Allison Dymnicki | American Institutes for Research (original) (raw)

Papers by Allison Dymnicki

142nd APHA Annual Meeting and Exposition (November 15 - November 19, 2014), Nov 17, 2014

ABSTRACT Background/Purpose: The American Institutes of Research (AIR), in partnership with the C... more ABSTRACT Background/Purpose: The American Institutes of Research (AIR), in partnership with the Centers for the Disease Control, National Center of Injury Prevention and Control [CDC, NCIPC) is engaged in a second initiative focused around increasing the role and visibility of public health departments in preventing youth violence with 12 communities across the country. Methods This five-year initiative attempts to take lessons learned from the STRYVE initiative to support twelve communities in engaging in and expanding their efforts to prevent youth violence. Four communities who have been engaged in this type of work before and eight communities that are engaging in this work for the first time will be recruited for this initiative. Results/Outcomes Activities that have been achieved during the planning year of this initiative will be described. These include: developing an environmental scan of public health department and collecting data to inform what supports will be offered to participating sites, creating a recruitment approach to recruit two types of communities, and identifying the key supports that will be offered during this initiative that aim to decrease community rates of violent incidents (e.g., homicides). Conclusions Key findings from the environmental scan of the needs of public health departments, a rationale for the recruitment process, and a description of the supports that might help public health departments to engage in this type of work will be shared in an effort to increase the knowledge related to injury prevention and the role that public health departments can play in these efforts.

This issue brief was written to assist state policymakers in better understanding how social and ... more This issue brief was written to assist state policymakers in better understanding how social and emotional learning (SEL) can help students to be college and career ready. The brief provides a short description of what SEL is, why it is needed, and what it looks like in practice. In addition, examples of standards that support SEL at the federal and state levels, current SEL initiatives and programs, and outcomes and measures that can be used to assess SEL programming are described.

Social Science Research Network, 2022

Journal of School Violence, 2021

ABSTRACT School safety continues to be a concern in today’s schools, and comprehensive approaches... more ABSTRACT School safety continues to be a concern in today’s schools, and comprehensive approaches to school safety are one way to address this concern. However, few comprehensive approaches have been rigorously evaluated. To address this gap, we evaluated the implementation and effects associated with Safe Communities Safe Schools (SCSS) comprehensive school safety framework. Forty-six middle schools received SCSS within a staggered randomized implementation design. Implementation data, classroom observations, staff and student perceptions of school climate, student attendance/truancy, suspension rates, and academic test scores indicated that schools implemented some SCSS components as intended. Mixed impacts were found on school climate, student behavior, and academic outcomes. Findings suggest that implementation data highlights barriers to bringing interventions to scale and comprehensive interventions produce changes sequentially. Comprehensive frameworks hold promise for building staff capacity and the necessary infrastructure to reduce school violence – but require engagement and commitment of key staff, and sufficient time for change to occur.

