Program Profile: All Stars™

This is an interactive, school-based, character education and problem behavior prevention program designed to prevent high-risk behaviors in adolescents by having instructors provide them with models of good behavior. It is implemented in whole classroom, small group, and one-on-one sessions. This program is rated Ineffective. There were no statistically significant differences found between treatment and control groups in substance use, sexual activity, or violence.

An Ineffective rating implies that implementing the program is unlikely to result in the intended outcome(s).

This program's rating is based on evidence that includes either 1) one study conducted in multiple sites; or 2) two or three studies, each conducted at a different site. Learn about how we make the multisite determination.

Program Goals

All Stars™ is a character-based approach to preventing high-risk behaviors such as substance use, violence, and premature sexual activity in teens ages 11 to 15. The program is based on research identifying the critical factors that lead young people to begin experimenting with substances and engaging in other high-risk behaviors. It is designed to reinforce positive qualities that are typical of youths at this age. It works to strengthen five specific qualities as a means to achieving preventive effects:

• Establishing positive norms
• Building strong personal commitments
• Promoting positive parental attentiveness
• Developing positive ideals and future aspirations
• Promoting bonding with school and community organizations

Program Theory

All Stars™ is based in social learning theory which proposes that individuals are shaped by and actively model their behavior on observed behavior in others, including peers, their family, their neighborhoods, and authority figures. The All Stars™ program aims to offer participants an experience where positive lifestyle values are learned from their instructors and classmates, including perceptions of problem behaviors, and the importance of maintaining commitments.

Program Activities

A program specialist or regular classroom teacher can implement the program curriculum. All Stars™ consists of whole classroom sessions, small group sessions outside of the classroom, and one-on-one sessions between the instructor and the child. The program is interactive, including debates, games, and general discussion. Homework assignments are given to include parents in the program and to increase parent–child interactions. All Stars™ is also promoted for use in community-based settings such as afterschool programs, faith-based communities, Boys and Girls Clubs, and community centers.

Study

Harrington and colleagues’ 2001 evaluation of All Stars™ consisted of a single-cohort longitudinal design with pretest, posttest, and 1-year follow-up. Sixth and seventh grade students in 14 middle schools participated in the evaluation. The sample consisted of 1,655 students, of which 55 percent were female and 69 percent white, 25 percent African American, and 6 percent Hispanic. At pretest 58 percent of the sample was 12 years of age, with 98.5 percent being in the 11 to 13 age range. Schools were matched and randomized to a specialist-run All Stars™ treatment condition (n = 629), or control condition (n = 739), and 3 schools were selected for a teacher-run All Stars™ treatment condition (n = 287). The two treatment conditions received the All Stars™ curriculum, but varied by delivery method with 7 specialists hired from the communities who received over 30 hours of training over a 1-week period and 23 teachers receiving a condensed version of the training over a half-day session due to their limited availability. The CrimeSolutions review looked at the difference between the specialist-run All Stars treatment condition and the control condition at the 1-year follow up.

Evaluation questionnaires were administered by project staff in classrooms at pretest (in September/October), immediate posttest (in May), and at follow-up (1 year later). Analyses were done using factorial analyses of variance (ANOVA), after the authors determined that very little variance was explained at the school level (using hierarchical linear modeling). Pretest, posttest, and follow-up questionnaires measured substance use, sexual behavior, violence, and the mediating variables of bonding, commitment, ideals, and perceived norms. Subgroup analyses were conducted to determine the potential effects of race on program outcomes.

Subgroup Analysis

Harrington and colleagues (2003) conducted subgroup analyses to determine the potential effect of race on program outcomes. They found no statistically significant differences with regard to race in any of the outcomes for students in the specialist-run treatment condition or the control condition. However, Black and Hispanic students in the teacher-run treatment condition had a higher rate of violence at the 1-year follow up, compared with white students in the teacher-run treatment condition. This difference was statistically significant. There were no statistically significant differences with regard to race in the teacher-run treatment condition for sexual activity or substance use.

These sources were used in the development of the program profile:

These sources were used in the development of the program profile: