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Effectiveness of Project DARE: Does It Work?

NCJ Number
154160
Journal
Journal of Alcohol and Drug Education Volume: 40 Issue: 2 Dated: (Winter 1995) Pages: 40-57
Author(s)
D S Kochis
Date Published
1995
Length
18 pages
Annotation
The effectiveness of the Los Angeles-based Project DARE (Drug Awareness Resistance Education) in a New Jersey school district was evaluated using information from a sample of 100 students in 9th grade.
Abstract
The township, in cooperation with the New Jersey State Police, piloted project DARE in its health curriculum in one of its four elementary schools during the academic year 1988-89. The research used a quasi-experimental design to gather outcome data from official police reports and school behavioral records. The research participants were 27 males and 23 females who had received the DARE program and 24 males and 26 females who had not received the training. Behavioral data was gathered on these students during their 9th grade year, which began in 1991. Results indicated that the paucity of recorded drug law offenses for the students was likely to be more a function of nonapprehension rather than a lack of actual drug use. In addition, the findings strongly indicated a need to further assess the effectiveness of DARE through self-report data collection methods. Table and 16 references (Author abstract modified)