# Presentation: 458776

## Aligning Academics with PreventionHayden D. Center, Jr., Ph.D.Senior Program Manager, PIRESECAPTPresented January 10 National Grants to Reduce Alcohol Abuse Conference

## Academic Standards

- Achievement
- Grades
- Attendance
- Graduation

## Academic Indicators – “Linking Violence and Substance Abuse Prevention to Academic Success” – USDE online course

- Educational Outcomes – short-term such as grades or performance on standardized achievement tests, or longer term, such as graduation rates
- Educational Behaviors – attendance, behavioral problems that cause “lost days of learning”

## Intervening Variables for Achieving Academic Standards

- The role of substance abuse
- Boredom
- Low self-concept and inadequate social skills
- Conflict with teachers
- Non-facilitative school and classroom environment
- Awkward or unsuccessful transitions from one school to another
- Violence and victimization

## Continued

- Lack of parental involvement
- Stress and pressures in family and peer relations
- Teacher expectancies and beliefs
- A sense of alienation and isolation
- Differing cultural and gender expectations
- National Outcomes Work Group – University of Arizona

## Risk & Protective Factors Theory

**Risk factors predict substance abuse and protective**** ****factors can buffer risk factors**
**Risk and protective factors have cumulative effect**
**Risk and protective factors occur in communities, families, schools, and individuals and are subject to change**

## Risk & Protective Factors Theory

**To prevent substance abuse, reduce risk factors and increase protective factors throughout a child’s life**
**Risk and protective factors can be influenced by individual, family, school, and environmental change strategies.**

## Similar to public health model of disease prevention- decrease risk and increase protection

Different adolescent health and behavior problems share common risk factors
Substance abuse
Violence
Delinquency
School drop out
Teen pregnancy

**Different adolescent health and behavior problems share common risk factors**
**Substance abuse**
**Violence**
**Delinquency**
**School drop out**
**Teen pregnancy**

** ****Risk & Protective Factors **
**Theory**

## Protective Factors

**Protective Factors**

**Individual characteristics**
**Bonding**
**Healthy beliefs and clear**** ****standards**

## The Social Development Strategy

- Healthy Beliefs
- &
- Clear Standards

- Bonding
- Attachment
- Commitment

- Healthy Behaviors

- Opportunities

- Skills

- Recognition

- Individual
- Characteristics

## Developmental Assets

**Developmental Assets**
**Framework**

**Emphasizes strengths in people**
**Focuses on youth as resources, ****not problems**
**Focuses on increasing the number ****of assets present in youths’ lives**
**Is a “promising” framework**

## Resiliency Approach

**Focuses on how children “bounce back” ****in the face of adversity**
**Based largely on the work of Emmy Werner**
**Includes several factors which foster resilience in kids**
**Is a “promising” approach**

## School Protective Factors

- School bonding
- School attendance
- Positive instructional climate
- School responsiveness to student needs

## Meeting the needs of system stakeholders facilitates sustainability (Johnson, Hays, Center & Daly, 2004)

- The innovation must meet the needs of its intended users in that:
- It is not too complex for users to implement
- It is effective
- It is compatible with users’ philosophical orientation
- It is compatible with organization’s internal agenda
- It is perceived as beneficial by users
- The users are personally committed to the innovation

## What the Latest Research Shows – “Linking Violence and Substance Abuse Prevention to Academic Success” – USDE online course 

- Most studies agree that school failure is one of the most consistent risk factors of substance use
- Youth who have problems with school work are more likely than others to be involved in many types of risk behavior
- Youth involved in a Social Skills Training group increased in several pro-social behaviors and grade point averages compared to a control group

## What the Latest Research Shows - Continued

- Students who participated in STEP demonstrated the following – fewer absences, higher GPAs, stable self-concept scores, and lower drop-out rates
- PATHE students compared to a control group demonstrated – decrease in delinquency and drug use, reduction in suspension rates; increased attachment to school, higher graduation rates, higher attendance and increase in other positive behaviors

## Massachusetts Department of Education Learning and Support Services (2000)

- A study comparing three groups of high school students found that program students were less likely to be suspended
- Another program (Project Support) produced positive outcomes in both behavior and school performance.  These included less crime against people and property, better attendance, less tardiness, higher academic achievement scores in reading, math, and language, and increased pro-social attitudes.

## Vermont Youth Risk Behavior Survey (1999-2001)

- Generally a negative relationship between substance use and grades.  As substance use increases, grades decrease.
- Alcohol Use (Grades 8-12) – 37% of those reporting getting A’s and B’s reported using alcohol while 67% of those students who reported getting D’s reported alcohol use
- Not able to determine causal relationship

## The Challenge Newsletter (2006)

- Data from the 1998–2001 California Healthy Kids Survey (CHKS) indicate a strong link between academic achievement and students’ overall health and resilience. Schools perform better when students have fewer health risks, such as drug use or poor nutrition, and more protective factors like caring relationships within school.

## Wilson, D.B., Gottfredson, D.C., & Najaka, S.S. (2001)“School-Based Prevention of Problem Behaviors: A Meta-Analysis”

- A number of programs have demonstrated effectiveness and impact academic standards
- These programs are rarely implemented in isolation
- An important question becomes which combinations work best?

