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"HIV has become a pandemic for the young people in this country," says Joni Foster of the Maine Department of Education. "We want to make sure our HIV rate is lowered or, at least, doesn't go any higher." To reach its goal, the Maine Department of Education - like other state and local education agencies - has to train teachers and other school personnel to deliver HIV prevention and comprehensive school health education to its students. In response to requests from the nation's state education agencies and large urban districts to strengthen their capacity to implement these training programs, the National Training Partnership (NTP) was launched in 1995. NTP - with funding from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's (CDC) Division of Adolescent and School Health (DASH) - provides technical assistance and professional development training, develops materials, disseminates curricula to reduce youth risk behaviors, maintains a clearinghouse of up-to-date training resources, and organizes national conferences. In addition to support for professional development, DASH recognized the need for effective curricula to use in coordinated school health programs. As a result, it worked with nationally recognized researchers to review curricula and to identify those Programs That Work that would be appropriate for national dissemination. NTP then produces user-friendly versions of Programs That Work and provides training for the trainers across the country. Over the last four years, NTP has provided technical assistance to all state departments of education, 18 large school districts, and 9 territories. To reach an even broader audience, it produced a two-week, web-based learning event entitled "Navigate by the Stars: An Online Journey". It has assisted its technical assistance sites in fostering information exchange and learning among them. "NTP is wonderful!," exclaims Phyllis Simpson, Executive Director for Integrated Wellness and Health Promotion Services in the Dallas Independent School District. "Their on-site, firsthand training has not only assisted professionals in the field of health education and prevention," she continues, "but it has helped to change the culture and the climate of the entire school district."
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