School-based substance abuse prevention efforts have advanced significantly during the past two decades with growing evidence of the effectiveness of approaches that address social influences. A crucial unmet challenge is the broad-based delivery of effective prevention services. This project offers a promising alternative approach to effective prevention that emphasizes the development of teacher competence rather than program design as a means for accomplishing prevention goals. By training teachers in concepts important to substance use prevention, this project will serve as a crucial link between state-of-the-art substance abuse prevention research and effective service delivery in the normal school environment. This training will allow teachers to deliver existing and yet-to-be-developed curricula more effectively. Trained teachers will be able to adapt currently ineffective programs to be more effective and generate new approaches that meet the specific needs of their students. Training will be delivered through continuing education credit courses, the normal route of professional development for teachers. In this Phase Il project, teacher instruction will be experimentally tested in a randomized design implemented in 20 community college sites. The effect of training will be assessed on knowledge, attitudes, beliefs, and teaching skills of teachers trained in the program six months after program completion.
The GAO estimates that $1.4 billion is spent on substance use and abuse prevention annually. In FY 93, the US Department of Education alone disbursed $600 million for drug abuse education. Teachers need increased expertise in prevention. Continuing education credits are required to maintain teaching credentials. Training is mandated as part of the Safe and Drug-Free Schools Act. Continuing education that focuses on teaching prevention concepts will be commercially viable.
