title: The effects of No Child Left Behind on the prevalence of evidence-based drug prevention curricula in the nation's middle schools.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Concerns have been expressed that No Child Left Behind (NCLB) may be reducing the amount of classroom time devoted to subjects other than those for which students are tested. The purpose of this article is to explore whether NCLB legislation has affected the provision of evidence-based drug prevention curricula (EBC) in the nation's middle schools, a subject area that is not assessed by standardized tests.
  
  
  METHODS
  Data were collected in spring 2005 and spring 2008 from a nationally representative sample of middle schools. Respondents completed a survey regarding their provision of EBC (2005 response rate: 78.1%). We also collected data on schools' adequate yearly progress (AYP) status as of 2005 as a measure of their compliance with NCLB targets. We restricted our sample to schools that responded to our survey in both waves (n = 1324, or 76.9% of those schools responding in 2005) and conducted logistic regression analyses to determine whether those schools not making AYP in 2005 were less likely to be using an EBC in 2008.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Our results revealed no relationship between AYP status in 2005 and EBC use in 2008. Analyses of demographic characteristics showed that schools making AYP were more likely to be small and rural, and to serve majority White student populations whose families were characterized by lower levels of poverty.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Our failure to find any relationship between AYP status and the provision of EBC suggests that concerns about the potential adverse effects of NCLB on drug use prevention have yet to be validated. Implications of our results are discussed.
authors.affiliation: Pacific Institute for Research and Evaluation, 1516 East Franklin Street, Suite 200 Chapel Hill, NC 27514, USA. ringwalt@pire.org
authors.forename: Chris
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Ringwalt
authors.forename: Sean
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Hanley
authors.forename: Susan T
authors.initials: ST
authors.lastname: Ennett
authors.forename: Amy A
authors.initials: AA
authors.lastname: Vincus
authors.forename: J Michael
authors.initials: JM
authors.lastname: Bowling
authors.forename: Susan W
authors.initials: SW
authors.lastname: Haws
authors.forename: Louise A
authors.initials: LA
authors.lastname: Rohrbach
mesh_terms: D003479:Curriculum; D004493:Education / Q000331:legislation & jurisprudence; D055317:Evidence-Based Practice; D006266:Health Education / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D006801:Humans; D008137:Longitudinal Studies; D011640:Public Policy; D012044:Regression Analysis; D012574:Schools / Q000331:legislation & jurisprudence* / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D019966:Substance-Related Disorders / Q000517:prevention & control*; D014481:United States