American Journal of Community Psychology, Mar 31, 2007

Journal of Applied Social Psychology, Feb 1, 2013

Journal of Research on Adolescence, Aug 5, 2013

This study examines to what extent baseline school climate moderates the effects of a randomized ... more This study examines to what extent baseline school climate moderates the effects of a randomized controlled trial of a universal violence prevention intervention. School climate was assessed by teacher ratings of the quality of relationships among school members and the seriousness of school problems. Cluster analysis revealed three climate types: distressed, average, and conducive. Mixed-effects regression models of data from 5,256 students suggested limited overall positive program outcomes for students in schools assigned to the universal intervention versus students in schools assigned to control conditions. There was, however, evidence of differential effects of the universal intervention by climate type. These findings have important implications for identifying school characteristics that researchers and practitioners should consider in planning universal school-based interventions. Whereas a handful of studies have addressed the way that ecological characteristics (e.g., classroom, school, community factors) affect implementation of school-based prevention efforts (Gregory, Henry, Schoeny, & The Metropolitan Area Child Study Research Group, 2007; Kallestad & Olweus, 2003), few studies have analyzed how ecological variables influence student intervention outcomes (Farrell, Henry, & Bettencourt, 2011). Findings of one study suggested that, although the universal intervention produced robust effects for most schools, it was not associated with positive intervention effects in high-poverty schools (Conduct Problems Prevention Research Group, 2010). Another study found that a multicomponent intervention that had no effect in a poor and high-crime community had significant effects in a less distressed community (Metropolitan Area Child Study Research Group, 2002). The current study attempts to analyze the relationship of school climate to intervention outcomes in a randomized controlled trial of a schoolbased violence prevention program. Few studies have investigated the relations between specific ecological characteristics and student intervention outcomes. However, some longitudinal research has identified ecological characteristics that predict student outcomes, and other studies have linked ecological characteristics to program implementation. Considerable research evidence indicates that different aspects of school climate can affect student outcomes. Such characteristics include individual and school norms, supportive student-teacher relationships, and school policies and practices (

Prevention Science, May 7, 2015

Qualitative methods potentially add depth to prevention research, but can produce large amounts o... more Qualitative methods potentially add depth to prevention research, but can produce large amounts of complex data even with small samples. Studies conducted with culturally distinct samples often produce voluminous qualitative data, but may lack sufficient sample sizes for sophisticated quantitative analysis. Currently lacking in mixed methods research are methods allowing for more fully integrating qualitative and quantitative analysis techniques. Cluster analysis can be applied to coded qualitative data to clarify the findings of prevention studies by aiding efforts to reveal such things as the motives of participants for their actions and the reasons behind counterintuitive findings. By clustering groups of participants with similar profiles of codes in a quantitative analysis, cluster analysis can serve as a key component in mixed methods research. This article reports two studies. In the first study, we conduct simulations to test the accuracy of cluster assignment using three different clustering methods with binary data as produced when coding qualitative interviews. Results indicated that hierarchical clustering, K-Means clustering, and latent class analysis produced similar levels of accuracy with binary data, and that the accuracy of these methods did not decrease with samples as small as 50. Whereas the first study explores the feasibility of using common clustering methods with binary data, the second study provides a "real-world" example using data from a qualitative study of community leadership connected with a drug abuse prevention project. We discuss the implications of this approach for conducting prevention research, especially with small samples and culturally distinct communities. Qualitative inquiry can be a valuable tool in prevention research, providing rich material on motivations, behaviors, thoughts, and feelings. Qualitative inquiry is a key tool in discoverybased research, hypothesis generation, in characterizing the mechanisms underlying quantitative findings (e.g., Farrell et al., 2007), and can provide guidance in the development and refinement of measures. The patterns discovered in qualitative data can advance our understanding of how people interact with prevention programs and the divergent contexts in which they are embedded. In the current paper, we describe two studies that evaluate the performance of three different quantitative approaches for clustering binary data, such as the type produced in coding of qualitative interviews. We then provide an example of the application of a cluster analytic approach as a mixed methods component of a study of community leadership in drug abuse prevention.

Journal of Adolescence, Jan 8, 2011

This study examined the levels and growth of specific and general normative beliefs about nonviol... more This study examined the levels and growth of specific and general normative beliefs about nonviolence (called norms for nonviolence). The sample consisted of 1254 middle school students from four metropolitan areas who participated in the control condition of the Multisite Violence Prevention Project. We predicted that the association and endorsement of specific and general norms for nonviolence would strengthen over time, levels and growth of norms for nonviolence would be moderated by gender and ethnicity, and norms for nonviolence would be related to youths' behaviors. Linear mixed models found that levels and direction of growth in specific and general norms varied as a function of gender, age, and ethnicity, providing partial support for our hypotheses. Specific and general norms for nonviolence were also consistently positively related to students' social skills and negatively related to students' aggressive behavior. Implications for understanding adolescent development are discussed.

