National reports indicate a steady increase in youth substance over the past eight years. There are multiple risk factors for youth substance use including: a) academic failure and b) aggressive and oppositional behavior. Schoolwide behavioral interventions represent a promising approach to addressing these two risk factors. The proposed program will extend such schoolwide efforts by designing a comprehensive set of CD-ROM and Internet programs for a neglected context of the school experience: the school bus. The Phase I prototype will develop an interactive multimedia CD-ROM program for bus drivers, focusing on three skills shown to have positive effects on student behavior: a) creating a positive bus environment, b) effective scanning and monitoring, and c) effective delivery of consequences. Phase II development will expand the program for Internet use and include: a) additional components for bus drivers; b) CD-ROM and Internet programs for use by classroom teachers to teach students appropriate bus behavior and procedures; c) materials for administrators to create a supportive environment for bus behavior management; and d) materials for parents to reinforce and support school efforts.
Multimedia educational software is a growing field, with schools comprising a large customer base. The individual afforded by multimedia, combined with superior instructional design and remediation as needed, and the ability to easily update program components over the Internet, make this product a simple cost-effective way for schools to design and implement a positive bus behavior management program.
