Researchers at the University’s Child and Family Center recently received a five-year, $2.3 million grant to fund a new study with the Portland School District.
The study’s benefits are twofold: Researchers will learn how middle schools can support
students and families during the transition into adolescence, and the study will provide parental education for the families involved.
The study, which aligns with an ongoing study called Project Alliance meant to support middle school youth in transitions, substance abuse prevention and other problem behavior, is being funded by the National Institute on Drug Abuse and the National Institutes of Health.
“The ultimate goal is to help middle school youth and their families stay on track on their transition to high school from middle school,” said Elizabeth Stormshak, the program’s director and associate professor of counseling psychology at the University.
Stormshak said she hopes their work will develop other successful programs for middle schools to help students make the transition to high school.
The researchers created Family Resource Centers, which are staffed by half-time parent consultants, at three Portland School District middle schools: Beaumont, George and Gregory Heights. The consultants will work directly with the youth and families.
Stormshak said the centers will provide home-to-school behavior-planning programs to create strong relationships and will help youth find pro-social peers.
The project will follow next year’s sixth graders for five years until they reach the 10th grade.
Stormshak said all students are eligible to participate, and hopes they all will.
It’s about “helping kids achieve success,” she said.
Stormshak said she anticipates working with about 500 families, but doesn’t know for sure because the process for signing them up has just begun.
“I anticipate that it will be very helpful,” said George Middle School Principal Beth Madison. “We are a very high-needs population, so when we heard that there was going to be this kind of parent assistance education we were very excited.”
Madison said there are a number of similar parent education programs in the area, but the research aspect of this one sets it apart.
The project runs through the Child and Family Center, which is an institute within the University that “emphasizes research on social emotional-development from infancy through adolescence, as well as innovation in assessment, prevention and intervention services for children and families,” according to the Child and Family Center Web site.
The center will help to provide help with data collection, analysis, writing and community relations.

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