Journal of School Violence, Oct 1, 2011

Journal of School Psychology, Oct 1, 2011

Methodological Innovations online, Aug 1, 2011

During the past seventy years, the field of cluster analysis has emerged, accompanied by a pletho... more During the past seventy years, the field of cluster analysis has emerged, accompanied by a plethora of methods, algorithms, concepts, and terminology that are used in cluster-related research. We refer to cluster analysis (CA) as a general approach composed of several multivariate methods for delineating natural groups or clusters in data sets. In this paper, we describe the ability of CA to provide rich information about the individual case and highlight potential underlying social processes. First, we discuss the theory behind CA as well as differentiate between more and less familiar clustering approaches. Second, we illustrate the value of less familiar clustering techniques by comparing the results of a four wave growth mixture model of family variables versus clustering the same data with a more familiar two-step approach. The growth mixture modelling approach suggested a one-class cluster solution where all families shared similar growth trajectories in parenting practices and family relationship characteristics. However the two-step clustering approach suggested a four-class solution. Finally, we describe ways that CA allows researchers to model processes whose outcomes are the results of a combination of multiple factors and additional benefits of less familiar clustering methods.

Springer eBooks, 2015

In a time when schools are experiencing the burden of multiple high-priority initiatives and, in ... more In a time when schools are experiencing the burden of multiple high-priority initiatives and, in many cases, tight budgets, federal priorities to increase evidence for programs and to promote educationally relevant research are increasing the research demands on schools. Given the increasing pressures experienced by schools, researchers need to carefully and artfully plan their work to maximize chances for success. This chapter presents some real-world challenges and solutions from research partnerships carried out with schools and districts including describing some considerations in maintaining the integrity of experimental designs in schools. We organize the chapter around a four-phase process of research with schools that includes (1) planning (building authentic partnerships with schools), (2) recruitment, (3) data collection, and (4) communication. At each phase, it is important for researchers to be open to educators’ ideas and ensure that the research serves the educators’ as well as the researchers’ mission. Our recommendations for researchers emphasize (1) respectful of school culture and customs; (2) patient if your study is not the school’s first priority; (3) authentic in your intentions to improve student outcomes, and to build positive relationships with school personnel; (4) persistent in engaging across seasons and across turnover of school/district leaders; and (5) demonstrably grateful to school staff for their participation and partnership in your study.

American Psychological Association eBooks, 2017

Evidence & Policy: A Journal of Research, Debate and Practice, Aug 1, 2020

Background: Federal agencies and other funders seeking to maximise their impact aim to understand... more Background: Federal agencies and other funders seeking to maximise their impact aim to understand factors associated with implementing evidence-based interventions (EBIs) to address health problems. Challenges exist, however, in synthesising information from different disciplines and reaching agreement about these factors due to different terminology, frameworks, and measures being used in different fields. Methods: A mixed-methods approach was used to identifying a set of implementation constructs helpful for selecting, monitoring, and supporting federal grantees in health and human service settings. Three phases of research were conducted: a literature review, structured expert interviews, and consensus building. Interviews with implementation experts were used to validate a set of implementation constructs identified in the literature review as strongly and consistently related to successful implementation of EBIs in international contexts. A modified Delphi approach was used with a technical working group (TWG) of federal staff to agree on the constructs most relevant for federally funded EBIs. Findings: This process yielded 11 constructs related to either the intervention, the intersection between the invention and context, or the implementation process. These constructs are areas of interest when integrating research evidence into routine practice. Expert interviewees recommended establishing clear, consistent construct definitions before developing valid, feasible measures of the constructs. In contrast to the numerous and specific constructs advanced by researchers, federal TWG members favoured fewer constructs with more generalisability. Discussion and conclusions: This article demonstrates the translation work required for policy contexts and highlights a successful approach to translate evidence from implementation science research for federal staff.