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A pedagogy that serves students of all backgrounds and trains them to compete in a diverse world is becoming imperative. University educators have been slow to accept the challenge of multicultural teaching, yet it is not clearly understood why this is the case. The authors surveyed 464 faculty members from across disciplines at a large urban, Midwestern campus. This mixed-methods study assessed faculty conceptualizations of multicultural teaching, the degree to which they may be engaged in this practice, and what challenges they face. The findings revealed that faculty members perceived several barriers to multicultural teaching, including student resistance, language barriers, lack of teaching resources, time constraints, and lack of knowledge about multicultural teaching pedagogies. Although the faculty perceived that most barriers were related to student factors, they revealed some degree of insight into their own role in terms of relative effort and lack of knowledge. Furthermore, faculty identified various institutional barriers that could be addressed to facilitate multicultural teaching at institutions of higher education. The importance of multicultural teaching in the current economic and political environment is discussed. (Contains 5 tables.)

This study adds to the limited research on the potential importance of the quality of the relationship between adult prevention service providers and youth participants in enhancing social skills and strengthening prevention outcomes. Study subjects were drawn from seven prevention programs funded under a Youth Mentoring Initiative by the Center for Substance Abuse Prevention in the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration. These programs maintain a relationship-based service focus but use a variety of one-on-one, group, volunteer, and paid staff service formats. Study results showed that youth who perceived a higher level of trust, mutuality and empathy in their relationship with providers experienced significantly greater improvements in social skills (i.e., cooperation, self-control, assertiveness, and empathy) than program participants who perceived a lower quality relationship with adult providers. These findings underscore the importance of recruitment, training and supervisory practices that promote staff and volunteer skills in achieving high quality relationships with youth participants regardless of the specific intervention strategy. Editors' Strategic Implications: Practitioners and policymakers should review the authors' findings about the importance of individual adult skills in building protective mentoring relationships. The impact of relationship quality, rather than setting, suggests that the scope of effective prevention practice can be broadened beyond the confines of formal prevention programming to any place in which caring and skilled adults interact with youth.

There is an absence of systematic, comparative research examining the negative consequences that are experienced as a result of using specific substances. Further, techniques typically used for needs assessment (i.e., prevalence proportions) do not take into account the probability of experiencing a negative consequence as a result of using specific substances. An approximated severity index is proposed that: a) takes into account the probability of experiencing negative consequences as a result of using specific substances; and b) is comparable across substances. Data from the NSDUH and the ADSS are used to demonstrate these techniques. The findings suggest that substances typically considered priorities based on prevalence proportions are not the same substances that have a high probability of causing negative consequences. The policy implications of these findings are discussed. (Contains 3 tables and 2 footnotes.)

This study assesses the degree to which culturally specific interventions enhance substance abuse prevention effectiveness for targeted cultural groups. A large and diverse (African American, Hispanic, American Indian, and Asian) sample of 10,500 youth across 48 programs was obtained. Youth participating in culturally specific programming showed greater program satisfaction and felt programs were more personally meaningful than youth in non-culturally specific programs. Culturally specific programs for African American youth were also more effective in preventing substance use. This finding may be attributable to the fact that Africentric programs apply a comprehensive and structured approach to substance abuse prevention and that cultural messages are clearly linked to important protective factors. (Contains 4 tables and 1 figure.)

Examined characteristics of 12 substance abuse prevention programs serving African American youth. Findings indicated that African American youth exhibited lower use rates than most other ethnic groups, but by age 16-18 years, use was prevalent. Africentric principles and themes integrated into the prevention programs contributed to higher rates of satisfaction and perceived program importance by participating youths. (SM)

The National Cross-Site Evaluation is a large multisite evaluation (MSE) of 48 substance abuse prevention programs, 5,934 youth participating in programs, and 4,539 comparison youth programs. Data included a self-report questionnaire administered at 4 points in time, detailed dosage data on over 217,000 program contacts, and detailed site visit information. In a pooled analysis, the programs did not demonstrate significant positive effects on a composite outcome measure of tobacco, alcohol, and marijuana use in the previous 30 days. However, disaggregated analyses indicated that 1) sites in which comparison groups had strong opportunity to participate in prevention programs suppressed observed effects; 2) youth who had already started using before they entered programs reduced use significantly more than comparison youth who had started using; and 3) both males and females who participated in programs significantly reduced use relative to comparisons, but in very different patterns. Combining these patterns produced an apparent null effect. Finally, programs that incorporated at least 4 out of 5 effective intervention characteristics identified in the study significantly reduced use for both males and females relative to comparison youth. The lessons produced by this study attest to the value of MSE designs as a source of applicable knowledge about prevention interventions. Keywords: Substance use, prevention, multisite evaluation, underage drinking, INTRODUCTION Research on programs for substance abuse prevention has been important for contributing strengthened knowledge and practice for community-based programs that support youth--particularly youth in high-risk circumstances (1). One approach [...]

The optical model for the thin-film silicon solar cells both single and multijunction with nanorough interfaces are presented. The model combines coherent approach, scattering theory, and Monte-Carlo tracing method.