Increasing use of drugs by youth in the 1970s and 1980s gave cause for alarm. Between 1975 and 1980, nearly two-thirds (65%) of high school students were reported to have used an illicit drug and nearly two out of every five (39%) have used an illicit drug other than marijuana¹. This concern led the Los Angeles Police Department (LAPD) and the LA Unified School District (LAUSD) in 1983 to introduce the D.A.R.E. (Drug Abuse Resistance Education) curriculum in LAUSD elementary schools. By 1988, D.A.R.E. curricula for middle and high school had also been implemented.

In development and through implementation, starting with ten LAPD officers delivering the curriculum in 50 schools, little consideration was given to expanding D.A.R.E. beyond Los Angeles. There was and has never been an effort to market D.A.R.E. curriculums. The immediate and positive response to D.A.R.E., however, brought the matter of expansion to the forefront. The recognition given D.A.R.E. and resulting widespread national implementation of D.A.R.E. were unprecedented. Today, D.A.R.E. programs are in place in all 50 states, U.S. territories, U.S. Department of Defense schools worldwide, and more than 50 other nations. The attention given D.A.R.E. by the prevention education and research communities has been as extraordinary as the expansion of D.A.R.E.

From the late 1980s through the 1990s, D.A.R.E. was the subject of a number of scientific evaluations. All of the substantive early evaluations of the D.A.R.E. curriculum were conducted by researchers “independent” of D.A.R.E. This is important because most evaluations of other similar curricula were conducted by the individuals that had authored those curricula. These individuals were not “independent.”

The studies of D.A.R.E. were of only the elementary D.A.R.E. curriculum. The youth in these early studies of D.A.R.E. were followed longitudinally and compared to students not receiving D.A.R.E. The findings of these studies were consistent – all desired outcomes were not realized. However, at that point in the drug abuse education research field there was a mistaken assumption that the average age at onset of drug use was during elementary school. This assumption was incorrect. Illicit substance use within the population of this age group is so low that it is now recognized that it was unreasonable to have expected D.A.R.E. to accomplish a statistically significant reduction in use. Furthermore, there is little evidence researchers were paying attention to other positive attributes of D.A.R.E. such as:

1. Training – D.A.R.E. officers receive 80 hours of specifically relevant training; presenters of other curricula receive a day or two of training at most.
2. Implementation fidelity – D.A.R.E. officers more often followed the curriculum protocol than teachers.
3. Variables – There were a host of other factors that were not measured, among which were:

  • Effects of having a D.A.R.E. officer in classroom/school on safety, attendance, and in-school delinquency,
  • Initiation of in-home conversation regarding substance abuse and high risk behaviors attendant with students reporting of discussions having taken place during D.A.R.E. classes,
  • Value of school administrators and classroom educators being exposed to drug prevention curricula,
  • Importance of the positive relationship developed between students and D.A.R.E. officers,
  • Significance of D.A.R.E.’s effect upon student pro-social bonding with the school community, and
  • Value of a during-the-day respite for teachers.

Irrespective of the early research, most communities recognized the inherent value of D.A.R.E. Many communities were not dissuaded from implementing, maintaining and, in some cases, expanding their D.A.R.E. courses. In a relatively short period of time, D.A.R.E. had garnered regard and respect for the many positive aspects of the program. Absent scientific proof of efficacy, why would D.A.R.E. continue to garner unflagging support? The answer, many community leaders and school officials instinctively appreciated the value and benefit of the curricula. Birkeland, Murphy-Graham, and Weiss in their research entitled “Good reasons for ignoring good evaluation: the case of drug abuse education (D.A.R.E.) program”², offer documentation for the profound support for D.A.R.E.

Ever the organization to pioneer innovative initiatives, a new chapter for D.A.R.E. commenced in September of 2009, when D.A.R.E. America and the Pennsylvania State University (PSU) partnered to train officers, distribute and deliver a D.A.R.E. specific version of the drug prevention middle school curriculum named D.A.R.E. keepin’ it REAL (kiR). The kiR middle school curriculum was developed by Michael Hecht, PhD, (PSU) and Michelle Miller-Day, PhD, (now at Chapman University). The kiR curriculum was initially developed by PSU and Arizona State University, with funding provided by the National Institute on Drug Abuse³. The kiR curriculum for students in grades sixth through ninth has been through rigorous scientific evaluations and has been established as an evidence-based curriculum.

The evaluations evidence the kiR middle school curriculum to be successful in decreasing substance use, in reducing negative attitudes/behaviors, and in improving positive attitudes/behaviors. The data showed:

  • A 32% to 44% reduction in marijuana, tobacco, and alcohol use;
  • A 29% to 34% decrease in intent to accept substances; and,
  • A reduction and cessation of substance use.

Additionally, improvements in antidrug attitudes/behaviors were apparent in the 30-38% increase in knowledge about and negative attitude toward drug use, increased repertoire of resistance skills, more frequent use of those skills, and increased adoption of strategies to resist using alcohol, cigarettes, and marijuana⁴.

D.A.R.E. America’s edition of the kiR middle school curriculum was specially designed by Miller-Day, Hecht, and D.A.R.E. staff with the intention for uniformed law enforcement officers to deliver the curriculum. The collaboration between D.A.R.E. America and kiR has resulted in a substantial increase in D.A.R.E. middle school implementations across the United States.

The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services conducted a cost-benefit analysis study. In the “2008 Substance Abuse Prevention Dollars and Cents: A Cost Benefit Analysis,” the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA) reported that kiR’s cost benefit ratio is 28:1⁵, making it one of the most cost-beneficial school-based, curriculum-driven drug prevention programs. This is a $28 return for every $1 invested in program delivery, yielding a net benefit to the concerned community of $3,600 per pupil. The benefit is the ratio between the expenditure to deliver the program and reductions in associated social cost over time as a result of the investment.

