The U.S. Department of Education has mandated “Principles of Effectiveness” to ensure Safe and Drug Free Schools and Communities Act (SDFSCA) funds are used on programs that demonstrate effectiveness, while maintaining state flexibility. The Principles involve basing programs on a thorough needs assessment of objective data, establishing measurable goals and objectives, implementing research-based activities, and periodically assessing progress toward achieving goals and objectives. . The Virginia Effective Practices Project (VEPP) is a collaborative initiative of the Virginia Department of Education and the Office of Substance Abuse Research at James Madison University. VEPP has developed a comprehensive program evaluation curriculum for school prevention personnel based on the risk/protective factor research and the National Institute of Drug Abuse (NIDA) prevention principles. School divisions receive highly individualized training and technical assistance to assist them in comprehensive planning and evaluation of their Safe and Drug Free Schools and Communities Programs. Additionally, a statewide Advisory Board, website, recognition program, Local Advisory Council Primer complete the components of VEPP. A systematic analysis of 60 school division applications before and after the implementation has been completed to demonstrate the success of the program in improving the school divisions’ applications, implementation and evaluation of SDFSCA funds.. Data show improvements in utilization of need assessments, measurable goals and objectives, research-based activities, and periodic evaluations. By increasing the number of school divisions successfully implementing the “Principles of Effectiveness”, the chances of effecting positive change for the prevention of substance abuse problems and violence in the schools is greatly enhanced. See www.jmu.edu/cisat/vepp
Learning Objectives: At the conclusion of the session, the learner will be able to: 1. Identify the Principles of Effectiveness for improving prevention programs and evaluation 2. List key components designed to support prevention programming and evaluation of SDFSCA funded porgrams. 3. Identify evaluation measures used to assess VEPP success.
Keywords: School Health, School-Based Programs
Presenting author's disclosure statement:
Organization/institution whose products or services will be discussed: James Madison University, Office of Substance Abuse Research,
Virginia Department of Education, U.S. Department of Education
I do not have any significant financial interest/arrangement or affiliation with any organization/institution whose products or services are being discussed in this session.