The mission of the Pennsylvania Department of Education (PDE) is to ensure that every learner has access to a world-class education system that academically prepares children and adults to succeed as productive citizens. Further, the Department seeks to establish a culture that is committed to improving opportunities throughout the commonwealth by ensuring that technical support, resources, and optimal learning environments are available for all students, whether children or adults.
If you know of other resources or programming that may be helpful, we invite you to share them with us. Please send new resources to damilakovi@pa.gov for review.
Help for Selecting and Implementing Programs
Community Partners
Local county drug and alcohol offices (also referred to as a Single County Authority), can help schools identify their needs, select prevention programs, and implement prevention programs. Schools are strongly encouraged to reach out to their local county drug and alcohol office for guidance or assistance with identifying prevention programs to implement. Many counties or school districts have coalitions, such as Communities That Care, that also support schools in planning and implementing prevention programs.
Pennsylvania Youth Survey (PAYS)
School district data from the Pennsylvania Youth Survey (PAYS) is an important resource for identifying student needs and the factors influencing student substance use. This information can be used to help guide selection of prevention programs. The PAYS Workbook and How-to Guide is a tool to help in analyzing PAYS data. Local county drug and alcohol offices and coalitions may also be able to assist in analyzing PAYS data.
Training Resources
A video series was created in accordance with Act 55 of 2017 that required the development and provision of a professional development program that includes information necessary to prepare for the teaching of this yearly mandated instruction, and ensured that education professionals who complete the professional development program may apply this training to their continuing education requirements. The video series, School-Based Primary Prevention: A Key to Combating the Opioid Epidemic can be accessed on the Pennsylvania Department of Drug and Alcohol Program's website. This video series is also available through the Pennsylvania Department of Education Standard Aligned Systems (SAS) in order to receive Act 48 credits.
Resource Guide
Background
According to the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA), primary prevention education is "delivered prior to the onset of a (mental-health or substance-use) disorder to prevent or reduce the risk of developing a behavioral health problem, such as underage alcohol use, prescription drug misuse and abuse, and illicit drug use."
Research has shown that certain prevention programs are proven to reduce the likelihood of a student's future substance use and improve mental health and educational outcomes. Prevention programs accomplish this by increasing protective factors, which are environmental, biological, or relational factors that help children deal with stressful and risky events in an effective way.
Purpose
The purpose of this document is to provide a resource guide for Alcohol and Other Drug (AOD) programs, curricula, and supplementary programs. Best practices on choosing AOD programs involve usage of evidence-based, effective, and promising programs that are developmentally appropriate. Per the National Institute of Health (NIH), "evidence based" means that a program has been "rationally designed based on current scientific evidence, rigorously tested, and shown to produce positive results." Evidence-based drug prevention programs and curricula can be found on the following.
Please note: The following list is not exhaustive of available resources, nor does inclusion on this list indicate endorsement by the Pennsylvania Department of Education. Information is provided to give school teams a starting point for addressing and implementing an AOD program in their school and choosing a curriculum to meet educational requirements as part of Act 55 of 2017. Additional information on promoting evidence-based programming, and updated resource guides for AOD programming can be found at the following:
Project Northland
Hazelden's Project Northland series for middle and high school students is a state-of-the-art alcohol-use prevention program backed by more than 18 years of research and more than 45 scientific publications. Students participating in Project Northland showed a 30% reduction in weekly drinking and a 20% reduction in monthly drinking. Research also shows that Project Northland can significantly reduce teen marijuana and tobacco use.
Project Toward No Drug Abuse (TND)
Project TND is a drug abuse prevention program that targets high school youth, ages 14 to 19. The program has proved successful when implemented in regular as well as alternative (continuation) high schools, with students from diverse ethnic and socioeconomic backgrounds. Developed by the Institute for Health Promotion and Disease Prevention Research, in the Keck School of Medicine at the University of Southern California, TND was developed to stop or reduce drug usage, as well as provide accurate information regarding consequences of drug usage.
Skills For Life
Student Skills for Life is a group educational experience which serves as an intervention for youth experimenting with alcohol or other drugs; prevention for any adolescent or college-age population. The program provides experiential life skills training and may include parenting classes and referrals to drug & alcohol assessments when appropriate.
