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School Success Profile Team Receives National Institute on Drug Abuse Grant
October 2003
The School Success Profile (SSP) project team at the School of Social Work and Flying Bridge Technologies Inc., a computer technology company in Charlotte, N.C., received phase two funding from the National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA) to continue the development of the Elementary School Success Profile (ESSP).

The two-year award of $500,000 follows previous NIDA awards totaling $200,000. Dr. Gary Bowen, Kenan distinguished professor, and Dr. Natasha Bowen, assistant professor, are the principal investigators of the School's component of the grant (shown in picture at right with Michael Kelly of Flying Bridge). Natasha Bowen has taken the lead in the design and implementation of the research project.

The ESSP is an elementary version of the School Success Profile (SSP), a self-report survey for middle and high school students that was developed by Gary Bowen and School of Social Work Dean Jack Richman. The ESSP is for children in the third through fifth grades. Few comprehensive assessment tools are available for this age group.

The ESSP assesses students' beliefs about themselves, their neighborhoods, schools, peer groups and families. . Questions that are for children are answered via a colorful, engaging computer program. The computerized format and audio capacity keep young students' attention and overcome reading difficulties. The ESSP also collects information from parents and teachers via paper-and-pencil questionnaires.

Phase two goals are to develop Spanish and audio features of the ESSP and web-based practice resources. In addition, data on 600 students in three states will be collected and analyzed.

The ESSP will help school staff identify and address risk factors and school problems in young students. By catching problems early, school staff can hope to prevent their development into more serious problems in middle and high school.

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