STUDY: DRUG PROGRAMS IN SCHOOLS INEFFECTIVE

But Area Ed Officials Say Prevention Efforts Work

Most public schools in Connecticut and elsewhere can't shake the habit of
using popular but ineffective or unproven drug prevention programs, a new
study says.

But officials in Bridgeport, Milford and Derby say the research is too
quick to knock programs that work for their students.

"For now, we're sticking with what we've got," said Kenneth Martinelli,
interim executive director for teaching and learning in Bridgeport.

Published in this month's Health Education Research, an education journal,
the study finds far too many school districts cling to DARE (Drug Abuse
Resistance Education), Here's Looking At You 2000, and McGruff's Drug
Prevention and Child Protection, which don't have randomized control trial
studies to back them up.

Meanwhile, programs proven effective through research, such as Life Skills
Training, Project STAR, Project ALERT and Reconnecting Youth are still not
widely used, the study says.

The review was conducted by University of North Carolina researchers and
funded by the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation. It sought to find out how
many school districts are complying with a 1998 federal requirement to
spend federal Safe and Drug Free School funds on effective programs.

Nationwide, schools get about $6 a student in federal money for drug
prevention programs. In Connecticut, the average is $3.80 per student.

In all, 104 school districts in 11 states were polled as part of the study.
Eighty-one districts responded including several in Connecticut that Denise
Hallfors, the study's co-author, would not identify.

"They were pretty honest with us. I don't want to get them in trouble,"
Hallfors said.

Nationwide, just over half of the school districts responding said they are
using programs "proven effective." Follow-up interviews suggest a much
smaller percentage use the programs fully and with properly trained
teachers. Others use bits and pieces of several programs with locally
developed material thrown in for good measure.

That's what Bridgeport and Milford report doing. Bridgeport, for instance,
uses a nine-strand program that combines elements from Here's Looking at
You 2000, DARE and district-developed lessons.

In Milford both DARE and Here's Looking at You 2000 are used K-5, while a
program designed by health teachers is used in grades 6-12. The program is
10 years old but has been revised three times.

Hallfors said unproven home-grown programs aren't likely to be getting the
job done. She also criticized programs that "kids think are really neat,"
but that don't change behaviors.

"It's not an easy thing to get kids who may end up dabbling with substances
to change their behavior," she said. "It's even harder to prove it. You
have to test kids before and after and have a control group. The idea of a
home-grown program is sort of like, do they really think they can do that?"

Larry Schafer, assistant superintendent of schools in Milford thinks they
can and suggests canned programs are rarely a perfect fit.

"Today, ecstasy is one of the bigger [drug] problems. Most programs don't
address it. To me, it's better to allow health teachers, who are experts in
their area develop programs to deal with the issue kids are facing,"
Schafer said.

Schafer adds that while people doing a drug survey care only about the best
drug prevention programs, school districts have to also care about
educating students to a whole host of health issues, from AIDS to overeating.

"When you have to educate the whole child you have to weigh the benefits of
different things," he said.

The most popular program in use, according to the survey is the nearly
20-year-old DARE program. Created and taught by police officers, DARE. is
used in 82 percent of surveyed districts.

Martinelli said districts that use DARE. rave about it. Others say its
effectiveness depends on the person teaching it.

"The problem with DARE is that it's generally a one-shot deal offered in
fifth-grade, said Robert Francis, director of the Regional Youth and Adult
Substance Abuse Project, an agency that serves Bridgeport, Fairfield,
Monroe, Stratford and Trumbull.

"It's being revamped and may end up better but when it stands by itself it
really had some negative research connected to it," said Nancy Pugliese,
the state's Safe and Drug Free School coordinator.

Pugliese who said the state does not regard the federal list as definitive

said changing drug prevention programs takes a tremendous amount of money
and training.

Pam Mautte, director of the Valley Substance Abuse Action Council, said
some school systems are switching over to proven models. Her group is
working with Derby teachers to begin offering "Life Skills Training," which
is science based model and so far, the most widely used program that is on
the government's list of effective programs.

"It's one of the best program out there right now," Mautte said. In the
national survey, 41 percent of districts said they used it.

But changing over is a costly proposition, said Martinelli of Bridgeport.
He is reluctant to switch. When the federal Safe and Drug Free School funds
became available, "Here's Looking at You 2000" seemed to be one of the best
programs, Pugliese said. Used in 63 percent of the surveyed districts, it
is also popular in Connecticut.

Hallfors said Here's Looking At You 2000 isn't on anyone's proven-
effective list.

Susan K. Patrick, president of the Governor's Prevention Partnership, said
if curriculum is all that's looked at, she can't disagree that Connecticut
schools are out of date.

But for a complete picture, she said researchers should see if districts
also have counseling, mentoring and other social education programs.

"Community service and character education might not be called substance
abuse prevention but can reduce all types of negative behavior, including
substance abuse," said Francis of Regional Youth and Adult Substance Abuse
Project.

Stratford, he said, has done a lot with character education.

Others say if what schools do is so ineffective, why did a nationwide
survey released last month show drug, alcohol and cigarette use among
sixth-to 12th-graders has dropped to the lowest level since 1994.

Hallfors said there are national trends that have less to do with drug
prevention programs and more to do with the economy and the times.