Moving evidence based practice into daily life at school

The past two decades have brought clear progress and a stronger empirical base to the field of school-based preventive practices and programs. A growing number of sophisticated models have been developed over time. Preventive interventions based on these models have been tested empirically and shown to be effective in reducing behavioural problems and promoting academic achievement. The increased dissemination of these findings has encouraged schools to adopt and adapt preventive interventions that have b een evaluated through high quality research and found effective. The adoption and adaptation of known-effective prevention models, however, may present their unique set of challenges. Programs are not always implemented with the same quality as when the y were first evaluated. Unfortunately, although the evidence base of prevention programs is quickly growing, the science regarding how programs are implemented under real-world conditions is poorly developed. A very limited knowledge base currently exist on the measurement of implementation, on the factors that influence he quality of implementation, and on the relationship between the quality of implementation and the outcomes obtained for students in school. This project, as part of a larger project, aims at providing a comprehensive discussion of theory and research to improve the understanding of factors that predict or inhibit implementation of evidence based practices in school. This theoretical work will serve as a preparation for a 5-year longit udinal, multivariate quantitative study starting 2012. The longitudinal study includes the implementation of an intervention, proven effective, in order to elaborate on complex connections between predictors and inhibitors of implementation, and on the mo st influential factors.