| News
& Views
- Jun, 1992 Issue |
Research-Based
Outcome Evaluations
George Church, Admissions
(206) 881-7173
Taken from the Adolescent
Behavior Change (SUWS) brochure titled "Adolescent Program."
SUWS is a wilderness survival program operating in southern
Idaho since 1981.
SUWS has had research
studies done using three different standards of measurement:
1. Scholars from
the University of South Carolina have done two research studies
on SUWS, one in 1988 and another in 1990. The standard of
measurement was improvement in student self-concept. Control
groups were used, and there was pre- and post-program psychometric
testing of students and parents. The results revealed significant,
positive improvements in student self-concept after participation
in the SUWS program.
2. Two boarding
schools have jointly provided us with data. They sent us over
50 students who were not making progress, or who were running
away from their schools. Their standard of measurement for
success was a student's return from SUWS with a sustained
ability to make progress in the boarding school's program.
SUWS was 90% successful.
3. Over 200 students
were sent to SUWS as part of a 60-day adolescent drug and
alcohol treatment program with one year of aftercare. The
treatment center's standard of measurement was the number
of adolescents sober at the end of one year post-residential
treatment. The center's success had been a few percentage
points above the national average. Our joint program increased
the success rate over 100%, according to their adolescent
treatment program director.
Copyright
© 1992, Woodbury Reports, Inc. (This article may be reproduced
without prior approval if the copyright notice and proper
publication and author attribution accompanies the copy.)
|