Beginning in the 2018-19 school year, public school students in grades six through twelve are required to receive instruction related to the prevention of opioid abuse, as mandated in Act 55 of 2017.
Alcohol Literacy Challenge
Based on 40 years of research reported in nearly 1,000 published studies, the Alcohol Literacy Challenge™ provides prevention lessons students love. Using cutting edge brain science & media literacy education about alcohol marketing and social media, the ALC is the 1st classroom-based alcohol prevention program provided to reduce underage and binge drinking in a single 50 to 90-minute lesson.
Botvin Life Skills Training (LST)
Botvin LifeSkills Training (LST) is a research-validated substance abuse prevention program proven to reduce alcohol, tobacco, drug abuse, and violence by targeting the major social and psychological factors that promote the initiation of substance use and other risky behaviors. This comprehensive and exciting program provides adolescents and young teens with the confidence and skills necessary to successfully handle challenging situations.
HOPE Curriculum (Ohio Department of Education)
The Health and Opioid Abuse Prevention Education (HOPE) Curriculum is a K-12 curriculum comprised of a series of lessons, assessments and learning materials to develop students' functional knowledge, attitudes, and skills to prevent drug abuse. The lessons are designed to be a part of a larger substance abuse prevention until within a school's health education curriculum.
Michigan Model for Health
Michigan Model for Health is a nationally recognized, comprehensive, evidence-based curriculum for PreK to Grade 12 built around skills-based instruction. This program was developed in coordination with the Michigan Department of Education and the Michigan Department of Health and Human Services.
Operation Prevention
The Drug Enforcement Agency (DEA) and Discovery Education have joined forces to combat a growing epidemic of prescription opioid misuse and heroin use nationwide. Operation Prevention's mission is to educate students about the true impacts of opioids and kick-start lifesaving conversations in the home and classroom.
Project ALERT
The Project ALERT curriculum was created and tested by the RAND Corporation, a nonprofit, nonpartisan research organization. Developed over a ten-year period, Project ALERT addresses the pro-drug mindset of today’s teens and effectively increases their likelihood to remain drug-free.
Project Towards No Tobacco Use (TNT)
Project TNT is composed of ten core lessons and two booster lessons, 40 to 50 minutes each. The ten core lessons are designed to occur over a two-week period, although they could be spread out over as long as four weeks on the condition that all lessons are taught. The booster lessons are designed to be taught one year after the core lessons. It is recommended that the booster lessons be delivered in a two-day sequence, although they could be taught one lesson per week.
The curriculum uses a wide variety of activities to encourage student involvement and participation. Activities include games, videos, role-plays, large and small group discussion, use of student worksheets, homework assignments, activism letter writing, and a videotaping project. The two-lesson booster program summarizes previously learned material and discusses how this material might be used in daily living.
Second Step
Second Step provides instruction in social and emotional learning with units on skills for learning empathy, emotion management, friendship skills, and problem solving. The program contains separate sets of lessons for use in PreK through eighth grade implemented in 22 to 28 weeks each year. The Early Learning program in Second Step also includes a unit for transitioning to kindergarten. Second Step uses four key strategies to reinforce skill development: brain builder games (to build executive function), weekly theme activities, reinforcing activities, and home links. Teachers are encouraged to give children daily opportunities to practice. Second Step also connects new skills to other areas in the curriculum (e.g., literacy, arts, dramatic arts) and provides a structure for each day of the week. The first day contains a script and main lesson. The second day includes a story and discussion. The third and fourth days involve practice activities in small and large groups. On the fifth day students read a book connected to the overall unit theme, and teachers send home a “Home Link” activity that gives students an opportunity to practice new skills with their caregivers.
Too Good for Drugs (TGFD)
Too Good is a comprehensive family of evidence-based substance use and violence prevention interventions designed to mitigate the risk factors linked to problem behaviors and build protection within the child to resist problem behaviors. Too Good constructs a framework of social and emotional skills through the development of goal setting, decision-making, emotion management, and effective communication skills in addition to peer-pressure refusal, pro-social bonding, and conflict resolution skills.
