Program Profile: Too Good for Drugs - Elementary School

This is a school-based drug prevention program designed to reduce students’ intention to use alcohol, tobacco, and illegal drugs and promote prosocial attitudes, skills, and behaviors. The program is rated No Effects. There were mixed findings in students’ self-reported emotional competency skills, social and resistance skills, and perceptions of the harmful effects of drugs. There were also no statistically significant impacts on students’ attitudes toward drugs.

A No Effects rating implies that implementing the program is unlikely to result in the intended outcome(s) and may result in a negative outcome(s).

Program Goals

Too Good for Drugs (TGFD) for elementary school students is a school-based drug prevention program designed to reduce students’ intention to use alcohol, tobacco, and illegal drugs, while promoting prosocial attitudes, skills, and behaviors. The program seeks to build the self-confidence of students so they are better able to make healthy choices and achieve success. Although there are different objectives across grade levels, promoting positive, prosocial attitudes, and fostering healthy relationships is a running theme throughout the program’s curriculum.

Overall, TGFD seeks to develop positive peer norms; appropriate attitudes toward alcohol, tobacco, and illegal drug use; personal and interpersonal skills relating to alcohol, tobacco, and illegal drug use; knowledge of the negative consequences of alcohol, tobacco, and illegal drug use; and the knowledge of the benefits of living a drug-free lifestyle.

Program Theory

The TGFD program uses the social influence model and the cognitive–behavioral model as its framework for the prevention program. In developing the program, the Mendez Foundation sought to develop the skills of students so that they are better able to resist peer pressure and make responsible, healthy decisions. TGFD uses a developmentally appropriate curriculum that specifically concentrates on five social and emotional learning skills that have been shown to promote healthy development and academic success: 1) goal setting, 2) decision making, 3) bonding with pro-social others, 4) identifying and managing emotions, and 5) communicating effectively with others.

Program Components

As a long-term prevention program, the TGFD curriculum builds on the curriculum in the previous grade level, requiring students to develop skills and use these skills year after year. At each grade level the TGFD program consists of 1) 10 core curriculum lessons, including an interactive workbook delivered by trained teachers/TGFD instructors, 2) a “Looking for More” component at the end of each lesson that includes suggestions for additional readings, videotapes, and activities to further reinforce the skills learned during the lesson, 3) parental involvement, including newsletters and homework assignments for families, 4) community inclusion, and 5) a Staff Development Curriculum that is provided to educators.

As part of the elementary school curriculum, the program introduces and fosters the social and emotional skills students need to make healthy choices, develop positive friendships, communicate effectively, and resist peer pressure. These lessons seek to teach the fundamental elements of a healthy lifestyle that can be further developed during adolescence.

Study 1

Bacon (2003) used a quasi-experimental design to evaluate the ability of Too Good for Drugs to affect students’ intention to use drugs, as well as the ability of the program to improve students’ emotional, social, and resistance skills. The study took place in Lake County, Fla., where all 22 of the district’s elementary schools were stratified on academic performance, learning environment, and student characteristics. From these three levels of stratification, two schools from each level were randomly assigned to the treatment or control condition. This created a treatment group of three elementary schools (Astatula, Eustis Heights, and Groveland) that participated in the TGFD program during the first half of the school year and a control group of three elementary schools (Beverly Shores, Spring Creek, and Umatilla) that did not receive the prevention program.

Overall, 1,142 students (49 percent third graders, 51 percent fourth graders) and 52 classroom teachers (26 in the treatment group and 26 in the control group) participated in the study. The sample was 49 percent female, and the ethnic breakdown was 71 percent white, 17 percent African American, 10 percent Hispanic, 2 percent “other” (Asian, American Indian, and multiracial).

Teachers in the treatment group received training before program implementation. Teachers in both the treatment and control groups completed checklists regarding students’ behavior before program implementation, following program delivery, and 4 months after program delivery. The Teacher Checklist included 23 behavioral items, to which teachers responded using a five-point scale ranging from 1=never to 5=almost always. The responses were grouped into three protective categories regarding students’ social adaptability: personal and social skills, positive social behaviors, and inappropriate social skills. In addition, students in both the treatment and control groups completed a questionnaire before program implementation, following program delivery, and 4 months after program delivery. The student survey questionnaire included 30 questions, to which students responded using a Likert scale ranging from 1=strongly disagree to 5=strongly agree. Student responses were grouped into five protective categories related to the child’s ability to resist social challenges, such as attitudes toward drug use, emotional competency skills, goal-setting and decision-making skills, social and peer resistance skills, and harmful effects of drugs. The study author conducted subgroup analyses to examine the potential effect of gender on program outcomes.

Study 2

Similar to her 2003 evaluation, Bacon (2007) used a quasi-experimental design to evaluate the ability of Too Good for Drugs to affect students’ intention to use drugs, as well as the ability of the program to improve students’ emotional, social, and resistance skills. The study took place in Lake County, Fla., with a different sample of students than in Study 1, where all 22 of the district’s elementary schools were stratified on academic performance, learning environment, and student characteristics. From these three levels of stratification, two schools from each level were randomly assigned to the treatment or control condition. The three schools assigned to the treatment condition received the TGFD prevention program during the second quarter of the school year, while the three schools in the control group did not receive the intervention.

Overall, 1,011 students (53 percent third graders, 47 percent fourth graders) and 52 classroom teachers (26 in the treatment group and 26 in the control group) participated in the study. The sample was 49 percent female, and the ethnic breakdown was approximately 60 percent white, 18 percent African American, 16 percent Hispanic, 6 percent “other” (Asian, American Indian, and multiracial).

Similar to Study 1, teachers in the treatment group received training before program implementation. Teachers in both the treatment and control groups completed checklists regarding students’ behavior before TGFD implementation, following program delivery, and 3 months after delivery. The checklist included 24 questions related to student behavior, to which teachers responded using a five-point scale ranging from 1=never to 5=almost always. The responses were grouped into four protective categories regarding students’ social adaptability: personal skills, social skills, positive social behaviors, and inappropriate social behaviors. In addition, students in both the treatment and control groups completed a survey before TGFD implementation, following program delivery, and 3 months after delivery. The student survey questionnaire included 30 questions, to which students responded using a Likert scale ranging from 1=strongly disagree to 5=strongly agree. Student responses were grouped into five protective factors related to a student’s ability to resist social challenges: attitudes toward drug use, emotional competency skills, goal-setting and decision-making skills, social and peer resistance skills, and perceptions of the harmful effects of drug use. The study author conducted subgroup analyses to examine the potential effect of gender on program outcomes.

Information on Too Good for Drugs (TGFD) can be found on the program’s website.

Subgroup Analysis

Bacon (2003) conducted subgroup analyses to examine the potential impact of gender on program outcomes. There were no statistically significant differences found between treatment group boys and treatment group girls on any measure (such as attitudes toward drugs, goal-setting and decision-making skills, emotional competency skills, and teacher-reported behaviors) at the 4-month follow up. In a follow-up study, Bacon (2007) again conducted subgroup analyses to determine the potential impact of gender on program outcomes and found no statistically significant differences on any measure.

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

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