## Overlap of Prevention Programs and Academic Standards

- Hawkins and Catalano found that improving bonding to school reduced substance usage and increased commitment to school
- The same study found that academic achievement test scores also increased

## Prevention Programs that Impact Academic Achievement

- Greater enjoyment of class and motivation to go further in school (CDP)
- Higher general self-esteem and academic self-esteem (CDP)
- Significant gains in academic achievement (Early Risers: Skills for Success, Positive Action, Safe Children: Schools and Families...)
- Decreased Absenteeism (Positive Action)

## Continued

- Suspensions reduced (Positive Action)
- Overall discipline referrals decreased (Project Achieve)
- Grade retentions decreased (Project Achieve)
- School bus discipline referrals to the office decreased (Project Achieve)
- Reading scores increased (Safe Children...)

## Continued

- Parents maintained enthusiasm for social involvement in children’s school life (Safe Children...)

## Families and Schools Together 

- Prevention of school failure by the targeted child
- Enhance Family School relationship
- Increase social skills and attention span

## Results

- 20% teacher-reported improvement at school (bullying, hitting, stealing, and lying)
- 25% parent-reported improvement at home (misconduct, anxiety, and attention-span problems)
- 15% teacher-reported reduction in attention-span problems

## Reconnecting Youth

- Selected program for High School students at high risk for dropping out
- Partnership model involving peers, school personnel, and parents to develop interventions to:
- Decrease drug involvement
- Increase school performance
- Decrease emotional distress

## Results

- 18% improvement in grades in all classes
- 7.5% increase in credits earned per semester
- 48% decrease in anger and aggression problems
- 23% increase in self-efficacy
- 33% reported ending alcohol use

## Project Toward No Drug Use

- High School Youth
- Social skills training
- Decision-making
- Understand sequence of substance abuse
- Explore myths concerning substance abuse
- State commitment to discuss substance abuse with others

## Results

- Weapons carrying among males reduced 25%
- Alcohol use decreased 9%
- Other substance usage decreased from 22-27%

## Too Good for Drugs

- K-12 curriculum, developmentally appropriate for each grade level
- Personal and interpersonal skills
- Attitudes towards atod
- Knowledge of negative consequences
- Positive peer norms

## Results

- Increase in social and resistance skills
- Increase in goals and decision making
- Increase in negative attitudes towards violence
- Fights reduced in High School by 45%
- Alcohol decreased in Middle School by 38% and in High School by 50%

## All Stars

- Middle school-age adolescents
- Develop positive ideals and future aspirations
- Establish positive norms
- Building strong personal commitments
- Promoting bonding with school and community organizations
- Promoting positive parental attentiveness

## Results

- Increased bonding to school
- Increased commitment to avoid substance abuse
- Increased adoption of a belief in positive peer group norms
- Reduced substance abuse by 40 to 60%
- Reduced sexual activity by 80%

## Class Action

- High School, part of Project Northland but can stand alone
- Interactive peer-led sessions
- Designed to change negative peer pressure into positive peer pressure
- Develops decision-making, social competence, and leadership skills

## Results

- Trend data showed significantly less increase in alcohol use
- Reduction in binge drinking

## Project Northland

- 6th, 7th, and 8th grade students
- Parent involvement and education programs
- Strives to change how parents communicate with children

## Life Skills Training

- Elementary and Middle School components
- Drug resistance skills
- Personal self-management skills
- General social skills
- Results – reduction in a number of substance use behaviors

## Project SUCCESS

- Alternative School students 14 to 18 years of age
- Information dissemination, normative and preventative education, counseling and skills training, problem identification and referral, community-based processes, and environmental approaches
- Decreased problem behavior and atod usage

## Lion-Quest Skills for Adolescence

- 10-14 year olds
- Essential social and emotional competencies
- Good citizenship skills
- Strong positive character
- Ethic of service to others within a caring and consistent environment
- Reduced a number of atod behaviors

## Project Alert

- 11 to 14 years of age
- Motivate adolescents against drug use
- Teach adolescents skills and strategies to resist pro-drug pressures
- Establish nondrug-using norms
- Decrease in marijuana initiation and usage
- Decrease in cigarette smoking
- Reduction in students pro-drug attitudes and beliefs

## Families That Care: Guiding Good Choices

- 8 to 13 years of age
- Gives parents knowledge and skills needed to guide their children through early adolescence
- Positive parental involvement emphasized as protective factor that increases school success and buffers risk factors
- Strengthen family expectations for behavior and enhance family bonding
- Teach skills to parents and children that encourage children to resist drug use
- Decreased several atod behaviors

## Local Evaluations of Programs

- Logic models should consider academic indicators as well as substance use behaviors and consequences
- Local data should be used when possible to develop the case for the linkage between academic indicators and prevention programs
- Evaluation designs should be sensitive to academic indicator change as well as substance use behaviors (trend analysis as an example)

## Disseminating Evaluation Findings

- Know the audience that will receive the information
- Make the data relevant to the locality
- Develop a data dissemination plan early in the project and make sure to keep administrators and other key personnel informed

## Educational Standards Linked to Program Outcomes

| Educational Standard | Program | This program does not directly or indirectly impact this standard | This program indirectly impacts this standard | This program directly impacts this standard | Research that supports the program outcomes | Local data that supports the program outcomes |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
|  |  |  |  |  |  |  |

## Summary

- There is considerable overlap of risk and protective factors for academic success and prevention of problem behaviors
- Several programs have shown changes in important academic indicators as well as reduction in ATOD use.
- More work is needed

## Important Information Sources

- _[www.secapt.org](http://www.secapt.org/)_
- _[www.casel.org](http://www.casel.org/)_
- _http://www.ed.gov/print/admins/lead/safety/training/linking/acadmic.html_
- _[www.samhsa.gov](http://www.samhsa.gov/)_