Independent Study Shows Success.

[RobertBruce]

I remember presenting a study by a student from Colgate University and the responses on fornits were :"The girl has no program experience how would she know what questions to ask?" lol
Do you see what I mean?

You didn't answer the question. Do you not see it as a conflict on interest when an ed con who has a working relationship with Aspen produces a marketing tool that claims their programs are successful. A marketing tool which is then never published or subject to peer review?

[Dysfunction Junction]

@Gonzo - Don't take Whooter's attacks personally.  You have to understand Whooter is a trust fund baby who has never succeeded at anything on his own his entire life.  Everything he has was given to him via inheritance.  He has a bit of an inferiority complex that he tries to compensate for by attacking people who intimidate him intellectually.  His daddy's money got him into college even though he couldn't hack it academically, but he dropped out after only one year.  Coincidentally, he never held a job for more than one year for his entire life either.  See, Gonzo, he's a failure in every respect from being a dad to holding a job to dropping out of college and he tries to cover his insecurities by attacking others who are obviously now more successful than him or who soon will be.  Let it roll off your back.  He's a desperate troll.  Fornits is all he has since his wife left him and his family doesn't speak to him.

[Whooter]

I remember presenting a study by a student from Colgate University and the responses on fornits were :"The girl has no program experience how would she know what questions to ask?" lol
Do you see what I mean?

You didn't answer the question. Do you not see it as a conflict on interest when an ed con who has a working relationship with Aspen produces a marketing tool that claims their programs are successful. A marketing tool which is then never published or subject to peer review?

Who has a working relationship with Aspen?

There is a research firm which is being paid by Aspen to conduct a study of their business.  This study was overseen and approved by an independent review board.  So the research firm has a relationship with Aspen as they are being paid to conduct a study for them.



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[RobertBruce]

The person behind the marketing tool, the one who conducted the whole thing, she's an ed con who refers kids to Aspen programs.

[Whooter]

The person behind the marketing tool, the one who conducted the whole thing, she's an ed con who refers kids to Aspen programs.

Link?



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[Anne Bonney]

I remember presenting a study by a student from Colgate University and the responses on fornits were :"The girl has no program experience how would she know what questions to ask?"  lol
Do you see what I mean?

No.....you "presented" a college kid's paper as a if it were an actual study done on the program.  It was not.  Again, disingenuous at best, outright deception more likely.

[Anne Bonney]

This is what I said all along.  If this work was worth anything scientifically it would have been peer-reviewed and published in a reputable journal.  That fact that it was not and that the follow up at one year was done but the results were never released is really the smoking gun that the study is bunk and the follow up showed the opposite of what Aspen and Whooter claim.  Therefore they 86ed it and never showed it to anyone.

Beherens study = unpublished, unreviewed garbage.

 :tup:

[Dysfunction Junction]

There appears to be continued confusion around the study conducted by Ellen Behrens. While she and other industry pundits claim it was an Independent Study, nothing could be further from the truth.

1999 Behrens Clinical Director for Youth care
http://cache.zoominfo.com/cachedpage/?a ... me=Behrens

2002 Founded Canyon Research
http://canyonrc.com/experience.html

2003 - 2005 Behrens conducting surveys
http://www.strugglingteens.com/news/pre ... 060817.htm
 
2004 Behrens doing Consulting for AEG
http://www.strugglingteens.com/artman/p ... 0626.shtml

2006 Behrens completes her survey results passed off as Independent Study
http://www.strugglingteens.com/artman/p ... 5360.shtml
"We also tried to eliminate all students discharged from the programs before graduation because the clinical staff thought it was actually an inappropriate placement, or when they felt the program couldn't be helpful to the child. As a result, the operating assumption of the study is that the students included in the analyzed data were those who were appropriately placed."

http://www.strugglingteens.com/artman/p ... 5494.shtml
Comment: ....It would be helpful to know more about Dr. Behren’s research design and methodology. I presume she drew a random sample for the study; otherwise, the results cannot be generalized to the school/residential population at large.
Jerry W Clark
Dba Behavioral Services Ltd
Reno, NV