Too Good for Drugs & Violence
Too Good for Drugs and Violence High School program has lessons that foster analysis and discussion of the effects of Alcohol, Tobacco, and Other Drug (ATOD) use as well as prescription and over the counter (OTC) drug use and various nicotine delivery devices. Students also analyze the impact of social media on decision making, reaching goals, and self-identity. Students learn how to navigate the challenges of social and academic pressures like making responsible decisions, managing stress and anger, reflecting on personal relationships, and resolving conflicts. The lessons use collaborative and experiential learning strategies to help students practice the skills proven to prevent violence and other risky behaviors.
Generation RX
Generation RX website is a research-based resource hub that was developed by The Ohio State University College of Pharmacy and the Cardinal Health Foundation. They provide toolkits as supplemental educational resources for Alcohol and Other Drug education.
Support for provision of programs in schools varies throughout Pennsylvania. Programs can be provided by school personnel, drug and alcohol liaisons through the Single County Authority or through community partners. Partnering with the Student Assistance Program can provide additional resources and partnerships.
School Based Programs
D.A.R.E.
D.A.R.E. is a police officer-led series of classroom lessons that teach children from kindergarten through 12th grade how to resist peer pressure and live productive drug and violence-free lives.
Girl Power
Girl Power takes the needs and desires of every girl seriously so that we can provide programs and activities that create healthy, smart, strong and active girls. Girl Power's programs are developed to empower young girls to get more out of life. Established in 2000 by the World Literacy Crusade (WLC) of Florida - an international, nonprofit, community literacy program - Girl Power encourages young girls to build confidence, competence, and pride within themselves. We also provide workshops and materials that inform girls about the risks and consequences associated with substance abuse, low self-esteem, lack of education and more.
Keep A Clear Mind (KACM)
Keep A Clear Mind is a parent-child, take-home program in drug education. It has been field-tested and rigorously evaluated with students in grades 4 through 6 6. Keep A Clear Mind has won the Center for Substance Abuse Prevention's (CSAP) Exemplary Program Award, has been promoted as a Model Program by CSAP, the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration, and the Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention. Keep A Clear Mind is listed on the National Registry of Evidence-Based Programs and Practices. Evaluation papers concerned with Keep A Clear Mind have been presented at the meetings of a number of different scholarly/professional groups, and evaluation articles have been published in the Journal of School Health, the Journal of Drug Education, and the Journal of Alcohol and Drug Education. This includes an independent evaluation project led by researchers from Johns Hopkins University. Keep A Clear Mind is also available in Spanish.
Each child will receive four activity books (alcohol, tobacco, marijuana, good choices), four student incentives (bumper sticker, bookmark, pencil, wristband), and five caregiver newsletters. Students take the activity books home, one per week, and do the program with their caregiver. They receive a student incentive (bumper sticker, bookmark, etc.) for showing their teacher that their caregiver has signed indicating they have worked with their child to complete the activity book. After four weeks of activity books the newsletters are sent home, again, one per week (or one every other week). The program is easy to use and takes almost no classroom time. Training is not required, and generally not needed, but is available if desired. In addition to the Keep A Clear Mind program, we can provide evaluation instruments and assistance with program evaluation.
Teen Intervene
Teen Intervene is designed as a comprehensive screening, brief intervention and referral to treatment (SBIRT) model of care. Teenagers who have experienced mild to moderate problems associated with alcohol or drug use work one-to-one with an addiction treatment counselor to identify and, ultimately, change their choices and behaviors.
Community Based Programs
Big Brothers-Big Sisters of America
Across the country and locally, Big Brothers-Big Sisters is the gold standard for mentoring. The program is both different and successful because Big Brothers Big Sisters provides a Match Support Specialist for each match in its program. The matches are effective because professional staff ensure that the match relationships are safe, rewarding, and reach their fullest potential. Big Brothers-Big Sisters knows that children matched in relationships that last more than one year have the most positive outcomes. Their match length average is three years, well above the national average.
Girls on the Run
The 10-week Girls on the Run after-school program is designed to inspire girls of all abilities to recognize and embrace their inner strength. Lessons emphasize the important connection between physical and emotional health. At the end of the program, girls participate in a 5K, which provides a tangible sense of accomplishment, setting a confident and goal-oriented mindset into motion.