Allison B Dymnicki
Biographic Data
| ID | 3421148 |
|---|---|
| NAME | Allison B Dymnicki |
| GIVEN NAMES | Allison B |
| FAMILY NAME | Dymnicki |
| SIGNATURE | DYMNICKI A B |
| AFFILIATIONS | American Institutes for Research |
| ORCID | 0000-0002-1167-5885 |
| VERIFIED | Yes |
| TOTAL WORKS | 10 |
| TOTAL CITATIONS | 612 |
| WORKS AS AUTHOR | 10 |
| WORKS AS EDITOR | 0 |
| FIRST PUBLICATION YEAR | 2007 |
| LATEST PUBLICATION YEAR | 2026 |
| H-INDEX | 2 |
Community of Practice Enhances Understanding, Interest, and Commitment to Promoting Character Development in Camp Counselor-in-Training Programs
Background: Communities of practice (CoPs) create a “shared practice” through engaging in joint activities, information exchange, and mutual support around a common purpose. Few studies have assessed CoPs in experiential learning contexts such as camps. Purpose: In this instrumental case study, we examined the process and outcomes of a CoP initiative aimed at enhancing character development in medical specialty camp counselors-in-training program…
Development and validation of a measure of organizational capacity for implementing youth development programs
How to Encourage Sustainable Change
In 2014, the S. D. Bechtel, Jr. Foundation embarked on the National Character Initiative to support organizations seeking to advance character development among youth. The initiative sought to promote lasting change by focusing on building grantee capacity that was based largely on grantee priorities. This article highlights key findings from an evaluation of the foundation’s approach to the initiative by elevating the perspectives of grantees, f…
Important implementation constructs for federal agencies in health and human service settings that are selecting, monitoring, and supporting grantees
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 u…
Advancing the Science and Practice of Social and Emotional Learning
This chapter summarizes the results of nearly 100 years of research on school-based social and emotional learning (SEL). The SEL field has grown out of research in many fields and subfields with which educators, researchers, and policymakers are familiar, including the promotion of social competence, bullying prevention, prevention of drug use and abuse, civic and character education, emotional intelligence, conflict resolution, social skills tra…
Moderating Effects of School Climate on Outcomes for the Multisite Violence Prevention Project Universal Program
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 sugg…
Outreach Workers’ Perceptions of Positive and Negative Critical Incidents
Evidence suggests positive impacts of AIDS/HIV prevention approaches using outreach workers, but few studies have described the approaches taken by such workers to prevent or de‐escalate serious violence. In this study, we used the Critical Incident Technique to elicit descriptions of positive and negative incidents from 53 outreach workers. Chicago CeaseFire workers were asked to describe the background of the incident, action they took, and out…
Use of Clustering Methods to Understand More about the Case
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 …
The Impact of Enhancing Students' Social and Emotional Learning
This article presents findings from a meta-analysis of 213 school-based, universal social and emotional learning (SEL) programs involving 270,034 kindergarten through high school students. Compared to controls, SEL participants demonstrated significantly improved social and emotional skills, attitudes, behavior, and academic performance that reflected an 11-percentile-point gain in achievement. School teaching staff successfully conducted SEL pro…
Effects of positive youth development programs on school, family, and community systems
A review of efforts at social system change in 526 universal competence‐promotion outcome studies indicated that 64% of the interventions attempted some type of microsystemic or mesosystemic change involving schools, families, or community‐based organizations in an attempt to foster developmental competencies in children and adolescents. Only 24% of the reports provided quantitative data on the change that occurred in targeted systems. However, s…
The Impact of Enhancing Students' Social and Emotional Learning
This article presents findings from a meta-analysis of 213 school-based, universal social and emotional learning (SEL) programs involving 270,034 kindergarten through high school students. Compared to controls, SEL participants demonstrated significantly improved social and emotional skills, attitudes, behavior, and academic performance that reflected an 11-percentile-point gain in achievement. School teaching staff successfully conducted SEL pro…
Effects of positive youth development programs on school, family, and community systems
A review of efforts at social system change in 526 universal competence‐promotion outcome studies indicated that 64% of the interventions attempted some type of microsystemic or mesosystemic change involving schools, families, or community‐based organizations in an attempt to foster developmental competencies in children and adolescents. Only 24% of the reports provided quantitative data on the change that occurred in targeted systems. However, s…