No Jerry, she didn't. Families from 9 Aspen programs participated in her "study". She and all her staff have links to Aspen programs.
http://www.natsap.org/Behrens.doc
viewtopic.php?p=215887#p215887

Jan Moss applies the "study" of 9 Aspen programs to entire industry
Disclosure Statement:  Aspen Education Group provided funding for this study.
http://www.natsap.org/Outcome%20Study.doc

2006 Behrens is a contributor to NATSAPs "Journal of Therapeutic Schools and Programs.
http://www.strugglingteens.com/artman/p ... 5456.shtml

ASPEN EDUCATION GROUP APPLAUDS STUDY
(April 26, 2007) According to an article on PRNewswire, Elliot Sainer, President of Aspen Education Group (AEG), Cerritos, CA, announced "AEG is extremely pleased to learn of the very positive findings from the final phase of our industry's first long-term, multi-year clinical study on the effectiveness of private therapeutic residential programs for adolescents. AEG will continue to advocate for new industry research that will further illustrate and promote the best practices and methodologies and enhance our industry's abilities to produce positive and long-lasting results in adolescent therapeutic education."

I guess he was pleased. He paid her to present AEG in the best possible light.

:beat:  :beat:  :beat:

Let's also not forget that several of these pograms were charged with child abuse and some were shut down for it.  Some kids have even died from neglect and abuse in these very same programs Aspen wants us to believe are "effective" and "safe."

[Whooter]

I remember presenting a study by a student from Colgate University and the responses on fornits were :"The girl has no program experience how would she know what questions to ask?"  lol
Do you see what I mean?

No.....you "presented" a college kid's paper as a if it were an actual study done on the program.  It was not.  Again, disingenuous at best, outright deception more likely.

A graduate student (Valerie Shapiro) of Colgate university.  The study was published in the Colgate Universities School of sciences.  Many here rejected it because they felt she had no experience with the industry and therefore didnt know what questions to ask.

My point is that all studies, articles and books will be rejected here on fornits if they show any positive effects.  But I still like to post them because if spreads awareness even if you reject it.



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[RobertBruce]

Looks like DJ beat me to the punch. She's been sufficently linked to Aspen. Any rebuttal?

[Whooter]

Looks like DJ beat me to the punch. She's been sufficently linked to Aspen. Any rebuttal?

So you can not provide any link that anyone involved in the study was an edcon who referred kids to Aspen?  This is what you mentioned earlier.  As far as doing consulting work I dont see this as a conflict of interest.



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[RobertBruce]

As far as doing consulting work I dont see this as a conflict of interest.

What kind of consulting?

[shaggys]

Looks like DJ beat me to the punch. She's been sufficently linked to Aspen. Any rebuttal?

So you can not provide any link that anyone involved in the study was an edcon who referred kids to Aspen?  This is what you mentioned earlier.  As far as doing consulting work I dont see this as a conflict of interest.



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Any financial link whatsoever would be a conflict of interest. Right?

[Whooter]

Looks like DJ beat me to the punch. She's been sufficently linked to Aspen. Any rebuttal?

So you can not provide any link that anyone involved in the study was an edcon who referred kids to Aspen?  This is what you mentioned earlier.  As far as doing consulting work I dont see this as a conflict of interest.



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Any financial link whatsoever would be a conflict of interest. Right?

No, not necessarily, there are guidelines that the review board goes by.  Number of years since any employment, type of relationship, amount of money earned over the past year, 3 years etc.

But being a consultant to a Business and then performing a study for them there would be no conflict there that I could see.  The review board looked over this information and apparently there was no ethical violation or conflict of interest.



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[Dysfunction Junction]

Looks like DJ beat me to the punch. She's been sufficently linked to Aspen. Any rebuttal?

So you can not provide any link that anyone involved in the study was an edcon who referred kids to Aspen?  This is what you mentioned earlier.  As far as doing consulting work I dont see this as a conflict of interest.



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Any financial link whatsoever would be a conflict of interest. Right?

Absoultely, most assuredly, yes, shaggys.  This is a massive conflict of interest that was not disclosed to the review board.  This is part of the reason that this work has never been peer reviewed or published.  It fails on its face before one even gets to the bogus "data."