This article discusses the dissemination of a process of youth-led participatory research in urban secondary schools within the Interactive Systems Framework for Dissemination and Implementation (ISF) developed in collaboration with the CDC and its university partners (Wandersman et al. American Journal of Community Psychology, 41(3-4) 2008). The focus here is on the development of the Prevention Support System with respect to general and innovation-specific capacity building. The specific process under study involves youth-led needs assessment and research to inform the planning of prevention programs and policies to address students' health and developmental needs. The article first briefly describes the youth-led research process, its potential benefits, and a case example in two urban secondary schools. It then describes challenges and responses in providing support for the diffusion of this model in 6 secondary schools. The settings are urban public schools with a majority of students of color from diverse ethnic groups: Asian-American, Latino, and African-American. This project constitutes a collaborative partnership with a university school of public health and community-based organizations (CBOs) to build capacity for long-term, sustainable implementation of this innovative process within the local school system. The perspectives of the university-based researcher and the CBO partners on the development and effectiveness of the Prevention Support System are presented.

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In NCAA Division I women’s basketball, Black female coaches make up only a small percentage of the total number of coaches (i.e., 26%; NCAA, 2016) even though the majority of student-athletes are Black (i.e., 51%). Although these discrepancies have recently been recognized in sport studies literature (Borland & Bruening, 2010; LaVoi & Dutove, 2012), sport psychology researchers have yet to explore the underlying structural and psychological issues that lead to the underrepresentation of Black female coaches in NCAA Division I women’s basketball. To this end, we utilized narrative inquiry (Smith & Sparkes, 2009a) in the current study to explore the stories of eight NCAA Division I women’s basketball assistant coaches who identify as Black females. During face-to-face interviews, participants described the roles they are asked to fill and the ways they cope with the multiple oppressions they experience as Black women in coaching. The first and second authors co-constructed four themes, (a) Pregame: Learning to coach; (b) First half: Experiences from the first 10 years; (c) Second half: Experiences from the last five years; and (d) Overtime: Thinking about the future, throughout their thematic analysis of these narratives (Braun & Clark, 2006). It is hoped that these findings will lead to the development of interventions that can empower NCAA Division I Black female coaches as well as challenge current structural ideologies that disadvantage Black female coaches in this context. Further, creating a more inclusive environment at NCAA Division I institutions could enhance the experiences and coaching career aspirations of Black female student-athletes by allowing them to see empowered Black female role models in coaching positions. Implications for certified mental performance consultants (CMPCs) working within NCAA Division I women’s basketball, who are well positioned to contribute to these efforts, are also discussed.

Objectives: The objective of this study was to describe a modified nominal group technique (mNGT) approach to assess community health priorities and its application to a childhood obesity prevention project conducted with the high school population. Methods: This manuscript provides detailed information of a mNGT separately conducted with 3 cohorts, (students, teachers/administration, parents). Participants used a response sheet to brainstorm, document top 5 responses, and rank each response individually. We also used a unique reverse scoring method to quantify the qualitative data and within and between group scores for comparison against other cohorts. Summaries provided additional insight into the participants' perceptions. Results: The mNGT process successfully reduced limitations common to the traditional nominal group technique by providing an in-depth understanding of perceptions and understanding priorities. Conclusions: mNGT can be useful across other disciplines as a method of gathering rich qualitative feedback that can be transformed into a more quantitative form for analysis.