-profit, tax exempt organization. Deadline: TBA
Please contact the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation for more information and to apply for this funding: http://www.communityhealthleaders.org/ National Football League Youth Football Fund and the Local Initiatives Support Corporation--NFL Youth Football Fund Grassroots Program The NFL Grassroots Program seeks to address the shortage of clean, safe and accessible football fields in low and moderate-income neighborhoods by providing non-profit, neighborhood-based organizations with financial and technical assistance to improve the quality, safety and accessibility of local football fields. Awards of up to $200,000 will be available. In order to be eligible, projects must be sponsored by non-profit community-based organizations with 501(c)(3) status, or middle or high schools. Applicants must be located within NFL Target Markets and serve low- to moderate-income areas within those markets. Deadline: December 16, 2011
Please contact the Local Initiatives Support Corporation for more information and to apply for this funding: http://www.lisc.org/section/ourwork/national/youth/request SOURCE: The Center for Health and Health Care in Schools (CHHCS) The Weekly Insider, October 19, 2011
Teens Who Spend Any Time on Social Networking Sites in a Typical Day More Likely to Report Tobacco, Alcohol, or Marijuana Use Seventy percent of U.S. teens spend at least some time on a social networking site in a typical day and 29% spend more than an hour online, according to data from a recent survey conducted by the National Center on Addiction and Substance Abuse at Columbia University. While many of the teens visiting these sites report seeing pictures of substance use (they also are more likely to use tobacco, alcohol, and marijuana themselves. Teens who spend any time* on a social networking site—such as Facebook or Myspace—are five times more likely to have ever used tobacco, three times more likely to have ever used alcohol, and nearly twice as likely to have ever used marijuana (see figure below). These findings may be due to differences between social networking site users and nonusers., such as age or socioeconomic status. The survey also found that more than one-third (36%) of parents of teens with a social networking page say that they do not monitor it, suggesting that another difference between the groups may be the degree of parental monitoring. *The survey did not find significant differences in substance use among teens spending 1 to 30 minutes, 31 to 90 minutes, or more than 90 minutes on a social networking site in a typical day. NOTE: Data were collected from an internet-based survey of a nationally representative sample of 1,037 teens and 528 of their parents from March 27 to April 27, 2011. Sampling error is +/- 3.1 for teens and +/- 4.4 for parents. SOURCE: Adapted by University of Maryland’s Center for Substance Abuse Research (CESAR) from The National Center on Addiction and Substance Abuse at Columbia University, National Survey of American Attitudes on Substance Abuse XVI: Teens and Parents, August 2011. Available online at http://www.casacolumbia.org/download.aspx?path=/UploadedFiles/ooc3hqnl.pdf |