The D.A.R.E. kiR curriculum consisting of 10 lessons, each 45-minute session, is delivered over a ten-week period. Booster sessions are available for students the year after the initial 10 lessons. The curriculum is designed to help students assess the risks associated with substance abuse, enhance decision-making and resistance strategies, improve antidrug normative beliefs and attitudes, and reduce substance use.

An important feature of kiR / D.A.R.E. is that it is incorporated into the daily and weekly activities of schools and students, thereby interwoven and reinforcing the teaching-learning goals of education. Training Center Educator for the Louisiana D.A.R.E. program, Dr. Daphne Robinson, compared the D.A.R.E. program to the Common Core Standards for the fifth and sixth grade⁶. Dr. Robinson’s findings were that in almost every section of the Common Core Standards, the D.A.R.E. curriculum’s lessons achieved the standards.

D.A.R.E.’s keepin’ it REAL curricula is not connected in any way to the D.A.R.E. curriculums of earlier years. It is, in fact, an independent and separate entity from all previous curricula. Further, the D.A.R.E. kiR middle school curriculum is listed on the SAMHSA National Registry of Evidence-based Programs and Practices⁷, and the California Healthy Kids Resource Center, supported by the California Department of Education and Department of Health⁸.

Rigorous scientific evaluations of the kiR middle school curriculum have demonstrated students receiving the curriculum evidenced lower alcohol, marijuana, and cigarette use than students who did not receive the program.

Richard Clayton, PhD, noted sociologist from the College of Public Health at the University of Kentucky, conducted one of the evaluations of the original D.A.R.E. curriculum. He offered thoughts on D.A.R.E.’s original curriculum: “Drug prevention programming and research at that point in time was less mature; we did not have enough knowledge about the presumed causes of drug use among youth, not exactly how to influence those presumed causes in order to reduce drug use.”

Dr. Clayton said, “My research focused on D.A.R.E.’s stated mission [to reduce drug use], and largely ignored a number of other potential positive aspects of the program. D.A.R.E. provides invaluable drug prevention lessons to not just the kids, but the teacher who is in the room while the D.A.R.E. officer is delivering the curriculum. In addition to the teacher being exposed to the lessons at the same time the students are exposed, having a D.A.R.E. officer in the school was perceived to enhance school safety and helped students establish a relationship with the officer. We don’t know how valuable these are because they weren’t measured.”

When asked if he thought having D.A.R.E. officers teach the curriculum was a good idea, Clayton answered, “Absolutely. Some of the best teachers I have ever seen are D.A.R.E. officers. Many of the D.A.R.E. officers not only have a college education but a number have a master’s degree. There is NO EVIDENCE that D.A.R.E. officers can’t teach a drug prevention curriculum as effectively as the teacher assigned to the class.”

In 2013, D.A.R.E. America completed national implementation of a new D.A.R.E. kiR elementary curriculum. The curriculum was developed in conjunction with PSU, and Dr. Hecht and Dr. Miller-Day. The D.A.R.E. kiR elementary curriculum scaffolds into the D.A.R.E. kiR middle school curriculum and is based upon the social emotional learning theory and communication competency. It is “new” and “consistent with the Core Standards” for fifth and sixth graders.

If you have not experienced the new D.A.R.E. kiR curriculums, you are encouraged to do so; they are much different than the D.A.R.E. with which you may be familiar. We urge you to consider D.A.R.E. keepin’ it REAL drug prevention program for the children and youth in your school and community. This provides a new opportunity to link education and law enforcement at the community level to help a larger percentage of our children to be drug free and healthy.

References:

  1. Johnston, L. D., Bachman, J. G., & O’Malley, P. M. (1980). Highlights from student drug use in America, 1975-1980. (DHHS Publication No. [ADM] 81-1066). Rockville, MD: National Institute on Drug Abuse, 120 pp.
  2. Birkeland, S., Murphy-Graham, E., and Weiss, C.H., (2005). Good reasons for ignoring good evaluations: The case of the drug abuse education (D.A.R.E.) program Evaluation and Program Planning 28 (2005) 247-256
  3. “kiR – Keepin’ It REAL” at Penn State University: An Effective, Multicultural Middle School Drug Prevention Program: Research “kiR – Keepin’ It REAL” at Penn State University: An Effective, Multicultural Middle School Drug Prevention Program: Research. Pennsylvania State University, n.d. Web. 28 Oct. 2013.
  4. Hecht, M.L., Marsiglia, F.F., Elek, E., Wagstaff, D.A., Kulis, S., Dustman, P., Miller-Day, M. (2003). Culturally Grounded Substance Use Prevention: An Evaluation of the keepin’ it R.E.A.L. Curriculum Prevention December 2003, Volume 4, Issue 4, pp 233-248
  5. United States of America. Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration Center for Substance Abuse Prevention. “Substance Abuse Prevention Dollars and Cents: A Cost-Benefit Analysis” N.P.: U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, 2008. Print
  6. Robinson, Daphne, Ph.D. Louisiana D.A.R.E. Curriculum Correlation to Common Core Standards. 2010. Raw data. Common Core State Standards, National Governors Association Center for Best Practices, Council of Chief State School Officers.
  7. “keepin’ It REAL” National Registry of Evidence-based Programs and Practices. SAMHSA, n.d. Web. 28 Oct. 2013.
  8. “Research-Validated Programs” California Healthy Kids Resource Center, California Department of Health & California Department of Education, n.d. Web. 28 Oct. 2013.
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Copyright © 2022 D.A.R.E. America.
All Rights Reserved.