Bright Spot: Media Ready

Photo by Annie Spratt on Unsplash

This bright spot was originally published in the 100 Million Healthier Lives Change Library and is brought to you through partnership with 100 Million Healthier Lives and the Institute for Healthcare Improvement.

Overview

Detailed Description

Media Ready consists of 10 45-minute lessons based on established models of decision-making and research on the message interpretation process. The program includes homework and extension assignments to further students' understanding of media literacy and to provide additional opportunities for practicing newly learned skills. The curriculum is adaptable to a variety of classroom settings and skill levels of students. Media Ready (MR) is a media literacy education program for 6th to 8th grade students. The goal of the program is to prevent or delay the onset of underage alcohol and tobacco use by encouraging healthy beliefs and attitudes about abstaining from alcohol and tobacco use and by enhancing the ability to apply critical thinking skills in interpreting media messages, particularly those related to alcohol and tobacco products. The Media Ready program kit contains all materials needed to teach the program, including a teacher manual, poster, and CD with media examples. Also available is a comprehensive 1-day training workshop, which provides an introduction to the theory and research underlying the program model and instructions for facilitating each program activity. Those who successfully complete an online test at the end of this training receive certification of completion.

Expected Outcomes

The goals of the program are to:

Encourage healthy cognitions about abstinence from alcohol and tobacco use
Enhance students' ability to apply critical thinking skills to interpreting media messages, in general, and alcohol media messages, in particular.
Delay or prevent the onset of underage alcohol and tobacco use

The expected outcomes are:

Improvement in students' critical thinking skills about media messages
Reduction in boys' intent to use alcohol products
Reduction in boys' and girls' intent to use tobacco products

Evidence

Practice-tested bright spot (good evidence)

Cost Details

As of July 2014, the cost for this intervention is as follows:

Required by developer:

Curriculum kit (includes teacher manual
CD with multimedia presentation
Key Questions poster (30 student workbooks, and 30 bookmarks) -$300 each

Not required by developer:

Additional student workbooks (pack of 10) -$30 per pack
1-day, on-site teacher training workshop -$2,800 for up to 20 participants, plus travel expenses
Teacher certification test - $25 each
Implementation design and monitoring consultation - $175 per hour
Evaluation services consultation - $175 per hour

For the latest cost details, please contact the Media Ready program directly.

Key Steps for Implementation

Program Structure Grades 6 - 8, 10 class sessions

Approximately 45 minute class sessions Program Components Comprehensive

Easy-to-use teacher's manual

Templates of handouts and student worksheets Accompanying media examples and resources

Key Features:

Alcohol and tobacco use prevention program based on the North Carolina Standard Course of Study teaches critical thinking skills
Based on state-of-the-art scientific research and theory on substance abuse prevention and media literacy
Research-based program using established models of decision-making and research on how children interpret media messages
Easy implementation for teachers with inclusive materials and teacher training package
All-inclusive kit includes scripted lesson plans, handouts and materials
Comprehensive training for teachers/facilitators includes introduction to background research and theoretical model
Curriculum adaptable to a variety of classroom settings, teaching styles, and student skill levels Includes fun homework and extension assignments designed to further students' understanding of media literacy and provide additional opportunities to practice newly learned concepts
Promising preventive intervention strategy for delaying or preventing the onset of underage drinking and tobacco use

Special Funding

Innovation Research Training, Inc. (iRT) can help a school, organization, or community coalition write a grant proposal to apply for funding to implement or evaluate this program.

The Media Ready program includes:

Teacher manual of a scripted 10-lesson curriculum
Poster Accompanying handouts and collateral materials
A teacher training workshop can be purchased separately

Training

It is recommended that all educators participate in the Media Ready program's comprehensive, interactive, one-day Teacher Training Workshop conducted by certified iRTMedia Ready trainers. The educator training workshop is designed to last eight hours and is led by the program developers and their training team, who are skilled trainers of both media literacy and theMedia Ready program. After an introduction to the research on the effectiveness of media literacy training for the purpose of substance abuse prevention and the theoretical model underlying the program, trainers present each lesson in detail to trainees, providing guided discussion of the purpose of each activity, strategies for implementing each activity, and modeling of the activities.

Types of Staff

Teachers from the participating schools can facilitate the program after participating in an in-person workshop from the program developers.

Outcome Measures