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, Urban
Goal: The goal of this program is to reduce gang violence.
Filed under Effective Practice, Education / Student Performance K-12, Children, Urban
Goal: The overall goal of Computers4Kids is to empower disadvantaged children in the community by giving them computer skills and instilling in them self-confidence and a lifelong love of learning. C4K also strives to provide a safe, comfortable place for middle and high school students to explore their creative abilities.
Filed under Good Idea, Health / Cancer, Women, Racial/Ethnic Minorities
Goal: The goal of this program is to use peer communication to improve access to potentially lifesaving early detection services.
Filed under Effective Practice, Education / Student Performance K-12, Children
Goal: The goal of this program is to help all students achieve at the highest levels.
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 Good Idea, Health / Children's Health, Children
Goal: The goal of the CARE Program is to raise community awareness about asthma, coordinate services within target communities, and help families learn how to control and manage asthma.
Filed under Good Idea, Economy / Housing & Homes, Adults, Urban
Goal: Corporation for Supportive Housing's mission is to help communities create permanent housing with services to prevent and end homelessness.
Filed under Effective Practice, Health / Mental Health & Mental Disorders, Teens
Goal: The goal of this program is to prevent suicide and reduce depression among high-school students.
Filed under Good Idea, Economy / Economic Climate
Goal: The goal of Crosstown 116 was to foster participatory planning, sustainability, gender equity, increased awareness, and housing alternatives.
Filed under Good Idea, Environmental Health / Built Environment, Children, Teens
Goal: The goal of the D.C. Schoolyard Greening program is to increase and improve schoolyard green spaces in order to promote ecological literacy and environmental stewardship among students, teachers, parents and the community.