ALL STARS, JR --DRUG PREVENTION FOR ELEMENTARY SCHOOLS

DESCRIPTION (provided by investigator): The goal of this Phase II SBIR project is to further develop and test an elementary school drug abuse prevention program, All Stars, Jr. This program is designed to prepare students to participate in an existing middle school program, the All Stars Core program, developed with previous SBIR funding. To maximize its potential for integration into the structure of elementary school education, the program was developed for use in elementary school core subjects - science, math, and language arts. Separate age- and grade-appropriate programs have been designed for 4th and 5th grades. Science and math activities teach skills in a manner that also reinforces beliefs that drug use and fighting are both rare and unacceptable. Language arts activities reinforce idealism and a belief in a positive future. Activities reinforce perceptions that high-risk behaviors do not fit with desired lifestyles. Classroom teachers implement a behavior management strategy, the All Stars Challenge, based on Kellam's Good Behavior Game. Student teams establish standards for getting along with each other. Teams observe and provide feedback to each other in a process that promotes positive social interaction. During Phase II, specific additions to the program (videotapes for training teachers and students about the All Stars Challenge and an Internet-based language arts activity) will be completed. All Stars, Jr. will be tested in an independently evaluated randomized field trial. Twenty middle schools and feeder elementary schools will be assigned either to receive All Stars, Jr. or to serve as treatment-as-usual controls. The All Stars Core program will be delivered to all students in the 6th grade. Students will be administered pretest and posttest surveys annually in 4th, 5th, and 6th grades. Surveys will assess targeted mediators in all grades and will assess alcohol, tobacco, marijuana and inhalant use in the 6th grade. Main effects and mediating effects analyses will be completed. A case study in which classes will be observed will be completed. A measurement sub-study will examine the degree to which measures designed for elementary school children map onto conceptually-related items designed for middle school children.