Since the passage of the Safe and Drug Free Schools and Communities Act (SDFSCA) in 1986, funding for school-based drug use and violence prevention programs has increased substantially from both public and private agencies. At the same time, there has been increasing emphasis on accountability by both government and private funding sources. For example, the U.S Department of Education (DOE) requires school districts to implement evidence-based programs and periodically evaluate their programs against measurable goals if they are to continue receiving prevention funding. This places substantial pressure on school districts who report that their greatest need is technical assistance in evaluation. Conducting an efficient and scientifically valid evaluation of a drug prevention program needs considerable expertise and funding, which schools often lack. The proposed Substance Abuse Prevention Evaluation Consultant (SAPEC) is an Internet-based evaluation tool that will assist schools and small community-based organizations to conduct a scientific evaluation of their alcohol, tobacco and other drug (ATOD) prevention programs as mandated by their funding agency. SAPEC is designed to facilitate the evaluation process by enabling practitioners and school staff to turn to the computer for key data collection and evaluation tasks (such as survey creation, administration and data analysis). It will enable school staff and practitioners to develop customized, measurement instruments that reflect the goals and objectives of their program. An online Computer-Assisted Self-Interview interface will allow students to self-administer the questionnaire developed by the practitioner. Practitioners can access their data at anytime for analysis purposes, and will be assisted by simple data analysis tools. Alternately, they can have the data analyzed by in-house personnel at Sociometrics. Finally, all replication studies conducted through this system will be available online in a database. In-built programming safeguards and training tutorials will guide program staff at every step of the evaluation process. Public Health Relevance: Statement Funding for ATOD and violence prevention efforts is increasingly being tied to evaluation. By helping schools, colleges and CBOs meet federal and state guidelines on program accountability, the application advances the adoption of science-based programs and practices in youth ATOD prevention efforts, thereby contributing to a safer, drug-free climate in schools.
