The thrust of the multicultural movement has been aimed at teaching students to become culturally responsive in their interactions with peers. Less attention has been focused on information needed by educators who attempt to promote positive intercultural exchanges in the classroom. This article describes a faculty supported pilot seminar aimed at…

This article discusses how students of color on predominantly White campuses exhibit symptoms of racial battle fatigue as they are in daily contact with daily racial microaggressions on campus; often these symptoms can lead to low retention rates. Using the Peer Counseling program at Mississippi State University's Holmes Cultural Diversity Center…

Peer education, facilitation, and counseling programs are commonly utilized in primary and secondary prevention programs within colleges and universities. In addition, peer-based human sexuality discussions have been used as an adjunct to traditional human sexuality pedagogic programs over the last 20 years. Whereas ample evidence suggests that…

The Indiana Department of Education, at the direction of Phyllis Lewis, commissioned the National Association of Peer Programs (NAPP: formerly known as the National Peer Helpers Association) and the authors listed above to develop a rubric for peer helping programs. Development of the rubric began with a review of the NAPP Programmatic Standards…

The National FFA Organization's Partners in Active Learning Support (PALS) is a program that utilizes high school members from FFA chapters as peer mentors. The purpose of this study was to examine needs of a sample of PALS advisors and mentors. An on-site pilot study was initially conducted, which included 3 individual interviews with program…

Students helping students have become an increasingly important educational concept over the last 20 years. While the popularity and prevalence of these types of programs have grown considerably, there has been little effort to evaluate their effectiveness. The authors advocate for counselors to use a scientist practitioner approach to…

According to the Department of Health and Human Services, "good program evaluations assess programs performance, measure impacts on families and communities, and document program successes." With this information, programs are able to direct limited resources to where they are most needed and most effective in their communities. This article is…

The most frequently used design to assess change as a result of training is the pre-test, post-test method. While a useful and easily set-up procedure, the pre-then-post approach can reduce rather than reflect actual changes. In this brief article, the author outlines a different procedure, called the post-then-pre method. This method is described…

In January 2006, PAL[R] Peer Assistance and Leadership, a Promising Prevention Program of Workers Assistance Program, Inc. (WAP), received a $30,000 grant from the Center for Substance Abuse Prevention (CSAP) in order to be scientifically-evaluated on the outcomes and effectiveness of its programs and services. According to the grant, the…

As director of the National Writing Project (NWP) at Florida Gulf Coast University, one of the first questions the author gets from both elementary and high school teachers when she talks about the NWP Summer Invitational Institute is this: "What can we possibly hope to gain from each other as we share our best practices?" High school teachers…

Conflict resolution programs are one part of peer programs offered in schools to enhance the development of life skills of students. This article addresses the need for and role of conflict resolution education in the schools. It then describes several approaches to conflict resolution education. A review of outcome research concerning conflict…

Recent empirical investigations and epidemiological trends promulgate the need for effective sexual health education and advocacy programs based on the needs of college students. While many peer-based programs are reliant on pedagogical strategies, additional advocacy programs are needed to resolve the difficulties associated with reaching target…

Solutions-focused role play provides students with structured opportunities to transfer what they have learned to authentic situations they are likely to encounter as peer helpers. Rather than coming up with a single way to solve a problem, students are encouraged to explore multiple possible solutions. Peer training programs have traditionally…

Cambridge Health Alliance's Volunteer Health Advisor (VHA) Program was developed to create an effective and cost efficient outreach network to improve community health status. The program's mission is to improve community health by working collaboratively with faith-based and community-based organizations to recruit, train, and support a…

The authors discuss the results of a study that identified the types of peer helping programs (mediation, tutoring, mentoring, leadership, education, counseling/listening and conflict resolution) in Western New York. (Contains 4 figures and 1 table.)