Results of an independent evaluation of Project ALERT delivered in schools by Cooperative Extension.
Reported are results of an independent effectiveness study of the Project ALERT drug prevention program implemented in eight Pennsylvania middle schools by outside program leaders employed by Cooperative Extension. In this randomized, 2-cohort longitudinal evaluation, 1,649 seventh-grade students completed a pretest and four waves of posttests over the 2-year program and 1-year follow-up. Project ALERT's effectiveness was tested through a 3-level hierarchical linear model. Analyses failed to yield any positive effects for substance use or mediators for use in the adult or teen-assisted delivery of the curriculum. An extensive set of additional analyses detected no differential program effects by student risk level, gender, school, or level of implementation quality. Potential explanations for outcomes relative to Project ALERT's original effectiveness trial are discussed, as well as implications for future research, including the need to conduct independent effectiveness studies of previously validated programs in a variety of contexts.
St Pierre
Tena L
TL
Department of Agricultural and Extension Education, The Pennsylvania State University, University Park, Pennsylvania, USA. tls@psu.edu
Osgood
D Wayne
DW
Mincemoyer
Claudia C
CC
Kaltreider
D Lynne
DL
Kauh
Tina J
TJ
D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D003479:Curriculum; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D017063:Outcome Assessment, Health Care; D010414:Pennsylvania; D016730:Program Development; D015397:Program Evaluation; D012572:School Health Services; D019966:Substance-Related Disorders / Q000517:prevention & control*; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires