NCJ Number
131601
Date Published
1990
Length
29 pages
Annotation
Information from State education agencies in California, Florida, Michigan, Ohio, and Texas and from the largest school district in each of these states and the District of Columbia formed the basis of an analysis of the ways in which school districts use funds from the 1986 Drug-Free Schools and Communities Act of 1986 and the extent to which these programs include alcohol abuse.
Abstract
The research also focused on the ways in which school districts assess program effectiveness, student views of the drug education provided, and the views of State and local program officials on the program direction of the Department of Education. Results indicated that more than half of the funds in the six districts were being used for student assistance programs (mainly counseling) targeted to high-risk students in junior and senior high school. The remaining funds were used mainly for training teams of school officials to develop drug prevention programs or for classroom curricula and materials. Each school district covered alcohol in its programs. They often were unable to provide the programs to all schools or all students in a school. Evaluations generally lacked the needed scientific rigor and therefore offered little information about effectiveness. However, students and principals believed that drug problems would be worse without the programs. Figures and appended methodological information and additional results