Prevalence of Evidence-Based Drug Use Prevention Curricula in U.S. Middle Schools in 2008

• NCJ Number: 233797
• Journal: Prevention Science Volume: 12 Issue: 1 Dated: March 2011 Pages: 63-69
• Author(s): Chris Ringwalt; Amy A. Vincus; Sean Hanley; Susan T. Ennett; J. Michael Bowling; Susan Haws
• Date Published: March 2011
• Length: 7 pages
• Grant Number(s): R01 DA016669
• Sponsoring Agency: National Institute on Drug Abuse
• Publication Format: Article
• Publication Type: Research (Applied/Empirical)
• Language: English
• Country: United States of America

Annotation

This study examined the degree to which evidence-based drug use prevention programs are used in U.S. middle schools.

Abstract

The No Child Left Behind Act mandates the implementation of evidence-based drug prevention curricula in the Nation's schools. The purpose of this paper is to estimate changes in the prevalence of such curricula from 2005 to 2008. The authors surveyed school staff in a nationally representative sample of schools with middle school grades. Using a Web-based approach to data collection that the authors supplemented by telephone calls, they secured data from 1,892 schools for a response rate of 78.2 percent. The authors estimate that the prevalence of evidence-based drug prevention curricula rose from 42.6 percent in 2005 to 46.9 percent in 2008, and that the prevalence of schools that used these curricula most frequently increased from 22.7 percent to 25.9 percent over this period. In addition, the proportion of schools using locally developed curricula also rose, from 17.6 percent to 28.1 percent. This study suggests the success of efforts by the Office of Safe and Drug-Free Schools to increase the prevalence of evidence-based curricula, as well as the need to continue to track the prevalence of these curricula in response to any reductions in the Office's fiscal support for evidence-based drug prevention curricula in the Nation's schools. (Published Abstract) 22 references