Moderating Effects of School Climate on Outcomes for the Multisite Violence Prevention Project Universal Program
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 sugg…
Outreach Workers’ Perceptions of Positive and Negative Critical Incidents
Evidence suggests positive impacts of AIDS/HIV prevention approaches using outreach workers, but few studies have described the approaches taken by such workers to prevent or de‐escalate serious violence. In this study, we used the Critical Incident Technique to elicit descriptions of positive and negative incidents from 53 outreach workers. Chicago CeaseFire workers were asked to describe the background of the incident, action they took, and out…
Use of Clustering Methods to Understand More about the Case
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 …
Effects of positive youth development programs on school, family, and community systems
A review of efforts at social system change in 526 universal competence‐promotion outcome studies indicated that 64% of the interventions attempted some type of microsystemic or mesosystemic change involving schools, families, or community‐based organizations in an attempt to foster developmental competencies in children and adolescents. Only 24% of the reports provided quantitative data on the change that occurred in targeted systems. However, s…
Use of Clustering Methods to Understand More about the Case
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 …
The Impact of Enhancing Students' Social and Emotional Learning
This article presents findings from a meta-analysis of 213 school-based, universal social and emotional learning (SEL) programs involving 270,034 kindergarten through high school students. Compared to controls, SEL participants demonstrated significantly improved social and emotional skills, attitudes, behavior, and academic performance that reflected an 11-percentile-point gain in achievement. School teaching staff successfully conducted SEL pro…
Moderating Effects of School Climate on Outcomes for the Multisite Violence Prevention Project Universal Program
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 sugg…
Outreach Workers’ Perceptions of Positive and Negative Critical Incidents
Evidence suggests positive impacts of AIDS/HIV prevention approaches using outreach workers, but few studies have described the approaches taken by such workers to prevent or de‐escalate serious violence. In this study, we used the Critical Incident Technique to elicit descriptions of positive and negative incidents from 53 outreach workers. Chicago CeaseFire workers were asked to describe the background of the incident, action they took, and out…
Advancing the Science and Practice of Social and Emotional Learning
This chapter summarizes the results of nearly 100 years of research on school-based social and emotional learning (SEL). The SEL field has grown out of research in many fields and subfields with which educators, researchers, and policymakers are familiar, including the promotion of social competence, bullying prevention, prevention of drug use and abuse, civic and character education, emotional intelligence, conflict resolution, social skills tra…
Important implementation constructs for federal agencies in health and human service settings that are selecting, monitoring, and supporting grantees
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 u…
Development and validation of a measure of organizational capacity for implementing youth development programs
How to Encourage Sustainable Change
In 2014, the S. D. Bechtel, Jr. Foundation embarked on the National Character Initiative to support organizations seeking to advance character development among youth. The initiative sought to promote lasting change by focusing on building grantee capacity that was based largely on grantee priorities. This article highlights key findings from an evaluation of the foundation’s approach to the initiative by elevating the perspectives of grantees, f…
Community of Practice Enhances Understanding, Interest, and Commitment to Promoting Character Development in Camp Counselor-in-Training Programs
Background: Communities of practice (CoPs) create a “shared practice” through engaging in joint activities, information exchange, and mutual support around a common purpose. Few studies have assessed CoPs in experiential learning contexts such as camps. Purpose: In this instrumental case study, we examined the process and outcomes of a CoP initiative aimed at enhancing character development in medical specialty camp counselors-in-training program…
Psychology (5 works) · Youth Development and Social Support (5 works) · Business (4 works) · Community Health and Development (4 works) · Early Childhood Education and Development (4 works) · Medicine (4 works) · Political science (4 works) · Developmental psychology (3 works) · Psychological intervention (3 works) · Social Psychology (3 works)