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School Climate and Teachers’ Beliefs and Attitudes Associated with Implementation of the Positive Action Program: A Diffusion of Innovations Model

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Abstract

Teacher- and school-level factors influence the fidelity of implementation of school-based prevention and social character and development (SACD) programs. Using a diffusion of innovations framework, the relationships among teacher beliefs and attitudes towards a prevention/SACD program and the influence of a school’s administrative support and perceptions of school connectedness, characteristics of a school’s climate, were specified in two cross-sectional mediation models of program implementation. Implementation was defined as the amount of the programs’ curriculum delivered (e.g., lessons taught), and use of program-specific materials in the classroom (e.g., ICU boxes and notes) and in relation to school-wide activities (e.g., participation in assemblies). Teachers from 10 elementary schools completed year-end process evaluation reports for year 2 (N = 171) and 3 (N = 191) of a multi-year trial. Classroom and school-wide material usage were each favorably associated with the amount of the curriculum delivered, which were associated with teachers’ attitudes toward the program which, in turn, were related to teachers’ beliefs about SACD. These, in turn, were associated with teachers’ perceptions of school climate. Perceptions of school climate were indirectly related to classroom material usage and both indirectly and directly related to the use of school-wide activities. Program developers need to consider the importance of a supportive environment on program implementation and attempt to incorporate models of successful school leadership and collaboration among teachers that foster a climate promoting cohesiveness, shared visions, and support.

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Notes

  1. The term “program” is used herein to refer to school-based primary prevention programs.

  2. It is important to note that in the current study, the use of the diffusion model is specific to the internal dissemination processes (Pentz 2004) taking place within a school and not the overall dissemination process which would incorporate a larger system, such as those that occur among schools and governing agencies within and across school districts.

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Acknowledgements

Two of the authors, Flay and Allred, are married.

Funding Disclosure

This project was funded by the National Institute on Drug Abuse, grant #R01-DA13474.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Public Health, Oregon State University, 256 Waldo Hall, Corvallis, OR, 97331-6406, USA

    Brian R. Flay, Samuel Vuchinich, Alan C. Acock & Kin-Kit Li

  2. Positive Action, Inc., Twin Falls, ID, USA

    Carol Allred

  3. Department of Exercise Science, Arnold School of Public Health, University of South Carolina, 1300 Wheat Street, Columbia, SC, 29208, USA

    Michael W. Beets

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  1. Michael W. Beets
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  2. Brian R. Flay
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  3. Samuel Vuchinich
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  4. Alan C. Acock
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  5. Kin-Kit Li
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  6. Carol Allred
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Correspondence to Michael W. Beets.

Additional information

Brian R. Flay was at the University of Illinois at Chicago when this project started.

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Beets, M.W., Flay, B.R., Vuchinich, S. et al. School Climate and Teachers’ Beliefs and Attitudes Associated with Implementation of the Positive Action Program: A Diffusion of Innovations Model. Prev Sci 9, 264–275 (2008). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11121-008-0100-2

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