THE VIDEO GUIDE TO EVALUATING DRUG ABUSE PREVENTION VIDEO PROGRAMS

AS PRODUCERS OF ONE OF THE U.S. DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION'S EIGHT SUBSTANCE ABUSE PREVENTION VIDEOS DISTRIBUTED TO EVERYSCHOOL IN THE NATION, WE WILL COMBINE OUR EXPERTISE WITH THAT OF PREVENTION AND EVALUATION EXPERTS FROM YALE UNIVERSITY PSYCHOLOGY DEPARTMENT AND THE CONNECTICUT DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION TO CREATE A USER-FRIENDLY, VIDEO- BASED TRAINING PROGRAM AND EVALUATE SUBSTANCE ABUSE PREVENTION VIDEOS. THE EVALUATION PACKAGE WILL BE DESIGNED TO ASSESS VIDEO PROGRAMS ACCORDING TO ESTABLISHED, CURRENT CRITERIA OF EFFECTIVENESS AND TO REALISTICALLY ADDRESS THE NEEDS AND LIMITATIONS IMPOSED UPON EDUCATORS CONDUCTING SCHOOL-BASED PREVENTION PROGRAMS. THE R&D PROCESS WILL HELPESTABLISH OBJECTIVE NATIONAL NORMS FOR CREATING AND EVALUATING THE EFFECTIVENESS OF SUBSTANCE ABUSE PREVENTION CURRICULA THAT COMPLY WITH FEDERAL AND STATE REGULATIONS UPON WHICH THEIR PROGRAM FUNDING DEPENDS. PHASE I ALSO INCLUDES AN EXPERIMENTAL MODEL FOR INVOLVING STUDENTS IN SCHOOL'S EVALUATION TEAMS. WE WILL DEVELOP AND TEST A PROTOTYPE OF THE EVALUATION PACKAGE IN PHASE I, AND WILL TEST IT WITH A LARGE NATIONAL SAMPLE OF EDUCATORS IN PHASE II, USING THE EIGHT US ED- FUNDED PREVENTION VIDEOS AS TEST CASES. WE WILL SUBJECT OURPHASE II TEST DATA TO BOTH MULTIDIMENSIONAL SCALING OF FACTORS DETERMINING "EFFECTIVENESS" AND MULTI-VARIATE STATISTICAL ANALYSIS OF DIFFERENTIAL RESPONSIVITY TO THE VIDEO PROGRAMS; AND THE CONCLUSIONS WILL PROVIDE A VALUABLE DATABASE OF NATIONAL NORMS FOR ALL THOSE WHO MAKE AND USE VIDEOS FOR SUBSTANCE ABUSE PREVENTION - FEDERAL AND STATE AGENCIES, LOCAL EDUCATORS, VIDEO PRODUCERS, COMMUNITY-BASED GROUPS, AND TREATMENT FACILITIES. THE FINAL PRODUCT OF THE R&D WILL BE A LOW-COST, EXTENSIVELY TESTED PACKAGE - CONSISTING OF A VIDEO-BASED TRAINING COMPONENT AND USER- FRIENDLY EVALUATION MASTER FORMS - WHICH CAN BE MARKETED TO EITHER SCHOOL DISTRICTS OR TO AN INTERMEDIARY FEDERAL AGENCY, SUCH AS THE DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION FOR NATIONAL DISSEMINATION.